Fresh meal kits delivered right to your doorstep means saving time, saving money (since you avoid dining out or takeout), and trying new, global-inspired cuisines while also eating healthier. The trouble, however, is narrowing down your options for the best meal kit delivery service.
When choosing, many important factors are taken into consideration – menu variety, cost per serving, dietary accommodations, delivery options, etc. Ultimately, what matters the most depends on what your diet preferences and individual needs and requirements are.
That said, Gobble and Home Chef are two very popular meal delivery services for Americans. Gobble, along with only a few others, was one of the first proper meal kit delivery services to provide a quick cooking solution. And then there’s Home Chef with its different types of meals – meal kits, oven-ready meals, and more.
So, let’s get into the Gobble and Home Chef comparison. Both are equally competitive – Home Chef offers greater menu variety and lower prices, while Gobble has a menu with quick-to-prepare meals that have high-quality, fresh ingredients.
How Meal Subscription Services Work
Meal subscriptions have transformed the whole cooking and food experience for the busy population of the United States.
Meal kits are not only convenient but also healthy for singles, couples, and families. They make it easier to do meal planning for the entire week and even month (upcoming menus are also available). Even a burdensome task such as meal preparation becomes much less time-consuming and effortless.
Typically, meal kit delivery services have their own culinary team of expert, professional chefs, so the recipes are crafted with attention to detail. These are healthy, delicious meals you may never cook from scratch at home.
The meal kits are packaged and then shipped to the address of your choice. Since fresh, high-quality ingredients are used, unopened meal kits can be stored in the refrigerator for 4–5 days after delivery.
Meal subscription companies like Gobble and Home Chef offer various kinds of meal plans that consist of single and multiple servings. So, you can select the meal plan that suits your diet and lifestyle the most. Likewise, you can pick 2 servings per meal or more for family-sized servings.
Meals can be customized to accommodate any specific dietary preferences you might have – gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, keto, paleo, etc. That’s how flexible meal delivery services are. They let you pause your subscription as well.
Overall, meal kits are a convenient and healthy option for you if you’re too occupied with work and life to stand in the kitchen for hours preparing wholesome meals for yourself from scratch.
Are Meal Kits Worth It?
They definitely are if you think that meal planning, grocery shopping, and meal prepping are a struggle. Meal kits offer tons of convenience – no two ways about that. You get to enjoy delicious homemade meals that you don’t even have to come up with. Every week’s menu offers a wide range of international and traditional foods, and meal kits also come with step-by-step cooking instructions.
Meal kits are certainly worth it for those who eat a lot of fast food because cooking after a long day at work is too much for the body and brain. And since you want to eat nutritious meals at the same time, enter meal kit delivery services with their wholesome dishes that save time and introduce new flavors into your diet.
Restaurant meals generally contain no less than 1,000–1,500 calories per serving. On the other hand, we have meal kits with preportioned and premeasured ingredients that keep your calorie consumption under control. You can even choose a low-calorie meal plan if that option is available to you.
Likewise, there are many types of meal plans and dietary accommodations. So, you can keep up with your health and fitness goals with portion-controlled, nutritious meals that consist of carefully selected, fresh, high-quality, and sometimes also organic ingredients.
Gobble vs Home Chef – Meal Plans
Gobble
Gobble features two meal plans that you can select your meals from – Classic and Lean & Clean. Both meal plans offer a personalized and intuitive menu with new recipes each week and tons of customizable options.
Gobble’s selling point is that it makes a healthy diet more accessible, especially when you have time restrictions or simply hate spending hours in the kitchen each week doing meal preps.
Their meals match your dietary requirements easily without the discomfort of meal prepping. So, Gobble takes care of the prep and leaves you to add the finishing touches to a meal, prepared in less than 15 minutes tops.
The Classic meal plan includes meals that even a picky and fussy eater will love. They’re all family-friendly recipes, with some that are restaurant-style and some home-inspired. The menu also includes a variety of diverse flavors and cuisines.
The meal plan supports a vegetarian lifestyle because you can select your proteins and swap them as you like on specific dishes. They do feature a Vegetarian meal plan that swaps all animal-based proteins for plant-based ones. The Vegetarian meal plan applies to both Classic and Lean & Clean meal plans.
Furthermore, the Lean & Clean meal plan is more diet- and nutrition-driven. The menu favors more meals that have less than 650 calories per serving, healthy fats, fewer carbs, and lean proteins. In short, you get a clean and balanced meal with no unhealthy starches or sugars.
Even on the Lean & Clean meal plan, you can swap proteins or opt for their Vegetarian meal plan. The prices are the same as the Classic meal plan, which will be mentioned below. The menu is highly customizable, allowing you to mix and match and pair different global cuisines with simple, home-inspired ones.
Home Chef
Home Chef’s menu features several filters that you can use to personalize and navigate the menu. They are Calorie-conscious, Carb-conscious, Less than 30 mins prep, and Vegetarian.
Calorie-conscious meals offer balanced recipes with 400–600 calories per serving. The benefits of eating a low-calorie meal are plenty – they help with a calorie deficit, portion control, and eating more nutrient-dense meals.
Carb-conscious meals offer a healthy portion of complex carbohydrates that are not more than 35g per serving. Refined carbohydrates are eliminated as it is more processed and contains no essential nutrients or fiber.
The next two meal plans are for a Vegetarian diet that includes nutrient-dense plant-based meals with healthy carbs, more proteins, and other essential nutrients.
The other filter or category is a more convenient option for someone who wants quick and easy meals that take Less than 30 minutes to cook.
Cooking elaborate meals from scratch means you have to spend at least 45 minutes in the kitchen doing all the prep work. With this filter, you don’t have to worry about additional time, and the meal kits are simpler than ever without compromising on flavor or quality.
All the meal kits that Home Chef serves are indeed user-friendly with minimal prep work involved and great taste. But do note Home Chef’s meals have more variety than Gobble because they also offer Easy Prep Meal Kits, Bundles, and Extras.
Easy Prep Meal Kits include Express dishes that have a cooking time of 20–30 minutes with larger servings. It also includes a special category of Oven-Ready Plus meal kits that require no prep, no mixing, and no heavy work.
Some of the meals in this category are fit for families with customizable options for swapping proteins. Each recipe has a label on it like Express, Fast & Fresh, Fast & Fresh Family, Oven-Ready Plus, etc. to help you choose better and faster.
The Bundles contains flavor pairings of small bites, salads and proteins, and dessert items. On their current week’s menu, they have a Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup with a Cheese Demi Loaf. You don’t have to make this meal like the other meal kits on Home Chef’s menu. It’s a heat-and-eat recipe that takes only a few minutes of your time.
Extras include breakfast items, bread, snacks, soup, salads, pizzas, and add-on proteins.
The best part about this meal category is the add-on proteins because you can add all sorts of meat or plant-based proteins to your meal kits for a boost of lean and healthy proteins. These include an extra helping of chicken, seafood, meat, and protein bundles like turkey, chicken breast, salmon fillets, etc.
Gobble vs Home Chef – Pricing
Gobble
Gobble’s meal pricing is simple to understand though their prices are relatively higher than most other meal kit services like Blue Apron or HelloFresh. Gobble provides 2 servings or 4 servings each for 2, 3, 4, and 5 meal recipes per week.
The starting price for their meal kits is $16.99 per serving on the lowest order, which is 2 meals with 2 servings each per week. The lowest price on their menu is $11.99 per serving for 5 different meal recipes and 4 servings each.
You can choose the meals from any meal category: Classic, Lean & Clean, or Vegetarian. The prices for all meal plans are the same.
The high price you pay per meal with Gobble is well worth it because their meals are truly very easy to make, taking less than 15 minutes from prep to plate. All things considered, Gobble guarantees that you will save at least 30 minutes of your time for every meal that you cook.
Unfortunately, Gobble charges a flat shipping rate of $6.99 per order.
Home Chef
Home Chef has different prices for their meal plans, so it depends on what you choose and how many servings you want per meal. The typical range for their meals falls between $7 and $18 per serving.
Family meals or meals with more servings per box are cheaper than others. The add-ons like bundles and breakfast, dessert, or snack dishes cost less per portion, with the prices depending on the quantity and your selection.
Meals with premium ingredients like salmon, beef, and turkey cost a bit extra per serving than a vegetarian recipe. Culinary selections cost more than their Easy Prep Meal Kits, hovering between $12 and $18 per serving.
Shipping fees are applicable on every order, ranging from $9.99 to $11.99 per box. The shipping fee fluctuates based on the number of meals you order per delivery.
Gobble vs Home Chef – Ingredient Quality
Gobble
The ingredients used in all Gobble meal kits come from high-quality local sources. The ingredients are preportioned based on the serving size you select.
Their meal plans prioritize healthy and clean eating with more essential nutrients, high proteins, and healthy carbs in their diet. Seasonal ingredients are also included based on availability.
The bonus feature to swap proteins lets you select other sustainably sourced protein options for meat or vegetarian. The fruits and vegetables arrive fresh and firm with no hint of spoilage or contamination.
You can rely on Gobble if you want healthy, balanced, and delicious recipes with an emphasis on quick prep work.
Some meals on Gobble’s menu do not contain gluten or dairy. You can also choose to not use gluten or dairy while preparing the recipe. Gobble lists all the ingredients and nutrition info of the recipes. Plus, the ingredients are packed separately, which helps you organize your meal kits after unpacking.
Home Chef
If you’re in the mood for healthy meal kits that are sustainable and diet-focused, Home Chef does follow some dietary restrictions like low-calorie and low-carb meals. Aside from that, their packaging is biodegradable and sustainable, with properly insulated packages that ensure food is stored fresh.
The ingredients are preportioned with comprehensive cooking instructions. Home Chef is something you can fall back on in case you want to cook something healthy and great-tasting.
Their menu includes a variety of high-quality herbs, spices, sauces, and condiments. The company has partnered up with reputable and sustainable vendors to use the best possible ingredients, seasonal ingredients included, guaranteeing that you get what you pay for.
About sourcing organic ingredients, not all ingredients are organic according to Home Chef, but they do offer some organic protein sources such as the antibiotic-free chicken in some of their recipes.
They source their meat from local organizations that are compliant with the National Chicken Council.
If your concern is about allergies, it’s worth mentioning that while Home Chef provides a superb selection of meals, some dishes do contain milk, wheat, soy, shellfish, etc. The ingredients list is provided for every recipe so you can avoid those dishes altogether or switch the ingredient with something of your choice.
Gobble vs Home Chef – Meal Preparation Time
Gobble
Gobble is another meal kit delivery service that requires no effort but still delivers high-quality ingredients and delicious flavors. Their meal kits are no-prep meals that let you go from prep to plate in less than 20 minutes. Some of their recipes take much shorter, only 15 minutes.
The majority of their recipes have an average cooking time of 20–25 minutes from start to finish. This is ideal for busy nights when you don’t have time to do all the prep work and cooking by yourself.
You will find some recipes, however, that take up to 30 minutes, but all the exhaustive steps are already taken care of. So, even those 30 minutes won’t feel like a lot. The portioning, dicing, chopping, and slicing of the ingredients are already done.
Compared to Home Chef, Gobble meals typically rank higher for being the easiest and fastest to prepare. What’s left, at the end of the day, is to try the meal kits yourself and experience the joy of cooking again.
Home Chef
What people love most about Home Chef is that they elevate home cooking with the help of healthy meal kits. Its main selling point is to popularize easy and user-friendly meals that take anywhere between 15 and 45 minutes to make. You can see a change in the way you cook after trying Home Chef.
Home Chef’s meals are varied in that if you are always on the go, you can customize the menu based on the estimated cooking time of fewer than 30 minutes.
For the curious George in you, you can try slightly complicated recipes that take 45 minutes to make with premium ingredients and restaurant-style taste.
If you’re wondering what else Home Chef can do, it also offers oven-ready meals that require little to no prep, including chopping. You have to assemble all the ingredients on a baking tray and preheat the oven. But don’t worry, all the information on how to prepare the meal will be mentioned for each recipe.
Gobble vs Home Chef – Packaging
Gobble
In every week’s order, Gobble will send you a recyclable cardboard box with insulated liners that are designed to keep the meals fresh during delivery. The meal box also features gel ice packs underneath the meals to maintain optimal temperature for freshness.
Gobble divides and organizes the plastic wraps for each ingredient separately. The dry ingredients are placed at the top and the meats at the bottom to avoid leaking. For someone ordering more than 10 meals per week, this packaging setup is useful and convenient. You won’t take a lot of time while unpacking the meal kits.
Research suggests that there are some excessive amounts of plastic packaging being used. But the good news is that Gobble prioritizes eco-friendly and sustainable practices, which means that most of the plastic wrappers can be recycled either at the curb or a special recycling facility. Unfortunately, some non-recyclable items will have to be thrown away.
For some orders, depending upon the location, Gobble does offer an environmentally friendly packing option. It means less use of plastic, and the ingredients will be grouped in larger bags to reduce waste.
Home Chef
Home Chef also prioritizes making their packaging as sustainable and eco-friendly as possible.
The main box is biodegradable, and it holds all the meal kits with the proper insulation required to keep the food cool and delicious. The box also contains easy-to-reuse gel packs that are nontoxic and water-based.
The box is divided into separate portions depending on the recipes you select. All materials are recyclable. Various materials are used for insulation such as recycled cotton and denim.
Meats are vacuum-sealed in plastic bags, and all premeasured dry ingredients and sauces are individually packed. They are grouped according to a recipe, saving you time during unpacking and storage.
Some plastic seal bags are recyclable, and you can recycle them at the curb. PET biodegradable liners are used inside the box, including foam liners. Each recipe bag has a recipe name, ingredient name, and other important details that will simplify your experience. You can even break apart the main cardboard box and reuse it for craft or organization purposes.
Home Chef provides all the helpful recycling information you need about how to dispose of the box and its packaging materials. They also give you tips for minimizing trash when it comes to the box, dividers, meal and portion bags, ice packs, insulated liners, bottles, jars, portion cups, plastic trays, aluminum tins, and recipe cards.
Gobble vs Home Chef – Customer Service
Gobble
At Gobble, you not only receive premium meal deliveries on a weekly basis, but you can also have your queries and worries regarding their meals clarified via customer support. Their customer support is ready to assist you when you require it.
There are many ways to get in touch with their customer support team. You can reach them by phone at (888) 405-7481 or text them at (650) 600-7776 with your queries.
The website support page features a message button that allows you to directly communicate with a customer care agent. They’re available on weekdays, between 5 a.m. and 8 p.m. PT, and on weekends, between 5 a.m. and 1 p.m. PT.
The responses are timely and efficient, and most importantly, they will take care of all your inquiries no matter how big or small.
To see other customers’ doubts and queries, the FAQs page is handy and accessible to all. You can read and find out more about membership, account details, shipping and delivery services, along with other frequently asked topics. A list of all the commonly asked questions is at your disposal.
Gobble also understands that you might have to make some last-minute changes before your order is out for delivery. You can make all the necessary changes by Wednesday the week before the meals are due to arrive. The timing is 11:59 p.m. PT every Wednesday. Without any extra costs, the changes will be applied to the order automatically.
Home Chef
Home Chef works hard to ensure that food delivery service is as prompt and efficient as possible. They also address all queries or worries that you might have concerning their meal kits and delivery services.
Common issues like delivery availability, making edits, and skipping a week are answered in detail on their website’s FAQs page, which offers a wealth of important information.
The customer support staff is also accessible if you can’t find what you’re searching for via the FAQs. You can contact them via phone or email.
For example, a lot of people wanted to know what 2% of the United States does Home Chef not deliver. You can directly enter your ZIP code to know whether delivery is possible in your area.
You can also do a live chat with their customer support bot to get timely updates and important information regarding any order or their special features. The chat box is set up for handling orders, account information, promotions, pricing, billing, and gift card details.
For the sake of clarity, Home Chef delivers to every state except Alaska and Hawaii. Overall, Home Chef has a dedicated and customer-driven support interface. You can leave your feedback via email and they will try their best to enhance the quality of your experience.
Gobble vs Home Chef – Nutrition and Recipes
Gobble
The nutritional value of Gobble meals is made of proteins, lots of veggies, and healthy carbs and fats. For those who want to indulge in delicious foods but at the same time worry about calories, Gobble offers great nutritious comfort foods as well.
Pasta dishes, burgers, salads, healthy bowls, and skillet recipes are in abundance. The menu is inspired by worldly cuisines like Thai, Japanese, Indian, and Italian. The menu serves 23 meals weekly including breakfast options, snacks, and some desserts for a cheaper cost.
Another special feature is that you can personalize or upgrade the proteins of particular meals so that they are customized to your daily dietary needs. The proteins are of high quality including organic meat. Overall, the flavors are varied and tempting.
The meals are customizable, but you can only view the nutrition profile of their meals after signing up. Their meal plan includes classic recipes, lean and clean recipes, and complete plant-based dishes.
Home Chef
Home Chef offers a wide range of nourishing and familiar recipes. You won’t find many experimental dishes on their menu, which works for most people. What you will find are easy-to-prepare and delicious recipes such as pasta, baked chicken, salads, tacos, rice bowls, and skillet recipes.
They also feature some gourmet recipes with premium ingredients like salmon and beef. This is a part of their “culinary collection.” Some meals are priced differently depending on the choice of meat you select. The meals are easy to customize if you want a balance of home-inspired and fancy dishes every week.
Their meal kits vary from carb-conscious, calorie-conscious, vegetarian, and quick dishes. They have chicken, beef, mahi-mahi, salmon, steak, pork, brisket, and other delicious treats.
Their plant-based menu is impressive combining delicious flavors like flatbread, risotto, chipotle, lasagna skillet, etc. Breakfast items like cinnamon cake, coffee, banana bread, mango juice, pretzel, and other such delights are included.
You can read and compare the nutritional value of each recipe before signing up. For example, for a Vegetarian diet plan, you can select the Mushroom and Kale Tortellini, which boasts 590 calories, 61g of carbohydrates, 29g of fat, and 22g of proteins.
In chicken, the Butter Cracker-Crusted Chicken contains 560 calories, 33g carbohydrates, 29g fat, and 38g proteins.
Home Chef offers a host of beef recipes, the BBQ Brisket Tacos comes with a creamy ranch slaw and baked beans. It has 690 calories, 85g carbohydrates, 27g fat, and 31g proteins.
And lastly, for seafood options, you have several dishes to pick from. Their Ponzu-Glazed Salmon is served with pineapple rice and has 730 calories, 65g carbohydrates, 33g fat, and 41g proteins.
Gobble and Home Chef – Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. Where Do They Deliver?
Gobble
If you live in the continental United States, except for Montana, Gobble has got you covered. Places like New Mexico, Nebraska, and Kansas offer limited deliveries, Gobble will send meal kits that are both delicious and nutritious right to your doorstep.
Home Chef
According to Home Chef’s website, they are currently delivering to 98% of the continental United States. However, they do not deliver to 2% of the states. Which those are you will have to figure out by entering your location zip code while signing up. Then, you’ll know right away whether Home Chef delivers to you or not.
2. Is Changing, Skipping, or Canceling Orders Possible?
Gobble
Gobble makes a good choice because their meal plans are highly flexible. You won’t like to be locked into a single meal plan that you cannot change from week to week. Gobble’s user-friendly interface, including its mobile app, makes it exceedingly simple to modify.
You can change and edit meal plans easily, skip or cancel orders without paying extra, or leave a week out if you want more control. Even if you don’t like a recipe and want to change it, Gobble lets you do that easily.
To make any changes, you have until Wednesday at 11:59 p.m. the week before your meals are scheduled to arrive. Such versatility in meal order customization for changing, skipping, or canceling orders makes Gobble a dependable choice.
Home Chef
Home Chef offers multiple edits and modifications that you can create to make the most of your subscription. It includes changing meals, skipping weeks, or canceling an order.
Log in with your account details and go to “My Settings” to change your meal plans quickly. You can also manage deliveries via the “Upcoming Orders” page to skip, reschedule, and modify upcoming orders.
The cutoff time for any cancelations or last-minute changes to be made is noon CT on Friday before the scheduled delivery week. Home Chef also allows you to pause the subscription if you’re unsure about what to order before canceling.
3. What Are the Supporting Materials Used in Each Box?
Gobble
The support materials inside every Gobble meal box are logically organized and maintained. Each recipe has tons of images that illustrate each step of the cooking process, and there is an image of the final dish after it’s cooked and what it will look like.
The recipe card tells you what cooking equipment you need to have with you to prepare the dish. Cooking instructions, ingredients list, and nutrition facts are also printed in a clear and concise format.
The size of the meal box is decent, not too large to carry inside. The ingredients are preportioned and organized in such a way that’ll you know exactly what recipe it is for.
According to research, Gobble does not have a smartphone with which you can order, customize, and sort your weekly orders. The website, however, is very user-friendly and can be accessed via a web browser on your phone.
Home Chef
Each meal kit you receive from Home Chef contains preportioned ingredients organized according to the recipe. All the recipe ingredients arrive in individual bags so you can easily store them away, even if you’re in a hurry.
Inside the recipe bag, you’ll receive a recipe card that offers all the ingredients list, cooking directions, nutritional data, and prep time you’ll need to get your hands on. The recipe card has a large image of what the recipe will look like after it’s cooked. This helps tremendously in plating your dish, especially if you’re a beginner.
The smartphone app is useful for many reasons. You can plan and select meals via the app. You can make order changes and keep track of the meals you’ve ordered. If you’re already planning for the next week, you can save some of your favorite recipes.
The support materials that Home Chef provides are accessible, well-organized, and user-friendly. It truly simplifies the cooking process with the extra added convenience of the mobile app that lets you peek inside every recipe and find the best ones to cook at home.
Gobble Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Some meals take less than 15 minutes to prep and cook. | You cannot see the recipes or nutrition facts before signing up. |
| Plenty of seafood options for pescatarians. | The meals are on the expensive side. |
| You can easily personalize meals by swapping proteins and ingredients. | Not all the ingredients are organic. |
| Meals are diet-friendly and weight loss-friendly. | Some dishes take longer than 30 minutes to prepare. |
| Gluten- and dairy-free meals are included. | No paleo or keto-friendly meals. |
| A complete vegetarian meal plan is available. | Shipping fee varies on order. |
| Packaging is eco-friendly and minimal. | |
| Swappable proteins for free. |
Home Chef Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| High-quality and satisfying meals. | Lots of plastic packaging. |
| Meals with preportioned ingredients take less than 30 minutes to prepare. | Not the best choice for dietary restrictions like paleo, keto, or Mediterranean. |
| Premium recipes with seasonal ingredients and expensive cuts of meat. | |
| Oven-ready and easy-prep meal kits are included. | |
| You can swap or upgrade proteins on select meals. | |
| User-friendly and understandable interface. | |
| You can easily skip, cancel, or modify meals after placing an order. | |
| Impressive variety of meals each week. |
Final Verdict
The choice between Gobble and Home Chef is a tough one because both meal kit delivery services offer healthy and delicious meals that simplify home cooking.
But if you’re looking for more variety of meals, Home Chef is your choice. Home Chef is a popular meal kit delivery service with low-calorie, low-carb, and vegetarian meals. Plus, they offer breakfast items, snacks, small bites, and proteins.
Gobble makes an impact with their easy-to-prepare 15-minute meal kits ideal for someone on a tight schedule. Gobble’s meals are more premium in that the prices are steeper than Home Chef but the quality of ingredients makes it worth it.
