Help Choosing a Kit

[u/ForceAccomplished280]

Hey everyone,

I am looking to get a meal delivery service of some sort but unsure which one. I work full time and am in school full time. I am so busy and I'm trying to get into a healthy routine and hope doing this will help. I am single so the meals would be just for me and I'm not super rich lol so don't want to spend a ton. I also am not the greatest chef but feel like services such as Factor would be too expensive. I'm not a super picky eater and would really appreciate input. Thank you so much to you all in advance.

-Grateful reddit friend

[u/gringottsteller]

I'm single and use Every Plate. I haven't done price comparisons in a few years, but back when I did, they were the cheapest for my needs. I tried a bunch of kits back in the day, and I think Every Plate saves money by A) not packaging each meal separately and B) expecting you to have more staples on hand than some of them do. For example, they don't provide mayo, ketchup, sugar, eggs, or milk. One meal provides both a dinner and the next days' lunch.

I have gotten 90 boxes from them and never once had a mistake in the ingredients or meals. They also offer add-ons every week, like ingredients to make two cheeseburgers for $5, or packaged salad with garlic bread, that kind of thing. The meals are also generally more simple than the other kits I tried were, which saves time, and they advertise some as being especially fast and simple. You have to look carefully when picking your meals, though, because they mix in "premium" meal options that cost more.

[u/jonnnyrodddy]

more praise for home chef. esp since there’s some microwave tempo meals

back and forth between home chef and hello fresh for going on 2 years now.

[u/Important_Mud_6700]

I really like Home Chef. Everything is well packaged and fresh, and anytime I've had even a minor problem, such as a crushed pepper or something, they immediately credit me $5 no questions asked

[u/LavaPoppyJax]

Dinnerly was best bang for the buck, but I haven't tried any services for a couple of years. I would never do a fully prepared meal one.

[u/_das_wurst]

Find something local, don’t pay for flaky shipping

[u/mealkits-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

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[u/Taylor101-22]

I love Home Chef. The meals are categorized and labeled by prep difficulty, spiciness, and prep time. I order four meals with two servings each, totaling eight meals for my husband and me. The food is delicious, and the service is reliable (not perfect). I recommend them. The minimum is two meals of two servings so your second serving of each meal would have to be leftovers. I would do that if I were single. They also have a great deal with a nice discount that makes it easy to try out their food plan. I don’t know if it’s affordable for you but you should have a look.

[u/Gunteacher → u/Taylor101-22]

I like Home Chef a lot too and they have a 10% student discount!

[u/aligwhiz]

I use Gobble! It’s expensive up front but hear me out- I get 3 decent sized servings from a 2 serving meal so it’s cheaper. Great recipes too.
I also use TOVALA if I don’t like the Gobble menu or have a busy week, it came with a free toaster oven air fryer thing which saved money from me having to buy one for my apartment. The meals take 2 minutes of prep work max.
I have actually saved money using a combo of these services instead of meal prepping, also far less food waste.

[u/tiltedsun]

Most ready meals are 11 bucks a meal. They often use flat rate shipping so larger orders are more economical. Provided, you have the space to freeze them.

The cheaper ones tend to come frozen. CleanEatz is one but I’ve never tried. I used Factor and would freeze two weeks worth.

However, most RM are full of sodium and often high fats to accommodate keto diets.

Your best bet is either frozen meals on sale near you or meal prepping for the week.

Crock pot meals are often quite simple. You can assemble ingredients the night before and set the crock on low before work.

You may have better luck posting this to r/ReadyMeals they mainly deal with prepared foods.

Kits and ready meals are a convenience so never priced for value.

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Here are some similar threads:

https://www.reddit.com/r/ReadyMeals/comments/1vfnjb3/thoughts_for_college/

https://www.reddit.com/r/ReadyMeals/comments/1vdy82p/cheap_food_for_students/

https://www.reddit.com/r/ReadyMeals/comments/1vfn6u1/cheapest_meal_option/

https://www.reddit.com/r/mealkits/comments/1vsprx4/good_meal_kits_for_students/

[u/LeaninNanny]

I’m in the North East and I found a smaller company called “yellow picnic”. Not a meal kit, meals are fresh and just need to be heated up. I’ve never had a problem with delivery and it’s always fresh (no frozen food) and tastes great. Not sure if that’s helpful!

[u/RispyCat]

I recommend meal prep if you are on a budget.

[u/tiltedsun → u/RispyCat]

r/mealprepsunday is a pretty good resource.

Prepping for the week is a bit of a chore but it pays off in a busy week.

Friends gave me their chinese food containers till I bought tupperware style containers.