4 Best Healthy Meal Delivery Services, Tested and Reviewed

Best Gluten-Free

Green Chef

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When it comes to healthy meal delivery, Green Chef landed the top spot as the best gluten-free meal kit. From pre-measured, organic ingredients to customization options, it’s got everything you need to make delicious, home-cooked meals.

Once you get started, you’ll choose from two, four or six servings per meal. Then, choose either three or four meals per week, with the option to add on more for as little as $13 per serving. Meals change weekly, offering around 80 healthy recipes to accommodate every dietary preference. You can even jazz up your entree with extras like Green Bean Amandine for $3.99 or Keto-Friendly Snickerdoodle Cookies for $4.99.

“I love that these ingredients are organic. I don’t have to worry about GMOs, pesticides or antibiotics in my food. The recipes are easy to make with complex flavor profiles, and they’re better than anything that I could whip up on my own without a huge investment of my time,” says product tester Sheri Kaz.

After signing up, Sheri chose an array of delicious meals including Spicy Chili Ginger Chicken Spinach Salad, Lemon-Basil Caper Pork, Italian Shrimp and Creamy Rice, Deli-style Chickpea Salad Sandwiches and Street Corn & Black Bean Rice Bowls.

She also took advantage of Green Chef’s complimentary consultation with a nutritionist. “They followed up with an email and some info sheets to help me balance blood sugar levels,” she says. “It was very helpful in addressing my personal health concerns.” Talk about a healthy meal kit!

Sheri’s only complaint was that the produce wasn’t as fresh as she would have liked. “Some of the produce wasn’t as fresh as I hoped for, but all of it was usable and as fresh as my local Kroger store,” she explains. In spite of that, Sheri was so pleased with the food that she plans to continue her subscription. “As a single person who doesn’t like to cook everyday, I plan to find dishes that will be good as leftovers,” she raves.

Best Keto-Friendly

Home Chef

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Of all the meal services she tested, Home Chef was Editorial Coordinator Sydney Manning’s favorite. Not to mention our top pick when it comes to keto meal kits. With over 40 meal options per week and two to six meals per delivery, there are plenty of keto-friendly options.

“This was my favorite meal kit! The instructions were easy to follow, great selection of meals, and everything was delicious. This meal kit is perfect for someone who doesn’t want to do a lot of planning or prep, but also still want a delicious, home cooked, meal,” raves Sydney.

When selecting her menu, Sydney opted for One-Pan Acapulco-Style Steak Quesadillas, One-Pot Zesty Chicken Chowder, Lemon Rockefeller Scallop Penne, Pan-Seared Caprese Gnocchi, Cherry Chipotle Brisket Tacos and Roasted Garlic Butter Sirloin with bacon-cheddar broccoli, which she especially loved. “The steak was a nice cut—very tender and juicy with not much fat on it. The steak seasoning they provided was also great,” she says. Best of all, it only took about 35 minutes from start to finish.

The only hiccup came when Sydney received lemons instead of limes. However, this snafu didn’t ruin the brand for her. “I’ve used Home Chef before and have canceled it since,” she explains. “But I still go back to the digital cookbook that’s on my account to re-create yummy meals that I remember liking from when we had the subscription.” For more details about Sydney’s experience, check out our detailed Home Chef review.

Best Plant-Based

Purple Carrot

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Whether you’re in the mood to whip up a delicious plant-based dish or are looking for a quick but healthy ready-to-eat meal, Purple Carrot is for you. All of their food is 100% vegan but best of all, their meals are creative, delicious and made with fresh ingredients. The service also allows you to add as many meals as you want to each order which means healthy eating all week long.

Though she isn’t a vegan, Sydney was excited to change things up. She signed up for Purple Carrot and opted to try the Crunchy Cabbage Salad, Cacio e Pepe, Elote Tacos, Black Bean Crunchadillas and Creamy Peanut Noodles. She was not disappointed.

“I personally am not vegan, but I was vegetarian for a while, so I’m familiar with plant-based meat and actually prefer vegetarian meals sometimes. I was pleasantly surprised by these meals; they were all creative, while still tasting good with plant-based ingredients,” she raves.

Something you may want to consider, however, is the fact that Purple Carrot isn’t the most flexible service when it comes to delivery. Sydney notes that Saturday delivery was her only option. And while that’s great if you like to plan your meals from Sunday through Friday, Saturdays may not be ideal for everyone.

Want to read more about our favorite plant-based meal delivery service? Be sure to check out our full Purple Carrot review.

Best Diabetic-Friendly

BistroMD

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BistroMD was created by Dr. Caroline Cederquist, M.D., who believes that food is medicine. That belief is why you’ll find a menu loaded with gluten-free, heart-healthy, diabetic and low-sodium options. There’s even a diabetic-friendly programed designed by a registered dietician

designed to help with weight loss and offers various customized plans, such as gluten-free, heart-healthy, diabetic and low-sodium diets. The diabetic-friendly program, which has over 100 rotating diabetic meals, is designed by a registered dietitian to help you maintain healthy blood glucose levels. Each chef-prepared entree has 25 grams or less of net carbs, plus adequate lean protein to help regulate blood sugar.

Product testing manager Annamarie Higley signed up for 5-day Lunches & Dinners Signature Plan which includes a total of 10 meals. Four of the meals she tested were specifically formulated for diabetic needs: grilled chicken with buffalo sauce, Indian-inspired butter chicken, grilled salmon with creamy pesto and chicken egg roll bowl with cauliflower fried rice. She especially liked the grilled chicken with buffalo sauce and grilled salmon with creamy pesto.

“Bistro MD places a significant emphasis on health and weight loss, so it’s certainly not the service for everyone, but it truly can accommodate just about any diet or dietary restriction. And, unlike its competitors, Bistro MD provides its customers with round-the-clock recipes, including breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks if desired, to more readily make their goals a reality,” says Annamarie.

What To Look for in Healthy Meal Delivery Kits

When shopping for a healthy meal delivery kit, Gulbin advises looking for meals that support your personal nutritional needs. “If you are simply looking to lose weight, then a healthy meal plan would be one that provides lower-calorie meals below 500 calories,” she says. “On the other hand, if you’re at risk for type 2 diabetes or are trying to manage the condition, then a healthy meal plan would be one that contains meals that are lower in refined carbohydrates and contain complex carbohydrates rich in fiber and other nutrients.”

If the meal delivery service you’re considering doesn’t label meals as diabetic or keto-friendly, Gulbin says there are a few key words to look for. “For those wanting to maintain a heart-healthy diet, you should look for low sodium and lower fat meal kits, or those that are designated as Mediterranean style, which would be healthy fat, lean protein in composition,” she explains. “For those wanting to follow a diabetic-friendly meal plan, you would want to look for key words like low-sugar or low-carb. Mediterranean style meal plans would also be beneficial for those at risk for or who have diabetes.”

How We Found the Best Healthy Meal Kits

In order to find the best healthy meal kits, our product testing team tried 13 different meal delivery services. Our testers carefully considered each service’s menu, paying special attention to recipes that were keto or low carb, gluten-free, plant-based and family-friendly. We then had registered dietitian Nancy Snyder review the ingredient lists to verify the claims on each meal. From there, our team continued their assessment of each meal kit’s delivery, customization options, preparation, taste and ease of cancellation.

FAQ

Are meal kits healthy?

If you choose a program that fits your particular health needs and consume the portion recommended on the recipe card provided, then Gulbin says meal kits are a healthy option. She also recommends using meal kits as a way to learn about healthy portions and basic cooking skills. “By doing this, you will be able to prepare healthy meals for yourself if there comes a time when you no longer have access to meal kits,” she says.

Do meal kits make healthy eating easier?

According to Gulbin, meal kits can make eating healthy easier since they take a lot of time out of meal planning for each week. Many of the meals we tried can be prepared in 35 minutes or less while other ready-to-heat meals that take three minutes or so to prepare.

Why You Should Trust Us

Our Taste of Home team members personally tested over a dozen different meal services in order to find the healthiest option. Each of our testers completed the process of ordering, preparing and eating a variety of meals. And since experiences and tastes can vary, we tested most services several times to ensure the experience was consistent for multiple testers.

We also spoke with Staci Gulbin, a registered dietitian with over 15 years of experience. She shared her insights on what makes a meal delivery kit healthy and what to look for when choosing the best one for your unique dietary needs. Amanda Capritto, a certified sports nutrition coach, health coach, and personal trainer, also reviewed this article.