Are you one of those parents with the heart of a chef? You know, the kind that loves creating scrumptious family dinners every night. Or are you one of those parents who is contemplating serving up cereal for the third night in a row this week? Or are you somewhere in between?
If any of those descriptions sound like you, you have to try a meal kit delivery service! There are plans that are suitable for almost any type of family.
Are you super busy? They have services that can help you put meals on the table in less than 15 minutes. Do you have a large family? There’s a service that allows you to order meals for up to six people. On a budget? How about trying the service with dinners for only $4.99.
To help you decide which service is right for you and your family, we’ve rounded up the six best meal kit delivery services for families to try in 2021. Then, we went even further and sorted them by who each kit is best to help make your decision that much more straightforward.
Without further ado, here are our top picks for each category:
The Best Meal Delivery Services for Families
- Best Overall for Families: HelloFresh
“The Family Friendly plan includes recipes that are kid-tested and family-approved.”
- Best for Families on a Budget: EveryPlate
“While meal kits are normally associated with luxury and a premium price tag, with EveryPlate, it’s not the case. Dinners are only $4.99 each.”
- Best for Busy Families: Gobble
“Gobble’s chefs do all the prep work, like peeling, chopping & marinating, so you can cook a fresh homemade dinner in just 15 minutes.”
- Best for Large Families: Home Chef
“Fresh weekly meal kits customized to your liking and starting at $6.99 per serving for two, four or six people.”
- Best for Families with Picky Eaters: Dinnerly
“Picky eater approved! We’ve got the familiar flavors and family favorites everyone loves.”
- Best for Vegetarian Families: Purple Carrot
“The convenient way to cook up tasty, healthy plant-based meals that will leave you wanting more.”
Fast Facts:
Facts: | HelloFresh | EveryPlate | Gobble | Home Chef | Dinnerly | Purple Carrot |
Category Won: | Best Overall | Best for Families on a Budget | Best for Busy Families | Best for Large Families | Best for Families with Picky Eaters | Best for Vegetarian Families |
Price per serving: | Starting at $7.49 | Starting at $4.99 | Starting at $10.99 | Starting at $6.99 | Starting at $4.49 | Starting at $9.99 |
Delivery cost: | $7.99 | $8.99 | $7.99 | Varies depending on meal plan | $8.99 | FREE! |
Plans: | Meat & Veggies, Vegetarian, Family Friendly, Calorie Smart, Quick & Easy, Pork Free, Pescetarian | Meat & Veggies | Meat & Veggies (Classic), Vegetarian, Lean & Clean | Meat & Veggies (Standard), Fresh & Easy, Vegetarian (meals only, no plan) | Meat & Veggies, Vegetarian | Vegan |
Availability: | 48 states (excludes Alaska and Hawaii). | 48 states (excludes Alaska and Hawaii). | 48 states (excludes Alaska and Hawaii). Also excludes some zip codes in Montana, New Mexico and North Dakota. | 48 states (excludes Alaska and Hawaii). | Most of the continental US. | 48 states (excludes Alaska and Hawaii). |
Best Overall: HelloFresh
HelloFresh calls themselves “America’s #1 Meal Kit”, so if you’ve ever heard of these meal kit services, this is probably the one you’re most familiar with. However, their popularity is not why we selected HelloFresh as the best overall meal kit delivery service for families to try in 2021.
We chose HelloFresh as the winner in this category because they don’t just offer “regular” dinners and vegetarian dinners — they have a wide variety of plans. However, when you first subscribe to HelloFresh, they only give you the option to select from:
- Meat and veggies: Their widest variety of meat, fish, and seasonal produce.
- Veggies: A wide variety of meals full of seasonal, naturally produced veggies.
- Family-friendly: Kid-tested recipes that make quick, easy-to-cook meals.
- Calorie smart: A wide selection of dietician-approved meals that are around 650 calories each.
But after you’re an active subscriber, you can personalize your plan further by selecting from the following options in the “Plan Settings” menu:
- Quick & easy
- Seafood free
- Pork-free
- Beef free
- Pescetarian
Furthermore, this service offers around 15 recipes per week to choose from when customizing your order.
In addition to this massive plan variety, another reason we named this service the best overall for families is that HelloFresh’s Family Friendly plan includes recipes that are kid-tested and family-approved. This means, if you’re dealing with picky eaters, HelloFresh has you covered.
Finally, HelloFresh is our top overall pick because you’ll pay less per meal for the 4 person plan size than you will for their 2 person plan size. HelloFresh is already quite competitively priced compared to other services. Still, this extra little discount for going with their larger plan is a coup for families on a budget.
Read our full HelloFresh review for more.
Best for Families with Picky Eaters: Dinnerly
Dinnerly touts itself as the most affordable meal kit service, with meals costing $4.29 per serving. Dinnerly was created for people who like homemade cooking but don’t like overpaying for the good things in life.
With that being said, we’ve actually chosen Dinnerly as the meal kit delivery service that’s best for families with picky eaters because, much like HelloFresh, they cite specific meals as kid-friendly. Dinnerly meals use familiar flavors and family favorites that everyone loves.
Dinnerly is the budget-friendly counterpart of the lesser-known company, Marley Spoon, a foodie focused meal kit service. They offer a 2-person and a 4-person box that comes with 3, 4 or 5 recipes per week, and if necessary, you can opt to make your box vegetarian.
Given this service’s affordability, we were pleasantly surprised by how delicious the food was when we tried it. Most of the meals had a “homey” quality to them. However, you will find some fancier options like “Roasted Chickpea Gyro with Chopped Salad & Garlic Yogurt.”
Plus, all of the recipes we tried included some level of veg, a perk for families trying to eat well-rounded meals. However, with Dinnerly you should be aware that some fresh ingredients may be subbed out for their canned counterparts. Though, this is probably something that helps keep the service budget-friendly for families like yours. And hey, some people like canned veggies!
Given the price point and the kid-approved recipes, Dinnerly is definitely worth a try if you’re trying to get well-balanced meals on the table for those picky eaters you love so much.
Read our full Dinnerly review for more.
Best for Families on a Budget: EveryPlate
Dinnerly isn’t the only meal kit delivery service at a budget-friendly price point. EveryPlate is one of the most affordable meal kit subscription services available today. However, unlike Dinnerly, they provide you with fresh ingredients for filling, classic, home-style recipes at an everyday budget of $4.99 per meal, right to your doorstep.
When we tried EveryPlate, the food was quite delicious. The produce was ripe, and the portion sizes were fair, especially considering the pricing. Plus, our delivery was right on time, and everything in our box was still fresh and intact. While EveryPlate says they don’t cater to specific diets, they have veggie options as part of their eleven weekly recipes.
One of the best and most notable meal kit delivery services out there is HelloFresh, but if you’re a family on a budget, then EveryPlate is an excellent option for you. As it turns out, HelloFresh and EveryPlate are owned by the same company. This means you’re getting the high-quality and deliciousness that HelloFresh is renowned for like half the cost!
While EveryPlate is slightly less fancy, they are significantly more affordable than HelloFresh. If you can deal with this little trade-off, EveryPlate is best for families on a budget.
Read our full EveryPlate review for more.
Best for Busy Families: Gobble
What if I told you there’s a way to get family dinner on the table in less than 20 minutes? Oh, and it’s not a frozen meal or doesn’t require ordering pizza. Even harder to believe, chefs will do all your prep work, like peeling, chopping and marinating, so you can cook a fresh homemade dinner in just 15 minutes.
We’re not crazy and we’re not in a dream world. We’ve just subscribed to Gobble, the meal kit delivery service that’s best for busy families. Even better, this service offers healthy meals, so it’s got all the convenience of fast food, without all the extra calories.
Gobble has three menu styles; Classic, Vegetarian and Lean & Clean. For their classic dinners, they run about 700-900 calories per serving. For their Lean & Clean dinners, these meals are low carb, come with lean proteins and are under 600 calories. As for their vegetarian dinners, they don’t technically have a full menu, but Gobble does include at least three vegetarian menu options each week.
Fun fact: The CEO of Gobble actually follows a vegetarian diet.
Now let’s talk about pricing. Their “2-Person Plan,” which can include 3 or 4 dinners for the week, costs $11.99 per meal. The standard 3 dinners for two people is $71.94, plus $6.99 for shipping. Their “4-Person Plan,” which can include 3 or 4 dinners for the week, costs $11.99 per meal. The standard 3 dinners for four people is $143.88, plus $6.99 for shipping.
Additionally, there’s no maximum order. You can add as many meals to your weekly delivery as you’d like, so feeding the whole family will be a snap. Plus, you’re welcome to add sides, soups and desserts too. Gobble’s chocolate chip cookie dough is fantastic, but don’t just take our word for it. You’ll have to try it for yourself.
Read our full Gobble review for more.
Best for Large Families: Home Chef
You may have noticed a trend with most of these meal kit delivery services…they typically only offer a two-person or a four-person plan.
But did you know there is a kid-friendly service that offers options for families of six people? This is why we’ve chosen Home Chef as the best weekly meal kit delivery service for large families. Additionally, you can even choose between two to six meals each week when you build your box.
Home Chef’s meals start at $6.99. They offer a lot of variety with their Carb Conscious, Calorie Conscious and Vegetarian menus. Plus, you can help make your meals more kid-friendly with their customization options to swap out one protein for another. What’s more, if you’re a bit of a novice home chef, they label their recipes based on difficulty (like easy or intermediate), so you can choose accordingly.
Furthermore, you don’t have to worry if your dinner routine isn’t quite “routine” because they offer meals that can fit into anyone’s schedule. Need dinner on the table in just 5 minutes? Home Chef has you covered. Got 30+ minutes to chef up a masterpiece? Home Chef can help!
Read our full Home Chef review for more.
Best for Vegetarian Families: Purple Carrot
Are you a family of vegetarians or vegans? Did you know they have entire services dedicated to delivering you plant-based ingredients to cook up delicious dinners that leave you wanting more!?!
If you are interested in trying out a vegan diet or are already vegan, Purple Carrot is worth trying. It’s one of the few entirely vegan meal kit delivery services available that takes the guesswork out of this dietary lifestyle because everything you need to create a scrumptious vegan dinner is sent right to your door.
This means you don’t have to worry about label reading to check for animal products/by-products or to try to meal plan a dinner menu that fits your lifestyle. And, as a bonus, dinners aren’t the only food available from Purple Carrot.
With Purple Carrot, you get to pick a plan (High-Protein, Gluten-Free, Quick & Easy or Chef’s Choice) and customize your order every week. Your box will include all the ingredients you need to prepare your dinners (and breakfasts and lunches, if you so choose) and the ingredients come labeled for easy use. Plus, you also get the weekly recipe booklet that will contain all your recipes for the week.
Per meal, Purple Carrot isn’t the cheapest. Their meals start at $9.99. However, they’re one of the few meal kits that offer free shipping, so they’re more affordable than most meal kit delivery services. So, if you’re looking for the meal kit that’s best for your vegetarian family, don’t hesitate to try Purple Carrot.
Read our full Purple Carrot review for more.
Final Thoughts
Look, we know that choosing a meal kit delivery service that’s right for you and your family can be overwhelming. There are almost too many options to pick from when it comes to deciding which services are worth trying and which services actually fit your lifestyle and your bank account. However, we’ve put together this list of the six best meal kit delivery services for families to try in 2021 to help streamline the decision making process.
At GrillCookBake, we independently research, test and recommend only the best services for you and your family. Each service was tested and hand-selected with your family’s needs in mind. Do you eat vegetarian? Check out Purple Carrot. Are you feeding picky eaters? Check out Dinnerly. Need to feed a family of six? Home Chef is an excellent choice.
Still can’t decide? Check out our full-length reviews and side by side comparisons of all of these meal kit delivery services.
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