25 Best Meal Delivery Kits For People Who Aren't Great Cooks

There are two types of people in this world: those who are fabulous cooks with an endless supply of ideas ... and then, pretty much everyone else. And while the first type may love spending their time in the kitchen putting together a recipe, the rest of us are looking for a little help — with many of us these days turning to technology to make mealtime easier.

While we're still pretty far away from receiving our groceries by drone (as The Future of Customer Engagement, Experience, and Commerce predicts), technological advancements in e-shopping have certainly been aplenty. Instead of schlepping to the grocery store today, you can now have pretty much whatever you want brought to you on-demand. And with meal kit delivery services popping up left and right, there's no shortage of tasty meals that require only some prep at home, or even none at all, arriving at your door totally prepared.

According to a July 2021 survey conducted by consumer research platform Piplsay, 48% of Americans said that they tried a meal kit service at least once over the past year, with 26% saying they've tried such services several times. What's more, 20% of the survey-takers said that they ordered heat-and-eat kits versus cook-and-eat kits.

For those ready to try this mealtime trend themselves, or perhaps are curious about a particular meal delivery company, we can help. We've done the research and sorted through the names, the types, portions, and options, and have found 25 of the best meal delivery kits for those people who may not be great cooks but who appreciate good food.

Green Chef stands behind its claim of being the most sustainable meal kit on the market. The company offers recyclable packaging and was the first meal kit to use ClimaCell, a non-toxic, recyclable insulator. Green Chef also offsets 100% of every shipment's carbon emissions, so you know what you're ordering isn't doing more harm than good.

Green Chef's environmental standards are top-notch, but its meal delivery options are also pretty remarkable. It offers meal plans catered to every type of dietary lifestyle, such as high-protein keto, vegan, and vegetarian meals. Meals like the Parmesan-crusted Chicken With Hazelnuts and Marinated Tomatoes or the Sesame-Ginger Bavette Steak and Shrimp sound mouth-wateringly delicious, and what's more, Green Chef's pricing hovers around $6.50 per serving.

This is a service that ships the ingredients for you to prepare so if you've wanted to feel like a chef without the effort of shopping and measuring, this could be a great option. Also, we love that all Green Chef meals are ready in 35 minutes or less so you can spend less time over the stove and more time enjoying your meal.

First thing's first, Every Plate advertises that you can order its box for only $4.99 per serving: This includes four meals for two people. There are meat, seafood, and veggie options, so there are no restrictions or limitations there. This is a meal kit service that bucks luxury and wants everyone to eat freshly prepared food. The company keeps its packaging costs down and offers simpler menus, while its boxes include all the ingredients to make each recipe as well, so no need to provide much from your own kitchen. 

Although Every Plate says it keeps the menu simple to keep costs down, there are around 19 meal options to choose from each week, which means even picky eaters should find a few meals to choose and try. Dishes like the Jammin' Fig Pork Chops With Green Beans and Crispy Potatoes or the Sweet and Spicy Ponzu Pork Meatballs With Roasted Carrots and Buttery Rice are the stuff comfort food dreams are made of.

At first glance, Gobble seems pretty similar to other meal kits on the market. It offers a variety of weekly options, including meals to fit a range of dietary preferences. You can also choose the number of serving sizes you'd like to have with each delivery, and a meal kit is delivered to you based on a frequency that you determine. What makes Gobble different, however, is that Gobble kits come together in less than 15 minutes! 

How exactly does Gobble pull that off? Well, if you've been sent a broccoli stir-fry, for example, the broccoli may be already chopped, your carrots will come already grated, and the sauce for the stir-fry will come pre-made by the Gobble team. So you get to stir, pour, and prep for 15 minutes, and voila! Time to eat. Three Gobble meals for two people ends up costing around $14.99 per serving.

If you want the satisfaction of cooking without the time commitment, Gobble may be a great option for you.

Once upon a time, Marley Spoon was your run-of-the-mill food delivery service. That all changed in 2016, when the company partnered with the Martha Stewart brand and underwent an image overhaul (per USA Today). From then on, Marley Spoon has been officially known as Martha Stewart & Marley Spoon and all recipes have received the queen of hospitality's stamp of approval.

Today it seems rather similar to other meal kits, but we like that each recipe has only six steps. And of course we love that the boxes contain Martha's favorite spice blends. There are, of course, options for dietary preferences, but the menu looks like it leans more toward meat. Dishes like the Cottage Pie Topped With Scalloped Potatoes and the 20-minute Honey Garlic Pork Cutlets sound like winners and will be around $8.49 per portion (plus shipping).

If you're someone who's fascinated by the world of cooking, or at least the personalities in the business, you might want to give Marley Spoon a spin.

"Eat more plants." As purveyors of bright and vibrant plant-based meals, that's Purple Carrot's motto and based on its sample menu with dishes like Black Sesame Gnocchi, Kimchi Tofu Stew, and the Buffalo Tempeh Quinoa Bowl, it sounds like this company really practices what it preaches. 

But what we love about Purple Carrot is that it actually offers more than just dinnertime meal kits. There are also breakfast kits, like for Tropical Coconut Pancakes, which sound like one of the easiest ways to get a cozy, delicious at-home breakfast in short order. And then there are the freshly prepared meals that work for a dinner at home when you're working late, but also as a delicious lunch option to take on those days when you have to work from the office.  Three dinners for two will be around $11.99 per serving.

Purple Carrot also offers what it calls a "plantry" to grab grocery odds and ends, such as miso and aioli.

Home Chef is another meal kit service that offers what has come to be standard for meal kit delivery businesses today: a rotation of meals each week and an option to select meals based on dietary preference. But Home Chef stands out because its selection leans more toward heartier and more traditional fare.

What's more, omnivores can rejoice because Home Chef does not shy away from the meat, with plenty more meat-based options than vegetarian. For the steak-and-potato eaters (which happens to be an actual menu item), Home Chef has an exciting array of dishes. The One-Pan Italian Sausage Pasta With Swiss Fondue stands out, as does the BBQ Cheddar Burger. Home Chef might also be the perfect option for flexitarians, or those who are plant-based sometimes and then go heavy on the meat other times.

Meals start at $8.99 per serving but you'll have to sign up and enter your contact information to see detailed pricing information. And, as an added bonus for anyone who lives near a Kroger, Home Chef is part of the Kroger family so you can find some prepared meals in Kroger supermarkets around the country to give it a try before you commit to a subscription.

Sunbasket boasts healthy meals for any lifestyle. Its dishes are colorful and while there are some meat options, it leans more toward plant-based. So in many ways Sunbasket may seem similar to its meal delivery peers today; however, Sunbasket is uniquely equipped with a team of chefs and dieticians to ensure the meals offered are as balanced and as healthy as Sunbasket claims them to be, providing customers with some added reassurance. At $11.49 per serving, a Sunbasket order is about the same cost as picking up dinner to go.

According to the Sunbasket website, meal delivery generates 25% less greenhouse gas than grocery store shopping. So the company developed an admirable three-pronged mission that focuses on delicious and high-quality ingredients, sustainability and waste reduction, and giving back. In fact, every week, Sunbasket gives around 1,000 pounds of food to food banks around the country. 

Sunbasket's menu consists of an inclusive selection of gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, and vegan dishes, like the Lemongrass Tofu and Rice Noodles With Basil-Cilantro Puree or the Rainbow Quinoa–Black Bean Tacos With Guacamole and Cabbage Slaw, but it's really Sunbasket's goal to be green that makes this San Francisco-based company an even more exciting meal delivery option.

Dinnerly prides itself on being an affordable meal plan for picky eaters. Its recipes are done in five steps or fewer, and so the brand is also hoping to appeal to those who either don't have much time or don't want to spend too much time cooking. 

Dinnerly is able to charge less than other brands as well because it's cut costs elsewhere. So instead of paper recipe cards, for example, Dinnerly's digital recipes are accessible online. Also, the ingredients are simpler so there are less ingredients to buy. It's a great approach: a more streamlined, simplified meal delivery service, and it starts at only $4.69 per serving.

The pricing is certainly appealing and it's possible to browse through Dinnerly's meals though the view menu tab at the top navigation. If you're curious about its most recent menu options, you can also peruse through Dinnerly's Instagram feed. Dinnerly is a no-frills food delivery option for those on a budget, but there are better meal delivery options for those who want more flexibility and transparency.

Chances are, you've heard of HelloFresh, which claims to have changed "the way people eat forever." The company was founded in Germany but has branched out to become an international meal delivery service, one that checks all the boxes: It's easy to skip or cancel a week; it has a rotating menu to fit every dietary preference; and at around $7.99 per meal, it's not terribly priced.

For those who have eating preferences that are all over the place, HelloFresh has you covered, with burgers, pastas, salads, chowder, chicken and rice, and more on the menu. Its recipe cards are easy to follow, and its home-cooked meals are done in less than an hour (some take only 20 minutes). HelloFresh also shares its menu options for the next six weeks so you can decide if you want to opt in or opt out.

Picky eaters will likely find some recipes they like at HelloFresh because it offers simpler, less adventurous (but delicious-sounding nonetheless) fare — meal options like One-Pot Spicy Coconut Curry Stir-Fry or the inspired Apricot, Almond & Chickpea Tagine.

Freshly brings a nice twist to the meal delivery game. Instead of supplying customers with kits for them to put together themselves, the company sends completely prepared meals that are perfectly portioned for one person. After a long day at work (either at the office or at home), it's nice to have a dinner option that tastes home-cooked and is ready in a matter of minutes. A Freshly subscription will run you from $8.99 and up per serving (plus shipping).

Like many of the other meal delivery services, Freshly offers a varied menu, one with more than 30 items to choose from. The smallest meal plan starts at four prepared meals per week so it's a lovely option to keep in the fridge on the days you don't want to cook. Think of it as a fresher, healthier, more natural TV dinner. Menu items like Street Eats Thai Basil Beef and Chicken and Pumpkin Parmesan Risotto sound like satisfying ways to unwind after a day on the job.

Freshly also occasionally teams up with superstar chefs like Kwame Brown and Kristen Kish to add limited-edition meals to its lineup.

Launched in 2012, Blue Apron is one of the original meal kit delivery companies, according to Food Box HQ, which means it's had plenty of time to tweak its service and menu, as well as establish itself as a trusted meal delivery service. It offers a lot of the same features as other meal delivery services like flexible ordering (with the option to pause) and meal options for all types of dietary preferences. Two people can have three meals per week for the cost of $8.99 per serving.

Its meals are colorful and fun with sheet-pan options like Italian Pork Roast, Pancetta and Beef Bolognese, and Tofu Katsu With Soy Mayo. But what truly sets Blue Apron apart from the competition is its wine pairing. For $69.99 a month, Blue Apron sends six mini bottles of wine to your door, complete with tasting notes and pairing tips. The wines are chosen to pair with Blue Apron meals, making it an easy way to have an elevated dinner experience.

As a more traditional grocery delivery, Hungryroot is somewhat of an oddball on this list. It's not actually a meal delivery service, so don't expect any prepared goods here. If you consider yourself a bad cook with no sense of where to start in the kitchen, let Hungryroot do the hard part. For around $65 per month, you pick a menu and Hungryroot will ship you the specific groceries. Yes, you'll have to cook the meal yourself, but the recipe comes included, providing you with the guidance you will need. 

You can also order pantry staples from Hungryroot as the service offers the usual suspects like proteins, bread and bakery items, dairy, and snacks. Think of Hungryroot as a grocery delivery to keep you aligned with your time-management goals. You do take a quiz with your dietary preferences but the catch is that you won't see the grocery items in your delivery until after you've checked out.

Oh, and if you're really, truly opposed to putting together a dish on your own, Hungryroot has a small selection of ready-to-eat options.

Veestro is one of the few truly plant-based meal delivery programs out there today; it offers a la carte options as well as flexible weekly menus. In fact, it seems to be one of the few services that has absolutely no meat or seafood options: Every single item on the menu is vegan. In fact, Veestro doesn't even use honey.

Depending on your preferences, you may also appreciate that the por'k component of its Pulled Por'k With Quinoa Patty is made of jackfruit. Some menu options, like the Meatless Lasagna, use Impossible Burger (Made From Plants), so if you opt to stay away from meat substitutes, you may want to choose your menu carefully. A five-day plan, consisting of three meals a day, will cost around $12 per serving.

There's also a weight-loss menu that's designed to spread 1,200 calories across three meals a day. And for those who are vehemently against cooking, Veestro meals require no prep work and ship to you ready to heat and eat.

Sakara has chic branding to suck you in, and a very cool (and practical) model to keep you interested. The company has built its meal delivery service on nine pillars of nutrition, which include concepts such as no calorie counting, eat the rainbow, and enjoy sulfur-rich veggies. It definitely sounds more nuanced than other nutrition-based programs.

Sakara's signature nutrition program is packed with ready-to-eat meals like the Pad Thai With Kelp Noodles and the Maple Sweet Potato Bowl With Tricolor Quinoa and Sautéed Spinach. But there are also meal plans aimed at helping you to detox, get you ready for a wedding, or help to reset your body in 10 days. Further, Sakara's online shop is also stocked with a la carte snacks and supplements like vitamins, water drops, and teas. 

But good health and well-curated organic food don't come cheap. Three days of meals from Sakara will set you back $239.

Wouldn't it be great to have a chef to cook you dinner every night? You can, of course, go through the trouble of hiring (and paying) a private chef, but a meal delivery service like Cook Unity might actually be your best bet.

At around $13.49 per meal for the four-meal-per-week option, it's certainly not the cheapest of meal delivery service; however, if you just can't wrap your head around the difference between a chop, a dice, and a mince, then maybe it's worth it to enlist the help of star chefs. 

Cook Unity uses a chef-to-consumer model to deliver ready-made meals that are portioned for one person. Because the contributing chefs all have different influences, there's no real theme here. There is the option to sort Cook Unity's menu by dietary preferences, like vegan, seafood, keto, or Whole30, but note that you may find only one meal in each of those categories.

On the other hand, if you're an omnivore with an adventurous palate and a passion for trying out different types of dishes, then Cook Unity's menu options will likely entice you. Think Chicken Adobo Over Coconut and Garlic Fried Rice and Korean-inspired Gochujang Baby Back Ribs.

For a lot of people, it's easy to eat conveniently, and it's easy to eat healthy, but it's not always simple to combine both. That's where Daily Harvest comes in; it helps you reach your wellness goals by shipping you ready-to-blend smoothies, bowls, soups, and bakes.  

There's no chopping or stirring here. All items come shipped to you frozen and ready to prepare, which, for most of the items, means heating them up and/or mixing — though, you may need to blend a smoothie or two. So if you are someone who has zero interest in gaining kitchen skills, you might take a liking to Daily Harvest.

The company's Cremini + Miso Oat Bowl and Leek + Fonio Grits Bowl, for example, send the message loud and clear that Daily Harvest wants to help you eat clean, vegan, and organic. Its smoothie lineup combines flavors like banana and almond butter, mint and cacao, and chocolate and hazelnut. Daily Harvest does operate on a "build-a-box" model, where you can add certain quantities of items from a certain category to your box. The many categories and options mean your pricing will change quite a bit based on what you select.

According to a 2019 CDC survey, only 12.3% of Americans were meeting their fruit intake recommendations. Even more shocking, only 10% met the recommended vegetables intake. For those who find it hard to consume the 1.5-2 cups of fruits and 2-3 cups of vegetables a day, a smoothie and whole foods delivery could be just what you're looking for. May we introduce Splendid Spoon, a meal delivery service that ships prepared smoothies and plant-based eats right to your door.

If you find it hard to eat healthy day in and day out, let Splendid Spoon do the heavy lifting. Its Chocolate Cherry Smoothie, for instance, sounds like a start. It's made with cacao for improved blood flow, cherries to boost muscle function, and potassium-rich bananas.

Plant-based food options like Splendid Spoon's Vegetable Bolognese Grain Bowl, made with tomatoes, shiitake mushrooms, and wild rice instead of wheat pasta, also sound delicious. Splendid Spoon offers a full reset program, which consists of breakfast, lunch, and dinner items, or you can pick and choose the meals you want. A one-week reset of smoothies, soups, grain bowls, noodles, and light soups for five days will run you around $165, but as the saying goes, health is wealth!

Fresh n' Lean is the wellness accountability partner you didn't know you needed. In addition to its unwavering commitment to flavor, this meal delivery service promises organic, gluten-free meals that are prepackaged and ready to eat in three minutes. There are also vegetarian options, and even a few vegan plates. The BBQ Chicken With Broccoli and Quinoa sounds promising, as does the Shrimp With Sumac Carrots and Chickpeas. 

But the tricky thing about meal plans is what to do in those in-between times. The time after the last meal and hours before the next can sometimes seem unending. So during those times when you just crave a bit more to eat, Fresh n' Lean offers suitable snack options, like smoky BBQ almonds and hearty granola.

Fresh n' Lean's Whole30 Meal Plan (although it has a bunch of others) includes five entrees and costs around $15.43 per meal, so on the pricier side. But, to have a foolproof way to keep you on top of your fitness goals, it doesn't seem like such a steep price to pay.

Health experts estimate that there are approximately 2 million people in the United States living with Celiac disease (via the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases). But there are also millions more living with gluten sensitivity and wheat intolerances. For these individuals, there is now a meal delivery service catered to them especially, that addresses their specific health needs.

Snap Kitchen is the only meal delivery that offers 100% gluten-free meals. The company's meals are also free of antibiotics, preservatives, and hormones.

The Ranch Burger (sans bun, of course) With Roasted Parmesan Broccoli sounds delicious, as does the Jerk Chicken With Mango Salsa and Dirty Rice. Snap Kitchen's smallest option (six meals a week) costs $12.67 per meal. It might be a bit pricey but considering protein is often the most expensive component of a meal, according to Verywell Fit, the pricing checks out.

While it was once the shining star of the food-delivery world, Fresh Direct seemed to fade out of public view in recent years. For one, there were distribution problems, which led to customer complaints (via The New York Times), and then there was the rise of Fresh Direct competitors.

Today, Fresh Direct is still in business and a reliable grocery delivery at that, but it's also now expanded into meal-kit territory, offering its own selection of do-it-yourself meals. It may be hard to build a weekly routine off of these, since they're meant to be add-ons to your regular grocery order, but they do look tempting nonetheless. The Roasted Lemon Herb Chicken (with warm vegetable and spinach salad), for example, looks like it's straight out of a magazine. To try and achieve this glossy meal in your own kitchen, the process will take close to an hour, so not super quick (and cost $24.99 for two servings).

In addition to its line of meal kits, Fresh Direct also offers quicker heat-and-serve meals: an assortment of express-prepared meals that are ready to enjoy after a few minutes in the microwave.

Yumble co-founder Joanna Parker was a teacher turned stay-at-home mom of three kids when she realized just how stressful it was to plan and cook several meals a day for her growing family. In response, she went searching for options to make her life a bit easier, and when failed to find any that truly met her specific needs, she created Yumble. This heat-and-eat meal delivery service for kids focuses on sourcing regional and sustainable ingredients that are compiled into balanced, kid-friendly recipes. 

Yumble serves fun meals like Chicken Mozzarella and Homemade Meatballs, and each box comes with fun little activities like stickers to help make mealtime more engaging. Yumble was created with the nutritional needs of kids ages 1-12 in mind. This said, while there are many great things about this box, it isn't recommended for children with severe food allergies, as cross contamination from common food allergens at the processing facility is a possibility.

With a bright orange logo and an Instagram feed that's plastered with mottos like "Do what feels good," there's no doubt Territory Foods is attractive. But how does the food compare to the slick aesthetic? The company says it values high-quality ingredients that are high in nutrients and are sustainably sourced. You'll see meals that run the gamut from vegan to Whole30 to Mediterranean, as well as an option to opt out of ingredients you want to avoid.

Territory also offers plenty of variety with over 35 options weekly, like its Cuban Pork Bowl With Plantains and Garlic-Cilantro Mojo Sauce or the Aji Verde Chicken. But what's interesting about Territory is that there are different chefs who prepare the dishes, and the food is all prepared locally so there might be different menu options for customers in Brooklyn compared to those living in San Francisco. It drives home the company's mission to make the world better by empowering everyone to make better decisions in their day-to-day lives.

FlexPro is a Kansas City, Missouri-based meal delivery box for the person who wants to eat semi-healthy, but maybe isn't ready to go all in right away. It offers high-protein, low-sugar, and low-carb meals, which certainly sounds like a committed foray into the world of eating healthily, but meals like Cuban Empanadas, Carbonara Pizza, and FlexPro's Greek Lasagna also sound like dishes that are still full of flavor.

There are also keto, breakfast, and power treats as part of FlexPro's offerings. For $76.93 for a weekly seven-meal box, FlexPro is actually on the more reasonable side of a healthy food delivery service. Meals are delivered completely prepared but also flash-frozen, so unlike heat-and-eat meals, it's a bit more difficult with FlexPro to quickly satisfy a sudden craving. You'll need to plan your meals ahead of time: Let the meals thaw in the refrigerator for 24 hours before you dig in.

Butcher Box is probably the least traditional delivery option on the list. Yet somehow, the concept of high-quality meat delivered to your doorstep harks back to a time when butchers had a close relationship with many families. 

It's not a meal delivery service, as much as it is a meat delivery service. But since knowing what kind of meat to pick may be just as important as knowing how to cook it, this box gets any clueless cook headed in the right direction.

Butcher Box's three tenets are quality, value, and convenience and with ”100% grass-fed beef, free-range organic chicken, humanely raised pork, and wild-caught seafood," it's clear that Butcher Box aims to deliver only the very best meats.

One 8-11 pound box of mixed meats is $137 and enough to last around a month for a one- or two-person household. Butcher Box includes some recipes on its website but it doesn't seem as though it includes any in the delivery box, so you will have to get crafty if you opt for this service.

Pete's Paleo works on a weekly schedule. Just place an order by Monday and the meals will be delivered to you by Friday. The nice thing about Pete's Paleo is that it takes the guesswork out of following a Paleo diet, but it also chooses the meals for you. The company presents a list of 10 meals each week and if you get the five-meal plan, for example, you will get meals 1-5. The menu is seasonal.

The service's Winter Bacon Scramble, Citrus and Sage Turkey Roulade With Beets and Radishes, and Chicken Meatloaf With Kale and Roasted New Potatoes all sound hearty — but also healthy. All meals are dairy-free, gluten-free, sugar/sweetener-free, and soy-free, and for those who want to get into the nitty gritty of their nutrition, Pete's Paleo also provides macronutrients for each meal. Five meals costs around $98, which isn't bad considering there's absolutely no cooking required.