Meal Delivery Services Compared

Compare Meal Kit Options

HelloFresh, Home Chef and Dinnerly are three of the most popular home meal kit delivery services because they all offer enticing food, convenience and reliable service at a reasonable price. Here’s what you need to know to sort through the choices:

HelloFresh may be the best known meal kit delivery service. The brand offers more than 45 weekly recipes for you to choose from, including selections for meat lovers, vegetarians, people seeking to get fit or lose weight, healthy eaters, families and more. You get fresh, pre-portioned ingredients for complete meals along with recipes for preparing them and detailed nutritional information about each meal. You can order meals for two or four people, and get two to six meals per each weekly delivery. 

Home Chef offers a wide range of meal types that you can pick from, including classic meal kits with pre-portioned ingredients and simple preparation instructions, oven-ready meals, microwaveable kits, family dinners and premium meals for special occasions. The Home Chef menu rotates weekly, with 35 different meals and 18 extras, with choices for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, drinks and desserts. 

Dinnerly presents itself as the best value in meal delivery services. The menu features more than 100 choices each week, including family-friendly, vegetarian, vegan, extra-fast, healthy diet and reduced-carb options. Dinnerly emphasizes that its recipes are simpler than the other meal delivery services, with no more than six ingredients and most ready to cook after five or fewer steps. Dinnerly also offers you a selection of groceries that include pantry staples, fast-meal solutions and desserts that can be delivered with your weekly order. 

Here’s a side-by-side comparison of the three:

Convenience

Meal delivery kits are popular because they simplify the process of planning, shopping for and preparing meals in your home. The meals are higher quality and more varied than frozen entrees, but tend to require at least a little more preparation. When you compare meal delivery services, consider your level of cooking skills and your interest in the process. 

The Home Chef kits may be the easiest for people who have little or no experience cooking. The ingredients for each meal are organized so you know which are used together. The recipes come with all the details you need, including how to adjust spice levels, on a card that is hole-punched so you can gradually assemble your own cookbook. The cards have clear pictures and even have plating instructions so your meal looks as appetizing as it tastes. 

Dinnerly’s recipes are online rather than printed. And they can require you to have extra ingredients and seasonings, such as vinegar and garlic, on hand. Experienced cooks will find Dinnerly meal kits easy to use but novices may prefer more basic directions. 

HelloFresh subscribers can choose from different types of kits that let them decide how much preparation they want to do and how much time they have. Its standard meal kits include pre-portioned ingredients that you assemble and cook, typically in less than 30 minutes, while the Express Meal kits are ready in 15 minutes. The Oven-Ready Meals need little or no preparation and they’re cooked in a tin tray that’s provided. The Fast & Fresh Meals can be heated in a microwave oven. 

Customization

We all have our own tastes and preferences. In addition, many people today have dietary restrictions or guidelines they adhere to. The different meal delivery kits vary on how much customization you can choose. 

HelloFresh allows you to swap the proteins and sides in many of its meals. With Home Chef, you can ask for a different protein with most meals. Dinnerly provides you with all the information about the meals so you can avoid any ingredients you don’t want, but you are not able to change them within the recipes. 

Sourcing 

Many consumers today are concerned for a variety of reasons about where and how the food they eat is produced. If you’re among them, you can find differences when you compare meal delivery kits. 

HelloFresh emphasizes that many of its ingredients are purchased directly from farmers and it uses a rigorous process to identify suppliers that are organic or use sustainable practices. Seafood meals include Fair-Trade certified, ocean-farmed fish, which is designed to protect the environment and ensure fair wages for the people who produce the food. HelloFresh also has implemented a Better Chicken Commitment that sets high standards for the treatment of livestock. Green Chef, an affiliate of HelloFresh, serves people who want all organic ingredients and recipes crafted for “clean” eating.

Home Chef offers meals with organic ingredients when possible but not always. Subscribers can opt for organic chicken in select meals. 

Dinnerly provides no information about the sources of its ingredients. Its weekly menu has a variety of options for vegetarians. 

Costs and Deals 

These three meal delivery kit options are priced by the serving, so you know the exact cost of each meal you choose. Though they vary in price, all tend to be less expensive than eating in a restaurant or getting takeout meals. 

HelloFresh meals cost $8.99 per serving. Meals marked as Gourmet, Gourmet Plus, Surf & Turf, Taste Tours and Craft Burger come with a surcharge for the upgraded ingredients. Shipping costs are determined based on the size of your order. New subscribers can qualify for 10 free meals and free appetizers for as long as you subscribe. 

Home Chef offers individual and family plans, with prices ranging from $3.98 per serving for desserts to $9.98 per serving for its top tier entrees. Shipping is free on orders of $40 or more. Smaller orders come with a $10 shipping fee. New subscribers qualify for 18 free meals, plus free shipping on the first box, and free desserts for life. 

Dinnerly’s meals start at $4.99 per serving. It offers new subscribers up to $140 off the first five deliveries. Dinnerly sets its shipping fee at a standard $11.99. 

All three of these services provide discounts to active-duty military personnel and veterans, first responders and healthcare professionals. 

Service

HelloFresh, Home Chef and Dinnerly all deliver throughout the continental U.S., but you need to supply your zip code to determine if your area is served. HelloFresh also delivers to select zip codes in Honolulu, Hawaii and Anchorage, Alaska.

These meal delivery services allow you to determine the frequency of deliveries (weekly, bi-weekly or monthly) and to pause or cancel your subscription at any time. 

All three of these brands use insulated packaging and cold packs to preserve the fresh ingredients included. HelloFresh and Dinnerly provide details on how and where to recycle its packaging. Home Chef emphasizes reuse of some of its packaging and offers guidance on how to recycle the rest. 

The Best Meal Delivery Kit Service for You

You have many choices for a meal delivery kit service. The best for you depends on the convenience of the meals, the customization options, where the ingredients are sourced, the prices and discount plans, and the customer service. Consider all of them to help you sort through the different plans. Whichever you choose, you will make meal planning, grocery shopping and getting meals on the table much easier for yourself.  

For help choosing the best meal delivery service for you, check out our comprehensive list of the Top Rated Meal Delivery Kits of .