Best Prepared Meal Delivery Services
If you don’t have the time to cook (or you’re just not into spending time in the kitchen) and you’re tired of relying on takeout, a prepared meal delivery service can be a lifesaver. Instead of having to decide what to make or order every day, you can preorder fresh or frozen meals to be delivered straight to your door once a week. Even better, the meals you’ll get from these services are usually a lot healthier than restaurant food, with less fat, salt, sugar, and other additives.
So, what’s the best prepared meal delivery service for you? The answer will depend on what you want from your food—whether you’re looking for the best value, the most options, or the healthiest ingredients. Generally though, the best prepared meal delivery services offer accessible prices, an assortment of food options to choose from to suit a variety of diets, and bundles/subscription options if you want to get meals on a frequent basis.
Selecting a prepared meal delivery service can be daunting, especially if you have specific dietary restrictions or if you're on a tight budget. To help you narrow down some options, we gathered and reviewed a handful of the best heat-and-eat delivery meal services for every type of customer.
Best Prepared Meal Delivery Services of 2024
- Best Overall: CookUnity
- Best Value: Daily Harvest
- Best Gluten-Free: Epicured
- Best for Keto: Factor
- Best Vegan: Mosaic
- Best Organic: Sprinly
- Best for Weight Loss: bistroMD
- Best for Seniors: Magic Kitchen
- Best Allergy-Friendly: The Good Kitchen
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Wade Review / Eric Kleinberg
Best Overall: CookUnity
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Pros and Cons
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Restaurant-quality food
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Wide variety of options
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Meals ready in 5 minutes or less
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Offerings differ by region
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Limited delivery areas
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Relatively expensive
Why We Chose It
This is a different kind of meal delivery service, falling somewhere between restaurant takeout and mail order. CookUnity calls itself a “chef collective,” and the meals are designed by over 70 different chefs all across the country. This means that you could order a box that includes authentic Chinese dumplings alongside tacos and a niçoise salad. There are also seasonal and regional offerings.
The menu varies by region, but you can narrow your options by dietary preference and even your preferred proteins. You can also see nutritional information, heating instructions, a star rating, and the chef’s profile before ordering each dish. Prices for plans start at $10, and go up to $177 depending on how many meals you order each week.
Meals We Tried
- Coconut lime hanger steak
- Carnitas street tacos
- Butternut squash ravioli
- Chili roasted shrimp
Starting Price: $10.39 per serving | Delivery Area: 47 states | Products Arrive: Fresh
Best Value: Daily Harvest
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Pros and Cons
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Lots of types of foods, including snacks and desserts
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Very healthy and nutritious
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Focus on sourcing from sustainable farmers with good labor practices
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Not a good option for dedicated meat eaters
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Some dishes take more than 30 minutes to heat
Why We Chose It
Daily Harvest’s stated goal is to get people to eat more fruit and vegetables, and the meals—which are all vegan—are packed with nutritious ingredients. The company offers a few different kinds of meals, ranging from smoothies to harvest bowls to flatbreads to soups, as well as nut “mylks,” vegan ice cream, and sweet “bites” that resemble frozen cookie dough. Items are priced individually (starting at $6), so once you decide how many you’d like per week, you can choose as many smoothies, oat bowls, or flatbreads as you like and monitor your costs as you go.
The foods arrive frozen (the company specifies that this is to preserve the ingredients’ nutritional value) and require minimal work to prepare: Smoothies have to be pureed in a blender, and some items have to be heated in a conventional oven, but many meals can simply be heated in the microwave.
Meals We Tried
- Mint and cacao smoothie
- Mango papaya smoothie
- Hazelnut and chocolate bites
- Tomatillo and pepper flatbread
- Portobello and pesto flatbread
- Sweet potato and wild rice hash
- Brussels sprouts and tahini harvest bowl
- Spinach and shiitake grits
- Tomato and zucchini minestrone soup
Starting Price: $6.79 per serving | Delivery Area: 48 states | Products Arrive: Frozen
Best Gluten-Free: Epicured
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Pros and Cons
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Accommodates a variety of specific dietary needs
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Choose individual dishes or pre-picked bundles
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Options for every meal plus snacks and drinks
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Limited delivery day scheduling
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More limited variety of dishes and cuisines than companies with less-strict dietary guidelines
Why We Chose It
Unlike other meal delivery services that offer gluten-free options, Epicured is designed specifically for customers who can’t tolerate gluten and those with other health-related restrictions. The company’s chefs work with a nutritionist to design foods that accommodate specific dietary needs. While all dishes are gluten free and low FODMAP, you can also filter the menu to accommodate other health restrictions, such as GERD friendly or low in saturated fats or sodium.
There are also vegan, vegetarian, and pescatarian options, and you can filter out a wide variety of allergens. Menu items also allow you to specify your preferred proteins. Prices for entrées range from $14 to $25 per serving, and individual items can vary depending on the protein selected. If you don’t want to pick individual dishes, you can choose themed bundles, like a brunch bundle or a “freezer favorites” bundle, but expect to pay anywhere between $90 to $210, depending on the number and style of items.
Meals We Tried
- Vietnamese rice noodles (vegetarian)
- Pad Thai with chicken
- Sesame-crusted grilled salmon
- Pulled BBQ chicken
Starting Price: $10.29 per serving | Delivery Area: 48 states | Products Arrive: Fresh
Best for Keto: Factor
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Pros and Cons
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Thirty (or more) new meal options every week
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Free 20-minute nutrition counseling session
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Lots of add-on options
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Not a lot of information about how the dietitians define their health parameters
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Breakfasts are only included in the “add on” section
Why We Chose It
If you’re looking for a good variety of keto-friendly meals or other kinds of healthy meals, Factor (also known as Factor 75) is an ideal service. When you sign up, you can specify the kind of meals you’re looking for—whether they’re keto, calorie smart, vegan, or “protein plus” (or even a combination of these things)—and your menu options will be narrowed accordingly. Nearly half of the weekly menu options are specifically keto-friendly, and options change weekly.
Factor also offers a wide range of plan choices, from four to 16 meals per week, and a long list of optional add-ons. Prices for these plans vary depending on how many meals you order per week, ranging from $60 to $198. While the primary meals are all hot dishes geared toward lunch and dinner, the add-ons include breakfasts, smoothies, juices, desserts, and extras like additional servings of protein and salads. So, if you’re looking to fill out your entire day, you can base your meal plan around your lunches and dinners, then add on the rest.
Meals We Tried
- Mango salsa salmon with coconut rice and black beans
- Creamy Parmesan chicken with broccoli and tomatoes
- Vegetable ratatouille with mascarpone polenta (vegetarian)
- Smoked tofu almond stir-fry with edamame succotash (vegan)
Starting Price: $11 per serving | Delivery