What is a meal kit, and why do I need this in my life?

Updated 8/11/2016
So I was chatting with one of my lovely university friends this morning, and we were talking about how it can be so challenging this time of year to make healthy dinners! Long work days, paired with dark evenings and long to do lists causes us to resort to pick up take out or eat a bag of popcorn instead (no joke, this was staple meal of mine in my past life). So when someone asks me how do you do it?! The answer is….meal delivery. I’m not talking about the mushy, pre-cooked meals that they deliver to elderly people. Try gourmet recipes, fresh ingredients, organic produce, and pre-measured spices, delivered right to my door. Yup, that’s the kind of meal kit and grocery delivery I’m talking about!

A few months back I was turned on to meal kit delivery by another mom. Before then, I had no idea this existed! So I went on a mission to try a different one every week for a month. In my investigating I also found new ones that I didn’t know about before so I am here to compare them all, I have personally tried most of these, and lets just say, my husband was very happy I took on this project. I started writing this blog post months ago, but never finished it up until now, so I hope you appreciate the product of months of cooking and googling! I obviously am limited to companies that deliver in California, so although there are so many awesome companies out there I started with these ones.

Green Chef

Sun Basket

Hand Pick

Gobble

Blue Apron

Website	Pros	Cons	Other Notes
Green Chef Use this link to get 4 meals free!	Green Chef has really stepped up their game lately! The portion sizes are amazing…the recipes have been super tasty and they now color code everything to make it fool proof! I love that there is always a good variety to choose from each week. We usually chose the paleo options but if there was something we didn’t like there are lots other options to choose from instead. All organic healthy meals. Husbands favorite, large portion sizes. You get what you pay for! Awesome flavors! Really feel like we are eating gourmet food every night. Meat was always super fresh and arrived cold. Most things come already measured and prepped, less time spent cutting up and measuring ingredients. Most of these meals take less than 20 minutes. I like that you can recreate the recipes on your own if its something you really like. Provide recipe and cooking instructions online! Great customer service, had an issue with a box and they got back to me right away and fixed the matter super quick!	Most expensive They don’t re-use their packaging (that I know of!). Lots of little containers and other items that I threw away.	Take about 20 minutes to prepare. Have the option of vegetarian, paleo, pescatarian, omnivore, carnivore, gluten-free Price varies on meal plan chosen. $9 delivery fee. Vegetarian: $10.49 per serving Omnivore:  $11.99 per serving Carnivore:  $13.49 per serving Gluten-free:  $13.49 per serving Paleo: $14.99 per serving Flexible scheduling, can choose to have weekly, bi-monthly, monthly and skip at any time.
Sun Basket Get 3 Meals Free from Sun Basket! Fresh organic ingredients and easy recipes delivered, with Paleo, Gluten-free and Vegetarian options.	Sun Basket and Green Chef are fairly comparable, but in terms of recipe wise this one is my favorite. It works for my family and they always incorporate different and new flavors that change each season depending on whats fresh. Recipes are great, a good variety of food and multiple options to choose from each week. Awesome FLAVORS! I can’t get over all the new spices and recipes I have tried and loved. Foods I would never think of making. Meals are balanced and filling. Portion size is average, with more than enough vegetables. Organic produce and grass-fed fresh meat. Price is reasonable and works out being less expensive than grocery shopping! (I tracked this over 2 months and compared, yes I am a nerd like that) They REUSE their packaging! They give you a label to send everything back every 2 weeks. Each meal comes in it’s own paper bag (doesn’t seem like a big deal, but it makes it that much easier) Nutritionist designs meals so there are the proper balance of protein, fat and carbs. Have video tutorials on how to make the food.	No tracking on the boxes, and they get delivered very late on Wednesday night, so I often can’t make the food until the next day. Not Sun Basket’s fault, but still annoying.	Take between 15-30 minutes to prepare. Currently shipping to CA, OR, WA, CO, UT, AZ, NV and ID Meals cost $11.49 per person. Free delivery 2–person plan: $68.94/week 4–person plan: $137.88/week 6–person plan: $206.82/week Skip any week or cancel at any time.
Blue Apron Get 2 meals free by clicking this link	Meals were tasty, lots to choose from each week. Instructions were simple and easy to follow. Learned a lot about HOW to cook. Food arrived cold and ready to cook! Price is reasonable Vegetarian recipes looked delicious. Great packaging. Skip or cancel at any time. 2 person or family plan.	Sometimes, not the healthiest choices. Not foods that my husband (who is very picky) will eat. No paleo option. My least favorite recipes out of all of them. Required quite a bit of prep work (e.g. cutting up squash is no fun and time consuming!) Small portion sizes. They don’t re-use their packaging (that I know of!). Lots of little containers and other items that I threw away. Forgot items in one of my boxes.	Free delivery nationwide. Pricing $8.75-$9.99/person
Hand Pick Learn more here	I really loved this service for the simplicity, low cost ($40-$60/week!) quick delivery, and the fact that you could order meals off an app. That being said, they have since discontinued their delivery service. So I won’t go into a full review.	No longer available for delivery.	Check out their app or website for great recipes! I still use their recipes often when I need to think of easy meals to cook.
Gobble Click HERE For a FREE meal kit for 2!	I LOVE this meal kit for weeks that we are SUPER busy and I don’t have time to think about dinner. The main PRO…all the meals take only 10 minutes and there is NO prep work involved. Literally take the food out, cook the meat and vegetables and warm up the side dish in the microwave. Their recipes have really improved lately and I like that they tell you how to plate it and add the gourmet touches. Healthy choices for the most part! Convenient, affordable, tasty. Portion size a little small. Great for weeks that you know are really busy and won’t have time to spend in the kitchen. Reuse their packaging and allow you to print a return shipping label to send it back.	Meals can be prepared as dairy-free, nut-free, or gluten-free by withholding certain ingredients that will be packed separately in the dinner kit. Not guaranteed to be exclusively dairy free or nut free, etc. Limited choice of recipes each week, no paleo option.	Free shipping   $11.95 per meal if you order 6 or more meals and $13.95 per meal if you only order 4 meals.   Only available in California and Nevada

 

Check out the gallery of pictures I’ve taken over the past couple months! I don’t think we’ve ever ate the same meal twice.

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On a side note, some of the links above are affiliate links for the meal kit delivery services, e.g. I get very small incentive bonus if you do sign up. I never let this influence my review, it’s just a nice perk of sharing the love!