How To Choose A Meal Delivery Service, Per A Holistic Nutrition Consultant

Due to an increasing interest in healthy-yet-convenient food, there are way more meal delivery services and meal prep companies than there used to be. This abundance of choice allows you to easily find an option that suits your optimal diet—whether that's low-carb, paleo, or plant-based—but it can also make it much harder to decide which meal delivery service is right for you. 

Luckily our extensive research on meal delivery brands at mindbodygreen has given us solid intel on how to choose the right company for you. We vet every service featured on our site for food quality, recipe variety, sustainability, and accessibility, but these are just a few of the factors that shoppers should keep in mind.

There's not a single answer to the question, "What is the best meal delivery service?" Similar to most things in the well-being industry, the best selection for you will differ based on your personal needs, including any dietary restrictions, budget constraints, or even meal types. 

There are two main types of meal delivery services: kits and pre-made meals. Kits come with premeasured ingredients and recipe cards that you use to make your meals from scratch—think HelloFresh or Green Chef. While they still require effort, meal kits will save a considerable amount of time since you don't have to grocery shop, measure ingredients, and put everything away. They also limit food waste by only sending you what you truly need to make a recipe. Plus, you still get the joy of cooking with recipes that take anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes to prepare.

Balancing a busy schedule means something different for everyone. Some people need a little help in the morning to get out the door faster, while others require meals at night after a busy day on their feet. It's important to evaluate the kinds of meals a service offers.

Convenience often comes at a cost, but the best meal delivery services have found a way to balance this. There's still a pretty wide price range; some of the cheaper delivery services start at just $4.99 per serving, whereas the more specialized services can go as high as $15 per serving. 

Many meal delivery companies have caught on to the fact that consumers have widely varying dietary needs. Whether you're following a certain diet due to preference or you need to avoid specific foods for allergy or health reasons, you want to make sure you're utilizing a service that can accommodate.

Some delivery services offer blanket plans, like keto, Whole30, or the Mediterranean diet. Others give you more control over specific dietary swaps. For example, you may be able to pick a low-carb plan while also specifying that you don’t eat pork or tomatoes. 

On the other hand, some services are still pretty limited in what they offer. While they might make some basic dietary accommodations, like plant-based, there isn't much control beyond that. You may be able to find meals that work for you, but this can limit variety pretty significantly. Dig into the menus to see what the service offers before committing to one.

Quality of ingredients varies between meal delivery services, too. The companies we recommend prioritize the highest quality ingredients possible—that means choosing organic and/or local produce and animal proteins from humanely raised animals that are allowed to roam freely. (And we always call it out if they don't!)

The best way to prevent food boredom is to make sure the meal delivery service you choose offers plenty of variety. Look for two things: regularly rotating menus and plenty of choices each week.

Meal delivery services use a lot of packaging; that's why sustainability is also an important factor when choosing one. Look for companies that use recyclable and/or biodegradable packaging in their boxes. It's even better if the packaging materials are made from recycled materials to begin with (just be sure they can go through another round of recycling).

Many list out exactly what packaging components are recyclable and provide instructions on how to recycle them (whether you can leave them by the curb or have to bring them to your local recycling plant). These brands also call out anything that's not recyclable, like the gel ice packs. Read this fine print to see if the company prioritizes sustainability rather than just looking for buzzwords in marketing materials.