Meal delivery services take the planning out of dinner, but they come in two different flavours. Recipe boxes, like Gousto, send you individually portioned ingredients alongside recipe cards, so you’re still doing the cooking, just without having to head to the supermarket. Pre-made options, like COOK, go a step further, arriving fully prepared and ready to reheat when you want them.
Staying organised is a big part of the appeal. In this year’s 2026 Good Food Nation survey, keeping organised was one of the top reasons people gave for planning meals at all, rising to nearly half of 35-44 year olds. Delivery services offer a shortcut to organisation, without the legwork of creating a meal plan from scratch.
With the help of the Good Food team, I’ve tested both types of meal delivery service extensively, and neither is a cheap way to eat. If you like hunting down yellow sticker items or the physical act of shopping at your supermarket, you’ll likely pay more per meal with a meal delivery service than you would cooking from scratch. Packaging is another sticking point: some boxes arrive with more plastic and polystyrene than they need to and not all of it is recyclable.
That said, for solving the “what’s for dinner?” problem on busy weeknights, they’re hard to beat. Gousto is my top pick if you want to cook but skip the meal planning. If you’d rather skip the cooking entirely, COOK is the one I’d recommend. Before you sign up to either, check the cancellation terms, how flexible the dietary options are and whether they cater well for the number of people you’re feeding.
For more, visit our reviews section and find more than 400 practical buyer’s guides offering unbiased advice on what foodie products and services are worth spending money on, including the best veg boxes to order to your door and the best meat boxes if you’re looking for variety. We also have thousands of simple recipes for everyday mealtime inspiration.
Best meal delivery services at a glance
- Best overall meal delivery service: COOK, from £4.25 for one meal
- Best sustainable meal delivery service: FieldGoods, from £7.25 for one meal
- Best meal delivery service for variety: Gousto, from £10.25 for two meals
- Best healthy meal delivery service: Mindful Chef, from £6.75 for one meal
- Best meal delivery service for accessible healthy meals: Green Chef, from £8.55 for one meal
- Best meal delivery service for indecisive cooks: Nonna Tonda, from £8.25 for two meals
- Best meal delivery service for diverse recipe ranges: HelloFresh, from £1.82 for one meal
- Best meal delivery service for pasta: Pasta Evangelists, from £7.75 for one meal
- Best organic meal delivery service: Riverford, from £7.50 for one meal
- Best letterbox-friendly meal delivery service: SimplyCook, first box is £5
- Best meal delivery service for healthy meal plans: Field Doctor, from £5.99 for one meal
- Best meal delivery service for vegans: Planty, from £7.30 for one meal
- Best meal delivery service for healthy meal prep: Prep Kitchen, from £3.47 for one meal
- Best meal delivery service for adventurous vegan cooks: Grubby, from £7.25 for one meal
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The best meal delivery services to order to your door in 2026
COOK
Available from COOK (from £4.25 per serving)
Best overall meal delivery service
Star rating: 5/5
Pros:
- Huge variety of meals on offer
- Variety of serving sizes, from 1 to 8 people
- Easy to keep in the freezer
Cons:
- Have to remember to defrost some dishes before cooking
COOK is perhaps the most well-known meal delivery service, with over 100 high-street shops across the UK as well as the vast website to order from.
For sheer variety, COOK has the most to offer. You could easily lose yourself browsing the website – there’s a breadth of main meals serving from 1 to 8 people, a broad entertaining range, hot and cold puddings, meal box bundles, seasonal ranges, lunch pots and more. The website is also packed with useful tips and recommendations alongside dishes, such as serving suggestions and how to adapt dishes.
I tested a selection of meals from across the COOK offering. I started with the ‘lighter pots for one’ – ideal as quick and healthy lunches to take to work. The pots are all healthy meals with fewer than 400 calories, a great meal delivery for one. I tried the halloumi and roasted veg pasta, coming in at 317 calories, providing 2 of your 5 a day and low in sat fat – microwaved from frozen in just four minutes, it was an incredibly easy and filling healthy lunch that I’d happily eat again. At £5 (or 3 for £13), this is admittedly a little more than most high street sandwich shops. Next, I was also impressed by a tomato, basil and mozzarella risotto – again microwaving from frozen in just a few minutes, it was a great speedy supper after the gym, with a strong hit of lemon and plenty of creamy mozzarella. A family fish pie for dinner was also comforting, although with a slightly dry mash.
I also tested their frozen sauces and was impressed by them all. A creamy tomato mascarpone and basil sauce was a comforting classic, whilst the bolognese had impressive depth of flavour and the pesto, broccoli and spinach sauce was vibrant and well-seasoned. I enjoyed these just with pasta, but COOK also suggest different recipes the sauces could be added to, such as pasta bakes or using a Mediterranean veg sauce with fish. The generous 500ml pots can be microwaved from frozen for easy last-minute meals.
COOK meals all arrive frozen and use a variety of different cooking methods – my favourite was the speedy microwave ones, but dishes could also go in the oven or be defrosted overnight, such as a large chocolate roulade for a stress-free dinner party dessert. There’s lots more I want to try and would definitely buy again to explore more of the range.
A happy all-rounder, COOK would be great for new parents (who get 10% off!), those living on their own, for freezer standby meals for busy families or for emergency last minute entertaining. Order a delivery for a grandparent living alone and you’ll soon be the most popular grandchild.
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FieldGoods
Available from FieldGoods (from £7.25 per serving)
Best sustainable meal delivery service
Star rating: 5/5
Pros:
- No need to defrost before cooking from frozen
- Sustainable ethos
- Compostable packaging
Cons:
- Meals have to be ordered in bundles
- More expensive than some
FieldGoods was established by brothers Sam and Elliot Day after three years of running a restaurant, with the aim of reinventing the ready meal and prioritising sustainability alongside ease.
There’s a range of 15 meals to choose from, including classics such as beef bourguignon, lasagne and shepherd’s pie, Spanish chorizo chicken and a Goan fish curry, with several of the meals being Great Taste Award-winning. There’s also six sides and a concise collection of comforting desserts. Meals have to be ordered in bundles, starting at £27 for three meals for one, so they’re admittedly not a cheap option.
Meals are all cooked from frozen (usually taking 40-50 minutes in the oven) so you can stash your order in the freezer – great for last minute meals as you don’t have to remember to defrost food overnight. Particularly handy for new parents or when you know a busy period is coming up. FieldGoods also delivers with free next day delivery, making ordering easy.
I tested a cauliflower butter masala which was mild and creamy with robust depth of flavour. Another night, my side dish pick of dauphinoise potatoes was a highlight: it tasted impressively homemade and was rich and creamy, with a pleasant cheesy flavour. The portion isn’t huge, but it is a rich and hearty side. I liked the clever touch that my sticky toffee pudding, which served two, was made up of two mini cakes (and plenty of sauce) for easy portioning.
Sustainability is key to the FieldGoods mission: the trays and colourful sleeves of the packaging can be composted, the sleeve is made using renewable energy and the film is recyclable. After two orders, you can collect and return liners and cool blocks for FieldGoods to reuse, by scanning a QR code for a free shipping label. Produce is equally carefully considered, using 100% English free-range meat and less well-known sustainable fish (such as coley instead of haddock).
Overall, FieldGoods is a great pick for people looking for a meal delivery service with a heart – transforming the idea of a cheap ready meal into a sustainable choice for hearty comfort food that could even pass as homemade.
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FieldGoods (from £7.25 per serving)
Gousto recipe box
Available from Gousto (from £10.25 per two servings)
Best meal delivery service for variety
Star rating: 4.5/5
Pros:
- Wide choice of recipes and dietary options
- Flexible subscription
- Option to have recipe boxes for one
Cons:
- Ingredients in the box aren’t divided by recipe – can be complicated to work out what you need each day
- Some unusual ingredient quantities – either extremely generous or quite minimal
Gousto is one of the original recipe box providers and its offering is accomplished. There are over 175 recipes on offer at any one time, with the menu rotating each week, including recipes to suit plenty of different dietary requirements. This is the ideal choice for busy professionals who don’t have time to shop, and want something quick, easy and tasty. It’s also good for people who want to try cooking new dishes and need some inspiration. There are lots of different recipe styles to choose from (such as Double Protein, Quick & Easy, Everyday Favourites or Premium) and you can filter by dietaries too so you can create what suits you, such as vegetarian, dairy-free or gluten-free recipe boxes.
When my Gousto box arrived, the ingredients were all intact and felt good quality. Unlike some other recipe boxes, the ingredients inside weren’t divided by recipe, meaning it was quite tricky to work out what ingredients were required each day. You need a careful eye to divide it all up, and some plastic packaging was still present on ingredients, such as mini sachets of vinegar. My recipe box served four people, but you can also get options for one, two, three or five people (with either two, three, four or five recipes per box).
The first recipe I tested was Moroccan-style meatballs with bulgur wheat grain bowl, one of Gousto’s high-protein recipes. The meatballs were easy to make, with a quick sauce. It’s great to get a chance to use a more unusual spice such as baharat without needing to buy a whole jar that you might not use again.
There was a huge amount of bulgur wheat for two people compared to the amount of sauce, but it’s good to see portion sizes are generous. I also made a roasted red pepper orzo with goat’s cheese. This was a quick and easy crowd-pleasing midweek meal that I can see becoming a staple. Again, the ingredient quantities were slightly off – only nine cherry tomatoes between two (I added more), but a very generous whole log of goat’s cheese to crumble on top.
The variety on offer from Gousto is its biggest appeal. You’ll never run out of recipes to try, and it’s a great way to try new things. If you’re a regular customer, the Gousto app makes ordering and saving your favourite meals easy. The packaging could see some slight improvements, and you may need to be flexible with the quantities to expect.
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Mindful Chef recipe box
Available from Mindful Chef (from £6.75 per serving)
Best healthy meal delivery service
Star rating: 4.5/5
Pros:
- Inventive recipes with no refined carbs or sugars
- Ethically sourced protein
- Range of serving sizes available
- Wide recipe choice
Cons:
Mindful Chef is a health-focused B-corp certified food box delivery service, first launched in 2015. Each of the recipes are designed to be nutritious, gluten-free and low-carb, and all use ethically sourced ingredients from small UK farms and producers.
Each week, there’s a rotating menu of 28 recipes to choose from, with lots of vegan and vegetarian options, and menus showing up to a month ahead. You can choose 2-5 recipes per box, and choose a box for one, two or four people. Recipes are helpfully labelled with different health perks, such as being high in protein, low in saturated fat or containing lots of plant foods.
I tested Mindful Chef over a week. The delivery mentioned that 85% of packaging is recyclable from home or the supermarket; there is still some plastic packaging throughout, such as for mini pots of oil or wrapping meat. In the main box, ingredients for each recipe came in a clearly labelled brown paper bag (with meat and fish in a separate chilled compartment) – you could pop each bag in the fridge and just take out the right recipe each night. Interestingly, instead of the familiar recipe cards that often come with these boxes, Mindful Chef include a book of all the recipes currently on rotation.
I was very impressed with the quality of the produce – fresh herbs, giant, glossy red peppers. The dishes are innovative and use different flavour pairings, so it’s good for people who want some inspiration in discovering new dishes that are still healthy. The recipes we tried were delicious and well portioned. A Thai-style basa with coconut rice and stir-fried veg was a highlight, combining three different flavour-packed elements in ways we wouldn’t have thought to do at home. A warming Mexican-style beef shakshuka was given a fresh lift with a coriander and avocado salsa. Testing the box in winter, it was great to discover hearty, filling meals that didn’t rely on big portions of carbs and were still healthy.
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Green Chef
Available from Green Chef (from £8.55 per serving)
Best meal delivery service for accessible healthy meals
Star rating: 4.5/5
Pros:
- A variety of dietary options covered
- Makes healthy eating easy and accessible
- Wide recipe choice
- Add-ons available, eg tofu, vegan burgers
- Fully recyclable packaging
Cons:
- Lots of washing-up midweek from some recipes
If you want to incorporate healthier meals into your routine but you’re unsure where to start, Green Chef is a great option. There are eight ranges to explore – vegetarian, vegan, keto, high protein, calorie conscious, lower carb, pescatarian and flexitarian – all of which have been vetted by a qualified nutritionist.
Even though the meals are categorises as ‘healthy’, you never get the impression you’re missing out or eating ‘diet food’; recipes still feel indulgent and easily accessible. Menus are updated weekly and you can view all the recipes up to three weeks ahead, with boxes available for two or four people and a maximum of five recipes per box.
I tried a selection of veggie dishes, including colourful vegetable gyoza peanut noodles, topped with mushrooms and pea pods, and gochujang-glazed paneer with zesty rice, peas and peanuts. I also enjoyed the mozzarella-topped pesto gnocchi with plum tomatoes and rocket, which felt like comfort food without being too heavy.
The recipes we sampled involved a bit of prep, but nothing too complicated, and I appreciated the level of detail on the recipe cards. The packaging, which was made up from a fully recyclable cardboard cool box, also impressed me and was easy to dispose of.
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Nonna Tonda
Available from Nonna Tonda (from £8.25 per two servings)
Best meal delivery service for indecisive cooks
Star rating: 4.5/5
Pros:
- Quick and easy to prepare, no cooking skills required
- Fresh and high-quality ingredients
- Great results
Cons:
- Gets expensive if ordered often
- Limited dietary filters
- No recipe choice
If you get overwhelmed by choice, Nonna Tonda is the pasta delivery service for you. A hybrid of a meal delivery service and a recipe subscription box, Nonna Tonda delivers two pasta dishes a week. The choice is whether to go meat or vegetarian or a combo – there’s only two of each on the menu.
Just boil the pasta, reheat the sauce, and dinner is served. You can also add an antipasti selection to your order, which changes weekly. Portions serve two, four or six – you could have leftovers the next day if you’re cooking for one.
I was impressed by how compact the delivery was, deceptively containing two pastas to serve two, and two antipasti selections in a cardboard box. Each pasta, cheese and sauce comes in a sleek cardboard box, so it’s clear which elements go together.
A lot of the packaging is recyclable and reusable – I kept the resealable bags that my ciabatta and pasta came in to use again. Finished recipes were impressive, and I’d definitely be tempted to order more as a treat for busy weeks.
Read our full review of Nonna Tonda.
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HelloFresh recipe box
Available from HelloFresh (from £1.82 per serving)
Best meal delivery service for diverse recipe ranges
Star rating: 4.5/5
Pros:
- Different recipe ranges for every need
- Speedy recipe options from 20 minutes
- Can deliver when you’re out
Cons:
- Some packaging tricky to open
- Low vegetable levels
- Optimistic suggested cooking times
HelloFresh is another of the leading recipe box brands and remains a strong all-rounder. The dishes on offer are adventurous and bold, drawing on interesting flavour combinations from around the world, with plenty of choice and varied ranges designed for different needs, from family-friendly meals to calorie-smart healthy options. Weekly menus are available up to six weeks in advance.
You can choose whether to get from two to five recipes per week, and whether to serve two, three or four people. HelloFresh will take your first selection as your custom plan, but you can change this week to week. Ingredients are, true to the name, fresh and mainly high quality, and ingredients for each different recipe are clearly marked in paper bags. Plastic use is relatively minimal but not completely eliminated, with some elements tricky to open compared to more familiar supermarket packaging.
The first recipe I made was a Tuscan-inspired pulled chicken stew, which was straightforward to pull together and worked very well as a one-pot meal with very little washing-up. I’d make this again, even without reordering the box. The method was easy to follow, the kitchen smelled fantastic while it cooked, and the end result was excellent: a creamy, flavourful sauce with crunchy ciabatta for dipping.
Although the recipe card suggested a 25–30 minute cook time, this felt slightly optimistic given steps such as frying for eight minutes and baking for 25, plus preparation in between. The portions of vegetables felt a little stingy, with just a few cherry tomatoes and 4og of spinach between two – I’d have happily added more if we’d had them to hand. Serving it with extra broccoli helped boost the veg count.
I also made a sausage and roast potato traybake. The sausages were a slight letdown, with a lower meat content (75% pork) and a less premium feel than you might get from some rival recipe boxes. However, HelloFresh does excel at thoughtful finishing touches: generous herbs on the roast potatoes, a honey glaze over the sausages and a punchy harissa mayo all helped elevate the recipe and were easy extra elements I wouldn’t have thought to add myself.
This felt like exactly what I’d use HelloFresh for: interesting new cooking inspiration and techniques when you’re in a rut, clever use of ingredients across different elements of the meal, plus the ability to make varied dishes packed with flavour throughout the week without having to have a fully stocked cupboard – and no waste at the end of the week.
Overall, HelloFresh delivers reliable, tasty meals with minimal effort and plenty of flavour, even if ingredient quality and packaging could be improved.
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Pasta Evangelists
Available from Pasta Evangelists (from £7.75 per serving)
Best meal delivery service for pasta
Star rating: 4/5
Pros:
- Quick and easy to prepare
- Generous portions
- Good for cooking for one
Cons:
- Dishes don’t rotate very regularly
- Smaller range of dishes than other recipe subscriptions
- Can get expensive if ordered often
Billing itself as the first fresh pasta recipe box, Pasta Evangelists delivers fresh pasta to your door, complete with quality sauces and garnishes.
There are 10 pasta recipes to choose from each week, plus sauces, a couple of side dishes and dessert options. You can can view the choices up to two weeks in advance if you’re planning ahead, although choices don’t change much. You can add as many recipes as you’d like to your basket – handy for filling up the freezer.
Recipes serve one or two, but you could add extra portions if you’d like to serve more people. Dishes are priced individually, at around £7-10 per single portion, with slight savings if you order a double portion to serve two. The standard portion is for one, which is great if you’re only cooking for yourself.
I tested three recipes from Pasta Evangelists. My delivery was left on the front step as I wasn’t in, which was easy. One of my pet peeves with recipe subscription boxes is the amount of packaging, but this came in a compact box with gel packs to keep ingredients cool.
Each order comes in its own paper bag, with instructions on the outside, and pasta, sauce and any toppings or additional ingredients in pouches inside. There is some plastic packaging at this stage and there aren’t instructions on whether it can be recycled. I was pleased to note that my three pastas could be kept in the fridge for 3-8 days, so you’ve got time to spread them over the week. Instructions on the bag also accommodate cooking from frozen.
Unlike some other recipe boxes, there is minimal cooking involved here as a lot is done for you. Meals are ready in minutes – simply cooking the pasta and reheating or melting sauces. I was eating carbonara less than 5 minutes after opening the fridge. It was super-rich and a very generous portion. I was impressed by the quality of the finished recipes; they live up to the ‘restaurant-quality’ claim.
Pasta Evangelists would be good for a hearty work-from-home lunch where you can have a hot meal with minimal thought, or for storing in the freezer for easy midweek shortcuts.
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Riverford recipe box
Available from Riverford (from £7.50 per two servings)
Best organic meal delivery service
Star rating: 4/5
Pros:
- Good quality organic ingredients
- Easy recipes to follow
- Generous portions
- Creative recipes
- Guest chefs
Cons:
- Small recipe selection
- Often had leftover ingredients
- Expensive
Riverford Organic’s recipe box puts seasonal produce at the heart of its colourful menu, with 13 recipes available each week across plant-based, vegetarian and meat categories. You can order as many as you like, with each recipe serving two or four people and prices starting from £7.50 per person.
I tried one recipe from each category. For the meat option, I cooked a Mexican chicken, corn and tomatillo salad. I was excited to try tomatillos, a tricky ingredient to find in the UK, and the salad was full of flavour. It was the favourite of the three, though I felt it could have been taken further.
The recipe suggested serving the corn raw or blanching it, but charring would have added more depth. I was also left with part-used ingredients, like half a courgette, one tomatillo and some chipotle paste.
The vegetarian option was a courgette and spinach gnocchi carbonara. It was hearty and veg-packed, though not particularly memorable. Again, I ended up with leftovers including lemon, half a pot of cream and an egg white. The vegan choice, a Sri Lankan-style French bean curry, was vibrant and full of spice, but left us with three-quarters of a tin of coconut milk unused.
The quality of the organic produce is undeniable and the recipes are straightforward to follow. Each dish felt nourishing and satisfying thanks to the abundance of fresh vegetables. The main drawback is waste: leftover ingredients cropped up in several recipes.
There’s also less choice compared with some competitors, and Riverford’s once-a-week delivery policy may not suit those who need more flexibility. That said, the policy reflects the company’s commitment to reducing food miles.
Riverford stands out for its ethics and quality, but the higher price and occasional inconvenience may not work for everyone. If you value organic ingredients and enjoy cooking with seasonal veg, it’s a strong option.
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SimplyCook recipe box
Available from SimplyCook (from £5 for your first box)
Best letterbox-friendly meal delivery service
Star rating: 4/5
Pros:
- Fits through letterbox
- Long shelf life
- Covers wide range of cuisines
Cons:
- Majority of ingredients must be purchased separately
Read our full SimplyCook review
SimplyCook is a unique service in that, unlike other recipe boxes, it’s letterbox-sized. Each delivery contains four ‘recipe kits’ – dry ingredients in pots, to which you add your own fresh ingredients. The recipe list features a good mixture of cuisines, satisfying hot meals such as stews, curries and bowl food.
It’s a great option if there are cuisines you’ve not cooked before and are keen to try out before you commit to filling your storecupboard with new ingredients. The recipes are customisable, because the box is just recipe cards, pastes and seasonings.
All of the other ingredients you buy yourself from the shops and suppliers you like/have access to. There are optional garnishes and additional serving suggestions too, should you want to customise further. You can filter by dietary requirements of vegan or vegetarian, but not gluten-free or dairy free.
The portions are generous (kits serve 2-4 people) and the finished dishes very flavoursome. I also noted that it feels like a lot of thought has gone into using as little packaging as possible, with minimal excess. I liked that you’re not tied to it if your plans change. The sachets have a long shelf-life, so there’s no pressure to cook the recipes within a limited time frame.
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Field Doctor
Available from Field Doctor (from £5.99 per serving)
Best for meal delivery service healthy meal plans
Star rating: 4/5
Pros:
- Wide range of specific health requirements
- Meals can be microwaved straight from frozen
- Detailed health information on each meal
Cons:
- Some dishes were a little bland
Field Doctor has big goals. Believing in the principle of ‘food as medicine’, it aims to create delicious-tasting food that also boosts your health, with all meals assessed and designed by nutritional experts.
There are several different ways to use Field Doctor, depending on the health advice you’re looking for. There are a selection of meal plans to choose from, in which meals have been bundled into plans to help target a specific dietary need, such as low-FODMAP, weight loss or gluten-free meals. Alternatively, you can shop the meals individually (there’s a wide range of over 60 to choose from, some with Great Taste Awards) and build your own selection. When browsing all the meals, there’s a wide variety of health filters to choose from, including low-saturated fat, low-carb, heart-healthy or IBS-suitable meals (along with each meal detailing the specific nutrients and health benefits it provides), which goes into much more depth than many other recipe box or meal delivery services.
I tested a range of Field Doctor meals, from chicken tikka masala to teriyaki salmon. Meals can be microwaved straight from frozen, so no need to remember to defrost them the night before – this is handy when you need a quick, hot, healthy lunch or last-minute dinner. Meals are clearly labelled and colour-coded with their health properties to match when browsing online. Some meals felt a little bland and could have done with more seasoning, but this is likely due to their health restrictions. The beef ragu with wholemeal penne contains two of your five-a-day, seven of your 30 weekly plants and is low in saturated fat and sugar. Borlotti beans bulked out the mince, and it tasted hearty and nutritious.
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Planty
Available from Planty (from £7.30 per serving)
Best for meal delivery service for vegans
Star rating: 4/5
Pros:
- Makes plant-based food convenient
- Good range of meals to choose from
Cons:
- Meals are on the hearty side – fewer light options
Planty is a meal delivery service providing 100 per cent plant-based, chef-prepared meals on a subscription model, so you sign up to regular deliveries. This is handy if you want to get into a routine of always having a back-up meal in your freezer for when you know you have busy periods, or if you’re consistently looking for easy evenings free of cooking.
Meals are ordered by creating your own Planty box bundle of meals, choosing up to 12 meals and 3 desserts. Each meal serves one person. There’s a wide range of meals to choose from (some of which are Great Taste Award winning), with the ability to filter easily by dietary requirements as well as handily by cooking method, if you’re specifically looking for meals you can quickly microwave or you want to use your oven. When I browsed, meals included dishes such as pumpkin ravioli, yaki miso udon noodles, mac ‘no’ cheese, tempeh lasagne and a buddha bowl. There was a noticeable amount of hearty, comforting dishes based around pasta and carbs. Meals are delivered frozen on your selected delivery date – all in eco-conscious recyclable insulated padding to keep them cool.
Overall, the meals I tried were simple, tasty and satisfying. I really appreciated the clear nutritional signposting on the meals to indicate whether a dish was gluten-free or contributed to your five-a-day. Quite a few of the meals were on the spicy side, which might not be to everyone’s taste, but for those who like that, their flavour profiles were great. The meals offered a good balance of seasoning, with herbs and spices remaining fresh and vibrant despite being pre-prepared. The clear best thing about Planty is the ability to make plant-based food convenient and varied, ready to pop a frozen meal in the microwave at a moment’s notice.
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Prep Kitchen
Available from Prep Kitchen (from £3.47 per serving)
Best meal delivery service for healthy meal prep
Star rating: 4/5
Prep Kitchen aims to make it easy for you to stick to your healthy eating and nutrition goals, no matter how busy you are. They create individually portioned meals with a balance of macronutrients to help you boost your strength and overall fitness.
They offer two plans – one for fat loss and one for muscle gain. Once you’ve picked your plan, you choose between balanced meals (£6.25 per meal for fat loss and £7.50 for muscle gain) and lower carb (£7 per meal for fat loss and £8.25 for muscle gain). Prices for a week’s worth of meals starts at £62.50. You also have the option to add breakfasts, snacks and treats, for an extra cost.
When my food arrived for the week, I had concerns the seemingly small meals wouldn’t leave us satisfied. However, after my first dinner of chicken massaman curry, I knew I needn’t have worried. All the meals were packed with protein, hearty and filling, despite the minimal use of carbs.
The menu is varied and includes curries, stir-fries, pies, risotto, burgers and more. The dishes I had were a bit hit and miss – the sweet and sour chicken and Korean bibimbap weren’t to my liking. But there were some tasty highlights, including a chicken and tomato risotto with nutty chickpea rice, beef lasagne with roasted vegetables instead of pasta and a comforting buffalo mac and cheese with vegan chicken strips. Overall, I found the quality of the meat was noticeably better than supermarket ready-meals and they include plenty of vegetables. I thoroughly enjoyed the spicy chorizo frittata with a green salad for lunch. Not to mention the fudgy healthy chocolate brownies – what a treat.
Prep Kitchen have a long list of pro athletes who regularly enjoy their meals, just take a look at their Instagram. This ethos of food as fuel was reflected in the meals which, although not always pretty to look at, provided a good balance of protein and carbs. I can’t deny, I was happy to tuck into a healthy, portioned meal which took no longer than a few minutes in the microwave to prepare. If you’re someone who squeezes in regular workouts, this is a definite plus and a reason to give Prep Kitchen a go.
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Grubby
Available from Grubby (from £7.25 per serving)
Best meal delivery service for adventurous vegan cooks
Star rating: 4/5
Grubby’s vegan recipe boxes offer nutritious and interesting recipes for those who want to get creative in the kitchen without the hassle of shopping for ingredients.
Each week, there are nearly 20 recipes to choose from. I tried Spicy Plant-Based ‘Nduja & Vegetable Lasagne, Lebanese-style potatoes and aubergine, Creamy Mushroom Gnocchi. All were filling and tasty, though the potato and aubergine dish was a real stand out.
Inside the box, ingredients are separated into paper bags for each recipe. Packaging is almost all recyclable, biodegradable or compostable with as little unnecessary plastic as possible.
Instructions are printed on handy A5 cards with nutritional information and a lovely recipe image, so you know what you’re aiming for. The equipment required for each recipe is listed, too, making it easy to have everything on hand before you start cooking. I particularly enjoyed the Grubby Spotify playlists, which can be accessed by scanning a QR code on each recipe card with your phone camera, so you can have a dance while your dinner cooks.
One thing to note, if you’re mindful of calories, some recipes do rack up – some recipes are over 800 calories. While the focus of Grubby is to nourish our health and care for the planet by encouraging more people to choose vegan, anyone looking for lighter meals might want to consider another option as the portions are very large. That being said, they’re great for leftovers.
Grubby offers a no-commitment subscription – you can skip a delivery or cancel at any time after your first delivery.
Grubby has a higher price point when compared to other recipe boxes, however the quality of the ingredients is high.
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Are meal delivery services worth it?
The decision over whether a meal delivery service suits you will depend on your lifestyle and what you’re hoping to get out of them. For busy weekdays or when you’re trying to reset your routine (meal delivery services often see a spike in demand after Christmas), meal delivery services can take the stress out of meal planning and grocery shopping. You don’t need to find time to go food shopping as everything arrives measured and ready to go, which saves time and reduces waste.
On the plus side, they introduce variety and can help you learn new cooking skills, with clear recipes and fresh ingredients delivered to your door. Some services such as Gousto or HelloFresh offer hundreds of recipes a week to choose from, so you can break out of your traditional recipe rotation. Others, such as Pasta Evangelists and Nonna Tonda, are essentially delivering fully cooked meals with minimal cooking at all – good for busy weeks when you’ll be home late.
But they’re not perfect for everyone: the cost per meal is usually higher than shopping yourself, and the packaging can feel excessive. If you love choosing your own ingredients or eat very specific diets, the pre-selected meals might feel restrictive. Ultimately, they’re worth it for some, especially when life gets hectic, but less so if cost and control are your top priorities.
What to consider when choosing a meal delivery service
There are lots of meal delivery services to choose from, and finding the right one for you means thinking about a few things:
- How much cooking do you want to do? Some boxes will deliver elaborate recipes that can be great weekend projects or ideal for keen cooks, whereas others deliver you fully prepared meals that you essentially just reheat.
- Do you have specific dietary restrictions? Not all subscriptions can cater to all requirements, so check that there are enough dishes on offer that you want to eat.
- How many people are you cooking for? Not all boxes offer deliveries for one (Gousto and Pasta Evangelists do), and most only go up to servings for four people.
- Consider ingredients – for example, Riverford could be a suitable choice if eating organically is important to you.
- Flexibility – if your schedule is regularly changing, make sure you check that the recipe box you sign up to is equally flexible. Lots of schemes let you opt in and out for different days and cancel when you need, whereas others have strict delivery days you have to adhere to.
How we tested meal delivery services
Members of the Good Food digital and cookery teams each tested a week of each meal delivery service. There were several key criteria that teams based their verdict on:
- Range of recipes: was there plenty to choose from, and did recipes rotate regularly if you were going to repeatedly buy? Were all dietary options covered? Was it possible to scale recipes up or down to serve different family sizes?
- Ease of cooking: we looked for clear instructions (photos and obvious step-by-step methods were a bonus), accurate suggested cooking times and clear ways to distribute ingredients between elements and steps.
- Quality of the ingredients: some of the recipe boxes provided organic ingredients, but regardless we were looking for ethically sourced, fresh, high-quality ingredients.
- Packaging: with small quantities of ingredients individually sent, packaging can quickly add up. We looked for packaging to be sustainable, with minimal plastic where possible.
- Quality of the finished recipes: the all-important cooking results! After accurately following the recipes, we wanted delicious meals that we would want to cook again. Portion size and whether the meals were balanced were other consider.
- Value for money: how does the subscription compare to cooking from scratch? Would it be practical to regularly get a recipe delivery, or would it be more of a one-off purchase?
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Are you signed up to a recipe delivery service? We’d love to hear about your experiences. Leave a comment below…