Are meal delivery services safe?

Food safety is often one of the biggest considerations for shoppers, especially when the food is coming from an external source. Every meal delivery service is different and will use different methods to ensure the safety of their ingredients, some of which can be up to the mail or courier service delivering your food. “A company may do all the things to ensure your box is packed safely, but if there’s an unforeseen disruption in the courier service, that packing effort may be impacted,” says Britanny Saunier, executive director of the Partnership for Food Safety Education . The PFSE advises shoppers to take steps that’ll help ensure the food stays safe. Ask questions. Before ordering, “understand the delivery company’s safety standards and how they respond if food is delivered at an unsafe temperature or appears to have been tampered with,” Saunier says. Be present. Saunier advises shoppers to arrange for delivery when someone is home so the food can be refrigerated or stored quickly instead of being left outside. Examine the box and packaging. When you get your delivery, look for stickers on perishable foods that say “Keep Refrigerated” or “Keep Frozen.” Carefully examine the food items. You should check that the fresh fruits and vegetables you receive are not bruised or damaged. “Harmful bacteria can breed in cuts or bruising of fresh produce,” says Saunier, adding that bacteria can multiply rapidly if food is kept in the “danger zone” between 40 degrees and 140 degrees Fahrenheit for more than two hours. “These steps are no different than if you sourced food yourself from a grocery store or community market,” Saunier says.

9 best meal delivery services of 2023, according to experts

Jan. 21, 2022, 7:16 PM UTC / Updated Oct. 9, 2023, 11:19 PM UTC

By Mili Godio

Decision-making can oftentimes be half the battle when it comes to meal prepping. Or perhaps you have your heart set on a recipe only to realize you just tossed the last of your ingredients. If this is you, you might benefit from a meal delivery service, which either offers a variety of pre-made meals that you can heat up in minutes or the exact ingredients needed for recipes of your choosing, all delivered right to your doorstep. Outside of the overall convenience of these services, experts tell us meal delivery kits can help you explore new foods, refine your cooking skills, save money on groceries and cater to dietary needs like gluten-free or vegetarian.

SKIP AHEAD Best meal kit delivery services | Best prepared meal kit delivery services | How to shop for a meal kit delivery service

To determine the best service for you, we spoke to chefs, nutritionists and recipe developers about what to look for in a meal delivery service and highlighted their recommendations for the best ones to try out.

Selected.Our top picks

Best meal kit service overall
Home Chef
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$79.92
Home Chef
Learn more
Best prepared service overall
CookUnity
$undefined
$73.74
CookUnity
Learn more
Best service for beginners
Blue Apron
$undefined
$90.91
Blue Apron
Learn more
Best gluten-free service
Splendid Spoon
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$120.00
Splendid Spoon
Learn more
Best vegetarian/vegan service
Purple Carrot
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$79.50
Purple Carrot
Learn more

How we picked the best meal delivery services

We talked to our experts about important features to consider when shopping for meal kit delivery services. Here are the most important ones to keep in mind when making your decision:

Serving size: Keep in mind how many people you’re hoping to feed. If you’re only feeding yourself, a single-serve pre-prepared meal is likely best. If you’re feeding a family or partner, look for a customizable plan with multiple serving sizes (typically ranging from two to eight servings).
Dietary restrictions: If you’re gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan or follow any other specific type of diet, look for meal delivery services that offer a variety of options to fit those dietary needs.
Customizability: Are you someone who gets easily bored of eating the same meals or is picky about their food? Look for meal delivery services that provide a weekly rotating menu with several meal options, as well as customizable features like portion size and the amount and type of protein in each meal.
Pricing: The price of meal kit delivery services are based on the quality of meals and ingredients, the frequency of your deliveries, how many people you’re cooking for and the specific meal plan. Keep in mind that more budget-friendly services might not cater to all dietary restrictions or needs, while diet- and lifestyle-specific options typically cost more.
Delivery dates and times: Consider when you’re available to receive your meals to ensure they don’t go to waste. Most services will offer customizable delivery plans to choose what days you want to receive your weekly delivery.

9 best meal delivery services in 2023

With these above features in mind, the chefs and nutritionists we spoke to gave us their specific recommendations for the best meal kit delivery services to try across a variety of budgets, tastes and diets. We separated them into two categories: meal kit services that send out individual ingredients and pre-made meal delivery services.

Best meal kit delivery services

These expert-recommended meal delivery services all feature an option to send separate ingredients and allow shoppers to cook themselves.

Best meal kit delivery service overall: Home Chef

Home Chef

$79.92

Home Chef features a rotating weekly menu with more than 30 meals to choose from. You can also select from a variety of menu options catered to your preferences, including 15-minute meal kits, grill- and oven-ready kits and special occasion meals. Before ordering, you’ll be prompted to take a quiz that personalizes your menu based on your tastes, serving size and delivery preferences. When looking at individual menu options, each meal shows the estimated time it takes to make. The customizability made this a standout service for our experts, who emphasized that you can easily choose the amount and type of protein in each meal. Ben Leonard, a chef and food educator with more than 15 years of experience, says the service is best for “families, kids or people with any dietary restrictions” due to its variety of meal selections and customizable features.

Cost: Starting at $10 per serving, with a minimum weekly order value of $51 | Serving size: 2, 4, 6 or 8 servings | Number of meals: 2 to 6 recipes per week

Best meal kit delivery service for beginners: Blue Apron

Blue Apron

$90.91

Blue Apron offers a number of weekly menu items based on your selected meal plan. Meal plan options include a signature plan that comes with the service’s top chef-favorite recipes, a vegetarian plan and a wellness plan that offers nutritionist-approved, carb-conscious recipes. The prices will also depend on the plan you choose. While Blue Apron does require some cooking chops based on the difficulty level of its recipes, Leonard recommends the service because it’s a good option for beginner cooks that hope to “learn from the beginning and hone their basic skills.”

Cost: Starting at $8 per serving, with an additional $10 for shipping | Serving size: 2 to 4 servings | Number of meals: 2 to 4 recipes per week

Best meal kit delivery service for adventurous cooks: Hungryroot

Hungryroot

$100.15

$143.07

Technically, Hungryroot isn’t a meal kit service. Instead, the Select editor-favorite service is a grocery delivery method that offers a lot of the same benefits and customizations as other meal kits on this list — you take an initial quiz on your preferences and dietary needs, and Hungryroot creates a personalized grocery plan. In addition to delivering fresh food for the week, it also sends you specific recipes based on the groceries you order. You can also edit your delivery every week in case you want a specific ingredient or food item.

With the ability to choose the type of meal you want (breakfast, lunch or dinner) and to customize the groceries you get, Hungryroot essentially “allows you to be a bit more adventurous and cook from the hip, or also follow the recipes exactly,” Leonard says. Former Select editor Morgan Greenwald, who has tried several meal delivery services in the past, says Hungryroot is a perfect fit for her pescatarian diet and was sold on the subscription after trying out several delicious recipes from the service.

Cost: Starting at $65 for three two-serving meals (about $11 per serving) — shipping is an additional $7 for plans under $70 | Serving size: 2 or 4 servings | Number of meals: 2 to 8 recipes per week

Best meal kit delivery service for healthy eaters: Sunbasket

Sunbasket

$163.88

Sunbasket offers both ingredient-based meal kits and pre-made meals, all of which consist of high-quality ingredients and organic produce, according to Sunbasket. You can choose from 10 meal plans, including chef’s choice recipes and pre-made Fresh & Ready meals, as well as paleo, gluten-free, vegetarian and diabetes-friendly options. The Fresh & Ready option lets you receive single-serve meals to heat in the oven or microwave in just a few minutes. If you don’t feel like committing to a single plan, the service lets you mix and match with over a dozen meals from its weekly rotating menu.

Both Lisa Moskovitz, a registered dietitian and CEO of NY Nutrition Group, and Ariane Resnick, a special diet chef and certified nutritionist, recommend Sunbasket as their top choice for healthy meal kits. “It has a variety of options that can be modified for carnivores and strictly plant-based eaters alike,” Moskovitz says. Most of Sunbasket’s packaging is also recyclable or compostable, using sustainable material like recycled and virgin craft paper and 100% shredded recycled paper filling, according to the brand.

Cost: Starting at $12 for meal kits and $10 for the Fresh & Ready meals, with an additional $6 for shipping | Serving size: 2 or 4 servings for meal kits, single-serve for Fresh & Ready meals | Number of meals: 2 to 5 recipes per week

Best vegan meal kit delivery service: Purple Carrot

Purple Carrot

$79.50

Resnick calls Purple Carrot’s meal kits a “wonderful blend of familiar and innovative.” Because the meals are fully plant-based, it can be an easy way for people to “add more plant foods into their diets without having to fully convert to veganism,” she says. Purple Carrot offers both prepared meals and meal kits, so you can choose whether you want to cook, or simply heat up your dinner or lunch. In addition to plant-based meals, Purple Carrot provides several gluten-free recipes to choose from, as well as gluten-free pre-prepared meals. After selecting whether you want meal kits or pre-made meals, you can customize the number of dinners you get per week — these range from two to four meal kits and six to 10 pre-made meals. Deliveries take place on Mondays, Tuesdays or Wednesdays depending on your shipping location, and you can choose to skip a delivery on any given week.

Cost: Starting at $11 per serving for meal kits and $13 per serving for pre-made meals with free shipping | Serving size: 2 to 4 servings for meal kits and single-serve for pre-made meals | Number of meals: 2 to 3 for meal kits or 6 to 10 prepared meals per week

Best prepared meal delivery services

These expert-recommended meal delivery services are pre-made and ready to eat — experts told us you can simply heat them up for an easy meal during the week.

Best prepared meal delivery service overall: CookUnity

CookUnity

$73.74

CookUnity lets you choose from multiple plans depending on how many meals you want to receive per week, with subscriptions ranging from four to 16 meals. The service provides a rotating menu of ready-made options each week, or you can let CookUnity pick them out for you based on your preferences (like your choice of protein) or any dietary restrictions like vegetarian, vegan, low-carb and gluten-free. You can also flag any allergies or foods you don’t like, and the service will notify you if they appear in any meals on the menu.

“I started using CookUnity because I felt like I was spending so much money on groceries but still eating boring food everyday like sandwiches and salads,” says Select’s social commerce editor Sadhana Daruvuri. “I loved that I could enjoy a variety of delicious meals while still spending about the same amount I’d spent on groceries before — there are options for almost every kind of diet, and there are so many meals to choose from that I never got bored of eating it.” It’s also one of Resnick’s favorites: “I appreciate that they provide full ingredient lists, down to the individual ingredients in cheeses,” she says. The meals come fresh and have a refrigerated shelf life of about four to seven days.

Cost: Starting at $10 per meal with free shipping | Serving size: Single-serve | Number of meals: 4 to 16 meals per week

Best affordable meal delivery service: Factor

Factor

$80.94

Factor provides you with a new menu of over 27 dietitian-designed pre-prepared meals each week. The Select staff-favorite meal delivery service caters to a number of dietary needs and preferences, including keto, paleo, low-carb, vegetarian, plant-based and high protein. You can choose from five plans, ranging from four meals to 18 meals per week. Factor also lets you schedule a complimentary consultation with a registered dietitian to answer nutrition questions or determine if a Factor subscription is the right choice for you.

“Factor is incredibly reasonably priced for the quality of health-oriented food they offer,” Resnick says. She especially likes that chefs design the meals but dietitians approve them, and the fact that they don’t cater to just one special diet. “I think a lot of people want to try eating plans like keto and vegan, but don't know where to begin — meal options like this let them explore something new without overcommitting and discover if a diet suits their taste preferences, their individual dietary needs and their budget before diving too deep,” she says.

Cost: Starting at $11 per serving with free shipping | Serving size: Single-serve | Number of meals: 4 to 18 meals per week

Best meal delivery service for most dietary restrictions: BistroMD

BistroMD

$131.88

$219.80

If you’re looking for healthy, ready-to-eat meals, BistroMD lets you choose from over 150 chef-prepared meals based on your dietary needs. “BistroMD prides itself on being ‘doctor-designed’ and therefore is more medically therapeutic than most other companies,” Moskovitz says. You can select from seven different programs: signature (which includes chef-prepared meals for those with limited dietary restrictions), gluten-free, heart healthy (which offers meals containing less than 600 milligrams of sodium and 3.5 grams of saturated fat), keto, vegan, diabetic-friendly and menopause-friendly. Once you choose your plan, BistroMD gives you multiple selections for the number of meals you get per week. The service also offers an EATS (Essential and Tasty Snacks) program that provides healthy snacking options for an additional charge.

Cost: Starting at $7 per meal for the 7-day plan and $8 per meal for the 5-day plan, with an additional $20 for shipping | Serving size: Single-serve | Number of meals: 5 to 7 meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner per week

Best gluten-free meal delivery service: Splendid Spoon

Splendid Spoon

$120.00

Splendid Spoon offers over 50 healthy ready-made meals and snacks that include smoothies, soups and grain and noodle bowls — and everything is gluten-free. You can select between multiple meal plans, including a breakfast plan that includes five smoothies, a lunch option that features five soups and grain bowls or a combination of the two. Some plans also offer a Reset option, which includes low-calorie soups designed for people with digestive issues or for those who want a break from high-calorie foods.

“I recommend Splendid Spoon for anyone who wants healthy meals in a flash — they taste as healthy as they are, which is a downside for some and a bonus for others,” says Resnick, who was sent a few boxes by the brand to try out. She says she enjoys the selection of juices and smoothies and the convenience of thawing one at a time. While you can’t customize the number of meals you get per plan like you can with most other delivery services, Splendid Spoon does let you choose how often you want to receive your meals: weekly, every other week or once a month. The service also offers an On-Demand Box that lets you order food in bulk.

Cost: Starting at $10 per meal and $85 for the plan, with an additional $13 for shipping (free if you order 10 or more meals) | Serving size: Single-serve | Number of meals: 5 to 20 meals per order

Frequently Asked Questions

Meal kit delivery is pretty straightforward — you typically choose from an array of meal plans and serving sizes online and the company sends out a select amount of ingredients for you to make those meals at home. You can also select how many meals you want to receive per week, usually ranging from two to five. Some services will offer pre-made meals rather than just the ingredients, which can be useful for people who don’t necessarily want or have the time to cook.

Meal delivery services usually offer a range of meals or recipes to choose from depending on your tastes, schedule and dietary restrictions. And many services that send you ingredients to cook with allow you to swap out or modify each ingredient to fit your dietary needs or health goals, according Moskovitz. There are also plenty of meal delivery services that specially cater to more challenging dietary restrictions, like gluten-free, dairy-free and animal-free lifestyles. “A meal delivery can make it easier to find meals you can safely tolerate when you can't always rely on unfamiliar restaurants,” Moskovitz says.

There are several obvious benefits to meal kit delivery services: They can help you stick to a healthier lifestyle and conveniently deliver fresh ingredients or ready-to-eat meals right to your door (meaning no more schlepping all your bags,a big plus if you rely on public transportation). Since most services provide you with a specific amount of ingredients for each meal, they can also help you avoid wasting food, Resnick says.

Most of the experts we spoke to told us they prefer meal services that let you cook the meals yourself — this can give you an opportunity to try your hand at cooking and even experience new foods in the process.

“In many ways, a meal kit delivery service can be a good solution to obstacles keeping people out of their kitchen, and they're a great way to introduce people to ingredients they normally wouldn't cook with,” Leonard says.

The type of service you choose can help you achieve your health goals, too. Some services are marketed as healthier or weight loss-friendly, while others simply promise a tasty, home-cooked meal. However, experts told us it’s important to pay close attention to the individual ingredients that come with each meal plan to make sure they align with your objectives.

There are, of course, some downsides to meal kit delivery services. Most ingredients and ready-made meals come individually wrapped in plastic or inside cardboard, creating unnecessary waste on a weekly basis. “It's a lot of packaging that would otherwise be avoided if you were shopping yourself,” Leonard says.

Food safety is often one of the biggest considerations for shoppers, especially when the food is coming from an external source. Every meal delivery service is different and will use different methods to ensure the safety of their ingredients, some of which can be up to the mail or courier service delivering your food.

“A company may do all the things to ensure your box is packed safely, but if there’s an unforeseen disruption in the courier service, that packing effort may be impacted,” says Britanny Saunier, executive director of the Partnership for Food Safety Education . The PFSE advises shoppers to take steps that’ll help ensure the food stays safe.

Ask questions. Before ordering, “understand the delivery company’s safety standards and how they respond if food is delivered at an unsafe temperature or appears to have been tampered with,” Saunier says.
Be present. Saunier advises shoppers to arrange for delivery when someone is home so the food can be refrigerated or stored quickly instead of being left outside.
Examine the box and packaging. When you get your delivery, look for stickers on perishable foods that say “Keep Refrigerated” or “Keep Frozen.”
Carefully examine the food items. You should check that the fresh fruits and vegetables you receive are not bruised or damaged. “Harmful bacteria can breed in cuts or bruising of fresh produce,” says Saunier, adding that bacteria can multiply rapidly if food is kept in the “danger zone” between 40 degrees and 140 degrees Fahrenheit for more than two hours.

“These steps are no different than if you sourced food yourself from a grocery store or community market,” Saunier says.

How to shop for a meal kit delivery service

Experts told us some of the biggest factors to consider include the price per meal, the quality of the ingredients, the amount of time you're willing to dedicate and your own cooking ability. Below, we highlight what to keep in mind.

Pricing

The price of meal kit delivery services vary based on several factors, including the quality of meals and ingredients you’re getting, the frequency of your deliveries, how many people you’re cooking for and the meal plan you choose. More budget-friendly services like EveryPlate and Dinnerly will typically cost around $5 per serving, while most other popular services like HelloFresh will cost anywhere between $8 and $11 per serving. If you’re looking at more premium or diet-specific services like Sunbasket and Green Chef, they will cost you approximately $12 to $15 per serving.

Daniel Shumski, a recipe developer and cookbook author, suggests taking advantage of trial offers. “So many meal kits and delivery services offer great introductory prices — it’s worth trying around to find one that fits your taste and budget,” he says.

Time

The time you’re willing to allocate to preparing, cooking and plating your food can help determine which meal delivery service is right for you. If you’re choosing a plan that sends you all the ingredients, you should be prepared to take the time needed to prepare each dish, says Christine Wansleben, owner and culinary director at Mise En Place, which offers cooking classes, private events and more. You’ll also need to ensure you’re cooking the meals as soon as possible since the ingredients can be easily perishable, she adds.

For those who don’t have as much time during the week, ready-to-eat meal delivery services are typically the best option.

Quality of the ingredients

Generally, meal delivery services have specific rules and procedures in place to ensure their ingredients are high-quality and trustworthy, according to the experts we talked to. But if you’re extremely particular about the freshness and origin of your ingredients, you should likely skip these services and shop on your own.

For those looking to meet specific nutritional goals, Moskovitz recommends paying attention to the individual ingredients in each meal plan, the nutrition facts and the portion sizes. “Don't just assume that because it's homemade or marketed as ‘healthy’ that it's the healthiest option for you,” she says.

Dietary restrictions

Certain meal delivery services will offer a variety of options for those with dietary restrictions. However, Resnick notes there’s one caveat: Those with medical issues, such as shellfish allergies or celiac disease, should be mindful of possible cross-contamination.

“Companies are usually forthright about shared equipment, but eaters with food intolerances should exercise caution,” she says. “That said, for special diets that are usually choice-based, such as veganism or low carb, I think these services are an excellent choice.”

Delivery dates and times

Before committing to a specific plan, you should consider when you’ll be able to receive these meals to avoid ingredients spoiling or not getting delivered, according to Resnick. Most services will offer customizable delivery plans to choose what days you want to receive your weekly delivery — if you know you won’t be there, most services will let you skip a week (but keep in mind there is usually a cutoff time to select this option).

Meet our experts

At Select, we work with experts who have specialized knowledge and authority based on relevant training and/or experience. We also take steps to ensure that all expert advice and recommendations are made independently and with no undisclosed financial conflicts of interest.

Lisa Moskovitz is a registered dietitian and the CEO of NY Nutrition Group. She is the author of “The Core 3 Healthy Eating Plan,” a program that focuses on simple and sustainable ways to lose weight.
Ariane Resnick is a special diet chef and certified nutritionist. She’s also a recipe developer and has written about nutrition, health, wellness and identity for a variety of platforms, including The Kitchn, Livestrong and Simply Recipes.
Ben Leonard is a chef and educator for companies and brands nationwide, including Sur La Table, Greenpan and more.
Daniel Shumski is a recipe developer and author of several cookbooks, including “How to Sous Vide” and “Will It Skillet?”
Christine Wansleben is a professional chef and the owner and culinary director at Mise En Place in Richmond, Virginia.
Britanny Saunier is the executive director of the Partnership for Food Safety Education.

Why trust Select?

Mili Godio is an editor at Select who has extensive experience covering meal delivery services, including prepared, gluten-free and vegetarian meal services. For this article, Godio spoke to six experts about what to consider when shopping for a meal delivery service and how to determine the best one for you. They also shared their favorite meal delivery services to try out.

Catch up on Select’s in-depth coverage of personal finance, tech and tools, wellness and more, and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok to stay up to date.

Mili Godio

Mili Godio is an updates editor for Select on NBC News.