These Ready-To-Eat Meals Are So Much Better Than Your Fave Dine-In Options

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There's only so many hours in the day, and when you've just gotten home after a tiring, long afternoon—or when you're relaxing and just don't want to pull away from that movie—cooking is the last thing you want to get up and do when hunger strikes. But prepared meal delivery services are here to save the day and your stomach.

Best prepared meal delivery services

Whether you're craving a high-protein soup or a healthy fruit smoothie, prepared meal delivery services can deliver breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a snack straight to your door, so that you don't have to spend an hour or more following a recipe. These services make it easy to satisfy your hunger and try new foods without the extra prep work. Plus, since so many services offer options for different dietary needs, you can also customize your meal options so that they are in line with your fitness or dietary goals, like weight loss, lowering your sugar, and more. Before browsing the plethora of options out there, though, make sure you do your research.

What to consider

Here's what you should keep in mind when deciding on a prepared meal delivery service:

Meals per week

When shopping for a prepared meal delivery service, you should think about how often you want to receive your meals. "Many meal delivery services offer a variety of options when it comes to frequency in meals per day and meals per week," says registered dietitian Erin Palinski-Wade. For example, some services allow you to opt for daily meals or a set number of weekly options, or they allow you to choose whether you want to receive breakfast, lunch, or dinner. You should keep in mind that most meal delivery services are not great for serving families, says Palinski-Wade. "Few services can provide a large variety to accommodate different health needs or nutrition needs for every family member (from children to adults)."

Diet options

Before deciding on a meal delivery service, determine whether it matches your dietary needs. "Meal delivery services can include diet options such as keto, paleo, vegetarian/vegan, and gluten-free, so be sure to find one that matches your individual needs," Palinski-Wade says. You should also find a prepared meal delivery service that will help you meet any dietary goals. "If you are using these plans to lose weight, you’ll want to find calorie restricted meal plans. If blood sugar balance is key, you may look for lower carb options," Palinski-Wade says.

Cost

Another thing you'll want to determine is whether the service's pricing fits into your budget. "Prices can vary depending on the quality of ingredients, portion sizes, and customization options," Palinski-Wade says. When compared to grocery-shopping you may have to pay more to get prepared meals delivered to your home, but when you take into account the convenience and time you save, it may be worth the added cost. "[Also], if you factor in the amount of food waste that can often occur with home grocery shopping, the higher price range may not actually be as high as you might think," Palinski-Wade adds.

Additional considerations

Other things you can take into consideration when deciding on a prepared meal delivery service are ingredient quality, portion sizes, variety of meals offered, ease of customization, and the overall convenience of the service when making your decision, Palinski-Wade says. You should also check whether the service actually delivers to the area. "Be sure that not only does the food match your dietary needs, but the timing/schedule/cost also works for your needs and lifestyle as well," Palinski-Wade says.

How we selected

For the past few weeks, Women’s Health editors, including lifestyle and commerce editor Jasmine Gomez, have been testing and researching the most popular, top-rated prepared meal delivery services. We also consulted registered dietitian Erin-Paslinski-Wade for her insight and recommendations regarding prepared meal delivery services. Together, we compiled a list of the best options for every budget and preference.

Ready to add some yummy meals to your weekly menu without the hard work of cooking them on your own? See below for the six best prepared meal delivery services, tested by editors and a registered dietitian.

Meal Delivery Service

As a frequent traveler and someone with an on-the-go lifestyle, associate health and wellness editor Tianna Soto loves that Factor provides smooth delivery, and meals that are easy to prep and well-balanced so they still align with her nutrition goals, she says. "Factor 75 is SO delicious—I was literally shocked at how good it was from the first bite—and their meals have saved me time and energy over the past few weeks," Soto says. For her delivery, Soto ordered mostly keto-friendly and protein-packed meals. "My favorites are the Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken with Zucchini Noodles and Cavatappi & Shrimp Scampi, but all were amazing," she says.

Soto also likes that the process of picking meals is super easy, with the hard part being just actually remembering to choose. If you don't, they'll pick the meals for you, which isn't ideal if you have allergies. She actually received something she was allergic to on a week she forgot to choose.

Her only other con is that the box of meals that gets delivered is pretty big and comes with giant ice packs which aren’t necessarily the easiest to dispose of/recycle, she says.

Read more: Factor Meals Review

Meal Delivery Service

For some, a vegan diet can feel very restricting, but Sakara Life fights back against that misconception. The service features a ton of fun recipes like a honeydew salad, bbq flatbread, and deconstructed eggplant parm. In our previous review of Sakara life, Women's Health contributor Neha Tandon raved about the high quality of the meals she ate. "I was personally overjoyed to find out that I could eat foods like cake and burgers that weren't overly-processed like some vegan alternatives can be," Tandon says. As opposed to typical diet options like keto or paleo, the brand's diet options focus on wellness goals, like a metabolism reset or gut health boost, which is a cool pivot from other meal delivery services.

But the meals will definitely cost you. Sakara Life is pricier than other services, going as high as over $400 per week. It's worth the money, Tandon says, though—even if just for a week. "If you're like most of us and can't afford to subscribe to the full program for years on end (though tbh, I'm manifesting it), I recommend doing it for even just a week—perhaps before a big event where you want to feel your best." Sakara Life isn't cheaper than buying groceries, but the convenience and wellness benefits may be worth the cost.

Read more: Sakara Life Review

Meal Delivery Service

Assistant love and life editor has become a fan of CookUnity's fresh meals after testing the service for a few weeks. "I was pleasantly surprised by CookUnity's meals," she says. "The previous meal kits I've tried have left me hungry after and craving protein, but not CookUnity." When you sign up for a subscription CookUnity allows you to choose from a menu of weekly meals, though you can set your preferences to have them pick for you. "Not only are the meals delicious and super satiating, but they're also cooked the day they arrive at your doorstep, so they're super fresh," Aloian adds.

She says she specifically loves that each meal comes with the name and photo of the chef who cooked the meal, which adds a touch of personalization to the service, giving it a restaurant-like experience that's not typical of prepared meals. Aloian's only complaint so far is that there isn't much variety in meals at times. Though she specifically opted for meat meals, she received three steak meals within the same week, she explains, which, for her, isn't ideal.

Read more: Best Meal Delivery Services

Subscription Box

You may be more familiar with Blue Apron's meal kits, which make it super simple for you to prepare a restaurant-ready meal using pre-portioned ingredients and detailed instructions. But, it's the brand's prepared meals that deliver that same delicious taste Blue Apron's meals are known for without taking on prep work.

Soto is currently trying the service, and she was particularly a fan of their buttery noodles pictured here. "I loved this meal from Blue Apron! I came home super hungry from work one day and it was really helpful to have a pre-made dinner ready for me," she says. Soto is also a fan of the brand's packaging because it ensured the food arrived fresh using ice packs and it was smaller than packaging from other prepared meal delivery services, she explains.

Blue Apron's Prepared & Ready Meals launched just this past January, so the verdict's still out, but so far Soto is a fan and is looking forward to trying more meals. The only con we've noticed so far is that the service doesn't allow you to order meals designated for different times of the day, like breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Instead, they offer general options that allow you to decide when you want to eat them.

Meal Delivery Service

If you're looking for a service that prioritizes organic ingredients and helps you keep your nutrition/fitness goals in mind, Fresh N'Lean, recommended by Palinski-Wade, is a solid pick. "These ready-to-heat meals can be customized to a variety of dietary needs from keto to vegan and everything in between," she says. "They offer a large variety of menu options and allow the flexibility to order individual meals all the way up to 14 meals per week." Additionally, if you don't want to get a subscription, the service also allows you to order meals a la carte. Fresh N' Lean sources most of their ingredients from a local farm in California. You can also see how many grams of protein and carbs each meal has right from the ordering menu—no need to track down a nutrition label.

On to the not so great—shipments tend to arrive between Friday and Saturday, and if you prefer another day of the week, the service you requires to pay extra. Also, while some reviewers loved the overall taste of the meals, some found that the portion size was a little too small to be satiating in certain meals.

Meal Delivery Service

If you're looking for a veggie or vegetarian meal delivery service, Palinski-Wade recommends Thistle. "This meal delivery service is ideal for anyone wanting to add more plants into their diet or looking to eat a vegan or vegetarian meal plan," she says. "The service offers a full week of menus that are delivered fresh and ready to eat one to two times per week."

One thing we love about Thistle is that it incorporates seasonal ingredients into their meals, so for example watermelon radishes in the spring. Palinski-Wade also likes that the meal options include a variety of entrees, snacks, and desserts that make it easy to increase plant-based protein and fiber daily.

While the meal options are super tasty, one thing to keep in mind is that Thistle doesn't deliver everywhere, though. You can check whether your zip code is in their delivery area on their site. Some customers have also complained about meals not arriving on time or at all.

Meet the expert

• Erin Palinski-Wade is a registered dietitian and certified diabetes care and education specialist at EKP Nutrition Communications.

Are prepared meal delivery services worth it?

They can be. "Whether a meal delivery service is worth it or not will depend on your budget and how much time a delivery service can save you," Palinski-Wade says. "If you are looking for convenience and an easier way to eat nutritious meals, then a meal delivery service can absolutely be worth it." On the other hand, if you're on a budget or need to cater to a household with people of different dietary restrictions, a delivery service may not be the right fit for you, she adds.

Is it cheaper than buying groceries?

If you look at it strictly financially, it likely isn't. "In general, grocery shopping tends to be more cost-effective than meal delivery services due to lower ingredient costs and the ability to control spending by purchasing in bulk," says Palinski-Wade. But the cost comparison between meal delivery services and buying groceries depends on many factors like the quality of ingredients, portion sizes, frequency of meals, and individual shopping habits, she adds.

But meal delivery services can help you save time, thanks to their convenience. "If the time saved is valuable to you, this will definitely compensate for the higher price point of the delivery service," Palinski-Wade says. You may also save money if you have a household that tends to have a large amount of food waste from groceries going bad before you use them. "In that case, a meal delivery service may actually save you money in the long run," Palinski-Wade adds.

Read more about the best meal delivery services

Best Meal Delivery Services | Best Vegan Meal Delivery Services | Best Mediterranean Diet Meal Delivery Services | Best Whole 30 Meal Delivery Services | Sakara Life Review | Factor Meals Review

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