According to the US Department of Agriculture, the average American adult spends approximately 44 minutes shopping for groceries per trip. This doesn’t even account for the time spent on meal prep and clean up, which the same report shows takes up to an hour.
It’s no surprise that the meal delivery industry has boomed in the last few years since it helps people skip the grocery store, save time in the kitchen, and potentially spend less money by reducing food waste.
But before you jump on the bandwagon, check out our research so you’re fully informed about what our top picks for the best meal delivery services have to offer you.
Our Top 10 Best Meal Delivery Services for 2023:
- HelloFresh – Best meal delivery service overall
- Home Chef – Best for flexible plans
- Factor – Best for dietician-approved, restaurant-quality recipes
- Martha & Marley Spoon – Best for improving your culinary skills
- EveryPlate – Best for affordable, family-friendly meals
- Green Chef – Best for organic ingredients
- Nutrisystem – Best for losing weight
- Fresh and Easy – Best for comfort meals with little to no prep
- Freshology – Best for heat-and-serve meals catering to diets
- Trifecta – Best for pre-prepared, low-calorie meals
A simple and healthy way of eating
HelloFresh makes it convenient to enjoy wholesome, fresh meals with minimal prep. Ron Stewart, a former corporate executive chef at Pastini, tested HelloFresh and was “surprised at the quality of ingredients and ease of putting together exceptional meals,” calling their recipes “delicious as well as nutritious and balanced.”
Each week, HelloFresh lets you choose from over 100 breakfast, lunch, and dinner recipes. Every kit includes straightforward, step-by-step recipe cards with fresh, pre-measured ingredients to help you get dinner on the table in under an hour.
This service is best for individuals and households without strict dietary requirements, though they offer low-carb and lower-calorie meals too. It’s possible to separately review ingredient information for each meal before ordering, including nutritional value and allergens, and any additional items you may need.
Why we chose HelloFresh: You can easily adjust or cancel your food delivery and subscription at any time. Meals are not overly complicated and reduce the need to buy ingredients in addition to what’s delivered for each recipe.
Our experience: We liked that HelloFresh lets you know ahead of time what cookware you’ll need so you can get cooking as soon as your delivery arrives. It was extra convenient that their extensive menu also let us swap out proteins.
Swap out or double your protein options
Home Chef is a meal service designed for cooks of any skill level. Each delivery provides recipe cards with step-by-step instructions and photos. Research by Hartmann et al. shows that enhanced cooking skills encourage healthier eating habits and thus improve nutrition. This makes Home Chef an excellent tool to achieve better health, by teaching you new recipes and techniques.
Choose from over 20 recipes each week and swap out proteins to your liking. Home Chef lets you filter and eliminate recipes with specific allergens, such as. Tree nuts, peanuts, sesame seeds, mushrooms, fish, and shellfish. However, they can’t guarantee their meals are entirely free of cross-contamination.
Why we chose Home Chef: Their pre-portioned, partially prepared ingredients simplify and expedite food prep and clean up, while eliminating food waste.
Our experience: We found Home Chef’s recipe cards easy to follow and meals sizable enough to feed a hungry adult comfortably. We liked that we could save our recipe cards in a binder (included in your first order) for reference at any time.
Ready to heat and eat on arrival
HelloFresh makes it convenient to enjoy wholesome, fresh meals with minimal prep. Ron Stewart, a former corporate executive chef at Pastini, tested HelloFresh and was “surprised at the quality of ingredients and ease of putting together exceptional meals,” calling their recipes “delicious as well as nutritious and balanced.”
Each week, HelloFresh lets you choose from over 100 breakfast, lunch, and dinner recipes. Every kit includes straightforward, step-by-step recipe cards with fresh, pre-measured ingredients to help you get dinner on the table in under an hour.
This service is best for individuals and households without strict dietary requirements, though they offer low-carb and lower-calorie meals too. It’s possible to separately review ingredient information for each meal before ordering, including nutritional value and allergens, and any additional items you may need.
Why we chose HelloFresh: You can easily adjust or cancel your food delivery and subscription at any time. Meals are not overly complicated and reduce the need to buy ingredients in addition to what’s delivered for each recipe.
Our experience: We liked that. HelloFresh lets you know ahead of time what cookware you’ll need so you can get cooking as soon as your delivery arrives. It was extra convenient that their extensive menu also let us swap out proteins.
