Simplify dinner decisions with prepared meal delivery services

How to Choose the Best Prepared Meal Delivery Services

After a long, busy day, cooking dinner is the last thing you want to think about. Prepared meal delivery services take the guesswork out of that daily chore with a range of low-effort, ready-to-eat meals that you can pop into your oven or microwave. Unlike meal kits, which come with individual ingredients you prepare and cook yourself, pre-made meal services can save a lot of time. They also come with unique and customizable food options to fit your personal preferences, including serving size and protein amount, while catering to dietary restrictions like gluten-free, vegetarian, and low-carb.

I have tried and written about meal delivery services for over four years. I connected with chefs and nutritionists about their favorite prepared meal delivery services and compiled a list of their recommendations below, along with services NBC Select editors use and love. Pricing, serving size, and plan details are also included with each option.

Key Factors to Consider When Choosing a Prepared Meal Delivery Service

When shopping for a prepared meal delivery service, there are several important factors to keep in mind:

• Serving Size: A single-serve prepared meal service is great for folks only feeding themselves. If you’re feeding a family or partner, consider a meal kit plan with multiple serving sizes (typically ranging from two to eight servings) instead.
• Dietary Restrictions: If you’re gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, or follow any other specific type of diet, scan the service’s weekly menu to confirm that it has options to fit those dietary needs.
• Pricing: The price of meal kit delivery services is based on the quantity of meals you get per week and the quality of ingredients and recipes. More budget-friendly services might not cater to all dietary restrictions or needs, while diet- and lifestyle-specific options typically cost more.
• Delivery Dates and Times: Consider your availability to receive your meals to ensure they don’t go to waste. Most services will offer customizable delivery plans to choose what days you want to receive your weekly delivery.

Best Overall Prepared Meal Delivery Service

Factor offers a weekly rotating menu of over 30 prepared meals designed by dietitians. Lisa Young, an adjunct professor of nutrition at New York University, recommends this service because it caters to many diets and dietary needs, including keto, paleo, low-carb, vegetarian, plant-based, and high-protein. You can choose from five plans, ranging from four meals per week up to 18 meals per week.

The meals are both delicious and convenient—after a long day at work, you simply pop them into the oven and they are ready to eat in under 10 minutes. Though they don’t look the prettiest in their container, the meals are tasty and varied, making dinner exciting at the end of the day. Single-serve meals help avoid overeating and provide satisfying portions.

Experts also appreciate the reasonable price point for the quality of health-oriented food offered. “Factor is incredibly reasonably priced for the quality of health-oriented food they offer,” says Resnick.

Best Variety of Meals

CookUnity provides multiple plans depending on how many meals you want to receive, with subscriptions ranging from four to 16 meals per week. You can make your selections from a rotating menu of ready-to-eat options each week or have the service pick for you based on your preferences, including your choices of protein and any dietary restrictions like vegetarian, vegan, low-carb, and gluten-free.

The convenience is unbeatable, with a wide range of gluten-free and pescatarian options. However, some meals require additional steps before microwaving, which may be inconvenient for those in a rush. CookUnity also allows users to flag allergies or foods they don’t like, ensuring these items don’t appear in the menu.

Best for Most Dietary Restrictions

BistroMD is a single-serve, individualized plan, so this may not be a good option if you’re looking to feed a family or yourself and a partner. It lets you choose from over 150 chef-prepared meals based on your dietary needs. Lisa Moskovitz, a registered dietitian and CEO of NY Nutrition Group, recommends this service because it has various health-conscious plans—such as signature, gluten-free, heart healthy, diabetic, and menopause.

The service also offers EATS (Essential And Tasty Snacks) programs for healthy snacking, as well as Men’s and Women’s Snack Programs for additional options.

Best Vegan Option

Purple Carrot has both prepared meals and meal kits, all of which are plant-based and include several gluten-free options. Resnick notes that Purple Carrot is an easy way for people to add more plant foods into their diets without fully converting to veganism. The meals are a perfect mix of familiar and innovative, with options like kimchi grilled cheese and Baklava overnight oats.

Malin tried Purple Carrot after the brand sent her a few pre-made options, and she loves the convenience and taste of the meals. The pre-filled tray fits in a lunch box, and she looked forward to eating it halfway through the day.

Best for Families

Home Chef offers a weekly rotating menu with Fast & Fresh sections featuring microwave-ready meals and oven-ready meals. While it is primarily a meal kit delivery service, it also includes about 10 prepared options each week. The service has a family plan with four-serving oven-ready meals.

Before ordering, you’ll be prompted to take a quiz that personalizes your menu based on your taste, serving size, and delivery preferences. Each meal shows the estimated time it takes to heat up, and you can customize the type and amount of protein you want in each meal.

Best Gluten-Free Option

Sunbasket is made for those who follow specific diets like gluten-free, paleo, and diabetes-friendly. On its weekly rotating menu, Sunbasket has around 10 single-serve meals that you can heat in your oven or microwave. You can also mix and match with over a dozen meal kits from its menu.

Each meal indicates whether it accommodates certain dietary restrictions, including gluten-free, soy-free, pescatarian, and vegetarian. Malin tried Sunbasket for a week and became a huge fan of the service, enjoying the variety of delicious dishes and easy-to-follow recipes.

Best Combo of Prepared Meals and Meal Kits

Blue Apron recently joined the prepared meal delivery scene with its Prepared & Ready plan, offering over 30 single-serve meals on its rotating weekly menu. These meals heat up in the microwave in under five minutes and come in one tray that you can recycle afterward.

You can also combine prepared and meal kit plans by adding the pre-made meals to your meal kit orders as add-ons each week. The options are fairly varied each week, though you will find a lot of pastas on the menu. The portions are just right for individuals, but the meals do not come with sides.

Best for Healthy Eaters

Splendid Spoon offers over 50 healthy ready-made and gluten-free meals and snacks, including smoothies, soups, noodle bowls, and dishes. You can choose one of three plans, including a six-, 12-, or 18-meal plan per week. The service recommends freezing the food upon unpacking, which makes the meals last one to three months.

Best for Sensitive Stomachs

Epicured offers meals that are gluten-free and low-FODMAP, making them ideal for those with small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), or a generally sensitive stomach. It has a rotating menu of over 50 prepared foods spanning breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and desserts.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the benefits of a prepared meal delivery service?
Prepared meal delivery services have a rotating menu of pre-made meals that you can easily heat up in the microwave or oven without the prep work. These services are great for busy individuals who want to cut down on cooking time or simply enjoy a good meal without needing to cook.

How long does it take to prepare a pre-made meal?
Most meals require just a few minutes in the microwave or 10-11 minutes in the oven to be fully ready to serve.

Are there any downsides to prepared meal delivery services?
Most meals are single-serve, so they are ideal for individuals rather than families. You may also sacrifice some taste compared to home-cooked meals, and you won’t gain cooking experience.

Meet Our Experts

At NBC Select, we work with experts who have specialized knowledge and authority based on relevant training and/or experience. We also ensure that all expert advice and recommendations are made independently and with no undisclosed financial conflicts of interest.

Why Trust NBC Select?

I am an updates editor at NBC Select who has extensive experience covering meal delivery services, including gluten-free and vegetarian options. For this article, I spoke to six experts about what to consider when shopping for a meal delivery service and how to determine the best one for you. They also shared their favorite meal delivery services to try out.