The Best Meal Delivery Kits and Services to Fuel Your Miles
If premade meals make you think of super salty TV dinners, think again. Modern-day meal kits and frozen dinners are loaded with fiber, protein, and healthy fats, allowing you to fuel and recover from your workout with little to no cooking. Plus, you can often tailor your meals to different diets, such as keto and paleo, and many are made with organic, plant-based ingredients.
And although some companies will send you all the ingredients needed to cook a healthy meal, others take care of all the prep work, so you can have dinner on the table in less than five minutes, whether you’re at the office, on the go, just coming home for a ride, or, yeah, sitting in front of the TV. Here, you’ll find the best meal delivery services tailored to your dietary needs, time constraints, and cooking skills.
Best for Organic Food: Fresh N’ Lean
Cooking required: no
Average time needed: 4 minutes in the microwave
Price: $9.33 per meal
Fresh N’ Lean will send you a week’s worth of organic meals every Friday. Or, choose a one-time order to test it out. Meal plans are centered around different eating styles: keto, plant-based, paleo, low carb, and high protein; all produce is organic, and all meat is grass-fed or sustainably sourced.
Note: If you’re going the organic route for environmental reasons, it’s worth noting that all of these deliveries require way more packaging than regular ol’ cooking does; something to keep in mind if you’re trying to reduce your carbon footprint.
Tester says: “The portions are on the smaller side, so I wouldn’t count on just one of these after a long workout, but they’re a great way to fuel beforehand without feeling weighed down. You’ll need to add your own spices if you like a little kick.”
Best for Athletes: Kettlebell Kitchen
Cooking required: no
Average time needed: 2 to 4 minutes in the microwave, 6 to 8 minutes in the oven
Price: $8.95 per meal
Choose from 10 different meal plans, including one specifically designed for endurance athletes. You can get hyper personal with your meal plan, too: Include your weight-loss goals, calorie targets, exercise of choice, and frequency of exercise, then the nutritionist-driven algorithm spits out options you can edit based on your taste preferences.
Tester says: “The meals were more filling than similar ones from other companies, and there was a lot to choose from on the site. I definitely suggest adding a side of sweet potato mash to your cart.” Another tester loved the added flavor of the preportioned sauces (think: chimichurri and pesto) and found the meals to taste as close to home-cooked as you can get from a microwaveable meal.
Best for Convenience: Luvo
Cooking required: no
Average time needed: less than 5 minutes
Price: $4.49 per meal
Many meal delivery services send food portioned out for couples or families, but Luvo makes it easy to order as many single meals as you (or your family’s) heart desires. They’re also sold in Target and Wegmans (plus Walmart this August) if you forget to place your order online and just can’t wait. The most popular meals include: Roasted Cauliflower Mac and Cheese, Orange Mango Chicken Bowl, and Chicken Meatballs in Tomato Basil Sauce with Penne.
Tester says: “The four-minute meals really came in handy during a stressful week at work. I especially loved the Mediterranean Kale Gnocchi, which gave me the carbs my stress levels needed—without the crash.”
Best for Weight Loss: Blue Apron x WW
Cooking required: yes
Average time needed: 30 minutes
Price: $9.99 per serving plus shipping
Blue Apron teamed up with WW (formally known as Weight Watchers) for a meal kit that truly takes the guesswork out of healthy eating. Meals range from zero to 15 points in the WW SmartPoints system, and they’re all developed with input from registered dietitians.
Tester says: “I didn’t love the excess packaging, but I could tell the fish was high quality, the serving size was decent (and I’m a 165-pound guy who had just gotten back from a fast 20-mile bike ride), and the spice mix made the meal flavorful.”
Best for Vegetarians/Vegans: Purple Carrot
Cooking required: yes
Average time needed: 30 minutes
Price: $72 for two servings for three nights a week
Purple Carrot is for those who love plants as much as they love variety. The company is committed to never repeating a recipe the entire year and every single one is vegan. Popular meals include a vegan twist on the lobster roll (made with hearts of palm) and a “Philly cheesesteak” made with seitan and vegan mozzarella.
[Find 52 weeks of tips and motivation, with space to fill in your mileage and favorite routes, with the Bicycling Training Journal.]
Tester says: “I liked trying new plant-based recipes—like beet tacos, which I somehow never thought to make before!—but the lunches made me feel a little lazy. I don’t quite need every sandwich ingredient, including two slices of bread, sent directly to my door when I can just whip up a sandwich on the fly using whatever’s in my fridge. IMO, that’s the beauty of a sandwich!”
Best for Families: HelloFresh
Cooking required: yes
Average time needed: 30 - 60 minutes
Price: $14.99 per meal
Lots of meal kits are made for two, but HelloFresh has a family option that makes it easy to whip up healthy meals for the whole household (kits feed two to four people).
Of course, like Blue Apron and Purple Carrot, there is cooking involved. So, if you find that you enjoy spending time in the kitchen, you may soon graduate to cooking the old-fashioned way—with a recipe, a grocery store run, and a prayer. When that happens, try their recipe database for DIY ideas.
Tester says: “Some of the meals took more time than my usual dinner would (wontons!), but they were generally worth it (again: wontons!), and the easy-to-follow recipes made me feel a little more confident in the kitchen.”
Best for Keto Devotees: Green Chef
Cooking required: yes
Average time needed: 30 to 40 minutes
Price: $10.99 per meal
You don’t need us to tell you that following a keto plan can be difficult, but Green Chef (HelloFresh’s more diet-driven sister company) makes it easy with meal plans made for high-fat, low-carb dieters (there are pescatarian, paleo, and gluten-free options, too, plus family plans similar to those of HelloFresh).
Tester says: “Tasty sides, like couscous and chopped beets, made each meal feel well-rounded and not-at-all depriving. Big fan of the salmon.”
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