The Best Meal Kits of 2026: We Tested 30+ Services and Found the Top Pick
Meal kit vs delivery of prepared meals
Meal kits or prepared meals? This is the first decision you will have to make. However, some services offer both.
The first big decision you’ll make is whether you want meal kits, which require some prep and cooking, or a meal prep service that sends fully cooked meals, ready to heat and eat. Meal kits will require more time and energy, but they will also cost a little less per serving. Some meal kits can actually save you money compared to grocery shopping. Prepared meals require almost no time or energy, other than what it takes to actually eat the food, but usually cost a few dollars more per serving.
Cost
Our test editors rated Green Chef meals highly, but the healthy meal kit service is more expensive than most.
After choosing between meal kits or meal delivery, you’ll want to find a service that fits your budget. There are meal kits with recipes for as little as $5 a serving with basic menus and no-frills recipes. More expensive services include recipes with more exotic ingredients, premium cuts of meat and organic produce, but can cost up to $15 per serving. Here I have described all the best cheap meal delivery services.
Health
We made sure every ingredient was considered before starting a recipe.
Most meal delivery services offer healthy options, and some are much healthier than others. If you want to eat low-calorie, low-carb, plant-based, or pescatarian foods, some meal kits and meal delivery services will be better than others. Our list of the healthiest meal delivery services is a good place to find all the most nutritious options.
Daily Harvest is one of the healthiest meal delivery services we’ve tried.
Number of meals per week
Some meal delivery services offer great value if you order more meals.
Finally, you will need to decide exactly how much food you want to receive per week. If you can’t imagine cooking more than twice a week, don’t order more than two meal kits because they generally won’t last more than a week in the refrigerator. Most meal kit services offer plans ranging from two meals per week to six.
Most prepared meals arrive frozen or can be frozen after unpacking. This means it’s less of an issue if you order too many meals on your first go. However, some fresh produce delivery services, including Gardencup, Thistle and Sakara Life, are not intended to be frozen.
Most services allow you to change the number of meals or servings on your plan even after you start. With almost all services, the more meals you order via delivery, the lower the price per meal.
