Meal delivery services come in handy when you have to save your time on all the slicing and dicing to prepare each meal. These delivery services are a great way to enjoy healthy and sizzling dishes at home. Due to the spread of the recent pandemic, meal delivery services are also a safe source to avoid public while social distancing at home.
Gone are the days when people had to rely on working for hours to make delicious and healthy meals at home. Preparing and selecting a meal by yourself is a tricky business and it often consumes a lot of precious time. To cater to this, meal delivery services came into play where erudite chefs create marvelous meal plans to suit every individual need.
Although there are many food services at present, we have cherry-picked the finest delivery services to help you with their exciting meal plan offers. Health-oriented meal plans are available for fitness freaks like gym-goers, athletes, or models while scrumptious ones are there for those wanting to treat their taste buds.
The food boxes prepared at these places are not only hygienic but beautifully crafted to perfection according to individual needs. Moreover, the meal boxes are aesthetically appealing which is the reason why these food services are becoming more and more famous in professional settings. A plethora of options are also provided to customers which easily satisfies their hunger as well as health needs. Have a look at these finest meal services below.
We breakdown three of the most popular meal delivery service:
HelloFresh – The giant in the space – ( Our in-depth HelloFresh Review)
Green Chef – Popular meal delivery service – ( Our in-depth Green Chef Review)
Home Chef – Top five meal delivery service-( Our in-depth Home Chef Review)
A Sneak-Peek into the Meal Delivery Services
Home Chef – Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Meal options available that can be prepared in just five minutes. (See Home Chef Menu here)
- The shipping fee is waived in many cases.
- Separate meal options include pescatarian, carnivore, and vegetarian.
- Health-specific meals include calorie and carb-specific meals.
- Meals can be changed and skipped anytime.
- Simple and easy-to-understand meal pricing.
- The frequency of meals per week is adjustable.
- Recipe cards are delivered along with the meal delivery.
Cons:
- Separate charging for non-antibiotic meats.
- Shipping is charged separately.
- Fewer vegetarian choices.
Green Chef- Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Vegetarian lifestyle-oriented meals. (See Green Chef Menu here)
- Gluten and gelatin-free food are also available.
- A perfect place for fitness enthusiasts.
- Unique & healthy burger-bun-based dishes.
- Extremely affordable meals.
- Free shipping on the first order.
- Heavy discount offers.
- Nutritional facts of each meal are neatly presented in the recipe section.
Cons:
- Not much options for a person with a sweet tooth.
- A limited number of persons for weekly plans.
- Meals from different plans can not be selected simultaneously.
HelloFresh – Pros and Cons
Pros:
- America’s #1 rated meal delivery service (See HelloFresh Menu here)
- The meal plan can be skipped even for a week without any penalty.
- Detailed recipe cards for beginners to learn from.
- Meal kits are produced in a way so that there is less wastage.
- Environment-friendly packaging and preparation of the meals.
- Money-saving recipes to prepare from left-over food items.
Cons:
- Not many meal plans for people on dietary restrictions.
- Not much for fitness freaks.
- Hefty shipping cost.
How to Order & Subscribe?
All of these meal delivery services require you to subscribe to their meal plan after signing up and creating your account. The ordering process is completed after choosing the meal plan. Each of the meal delivery services has its own unique method of choosing the number of people per week along with the frequency of meals. Once the meal type and other details are filled, the subscription is completed. Payments are made through credit/debit cards. Further breakdown of each subscription process is mentioned in the topics below.
Home Chef Order
Ordering at Home Chef is simple, you just have to select the number of servings per meal for the week and the total bill will be displayed there. (Find out the Home Chef cost here) A good thing about Home Chef is that you can add up to eight servings per meal, this is an option that makes Home Chef unique from other services. The weekly plan can also be changed in case you changed your mind.
Home Chef provides a simple way to select and order meals after completing its sign-up process. First, you have to visit the website or download the application. You can select multiple meal types before ordering to best suit your needs. If in case you change your taste in the meal type you initially selected, you can always change it. The complete menu will then be available for you to select from. The dishes which will be at the top will be according to your selected preferences. Following is the step-by-step guide to order.
- You will see a “Get Started” tab at the top right of the home page. Clicking it will open a page where you will see options to choose the type of meal like omnivore, carnivore or pescatarian.
- After selecting the meal type, you have to enter your email address.
- Build a box option will appear next. In this, you have to select the number of people that you will cook for and the frequency of the meals in a week.
- You will see that increasing the meal frequency will increase the payment amount mentioned at the far right of the page. Shipping cost is also mentioned there.
- It is better to increase the frequency of meal per week as the shipping cost decreases as the number of meals go up.
- At this point, you have finished setting up your meal box, you may now continue towards checkout or register through PayPal.
- The checkout counter will ask you to submit basic information like name, contact and delivery details.
- After filling out the information, you have to fill out the card information. Your order details will also appear at the far right of the page adjacent to the credit card information tab. The first meal delivery date will also appear within the order details bar.
- After the payment, you can then pick your meals according to your choice.
- You will now be seeing scheduled meal plans in a week-wise manner.
- Your meals are automatically selected based on your initial preferences.
- The meals can still be changed by hitting the green button named ‘edit meals’
- Here, You can add customizations to dishes or add meat to vegetarian dishes by clicking the ‘customize it’ tab.
- The ‘customize it’ tab opens a drop-down list of possible meat customizations. These upgrades may however cost extra but come in handy in case of personal preferences.
- If you don’t like the dishes of a certain week then it can also be skipped by selecting the ‘skip week’ next to ‘edit meals’ tab.
Green Chef Order
Green Chef allows you to order from three different diet categories. These plans can be changed but you can not order one meal from keto and the other from balanced living at the same time.
Green Chef follows a similar pattern to the Home Chef, except that it offers heavy discount offers (Green Chef cost here) and the first shipping cost is also waived off. To order you have to visit the website to complete the sign-up process. Following are the detailed steps to order your scrumptious meals.
- After landing on the home page, click on the “Get Started” tab at the far right of the page. Here you can also put a promo code before getting started with the meal selection.
- Click on “see our meal plans” tab with the green tint. A new page will be opened, here you can select from the three meal plans available which are keto plus paleo, balanced living and plant-powered meals.
- The number of people and the meals to select are also selectable on this page.
- The price per meal is mentioned below under the number of recipes tab in red color.
- After selecting the above information, the site takes you to a web form where you fill in your contact and delivery details.
- You are now directed towards the checkout page where the total bill summary is mentioned at the right side in a column.
- Here, you have to fill out your payment method which is either through PayPal or credit card.
- The available delivery dates are also shown in a drop-down list according to your location. From here, you can choose your first meal delivery date.
- After payment, you can now view and select your meals.
- After payment, you can now see your recipes that are scheduled on weekly basis.
- Recipes can be changed, but if you want to select meals from a different plan then all of the meals have to be selected from that plan.
- Each recipe photo also indicates health benefits such as gluten-free and heart smart.
- Meal plan editions such as adding a different food or changing the days of delivery can be made a week prior to your delivery date from the main menu page.
HelloFresh Order
Depending upon your choice you can order two, three or four meals in a week. There is a minimum serving for two people, so you should do the maths if you are a single person ordering from HelloFresh. (Jump to HelloFresh cost here)
HelloFresh also includes the registration process to order meals. The process of the subscription is similar as HelloFresh, you just have to fill in your meal plan and personal information for account creation. After creating your account, sign-in and click on the “My menu” and follow the steps mentioned below.
- In “My menu” you can see the meals already selected for you as ‘in my box’
- If you like to swap your meal you can do so by simply clicking ‘minus’ to remove a meal and ‘plus’ button to add a meal.
- If you want to add an extra meal then that can be done by clicking at ‘Add extra meal’ button placed on meal photos.
- Now if you would like to add any extras then you can by hitting the ‘Add’ button.
- Click the ‘save’ button.
- You will now be able to see a prompt confirming that your changes have been saved.
- If you want to skip a week, simply go to ‘My menu’ then click on ‘edit delivery’ tab of the week you want to skip.
- A banner will appear that says ‘skip this week’. Proceed to click it.
What Meals Does Each Offer?
From Black Bean & Mushroom Enchiladas to Farmhouse Fried Chicken, each meal kit service provides different meal options and serving sizes. Some are oven-ready while others can take forty-five minutes to be prepared.
All of the meal kit services have their own unique way of selecting a balanced meal so that you can cook them easily at home. The meal comes in cardboard boxes and the recipes are neatly placed in them. Many of the dishes are similar in each meal service but there are also special meals by which each is distinguishable. Let’s have a look at these enticing meals.
Home Chef Menu
There are plenty of different meal types such as the fifteen-minute meal kit which can be prepared in fifteen minutes. Other meal types are oven-ready, fast & fresh, entrée salads and extras which include pure meat-based dishes.
There are twenty-six different meals to choose from for up to six persons. Apart from that, you can also add customizations to your meal like increasing the protein portion or mixing a vegetarian diet with a meat-based recipe. The meals contain servings which can range from two to six. Each serving is the recommended amount of meal for one adult while half serving to one full serving is for a child. The main meal plans are:
- Home Chef
- Fresh and easy
In both of the meal plans, you can choose up to six meals and four servings. In Home Chef you can select different categories of recipes which are as under.
- Omnivore.
- Carnivore.
- Pescatarian.
- Vegetarian
Further, you can also choose the following options among the above meal plans to further pinpoint your meal priority.
- Carb conscious
- Calorie-conscious
Carb & calorie conscious is also available in the Home Chef plan. Certain people are allergic to some ingredients therefore Home Chef has an option to select those ingredients so that they will not appear in your recommended list such as nuts, red meat, and milk. Some of the mouth-watering recipes to try are as follows.
Vegetarian
Crispy teriyaki tofu tacos.
Preparation time
Depending upon the level of your cooking expertise, the average time to cook and prepare this dish is thirty to forty minutes.
Nutritional Facts
Each serving contains:
- Calories: 740
- Fat: 38 g
- Carbohydrates: 74g
- Protein: 24g
Calorie-Conscious
Teriyaki Ginger-Glazed Salmon
Preparation time
30-40 minutes depending upon how much you want the salmon to be seared and roasted.
Nutritional Facts
- Protein: 39g
- Calories: 542
- Carbohydrates: 23g
- Fat: 32g
Carb Conscious
Salmon with cranberry chutney.
Preparation time
30-40 minutes
Nutritional Facts
- Calories: 623
- Fat: 39g
- Protein: 37g
- Carbohydrates: 30g
Apart from these options, there are other meals which can be prepared in fifteen minutes like the ‘pulled pork enchilada skillet with lime crema’. There are oven-ready meals which are a must-try as all you have to do is to put the ingredients in the oven and that’s it. One such dish is the ‘Basil parmesan chicken with zucchini and grape tomatoes’. The bottom line is that at Home Chef, you can select any meal even from a different plan and that is what makes it unique, the different meal plans and preferences are there to just filter out the meals which you would like the most.
Green Chef Menu
Green chef solely focuses on healthy meals so there are a lot of meals based on grains, beans, vegetables. At green chef, the meals are mostly plant-based and vegan oriented but there are wonderful dishes for meat lovers too. Selecting a meal plan is easy, following are the main meal plans.
- Keto plus paleo
- Balanced living
- Plant powered
Unlike Home Chef, you can’t select recipes from other plans for the same week. The number of servings is four and a maximum of four meals can be selected per week. A good thing about these recipes is that they can be ready to eat in just half an hour which is a very well factor in terms of time-saving.
Keto Plus Paleo
Keto refers to a diet that is high in fat while low in carbs while paleo refers to those diets which were mainly consumed by our ancestors hence such diets are usually in whole foods form. Keeping these terminologies in view, such diets are very helpful yet delicious. Some of the offered keto plus paleo meals are:
Creamy chicken with caper sauce.
Preparation time
40 minutes
Nutritional Facts
- Calories: 590
- Fat: 40g
- Carbohydrate: 22g
- Protein: 39g
Balanced Living
It includes meals containing sea foods, meat, and vegetables. The concept is to provide a more tasteful approach to healthy diets. Following are some recommended meals:
Apricot glazed pork meatballs.
Preparation time
30 minutes
Nutritional Facts
- Calories: 800
- Total fat: 47g
- Carbohydrate: 62g
- Protein: 35g
Plant-Powered
As the name suggests, this plan is for vegans and vegetarians. Many nutritious plant and dairy-based dishes are available for green lovers. Some of the delicious ones are:
Kidney bean burgers.
Preparation time
35 minutes
Nutritional Facts
- Calories: 1120
- Fat: 57g
- Carbohydrate: 122g
- Protein: 32g
HelloFresh Menu
HelloFresh offers a rainbow of meals to choose from. Meat, fish, and vegetable-based recipes are famous at HelloFresh. Most of the dishes are unique yet famous dishes suitable for local and foreign citizens.
The ingredients are sourced from top-class suppliers hence they are always fresh and healthy. There are twenty different mouth-watering recipes to choose from. Although there are different sorts of meals for everyone, there are no segregated meal plans defined so that everything remains simple. You can select vegetarian meals while simultaneously you can select a high-calorie meat-based meal. Following is a popular recipe at hello fresh.
Tomato tortelloni bake.
Preparation time
25 minutes
Nutritional Facts
- Calories: 760
- Carbohydrates: 74g
- Protein: 25g
- Fat: 41g
What is the Price for Meals and Subscriptions?
Home Chef Cost
The cost of Home Chef is average when compared to other meal kit services. Although it is not very cost-effective because the ingredients and the preparation of recipes are nicely done and many of the fruits and vegetables are top-notch.
Each serving cost generally costs $ 8.99 whereas some might cost $ 12.99 depending upon the meal you choose.
So let’s assume that you have four people to cook for and you plan on cooking 2 times a day.
This means that per week you will be getting two meals four servings each.
- Price per serving = $ 8.99
- Number of meals per week = 2
- Total number of servings per week = 4
- Cost of servings per week = $ 8.99 x 4 = 35.96
- Sub total = (meals per week) x (cost of servings per week) = 2 x 35.96 = $ 71.92
- Shipping cost = $ 6.99
- Grand Total = 78.91
Although you can see the shipping cost above at $ 6.99 but this value increases to $ 13.99 for a two servings with two meals per week which is quite on a higher side when compared to other meal delivery services.
Another great offer by Home Chef is that on some of the dishes you can upgrade your meal without paying extra. You can also get an off of $ 35 if you invite someone to Home Chef. Vouchers are also available, by which you can save up to $ 90. Following is how the voucher works:
- Save $ 30 on your first order.
- Another $ 30 on your second order.
- $ 15 on your third order.
- $ 15 on your fourth order.
Green Chef Cost
Green Chef has a slightly different pricing strategy when it comes to choosing plans. Therefore, you need to be sure of your meal choices before you opt for them. All of the meal kits have a minimum of two servings per meal and the price per serving.
Keto plus Paleo
The keto plus paleo plan starts with $ 6.99 per serving. The price per portion keeps on changing as the number of portions per meal increases. Following is the breakdown:
- Number of people per recipe = 2
Number of recipes = 3
Price per serving = $ 6.99
Subtotal = cost of total number of servings per meal x total number of recipes
= (2 x 6.99) x (3) = $ 41.94
- Number of people per recipe = 4
Number of recipes = 3
Price per serving= $ 9.99 / serving
Subtotal = cost of total number of servings per meal x total number of recipes
=(2 x 9.99) x (3) = $ 59.94
Using the same method the total price for meals can be calculated. The price per serving for the rest of the meal and serving combination is as follows:
- Number of people = 2
Number of recipes = 4
Price per serving = $ 8.49
- Number of people = 4
Number of recipes = 2
Price per serving = $ 8.49
- Number of people = 4
Number of recipes = 4
Price per serving = $ 10.74
Balanced living
Following is the breakdown of charges for balanced living meals. The prices are a bit on the lower side as compared to keto, so you should go for this plan if you are looking to go light on your pocket.
- Number of people = 2
Number of recipes = 3
Price per serving = $ 5.99
- Number of people = 4
Number of recipes = 4
Price per serving = $ 7.49
- Number of people = 4
Number of recipes = 2
Price per serving = $ 7.49
- Number of people = 4
Number of recipes = 3
Price per serving = $ 8.99
- Number of people = 4
Number of recipes = 4
Price per serving = $ 9.74
The pricing structure for Plant powered meal plan is the same as balanced living. The above rates for all the plans are exclusive of shipping costs which is $ 8.99 per box.
Like Home Chef, Green Chef also offers $ 90 off on your first four orders with free shipping.
HelloFresh Cost
The pricing strategy of HelloFresh is simple and easy, you pay for what and how much you eat, not for what plan you choose as there are no complex meal plans.
Following is the breakdown of prices:
- Number of people = 2
Recipes per week = 3
Per serving price = $ 8.99
Shipping = $ 8.99
Subtotal = total cost of servings per recipe x number of recipes
= $ 17.98 x 3 = $ 53.94
The above method can be used to calculate the total cost per week for the rest of the meal combinations. The price per serving for all of the plans are the same which is $ 8.99 per serving and $ 8.99 for shipping except for two of the most famous plans which are as follows:
- Number of people = 4
Recipes per week = 3
Per serving price = $ 7.49
Shipping = $ 8.99
- Number of people =4
Recipes per week = 4
Per serving price = $ 7.49
Shipping = $ 8.99
Moreover, HelloFresh is offering discounts to U.S health care workers. You can avail it by filling out and submitting the form available on their website.
