After a long, hectic day, whipping up
dinner can feel like a chore. Yes, there are meal delivery kits that make things a bit simpler with pre-portioned ingredients and easy-to-follow steps, but they still require some cooking and clean up. For tasty, nutritious meals that involve basically zero effort on your part, say hello to premade meal delivery services. Just as you’d guess, they send prepared foods to your door. All you have to do is pop them in the microwave or oven for a few minutes.
Even better, today’s premade meals come in a variety of options to suit different tastes and dietary restrictions, like gluten-free, vegan, and keto.
Our Top Picks for the Best Prepared Meal Delivery Services of 2023
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1
Best Overall Prepared Meal Delivery Service
Home Chef
$10 at Home Chef
$10 at Home ChefRead more
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2
Best Chef-Inspired Prepared Meal Delivery Service
CookUnity
$10 at CookUnity$10 at CookUnityRead more
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3
Best Oven-Ready Prepared Meal Delivery Service
Factor
$11 at Factor$11 at FactorRead more
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4
Best Portable Prepared Meal Delivery Service
Farmer’s Fridge
$6 at Farmer’s Fridge$6 at Farmer’s FridgeRead more
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5
Best Prepared Meal Delivery Service for Active People
Fresh n’ Lean
$8 at Fresh n’ Lean$8 at Fresh n’ LeanRead more
Instead of spending your free time scouring the internet, we’ve done the hard work for you and found the 11 best prepared meal plans on the market. Shop fuss-free, mouthwatering options for a range of foodies below.
How We Picked These Meal Delivery Services
With the sheer number of meal delivery services on the market, we wanted our list to reflect the diversity of offerings. These include meal services that cater to a range of dietary restrictions and preferences (vegan, keto, paleo, etc.) and offer flexibility in the number and frequency of meals you receive. There are meal delivery services that have options for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and all of the above, plus companies that allow you to mix premade meals with traditional meal kits for those nights when you have time to actually make a meal. We also consulted our friends at the Good Housekeeping Institute for their top picks. With the help of over 280 home cooks and industry experts, the lab’s food and nutrition experts conducted a three-month-long study and tested over 40 prepared meal delivery services. The best premade meal delivery services they chose were selected based on factors like overall satisfaction, food quality, cost, recycling efforts, and availability.
Home Chef
Home Chef
$10 at Home Chef
Pros
- Minimal prep
- Versatility to mix and match meals
Cons
- Plastic packaging
Not a microwave person? Home Chef offers oven-ready meals that require just a little assembly before popping them into the oven. Options include Tuscan-Style Shrimp and Peppers, Steak au Poivre Baked Penne, and Creamy Cheddar Buffalo-Style Chicken Breast.
One reviewer describes Home Chef as “delicious and versatile,” as you can mix and match oven-ready meals with traditional meal kits that you prepare yourself.
How it works: Choose from over 30 meals and 18 extras every week. Select between your desired cooking experience: meal kits, express meal kits, oven-ready, grill-ready, culinary collection, and fast and fresh. You can also use the Customize It feature to personalize meals to your liking.
Starting price: $9.99 per meal.
Delivery area: 98 percent of the U.S. You can enter your zip code during the sign-up process to see if Home Chef delivers to your area.
Good for: Calorie conscious, carb conscious, vegetarian
CookUnity
CookUnity
Pros
- Restaurant-quality meals
- High-quality ingredients
Cons
- Limited availability based on your location
Sure, many meal delivery services are curated by chefs, but the ones creating the dishes you’ll receive from CookUnity are some you might actually recognize: Hugh Acheson and Esther Choi, to name a couple.
The Good Housekeeping Institute team’s testers note that it’s like having a “restaurant-style dining experience” right in your humble abode. Even if luxe meals aren’t your speed, the team says that “foodies will love” them because of the tasty flavors.
The testimonials on the CookUnity homepage sum it up well. One reviewer describes the meals as “delicious, fresh, and the perfect portion,” adding that they “look forward to coming home after a long work day and having restaurant-quality meals [ready] in minutes.”
How it works: Get between four to 16 meals a week. Award-winning chefs create a weekly-changing menu of fresh options that balance great taste with solid nutrition.
Starting price: About $10 per meal.
Delivery area: Enter your zip code here to see if CookUnity delivers to your area.
Good for: Keto, paleo, low calorie, low carbs, gluten-free, dairy-free, low sodium
Factor
Factor
Pros
- Fresh ingredients
- Keto-friendly
Cons
- Some kits are high in saturated fats
Factor brings the flavor and nutrition in each of its fully prepared meals, which you’ll actually want to eat. They’re proud of the fact that they use fresh, never frozen, ingredients and combine chef recipes with advice from dietitians. There are keto, low-carb, low-calorie, and even plant-based options to choose from.
A tester from the Good Housekeeping Institute says that the ingredients are “fresh and flavorful.” They say that microwaving doesn’t compromise “the taste or texture” of the meals. Meanwhile, one reviewer says the “flavors and seasonings are outstanding.”
How it works: Factor can either create your order (based on your wants, of course), or you can choose from dozens of pre-set options. The plans include options like keto and vegan, as well as fan-favorite menu items such as turkey chili and chipotle rubbed pork chops. You can choose from six to 18 meals every week. Plus, if you get a subscription, you can have a free consultation with a registered dietitian.
Starting price: $11 per meal.
Delivery area: 48 states (not Alaska and Hawaii)
Good for: Keto, chef’s choice, calorie smart, protein-plus, vegan, vegetarian