Any family member who is in charge of the weekly meal plan knows how hard it can be to figure out dinner every night, especially if you are juggling work, transporting kids, and other life to-dos. Using a meal delivery service can be a great way to relieve some of that stress.
That said, there are a plethora of meal delivery companies to choose from, and it can be hard to know which is the best fit for your lifestyle. Here, we’ve compiled a list of the top meal delivery services to help you decide which one will be the best for you and your family.
9 Best Meal Delivery Services for Families in 2023
- Best Overall:Sunbasket
- Best Variety:HelloFresh
- Best Value:EveryPlate
- Best for Kids’ Food:Nurture Life
- Best for Babies and Toddlers:Little Spoon
- Best Ready-to-Eat:Yumble
- Best For Picky Eaters:Dinnerly
- Best For Comfort Food:Home Chef
- Best Plant-Based:Hungryroot
Best Overall:Sunbasket
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- Starting Price:$9.99 per serving
- Delivery Area:46 states
- Products Arrive:Fresh
During our testing, Sunbasket received some of the highest overall ratings from testers, with its wide variety of meal options and excellent customer service team.
Robust variety of meals and add-ons
Great customer service options
Offers prepared meals for time-strapped families
Meals can be pricey
Not a lot of transparency about suppliers
Sunbasket is one of the first services to enter the meal delivery space, and as a result, the company offers a robust variety of meals on a rotating basis. Sunbasket collaborates with the American Diabetes Association and uses registered dietitians to create meals that accommodate different nutritional needs without skimping on flavor. The company offers strong customer service, and our testers appreciated the transparency around its health and wellness guidelines. If you are looking for a baseline meal delivery service that delivers on variety and flavors that please the whole family, Sunbasket is your best bet.
Meal Kits
- Sea scallops over fresh fettuccine with sun-dried tomatoes and spinach
- Snapper with romesco, vegetables, and almonds
- Burmese chicken and sweet potato curry
- Sirloin strip tacos with zucchini scallion salsa
Prepared Meals
- Broccoli mac and cheese
- Chicken chow mein with broccoli, mushroom, and toasted garlic
- Beef donburi rice bowl with edamame and kimchi-lime vegetables
- Burrito bowl al pastor with plant-based Impossible Beef
Best Variety:HelloFresh
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- Starting Price:$7.99 per serving
- Delivery Area:48 states
- Products Arrive:Fresh
If you enjoy cooking and want a variety of options, HelloFresh is a terrific choice with meal kits that got rave reviews from testers.
Smart packaging and instructions for recycling
Weekly rotating menus
Printed recipe cards with photos for easy cooking
No pre-prepared meals
Shipping costs extra
HelloFresh is a giant in the meal delivery industry, and it’s easy to see why. Its creators wanted to provide chef-crafted meal kits with healthy, eco-friendly options that don’t skimp on flavor, delivered right to your door fresh and ready to cook. HelloFresh’s rotating weekly menu boasts over 50 dishes, from comfort food faves like meatloaf and potato wedges to globally-inspired picks like pork bulgogi bowls.
Though the company’s offerings lean more toward diverse flavors instead of specialty diet accommodations, HelloFresh’s menu still has multiple dietary options including vegetarian, pescatarian, and low-carb. Overall, the meal kits got very high reviews from our testers for the clear recipe instructions and helpful guidelines for recycling the kits’ packaging.
- 脆buffalo-spiced鸡
- BBQ cheddar burgers
- Tex-Mex pork with mango salsa
- Pork sausage rigatoni rosa
Best Value:EveryPlate
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- Starting Price:$4.99 per serving
- Delivery Area:48 states
- Products Arrive:Fresh
如果你有兴趣在一顿饭包但广域网t to keep costs low, EveryPlate offers crowd-pleasing dinners at a starting cost that won’t break the bank.
Affordable
Easy-to-make meals
Recipe cards provided for easy instructions
Customer service is via messenger
Not a lot of transparency on sustainability
EveryPlate focuses primarily on keeping costs down and accomplishes this by rotating through a small selection of recipes each week. To sign up, start by choosing the number of meals and servings you want per week, then select from a list of around 20 recipes, all of which take just a few steps to make. In keeping with EveryPlate’s minimalist approach, meals can be filtered into four categories: Meat & Veggie, Veggie, Family Friendly, and Quick & Easy. While EveryPlate may lack the overwhelming options of other services, our testers still found the meals to be tasty and its affordability appealing.
- Crispy caesar chicken
- Steak frites
- Blackened shrimp salad
- Hotel butter barramundi
Best for Kids’ Food:Nurture Life
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- Starting Price:$6.99 per serving
- Delivery Area:48 states
- Products Arrive:Fresh
While there are many meal delivery services for families and adults, Nurture Life is one of the few that focuses just on kids. Our testers especially appreciated the company’s blog, which is chock-full of information on its nutritional guidelines.
Excellent customer service
Useful blog with helpful parenting tips
Meals are designed by dietitians to ensure health for kids
Higher price per serving
Limited to four servings per meal
Nurture Life was formed when founders Jennifer Chow and Steve Minisini discovered there were not many options for healthy kids’ food in the meal delivery world. The company offers meals for children of all ages, with flavors and portions that are designed for even the pickiest eaters. Choose from kid-friendly recipes like taco pockets, lasagna swirls, and mac and cheese with hidden cauliflower. There are even special “Finger Foods” made specifically for small children developing their pincer grasp. Best of all, the meals arrive fresh, so you can reheat them in mere minutes before enjoying them.
- White mac and cheese
- Chicken and mac
- Beef taco pockets
- Tortellini Bolognese
- Chicken dumplings
- Pesto and cheese ravioli
Best for Babies and Toddlers:Little Spoon
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- Starting Price:$5.99 per serving
- Delivery Area: 48 states
- Products Arrive:Fresh
If you are struggling with making meals for younger children, Little Spoon is a fun and helpful option, with testers enjoying the company’s playful take on baby/toddler fare.
Made specifically for kids
Very easy preparation and great for lunch/dinner
Economical
Not a huge variety of choices
Doesn’t feed the whole family
Little Spoon specializes in meals that are portioned for kids under seven years of age. However, that doesn’t mean older kids can’t still enjoy them as well. Little Spoon’s menu features BabyBlends for infants and Plates for bigger kids, plus add-ons like Boosters for supplements and vitamins. The meals’ flavors are kid-approved, and they’re packaged in serving sizes that won’t be wasted. They’re also easy to reheat, and overall the menu has a fun and approachable take on kids’ nutrition.
- Broccoli bites with sweet potato carrot poppers and green beans
- Chicken nuggets with veggie patties with breading and sweet potato carrot poppers and broccoli
- 全麦通心粉和素食海员式沙司和迷你图rkey kale meatballs
- Mac and three cheese with invisible butternut squash carrots
- Chicken pot stickers, brown rice, quinoa veggie stir fry, and edamame
- Turkey rice ball with sweet potato mash
- Three cheese egg bites with sweet potato hash
- Turkey kale patty bites with veggie millet poppers and carrots
Best Ready-to-Eat:Yumble
- Starting Price:$5.99 per meal
- Delivery Area:48 states
- Products Arrive:Ready to eat
Yumble's grab-and-go "lunchbags" are completely shelf-stable and ready to enjoy at a moment's notice.
Shelf-stable lunches and snacks
No cooking or reheating required
Customization options
Bags mostly consist of processed pantry foods — no hot meals available
Yumble focuses on kid-friendly meals that can require no prep, cooking, or even reheating. The company offers a selection of "lunchbags" that contain a variety of tasty shelf-stable foods, ranging from ready-to-eat pizzas to fruit cups to cereal bars. You can choose from a lineup of "Ready to Go" lunchbags with preselected contents, or you can opt for the "Build Your Own" option, which allows you to customize the contents yourself.
Best For Picky Eaters:Dinnerly
- Starting Price:$4.99 per serving
- Delivery Area:48 states
- Products Arrive:Fresh
Dinnerly has worked to make meal delivery accessible for most families, focusing on kid-friendly comfort classics that provide real value while not compromising on flavor.
Affordable
Nearly 50 different meals to choose from
Easy to pause and restart deliveries
No printed recipe cards
No family-friendly meal plans
Dinnerly may use simple ingredients to keep costs down—but don’t mistake “simple” for “bland.” The company offers a wide variety of meals that will pass the test with picky eaters, with dishes like beef and cheese quesadillas and veggie drunken noodles. Dinnerly doesn’t offer specialized meal plans (which may be a drawback for those with specific dietary needs) but instead chooses to emphasize ease, flavor, and low cost. It achieves this by limiting its packaging, curtailing its marketing, and being mindful of the ingredients it sources. Overall, our testers found this service’s affordability and variety to be a winning combo for families with picky eaters.
- BBQ cheeseburger with sautéed onions and smashed potatoes
- Low-cal veggie drunken noodles with broccoli, peppers, and cilantro
- Grass-fed ground beef and cheddar quesadillas with corn
- Caramel chicken stir-fry with snow peas and jasmine rice
Best For Comfort Food:Home Chef
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- Starting Price:$6.99 per serving
- Delivery Area:48 states
- Products Arrive:Fresh
Home Chef has some of the best comfort food meals we tried, and features a novel onboarding tool that allows you to customize certain elements of the menu to make them your own.
Customize It! tool for meals
Many extras you can add to your order
Photo cards with instructions for easy cooking
No extensive nutrition information
New customers must enter credit card info to select meals
Home Chef is a family-friendly meal kit delivery service that ships hearty, comforting meals to your door on a weekly basis. The company has built a system that allows a lot of flexibility in choosing recipes and add-ons, giving your family plenty of choices when it comes to mealtime. Home Chef also has some of the best comfort foods we tried, including a creamy tomato and steak penne and gnocchi with red pepper cream sauce. Plus, you can order up to six portions of each meal, making it easy to feed the whole family.
- Crispy sweet chili shrimp rice bowl
- Creamy tomato and steak penne
- Gnocchi and red pepper cream
- Moo shu pork lettuce cups
Best Plant-Based:Hungryroot
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- Starting Price:$9.69 per serving
- Delivery Area:48 states
- Products Arrive:Fresh
Hungryroot offers a variety of vegan and vegetarian options for families on plant-based diets that are not only nutritious, but environmentally friendly as well.
Wide range of vegan and vegetarian options
Vast selection of add-on groceries
Easy-to-use ordering process
Per-meal costs can get pricey
Since 2015, Hungryroot has offered an all-in-one delivery program for shoppers. The service allows you to order not only plant-based meals but also groceries. With a huge database of over 3,000 recipes, your options are virtually endless when it comes to meal selection.
Customers can choose to receive items for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and desserts, with plant-based dishes ranging from black bean burgers to vegan chorizo bowls. You can order up to four servings of a particular meal, and the service offers plenty of kid-friendly treats as well. Testers also appreciated Hungryroot’s commitment to sustainability; the company focuses on recyclable packaging materials and donates its excess food to food banks.
- Spinach artichoke and mushroom tortelloni
- Roasted salmon and sweet potato on Brussels
- Southwest chicken and rainbow veggie tacos
- Thai peanut beef and broccoli stir-fry
When feeding a family, time and budget are probably your top considerations when choosing a meal delivery service. We ultimately chose Sunbasket as the best overall option for families. With its ever-changing weekly menus, diverse range of cuisines, and family-friendly portions, Sunbasket has something to offer the whole family.
Compare the Best Meal Delivery Services for Families
Company | Starting Price | Delivery Area | Products Arrive | Can Customers Choose Delivery Date? | Free Shipping? |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Best Overall:Sunbasket | $9.99 per serving | 46 states | Fresh | Yes | Yes |
Best Variety:HelloFresh | $7.99 per serving | 48 states | Fresh | Yes | Yes |
Best Value:EveryPlate | $4.99 per serving | 48 states | Fresh | Yes | Yes |
Best for Kids Food:Nurture Life | $6.99 per serving | 48 states | Fresh | Yes | Yes, for 9+ items |
Best for Babies and Toddlers:Little Spoon | $5.99 per serving | 48 states | Fresh | No | No |
Best Ready-to-Eat:Yumble | $5.99 per serving | 48 states | Ready to eat | Yes | Yes |
Best for Picky Eaters:Dinnerly | $4.99 per serving | 48 states | Fresh | Yes | Yes |
Best for Comfort Food:Home Chef | $6.99 per serving | 48 states | Fresh | Yes | Yes |
Best Plant-Based:Hungryroot | $9.69 per serving | 48 states | Fresh | Yes | Yes, for orders over $70 |
常见,stions
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是送餐services cheaper than going to the grocery store?
It depends. It’s usually a bit cheaper to go to the store and purchase ingredients; however, depending on how much you value your time and energy, having meals delivered could make up for the cost difference. Also, as companies grow and become more efficient, the cost for meal delivery is most likely trending down.
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Can a meal delivery service feed a family of three?
Most meal delivery services, including the ones we reviewed, deliver servings for either two or four people. While there are a few exceptions, if you’re feeding a family of three, your best bet is to order four servings and plan for leftovers the next day. If you have a very young child, you could also order a two-serving meal and plan on sharing.
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Do meal delivery services accommodate dietary restrictions?
Most meal delivery companies report dietary information on their meals, although some are more transparent than others. Many services have enough variety that you can find meals that fit your needs, unless you are on a very strict dietary plan. Some meal delivery services also cater to specific dietary restrictions like vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, or even keto meal plans.
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How long are meals from delivery services good for?
This depends entirely on the meal plan, so check the delivery instructions carefully. Generally, fresh kits will stay fresh for up to a week if stored in the fridge. However, you might notice some wilting on your produce if you hold onto it for too long. For frozen meals, stick them straight in the freezer and they should be fine for months.
Methodology
We tested and sampled 40 meal delivery companies for this roundup. We based most of our findings on feedback from our testers, who tried a variety of meals from all the services listed above. We also relied on information directly reported from the companies regarding sustainability, recipe development, and nutrition. We compiled all the data and used rankings on cost, fees, and subjective characteristics like flavor analysis to choose our favorites for this list.
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