How it works: Users begin the process by taking an online quiz to determine which meal plan is the best for them, including answering questions on any dietary preferences and restrictions. Lab results: Our experts love just how many different meal kit options Home Chef offers, whether you're looking to get something on the table fast for the family or want to indulge in a more special premium cooking experience.

And you don't have to order a crazy number of meals to unlock their lowest pricing. While it may not be the lowest-cost meal delivery kit on the list, it's definitely less than other big names out there, and the quality is top-notch. You can check to see what items you'll need to have on hand for each meal and also get full nutrition facts readily available for every recipe on their website, but our registered dietitians do point out that the sodium content is very high on some of the meals.

Great taste! I was very pleased," a tester said. Another commented, "It's always hard to find new dinner ideas; these are a perfect variety to keep everyone in your family happy and full. Those looking for more plant-based fare will appreciate the hearty vegetarian offerings from Mosaic.

You'll find everything from veggies and pizzas to smoothies, soups and oat bowls. The brand uses high-quality ingredients, choosing organic and local options when possible. How it works: Start by selecting your plan, which includes six, 12 or 18 options per box you'll get more savings the more you order.

Then fill your box with a variety of plant-based breakfast, lunch and dinner options. Meal filters include vegetarian, vegan, wheat-free, nut-free and high-protein.

Select what you'd like or have Mosaic build a box for you based on customer favorites. You'll then determine how often you'd like to receive deliveries, ranging from weekly to monthly. All of the meals are delivered frozen with free shipping on 12 and 18 item boxes.

Testers were impressed with how tasty the veggie-forward meals were, with one saying, "Delicious! So flavorful for frozen meals. We were impressed. Made eating plant-based so easy.

At the Good Housekeeping Institute , we test all types of food products and services, from healthy snacks and supplements to food subscription boxes and meal delivery services. Our experts are committed to bringing you the best of the best when it comes to quality, performance, flavor, nutrition and more.

In our most recent study of meal delivery services, we recruited more than at-home testers across the nation, while our in-house experts also tested the services in our Labs.

All in all, we evaluated over 40 different meal delivery services , ranging from traditional kits that come with pre-measured ingredients and a follow-along recipe card to fully prepared options.

We tested the services over the course of three months. For each service, we tried a total of 15 or more meals across our experts and testers. We are currently and constantly testing new offerings in this category to keep readers up-to-date.

In the end, we made our selections based on expert evaluations and tester feedback in the categories of overall satisfaction, food quality, cost, recycling efforts and availability.

Our top picks cater to a wide variety of dietary preferences, including gluten-free, low-carb, high-protein and more. Although taste is subjective, we ultimately chose companies that scored high points overall with testers.

When finding the best meal delivery service to fit into your lifestyle and budget, there are a few key things to consider:. There are also options that fall in between: Food is partially prepped and requires minimal extra work to get a balanced meal on the table quickly.

You'll want to take a look at the plans the different services offer and keep in mind that while some services may start at a low price that is for a large order. You'll typically be able to check the price ahead of ordering, so you can see how much it will cost for your specific needs and servings per week.

If you are cooking for more than four people, check to make sure the service will accommodate your family, as some services only serve a max of four people per meal. Frozen meals can avoid waste whereas fresh options can spoil if not eaten immediately.

Most services allow you to skip a week and adjust your plan along the way, which can be a strategy to help keep costs down if you can't use the food quickly. Some options, like Dinnerly, have robust vegetarian menus, for example, whereas other services may offer only a handful of vegetarian meals to choose from each week.

Certain services will let you customize further and swap out proteins, which can be beneficial. Most services will give you a discount on the first box and additional discounts if you are a first responder or in the military.

And if you know a friend or family member who is using the service, you may both get a discount for the referral. Some meal delivery services can be pricey — and most also involve shipping fees. But it's worth keeping in mind that they also tend to be healthier and less expensive than takeout.

There's also the benefit of skipping a trip to the grocery store and not having to spend time coming up with meal ideas and hunting for recipes. Many meal kits offer assistance with meal prepping, chopping and more , cutting down on prep time too. You'll also get the opportunity to learn new cooking techniques and try new foods that may not be in your regular mealtime rotation.

If you'd rather not bust out all your pots and pans every night, prepared meal delivery services can also offer a smart solution. While prepared options do come at a premium, you're ultimately paying for the convenience, which may be worth it for you.

These types of melas are typically comparable with the cost of takeout but have one standard shipping fee since the meals come together. This article was originally written by registered dietitian Amy Fischer.

It was most recently updated by registered dietitian and Good Housekeeping Institute Nutrition Director Stefani Sassos. As a dietitian and working mother, Stefani is passionate about putting balanced meals on the table for her family without having to spend a ton of time or money at the grocery store.

She personally uses meal delivery services as a way to change up her family's normal dinnertime routine and to get introduced to a variety of new foods and unique preparation methods. Stefani is dedicated to providing readers with evidence-based content to encourage informed food choices and healthy living.

She is an avid CrossFitter and a passionate home cook who loves spending time with her big fit Greek family. She holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Miami University of Ohio and a master's degree in clinical nutrition from NYU. Prior to Good Housekeeping , she worked at one of the largest teaching hospitals in New York City as a cardiac transplant dietitian.

She has authored numerous chapters in clinical nutrition textbooks and has also worked in PR and marketing for food company start-ups. The 9 Best Multivitamins For Men. The Best Thread Count for Sheets.

The Best Japanese Knives. Smoothies are the perfect way to use up yogurt, bananas and frozen berries, and my kids love them as after-school snacks. Lately we've been crazy about salted roasted chickpeas, the best one-ingredient snack you'll ever make. And none of us can turn down a square of dark chocolate with a schmear of peanut butter after dinner.

Apples or any leftover fruit , peanut butter, canned chickpeas. Apple-Peanut Butter Smoothie. Crunchy Roasted Chickpeas. A number of our meals this week incorporate a few pantry staples that I often have on hand.

Here's what I'll rely on this week. Note: I did not include these items in my budget, but included approximate cost per serving for reference. With a bit of planning and creativity, you can feed your family a week's worth of nutritious meals for a little more than what you'd spend at a restaurant for one meal.

Use this healthy meal plan on a budget as inspiration to make the most of your grocery budget without sacrificing taste or variety! See all of our other healthy meal plans and healthy dinner plans.

Use limited data to select advertising. Create profiles for personalised advertising. Use profiles to select personalised advertising. Create profiles to personalise content. Use profiles to select personalised content. Measure advertising performance.

Measure content performance. Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources.

Develop and improve services. Use limited data to select content. List of Partners vendors. Healthy Eating Budget Cooking Guide. By Carolyn Hodges, M. EatingWell's Editorial Guidelines. Reviewed by Dietitian Victoria Seaver, M.

Victoria Seaver is a registered dietitian and Associate Editorial Director for EatingWell. She completed her undergraduate degree in nutrition, dietetics and food science and her masters degree and dietetic internship at the University of Vermont.

Victoria has been a part of the EatingWell. com team since In This Article View All. In This Article. If you find yourself eating out or ordering out regularly, meal delivery companies could also help you save money.

Many meal delivery services also feature well-balanced, nutritious meals that prioritize fresh produce and healthy protein sources. They can be a good way to introduce your family to healthier meals. Finally, meal kit services often feature large selections of meals from different types of cuisine.

They can add some much-needed variety if your dinners have been feeling stale. There are two different types of meal delivery services: prepared meal delivery and meal kit delivery. Prepared meal delivery services send single-serving meals that are completely cooked.

They only require reheating and they may be sent fresh or frozen. Meal kits, on the other hand, consist of weekly shipments of recipe cards and all the corresponding ingredients to cook those recipes. There are five main factors to consider when choosing the best affordable meal delivery service for your household.

For individuals, prepared meals may be more convenient, but meal kits are often a better choice for families. Families who follow specific diets like gluten-free, vegan or keto will need to choose meal delivery services like Purple Carrot or Green Chef, which are more expensive than some others.

Additionally, if you eat organic that will limit your options as well. Only Green Chef offers exclusively organic meal kits. Finally, you should review the menu before you sign up and make sure that there are plenty of options that you and the other members of your household will enjoy. When choosing a meal delivery service, what to avoid really comes down to your personal preferences and budget.

Fortunately, you can view the menu for all of these services on their websites before signing up. In fact, I have tested all of the services on this list for myself, in addition to several others. We were able to use my first-hand experiences to help guide our decisions for the best cheap meal delivery.

Additionally, we considered price per serving, specialty diets and customer reviews to ensure that we included highly-rated meal kits that offered affordable options for people with many different dietary needs and preferences. Meal delivery services are weekly subscriptions that send pre-prepared meals or meal kits with recipes and ingredients to your door each week.

Some, like Nutrisystem, send monthly shipments. Meal delivery services are available at a wide range of prices. Many of them cost around eight to ten dollars per serving, but they can range from five to fifteen dollars per serving.

Meal delivery services can be a good fit for athletes, depending on their unique nutrition needs. Typically, athletes need to prioritize protein intake and may need to time their carbohydrate intake around athletic events.

Most meal delivery services feature protein-rich meal options and you can adjust the size of your carbohydrate serving if needed. Cheap meal delivery services can save your family hours each week. Although they are typically more expensive than grocery store prices, there are several affordable options that can save money compared to regular dining out.

Be sure to choose a meal kit that fits within your budget, is a good fit for your dietary needs and contains plenty of options that your household enjoys. Sign In. SI Tickets. SI Shop. Deals Fitness Health Nutrition SI Tickets SI Shop Sleep Tech.

A lot of meal delivery services have really good discounts on the first few boxes. You could possibly cycle thru them and use different jav-way.site › Roundup Our pick for best overall cheapest meal delivery service goes to Dinnerly. Depending on the number of meals you order, meal kits can cost

Cheap meal plan deals - Blue Apron is an affordable meal kit delivery service with prices that start at just $ per serving. They top our list because of their A lot of meal delivery services have really good discounts on the first few boxes. You could possibly cycle thru them and use different jav-way.site › Roundup Our pick for best overall cheapest meal delivery service goes to Dinnerly. Depending on the number of meals you order, meal kits can cost

This signup offer is for one the best meal healthy delivery services we've tried. Want to see how much I liked it? Read our Fresh N Lean review. Good Chop has the chops -- pork, specifically -- along with excellent cuts of beef, organic chicken and a range of seafood options.

You can try it for much cheaper than that. You can pause or cancel your Good Chop subscription at any time. Green Chef has some of the best healthy meal kits we've tried, using largely organic produce and ethically raised meats.

Green Chef is a little more per serving than other meal kits, but you'll taste it in the final dish. Full review of Green Chef here. Another of our favorite healthy delivery services is ModifyHealth.

The company is a great option for those with digestive issues and offers dozens of healthy meals for those keeping to a low-FODMAP, gluten-free, low-carb or heart-friendly diet. And the meals are ready to go so you can just heat them and eat them right away, prep-free. Read the full review here.

Other popular prepared meal services such as CookUnity and Fresh N Lean are ready to send premade, ready-to-eat dinners to your doorstep, at per-serving prices that are far cheaper than takeout.

I've tried most of them and they're all pretty solid, with differences to consider depending on your budget, diet, taste and kitchen skill level. You can check out CNET's roundups of the best meal kit delivery services and best healthy food delivery services for a more detailed taste.

Remember, nearly all of these meal kit companies let you pause or cancel anytime, so the risk and commitment when signing up for a meal kit service is minimal.

Whether you're looking for ways to eat healthily, learn to cook new recipes or just make fewer trips to the grocery store this summer, a healthy , versatile and budget-friendly meal delivery deal can help you do it on the cheap.

These offers were valid at the time of publication, but they can end at any time and may be restricted by geography and other cookie-based conditions in your browser. If you don't see a deal populate, try in a new window or private browser. In the meantime, if you've already tried one or more of these, tell me which ones and what you liked or didn't like.

My advice: Take advantage of each and every one of these offers making sure to pause or cancel after, unless you want to continue. You can see which service you like best and get super cheap takeout-style meals for weeks at a time. Virtually all of the services we tried allow you to pause or cancel any time just in case you don't love it, so there's almost no risk after the deal is up.

Although you may have to unsubscribe from their email blasts. Most brands just want you to try out the meals and see if you dig them and those brands are willing to make it very easy and cheap to do that. To make things easier, we already tried the top meal kits and meal delivery services so you'll know exactly what to expect and you can pick the best food delivery deal for you and your tastes.

Meal Delivery. Dieting Program Guides. Vitamin and Supplement Guides. Why You Can Trust CNET. Best Online Meal Delivery Deals for February Don't foolishly pay full price for meal kits. David lives in Brooklyn where he's spent more than a decade covering all things edible, including meal kit services, food subscriptions, kitchen tools and cooking tips.

Since earning a BA in English from Northeastern in Boston, he's toiled in nearly every aspect of the food business, including as a line cook in Rhode Island where he once made a steak sandwich for Lamar Odom. Right now, he's likely somewhere stress-testing a blender or researching the best way to make bacon.

Anything with sesame is his all-time favorite food this week. Expertise Kitchen tools, appliances, food science, subscriptions and meal kits. See full bio. David Watsky. See at Daily Harvest. Daily Harvest. See at EveryPlate. See at Purple Carrot.

Purple Carrot. See at HelloFresh. Because I deal with multiple food allergies and intolerances in our family, we lean towards recipes that make for easy and straightforward substitutions or changes. I'm acutely aware of the challenges that you go through and create plans with that in mind.

If you are not satisfied, for any reason whatsoever, just let us know and we'll refund your last payment immediately. It's as simple as that. Reclaim Your Sunday Nights Let us plan your meals. Try it free for 14 days and reclaim your life. join the 35, families who have tried us risk free!

Start My Free Trial Today! Stephanie Nampa, ID. Michelle Wilmington, DE. Criston Saskatchewan, CAN. Andrea Louisville, KY. Leslie Berlin, WI. Theresa Seabrook, TX. Do you have these questions or concerns? Meats do you use in addition to chicken and fish?

Do you send out newsletters about your new recipes and ways to save. At the grocery? hanks for your kind words, Marla! I also occasionally with add in fish since Aldi has the frozen fillets for such a reasonable price. And then I add in ground beef or ground turkey whenever I can find it cheap and the same with bacon, sausage and ham.

I love buying a big ham when they are cheap over the holidays and then I cook it up and cut it into bite sized pieces and freeze it in small portions typically 1 to 2 cups.

This gives me a nice supply of ham to use in soups or other dishes too. I do the same with turkeys over Thanksgiving. Yes, I do send out newsletters semi-regularly. I try to share my new posts in the newsletter as well as other tips and ideas that I think my audience of busy, frugally minded moms might find helpful.

You can sign up here if you are interested! Your email address will not be published.

Cheap meal plan deals - Blue Apron is an affordable meal kit delivery service with prices that start at just $ per serving. They top our list because of their A lot of meal delivery services have really good discounts on the first few boxes. You could possibly cycle thru them and use different jav-way.site › Roundup Our pick for best overall cheapest meal delivery service goes to Dinnerly. Depending on the number of meals you order, meal kits can cost

Peanut Butter-Banana Cinnamon Toast. We keep lunch extra-easy in my house with snack-style lunches for the kids and salads or rice bowls for the adults. Meal-prepping a few ingredients in advance minimizes cooking during the week and allows everyone to help assemble their own lunch. I like to have a couple of protein options, a batch of cooked grains, and some washed lettuce and cut vegetables on hand.

Check out our best base recipes for meal prep for inspiration for what to make. Eggs, canned black beans, brown rice, leftover vegetables from dinner.

Egg Salad Lettuce Wraps. I rely heavily on a well-planned dinner menu because this is where I spend the bulk of my grocery budget plus it ensures I'm not scrambling to find something to serve come 6 p. I'll plan on three easy recipes plus a night of repurposing the leftovers. Because our evening schedule can be unpredictable, I'll pick up ingredients for a pantry meal that won't go to waste if I end up not cooking one night.

Make your own menu or try one of our budget dinner plans. Lentils, cabbage, beef stew meat, sweet potatoes, eggs, canned salmon, black beans.

Easy Vegetarian Chili. Baked Eggs in Tomato Sauce with Kale. Sweet Potatoes with Warm Black Bean Salad. Easy Chicken Fried Rice. American Goulash. I like to plan snacks and treats based on one or two staples or on ingredients that are already part of the meal plan.

Smoothies are the perfect way to use up yogurt, bananas and frozen berries, and my kids love them as after-school snacks. Lately we've been crazy about salted roasted chickpeas, the best one-ingredient snack you'll ever make. And none of us can turn down a square of dark chocolate with a schmear of peanut butter after dinner.

Apples or any leftover fruit , peanut butter, canned chickpeas. Apple-Peanut Butter Smoothie. Crunchy Roasted Chickpeas. A number of our meals this week incorporate a few pantry staples that I often have on hand. Here's what I'll rely on this week.

Note: I did not include these items in my budget, but included approximate cost per serving for reference. With a bit of planning and creativity, you can feed your family a week's worth of nutritious meals for a little more than what you'd spend at a restaurant for one meal. Use this healthy meal plan on a budget as inspiration to make the most of your grocery budget without sacrificing taste or variety!

See all of our other healthy meal plans and healthy dinner plans. Use limited data to select advertising. Create profiles for personalised advertising. Use profiles to select personalised advertising. Create profiles to personalise content. Use profiles to select personalised content.

Measure advertising performance. Measure content performance. Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources. Develop and improve services. Use limited data to select content. List of Partners vendors.

Healthy Eating Budget Cooking Guide. By Carolyn Hodges, M. EatingWell's Editorial Guidelines. Reviewed by Dietitian Victoria Seaver, M.

Victoria Seaver is a registered dietitian and Associate Editorial Director for EatingWell. She completed her undergraduate degree in nutrition, dietetics and food science and her masters degree and dietetic internship at the University of Vermont. Victoria has been a part of the EatingWell. com team since In This Article View All.

Lab results: Our experts were very impressed with the variety and quantity of meals that Dinnerly offers, and they appreciate that the brand is able to remain affordable without sacrificing flavor or quality.

Testers were really impressed with the abundance of meals to choose from and just how tasty they were. But testers did note that some items came un-bagged in the box and that even though the recipes require only six fresh ingredients, you'll often need to work in a few basic additional items of your own.

That said, you can see in advance what ingredients they will send and what you'll need to have on hand. Many also noted that they would have preferred printed recipe cards, though Dinnerly does give you the option to print the recipe yourself at home.

You'll also find only basic nutrition information like calories and macronutrients on the recipes. The most inexpensive meal delivery kit out there, EveryPlate was launched by the popular HelloFresh a few years ago as a budget-friendly alternative.

The company is able to keep costs down by using less packaging and simple, accessible ingredients. How it works: Choose from either a two-person or four-person plan with three to six meals per week.

Lab results: Even though EveryPlate was the cheapest meal delivery kit we tested, both our experts and testers gave it top scores across the board. Although the offerings lean more toward the comfort-food side, our dietitians noted that it easy to find the nutrition facts for each meal readily available on the website.

More expensive services will package the food in individual bags or containers, but the food from EveryPlate doesn't come particularly well-organized in the box.

This was one of the few complaints from testers, as some of the items were scattered around the box in transit. Some testers also said that certain meals took longer to prepare than the time stated on the recipe cards. That being said, the meals are great value for the price, and testers loved how easy they were to prepare.

I also found the cooking instructions less complicated," a tester commented. Another said, "I like that EveryPlate has simple directions and comes with everything you need even stock packets to get your meal going.

This delivery service has been popular in the meal kit game since and focuses on easy-to-follow recipes. On its website, HelloFresh shares its own week price comparison study analyzing customers' costs versus the cost of shopping at nationwide grocery stores and found that HelloFresh is significantly cheaper than grocery shopping.

How it works: Choose a plan for two or four people and from two to six meals per week. Upgrades and add-ons are available as well, and there are over weekly menu options. Lab results: HelloFresh provides a solid meal delivery kit, with everything neatly packed into little bags with separators making the experience feel very organized and seamless.

The packaging in general also proved superior to other services we tested in terms of both performance and sustainability. Our experts like that full nutrition information and entire recipes are available on the site so you can get a preview before you commit to a particular meal. Allergens are listed per meal as well.

Testers appreciated the number of recipes, with one saying, "I liked that it seemed to have a lot of variety of meals to choose from. One tester said, "It allowed me to try new foods, minimize food waste and save time planning meals for the week.

Rated as our best overall meal delivery kit , Blue Apron offers high-quality ingredients, inventive recipes and lots of options for different dietary needs, including WW.

How it works: Choose to feed two or four people, and select from two to four meals per week. Their signature chef's faves menu offers a mix of meat, fish and WW-recommended recipes; the vegetarian menu highlights meat-free dishes with seasonal produce and the wellness menu focuses on balanced meals approved by nutritionists and WW-recommended dishes.

Lab results: Everything in the kits came well packaged in little bags to keep things organized. Full nutrition facts labels are available on the site, along with the complete recipes and ingredient lists.

Our registered dietitians also loves the variety of WW-recommended meals for those trying to get creative in the kitchen and still manage their dietary goals.

Both our pros and testers agree that the ingredients are fresh and high-quality, with testers giving the service rave reviews and noting that the recipes were creative and full of flavor.

The recipe cards offered simple step-by-step instructions, and the meals had substantial portions. The ingredients are perfectly measured, packaged well and fresh. Home Chef offers boxes that feed up to six people per meal , which is more than other services.

They provide plans that include both pre-portioned ingredients with easy-to-follow cooking instructions, as well as low- or no-prep meals for busy families. How it works: Users begin the process by taking an online quiz to determine which meal plan is the best for them, including answering questions on any dietary preferences and restrictions.

Lab results: Our experts love just how many different meal kit options Home Chef offers, whether you're looking to get something on the table fast for the family or want to indulge in a more special premium cooking experience.

And you don't have to order a crazy number of meals to unlock their lowest pricing. While it may not be the lowest-cost meal delivery kit on the list, it's definitely less than other big names out there, and the quality is top-notch.

You can check to see what items you'll need to have on hand for each meal and also get full nutrition facts readily available for every recipe on their website, but our registered dietitians do point out that the sodium content is very high on some of the meals.

Great taste! I was very pleased," a tester said. Another commented, "It's always hard to find new dinner ideas; these are a perfect variety to keep everyone in your family happy and full.

Those looking for more plant-based fare will appreciate the hearty vegetarian offerings from Mosaic. You'll find everything from veggies and pizzas to smoothies, soups and oat bowls.

The brand uses high-quality ingredients, choosing organic and local options when possible. How it works: Start by selecting your plan, which includes six, 12 or 18 options per box you'll get more savings the more you order. Then fill your box with a variety of plant-based breakfast, lunch and dinner options.

Meal filters include vegetarian, vegan, wheat-free, nut-free and high-protein. Select what you'd like or have Mosaic build a box for you based on customer favorites. You'll then determine how often you'd like to receive deliveries, ranging from weekly to monthly.

All of the meals are delivered frozen with free shipping on 12 and 18 item boxes. Testers were impressed with how tasty the veggie-forward meals were, with one saying, "Delicious! So flavorful for frozen meals. We were impressed. Made eating plant-based so easy.

At the Good Housekeeping Institute , we test all types of food products and services, from healthy snacks and supplements to food subscription boxes and meal delivery services. Our experts are committed to bringing you the best of the best when it comes to quality, performance, flavor, nutrition and more.

In our most recent study of meal delivery services, we recruited more than at-home testers across the nation, while our in-house experts also tested the services in our Labs.

All in all, we evaluated over 40 different meal delivery services , ranging from traditional kits that come with pre-measured ingredients and a follow-along recipe card to fully prepared options. We tested the services over the course of three months. For each service, we tried a total of 15 or more meals across our experts and testers.

We are currently and constantly testing new offerings in this category to keep readers up-to-date. In the end, we made our selections based on expert evaluations and tester feedback in the categories of overall satisfaction, food quality, cost, recycling efforts and availability.

Our top picks cater to a wide variety of dietary preferences, including gluten-free, low-carb, high-protein and more. Although taste is subjective, we ultimately chose companies that scored high points overall with testers.

When finding the best meal delivery service to fit into your lifestyle and budget, there are a few key things to consider:. There are also options that fall in between: Food is partially prepped and requires minimal extra work to get a balanced meal on the table quickly.

You'll want to take a look at the plans the different services offer and keep in mind that while some services may start at a low price that is for a large order. You'll typically be able to check the price ahead of ordering, so you can see how much it will cost for your specific needs and servings per week.

If you are cooking for more than four people, check to make sure the service will accommodate your family, as some services only serve a max of four people per meal.

Frozen meals can avoid waste whereas fresh options can spoil if not eaten immediately. Most services allow you to skip a week and adjust your plan along the way, which can be a strategy to help keep costs down if you can't use the food quickly.

Some options, like Dinnerly, have robust vegetarian menus, for example, whereas other services may offer only a handful of vegetarian meals to choose from each week. Certain services will let you customize further and swap out proteins, which can be beneficial.

Most services will give you a discount on the first box and additional discounts if you are a first responder or in the military. And if you know a friend or family member who is using the service, you may both get a discount for the referral.

Some meal delivery services can be pricey — and most also involve shipping fees. But it's worth keeping in mind that they also tend to be healthier and less expensive than takeout. There's also the benefit of skipping a trip to the grocery store and not having to spend time coming up with meal ideas and hunting for recipes.

Many meal kits offer assistance with meal prepping, chopping and more , cutting down on prep time too. You'll also get the opportunity to learn new cooking techniques and try new foods that may not be in your regular mealtime rotation.

If you'd rather not bust out all your pots and pans every night, prepared meal delivery services can also offer a smart solution. While prepared options do come at a premium, you're ultimately paying for the convenience, which may be worth it for you.

These types of melas are typically comparable with the cost of takeout but have one standard shipping fee since the meals come together. This article was originally written by registered dietitian Amy Fischer.

It was most recently updated by registered dietitian and Good Housekeeping Institute Nutrition Director Stefani Sassos. As a dietitian and working mother, Stefani is passionate about putting balanced meals on the table for her family without having to spend a ton of time or money at the grocery store.

She personally uses meal delivery services as a way to change up her family's normal dinnertime routine and to get introduced to a variety of new foods and unique preparation methods.

Stefani is dedicated to providing readers with evidence-based content to encourage informed food choices and healthy living.

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