Meal delivery gaining in popularity
Meal delivery services have quickly saturated the market as a healthier way to eat if: you aren’t someone who likes to cook, if you generally dine out or don’t have much time to prepare meals. Convenience has become a staple in our society and that includes the way we eat. Most people are aware that eating out all the time gets expensive and it also becomes impossible to track how well you’re eating. This is because there is no way to know how your food is prepared and the ingredients that are being used. Meal delivery services help give you control over what you are eating by allowing you to choose your meal options and see the ingredients used.
Choosing the best meal delivery service for you
There are a lot of meal delivery companies now competing for your purchase. Too many options can lead to a lot of confusion and uncertainty. Let me decipher what key items you should be looking for when making your selection.
Macro-friendly
First, you want to make sure the meals are macro-friendly meaning there is a good balance of fats, carbs, and protein. A higher protein rich meal will keep you fuller longer and it will help you avoid the water bloat from too many carbs. Protein is essential to your body’s repair of muscle tissue and every cell in the body.
Portion Size
Portion size is also important. Some meal prep services offer you tiny servings that will leave you still hungry, but if you thrive on eating smaller more frequent meals throughout the day smaller portions might be the way to go!
Prep time and Ingredients
You may also want to consider how many ingredients are involved with each meal and the amount of prep time. If your goal is to save time you may be less drawn to companies like Blue Apron and HelloFresh. Instead you may be interested in Gobble, Dinnerly and EveryPlate who are in the fewer-ingredients-and-less-prep arena. GoReadyMade and Epicured are other meal options that involve no prep work at all. All you have to do is heat them up and they are ready to eat!
What’s going to appeal the most to your palette? If you are someone who enjoys worldly flavors, EveryPlate or TakeOut Kit might be more in your ballpark but, if you are a picky-eater you’re better off with trying a company like Dinnerly.
Dietary Restrictions
Certainly if you have any food restrictions you want to look at companies like Sun Basket or Green Chef because they offer menus to suit all of your dietary needs. Purple Carrot is another option that appeals to vegan lovers.
Pay attention to the reviews because the most well-known brands aren’t necessarily the most well-received. Home Chef, which is owned by Kroger, has one of the highest customer satisfaction ratings out of all the top-rated home delivery services.
Prices
Price comparison is important to consider when choosing the right delivery service for you. From what we’ve seen prices can range from $4.99 per serving plus shipping to $12.00+ per serving plus shipping. Below are the cheapest meal delivery service options ranked in order from lowest to highest. Click the link above for coupons you can use to try them all.
Service | Price Per Serving |
|---|---|
EveryPlate | $4.99 ($8.99 shipping) |
Dinnerly | $5.75 – 6.50 ($8.99 shipping) |
TakeOut Kit | ~$7.75 (free shipping) |
HelloFresh | $7.49 – $8.99 ($6.99 shipping) |
Blue Apron | $7.49 – $9.99 (free shipping) |
Marley Spoon | $8.99 – $12.99 (free shipping) |
Freshly | $8.99 – $12.99 (free shipping) |
Home Chef | $9.95 (free shipping on orders $45+) |
Plated | $9.95-$11.95 (free shipping on orders $60+) |
Sun Basket | $10.99-$11.99 ($6.99 shipping) |
Green Chef | $10.99-$12.99 ($5.99 shipping) |
Purple Carrot | $12.00 (free shipping |
Meal delivery services cut back on spending and waste
Initially, you might see signing up for a meal delivery service as an added expense but, when you think of cost per meal it’s much cheaper than dining out or even ordering in from seamless.
Even if you grocery shop and prepare your own meals, portioned meals reduce more waste and the number of groceries you end up purchasing. Rather than having to purchase an entire bushel of broccoli to make one recipe that only calls for a few stalks you receive the exact portion you need so none goes to waste. Fresh produce doesn’t hold up well for very long so if you buy more than you need for one sitting from the grocery store chances are a lot of it ends up in the trash.
Meal deliveries offer something for everyone
There are enough companies now offering home meal deliveries so there is at least one that appeals to everyone. Most are customizable to suit your needs. They offer fast-track service to guarantee you have a healthy meal whenever you need it. Unlike seamless, many of these companies even offer environmentally friendly packaging that is either recyclable or biodegradeable so you don’t have to discard harmful plastics.
You can save time and still eat to your own healthy standards instead of relying on fast food. You can do this while helping the environment. By creating healthier dietary habits you’re better able to manage your weight and overall health. Sounds like a win win if you ask me!
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