St. Louis runs on Provel cheese, toasted ravioli, and gooey butter cake. If you know, you know. But here's the thing: The Hill's Italian restaurants and Pappy's Smokehouse are worth every dollar, but you can't eat there every night when you're pulling shifts at BJC or Mercy, working late downtown, or living in Clayton on a $55k median income. That's where meal delivery makes sense - not replacing the Ted Drewes runs, just handling Tuesday through Thursday when you're too tired to cook and DoorDash is eating 30% of your paycheck.
Too busy to read? Here's the move:
- Don't want to cook at all? Factor. 2 minutes in the microwave, actually tastes good. ($11.49/meal, 50% off first box)
- Broke but over Imo's pizza? Dinnerly. $4.69/meal is less than toasted ravioli at Mama's on The Hill. (60% off first box)
- Bored of eating the same thing? CookUnity. 300+ dishes from real chefs who actually have names, not a factory line.
- Feeding a whole household in Clayton or Brentwood? Home Chef. Portions for up to 6, you pick the proteins.
- Want local St. Louis food? Pure Plates STL or fit-flavors. Chef-prepared, locally sourced, supports actual St. Louis businesses.
St. Louis sprawls along both sides of the Mississippi, and 'St. Louis delivery' doesn't always mean YOUR St. Louis. Factor and Home Chef reach pretty much every ZIP code I checked - Downtown (63101, 63102), Central West End (63108), The Hill (63110), Tower Grove (63110, 63116), Clayton (63105), and even out to Brentwood (63144). CookUnity is solid in the urban core and Central West End but gets spotty once you're past Clayton heading toward Chesterfield. If you're in South County or across the river in Illinois, check the ZIP code before you get excited. Dinnerly has the best budget coverage but sometimes ghosts outer suburbs. The local services (Pure Plates STL, fit-flavors) have the most reliable delivery inside the city limits and close-in suburbs, but they won't reach you if you're out in St. Charles County.
Every intro deal available in St. Louis right now
What's actually on the menu this week
Real meals delivering to St. Louis right now, from national services and local kitchens
Our picks at a glance
How I actually tested these (no, seriously)
Scores are updated quarterly. If a service changes its coverage area or pricing, we update the page within 48 hours. Have a correction? Email eric@mealfan.com.
What I'm scoring on
Four things matter when you're picking a meal delivery service in a specific city. Here's how I weight them:
Every service is scored out of 100. Full transparency: some of the links on this page are affiliate links, which means I earn a commission if you sign up. But that never changes the rankings. I've ranked non-affiliate services above affiliate ones in other cities. The methodology is the same everywhere.
St. Louis-specific stuff that matters
Let's talk about what you're actually spending on food
A pulled pork sandwich at Pappy's Smokehouse is $11.50. Add fries ($4), a drink ($3), 20% tip ($3.70), and DoorDash delivery fee + service fee ($6.80) and you're at $29 for a single meal. That's a Tuesday lunch. Do that five times a week and you've spent $580/month on BBQ delivery. Factor is $11.49/meal with the intro discount, $229/month for 20 meals. Dinnerly is $4.69/meal with 60% off, which is less than a toasted ravioli appetizer at Mama's on The Hill ($8.95). The average Uber Eats order in St. Louis is $32 after fees. Meal delivery cuts that in half minimum, and you're eating real food instead of lukewarm Imo's pizza that sat in a car for 20 minutes.
Which one should you actually get?
| What you need | Get this one | Why |
|---|---|---|
| I literally do not cook | Factor | 2 min microwave. That's it. Done. |
| I'm broke | Dinnerly | $4.69/meal. Less than a coffee at Frothy Monkey. |
| I get bored eating the same thing | CookUnity | 300+ dishes. New chefs every week. Never the same meal twice. |
| I care about what's actually in my food | Sunbasket | 98% organic. Dietitian-designed. Ingredients you can pronounce. |
| Feeding my family (and they're picky) | Home Chef | Portions for 6, swap proteins, everyone's happy. |
| I actually enjoy cooking | Blue Apron | $7.99/meal, solid recipes, you're the chef. |
| I want to support St. Louis businesses | Music City Meals | St. Louis-based, TN farms, macro-labeled. Scroll down for 3 more locals. |
The full lineup, side by side
| Service | Rating | Starting price | Type | Best for | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
FactorTop pick HelloFresh Group* |
★★★★½90/100 | $11.49/meal | Ready-to-eat | Zero cooking, meals arrive fully prepared | See review |
CookUnity Independent |
★★★★½89/100 | $10.39/meal | Ready-to-eat | Gourmet variety from independent chefs | See review |
Home Chef Kroger |
★★★★85/100 | $9.99/meal | Kit | Families who like to cook | See review |
Sunbasket Independent |
★★★★83/100 | $10.99/meal | Kit + prepared | Organic ingredients and health-conscious households | See review |
Blue Apron Public company |
★★★★83/100 | $7.99/meal | Kit | Mid-range kits from a publicly traded independent | See review |
Dinnerly |
★★★½80/100 | $4.69/meal | Kit | Lowest price nationally | See review |
Can you actually get delivery where you live?
This is the part most review sites skip. "St. Louis delivery" means different things to different services. Here's the real coverage breakdown:
How St. Louis compares to other southern cities
St. Louis's meal delivery market is growing. You can compare coverage and services across different metros.
Full reviews
Every service below delivers to St. Louis. Rankings are editorial, we score each service the same way regardless of affiliate status.
Open the box, microwave for 2 minutes, eat something that actually tastes like a real meal. This is the one I kept coming back to when I was testing services in St. Louis. No chopping, no dishes, no sad desk salad energy. Meals last 5-7 days in the fridge, so you can order on Monday and eat through Friday without thinking about it. If you're working shifts at BJC or Mercy and eating dinner at 9 PM, Factor is the move. The chipotle chicken bowl and the cajun salmon both held up even after sitting in my Central West End fridge for five days.
If Factor is the reliable one, CookUnity is the exciting one. Every meal is made by a named chef, not a factory line. Korean BBQ short ribs one night, truffle mushroom risotto the next, then Thai basil chicken the night after. 300+ dishes rotating weekly. I'm not exaggerating. The variety is what keeps me coming back to CookUnity. It's pricier than Factor at $10.69-14.99/meal depending on plan size, but you're paying for chef-level food that still only takes 3 minutes to reheat. Coverage in St. Louis is solid if you're in the Central West End or Clayton, but it drops off once you hit the outer suburbs.
The family option. Your mom would love this one. Backed by Kroger, so the coverage is rock solid across St. Louis - they reach neighborhoods that CookUnity won't touch. You DO have to cook these (25-45 min), so if you're looking for zero-effort Factor-style meals, this isn't it. But if you've got kids in Clayton or Brentwood and you're trying to feed 4-6 people without spending $200 at The Hill, Home Chef makes sense. Portions are generous, you can swap proteins, and the recipes are simple enough that you won't burn the house down.
The budget king, full stop. $4.69/meal with 60% off your first box is less than a toasted ravioli appetizer at Mama's on The Hill. Even the regular price ($6.99/meal) is cheaper than anything else on this page. You're not getting gourmet chef-level food - it's simpler, fewer ingredients, less variety. But if you're a college student at Washington U, a young professional in Tower Grove paying St. Louis rent, or just don't want to spend $11/meal on Factor, this is it. I kept Dinnerly running alongside Factor for budget weeks. The recipes are basic but they work, and the portions are solid.
St. Louis-based meal services (3 found)
These services are based in St. Louis, founded here, operating here, and in some cases sourcing ingredients here. No other review site covers these. We researched each one individually.
Chef-prepared, ready-to-eat meals that are fresh, organically sourced, and nutritionally balanced. Every meal is under 600 calories, low sodium, and low glycemic. They specialize in dietary customization with real attention to ingredient sourcing.
Healthy prepared meals made fresh from scratch daily using portion controlled, high quality ingredients, with over 50 convenient options. Founder attended Le Cordon Bleu culinary school and built the business from a home kitchen operation to 8 St. Louis locations.
Flexible meal plans from one to 13+ meals per week with six weekly meal choices from a rotating selection of more than 40 allergen-friendly, internationally inspired dishes. Delivery within a 50-mile radius or pickup from six locations across Brentwood, Kirkwood, Maplewood, and South City.
St. Louis's food culture is one of the most distinctive in the U.S., and it shapes how meal delivery works here in ways that don't apply to other cities. Understanding this helps you pick the right service.
Why meal delivery matters in St. Louis right now
St. Louis runs on Provel cheese, toasted ravioli, and gooey butter cake. If you know, you know. But here's the thing: The Hill's Italian restaurants and Pappy's Smokehouse are worth every dollar, but you can't eat there every night when you're pulling shifts at BJC or Mercy, working late downtown, or living in Clayton on a $55k median income. That's where meal delivery makes sense - not replacing the Ted Drewes runs, just handling Tuesday through Thursday when you're too tired to cook and DoorDash is eating 30% of your paycheck.
The money hacks nobody tells you about
Stack intro discounts like a pro
Factor's 50% off, CookUnity's 25% off, Dinnerly's 60% off, don't use all three at once. Use Factor for your first two weeks, pause it. Jump to CookUnity, get their discount. Then Dinnerly. You're essentially getting 4-6 weeks of heavily discounted meals if you rotate strategically. After the intro period, stick with whoever fits your budget best.
Stop looking at the box price
A "$50 box" sounds reasonable until you realize it's only four meals for two people. That's $6.25/serving, not $50 total. Factor at $11.49/meal is more expensive than Dinnerly at $4.69/meal, but both are cheaper than Uber Eats markup. Do the math before you subscribe.
Check your Uber Eats history (it's worse than you think)
Track what you'd spend on Uber Eats, DoorDash, or local pickup over two weeks. Honestly track it. If you're averaging $40/day ($560/month), even Factor at full price ($11.49 × 4 meals × 7 days = $322/month) is a win. If you're eating cheap tacos most nights ($8/day), meal delivery costs more.
Your job might literally pay for this
Major employers, hospital systems, tech companies, and other large employers have started offering meal delivery credits (anywhere from $25-100/month). Ask HR. Some cover meal kits as a wellness benefit. If you can get even partial subsidy, the math gets way better.
The pause button is your best friend
Traveling to Memphis for a weekend? Your family's coming to town and eating out. Broke week. Use the pause button instead of canceling. Pause for one or two weeks, then restart. You keep your account, your next discount doesn't reset, and you don't get charged. Most people don't know this exists.
Real talk: should you even get meal delivery?
I'm not going to pretend meal delivery is for everyone. Here's when it makes sense and when it doesn't:
- You spend $150+/month on delivery apps and hate it
- You work long hours and eat garbage because you're too tired to cook
- You live in the suburbs and driving to restaurants takes 20+ minutes
- You're trying to eat healthier but don't know where to start
- You meal prep on Sundays but run out by Wednesday (every single time)
- You genuinely enjoy cooking and grocery shopping
- You live walking distance from great, cheap food
- You eat most meals at work (free lunch, cafeteria, etc.)
- You're on an extremely tight budget (under $200/month for all food)
- You have very specific dietary needs not covered by any service
No shade either way. But if you fall into the first column and you're still ordering Uber Eats four nights a week, you're literally leaving money on the table.
Questions everyone asks
Meal delivery guides
Explore our in-depth comparisons and buying guides:
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau
- Factor
- CookUnity
- Home Chef
- Sunbasket
- Blue Apron
- Dinnerly
- Pure Plates STL
- fit-flavors
- ful.