- mitchjseely
Meal Subscription: The Easiest Way to Cook and Eat Healthy Food
Updated: Nov 10, 2022
Anyone can make delicious and healthy food at home without the need to search for specific ingredients or spend lots of money on healthy fast food. This can be done with a Meal Subscription!
I'm sure that you've heard of a meal subscription service before. They send you a box of food with a recipe to your door, you follow the directions and cook the food, then enjoy the wonderful, nutritious meals.
There are many factors these days affecting what we eat and therefore, our health, such as:
Our normally busy lives and overflow of tasks in our daily routine, hence making it hard to set a large amount of time aside to cook food.
This digital and smart era has made us accustomed to this lifestyle full of laziness and instant gratification.
A pandemic that has made us stay indoors for more than we're used to.
In one or more of the above situations, we prefer to either order food from the restaurants to be delivered to us at an absurd cost, or we microwave some hot pockets and eat some chips. We repeatedly consume food that is not the healthiest or best for our well-being. A better option is to prepare our food at home using ingredients from our pantry anyhow. It seems simple but pretty difficult to manage for most of us!
How about even a better option in between both to get healthy food for you and your family? Yes, it is to use a meal kit delivery service! The meal subscription industry is a rapidly growing industry and for good reason. Here is everything you need to know about the popular meal subscription services out there:
Pros and cons of a meal subscription
Best meal subscription kits: Which one to choose?
My goal for this post is to help you understand more about meal subscriptions and certain meal delivery services so that you can either choose to benefit from this kind of subscription or decide that this isn’t for you.
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What are meal subscriptions?
A meal subscription is a meal delivery service that sends you meal kits (ingredients) and recipes so that you can cook healthy meals at home. These are not typically "oven-ready meals" that you can pop into the oven and have it ready in 30 minutes. These are meal kits delivered to your door per week or per month.
You can usually choose how many meals per week you want and choose which kinds of healthy meals you want as well. These meals will come with pre-portioned ingredients rather than fully prepared meals. You then take those fresh ingredients and read their easy-to-follow recipes.
The beauty of a meal subscription is that it takes the guesswork out of cooking and eating healthy. Most, if not all, meal subscription services will have a wide variety of meals for you to choose from. You pick which meals you want and how many you want to be shipped to you per week, biweekly, or monthly. Once the meals are at your doorstep, you may cook them at any time (the sooner the better for optimum freshness, especially with organic produce). They will provide a step-by-step recipe and all the ingredients that are needed/provided.
Now you can benefit from preparing your healthy meals by yourself and get healthy items/ingredients at home to cook your recipes when you need them! You no more need to visit a grocery store every time or for every single item that you found missing in your kitchen.
Today, you can stay at your home, and meal plan either for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or all. You can order healthy food items using an online meal kit as you desire. The best thing about it is that you will get all the pre-portioned ingredients as required for a recipe with the procedure. This makes it SUPER easy to cook and saves you a bunch of time and hassle. You can be your own personal chef and make gourmet recipes yourself!
Pros and cons of a meal subscription
Pros:
There are MANY benefits to subscribing to a meal kit delivery service, here are a few of them:
Delicious meals - You will have access to a wide variety of recipes from different cuisines that are not only delicious but also healthy.
Many meal options for picky eaters- You will be able to find recipes to satisfy even the pickiest of eaters.
Less food waste - The recipes are designed to use all the ingredients in the kit, so there is very little food waste.
Less time spent cooking - With recipes that are quick and easy to follow, so you can spend less time in the kitchen and more time enjoying your meal.
Less time spent grocery shopping - Since all the ingredients are provided in the kit, you won't have to make a trip to the grocery store.
Flexible dietary options - With many options to choose from at your fingertips, you can pick between a wide variety of gluten-free, low-carb, low-calorie meal kits, organic ingredients, and so many more meal plans!
Fresh ingredients - All the ingredients in the meal kits are fresh and can be stored in the fridge for up to a week, so you can always have a healthy meal on hand.
Easy-to-follow recipes - The recipes are designed to be easy to follow, so even if you're a beginner cook, you'll be able to make a delicious meal.
Cons:
All of these benefits sound nice, but we also have to look at the downsides to a meal kit service. Here are a few downsides to these meal delivery services:
Meal subscriptions can be expensive.
You may end up with too much food and food waste if you don't cook all the meals you receive.
Some meal subscriptions don't offer a lot of variety.
You may not like all the recipes that are sent to you.
When it comes down to it, the price is almost always the deciding factor. If you are on a budget, a meal subscription service may not be right for you. However, if you are looking for convenience and healthy meals, then a meal subscription service may be worth the investment.
Pricing: Is it expensive?
You can find meal kit subscriptions of various types. It could be the one that suits your budget, vegetarian, vegan, organic, gluten-free, paleo, and keto-friendly diets. There are meal kits for feeding more than 2 people as well. It ranges from a minimum of $5 per serving and the premium one goes to $13 for a serving. When it comes to pricing, you get what you pay for (for the most part). If you're perfectly fine with just a simple meal, then the cheaper options would be a better fit for you. Check out this website to see a quick comparison of the prices for a few different meal kit services.
New customers can use certain benefits like promotional offers, so a meal kit becomes even cheaper for one to try out for the first time. Before subscribing, definitely check and see if they have any promotions or deals going on. Most meal kit delivery services make it easy for a user to pause, cancel or skip the meal kit with ease, so you don't need to worry about being locked in to a subscription that you don't want.
Best meal subscription kits: Which one to choose?
There are many easy meal delivery services out here. You can employ one as per your budget and the need to prepare your healthy food. You can find a meal delivery service that can make your meal planning easier for its subscribers without spending much. As a help for some of you who are interested in subscribing to these services, it is time to highlight some reliable meal kit services.
There are a few things to consider when choosing a meal subscription, such as your budget, dietary restrictions, and time constraints. Here is a list of what I found to be the most popular and best meal delivery services. If you are residing in a place that is on the list of serviceable areas, then you should try among these:
HelloFresh
HelloFresh is one of the most popular meal delivery services, and for good reason. They have a wide variety of meal options to choose from, they are affordable, and their recipes are simple to follow. If you're looking for a reliable and affordable meal delivery service, then HelloFresh is a great option.
EveryPlate and Dinnerly
EveryPlate and Dinnerly are budget-friendly meal kit delivery services that offer simple, healthy recipes. They don't have as many meal options as some of the other services, but their recipes are easy to follow and affordable. If you're looking for a budget-friendly meal delivery service, then EveryPlate and Dinnerly are great options.
Purple Carrot
Purple Carrot is a vegan meal delivery service that offers a wide variety of recipes to choose from. They have a great selection of vegan-friendly recipes, and their prices are affordable. If you're looking for a reliable vegan meal delivery service, then Purple Carrot is a great option.
Home Chef and Blue Apron
One of the things that make Home Chef and Blue Apron stand out from the competition is their flexibility with meal planning. You can choose from a variety of meal prep options each week, or you can create your own custom menu. You can also choose how many meals you want each week, and you can even choose to receive leftovers. This level of flexibility makes Home Chef a great option for anyone, regardless of their dietary needs or preferences.
Sunbasket and Green Chef
Sunbasket and Green Chef are one of the more expensive meal delivery services, but their meals are high quality and they offer a wide variety of recipes to choose from. They also have a great selection of vegetarian meals and vegan-friendly recipes. If you're looking for a reliable vegan meal delivery service, then Sunbasket and Green Chef are great options.
Freshly
Unlike some of the other meal subscription services, Freshly offers a variety of meals that are all gluten-free meals and dairy-free. This makes Freshly a great option for anyone with special diets and other dietary restrictions, and their prices are affordable. They also have a great selection of vegan-friendly recipes, making them a great choice for anyone looking for a vegan meal delivery service.
Gobble
There are quite a few things that set Gobble meal delivery service apart from the other meal delivery services. They are famously known for being the "15-minute meal delivery service" because they do most of the food prep for you, so all you have to do are the finishing touches. Their recipes are simple and easy to follow, making them perfect for anyone with very little cooking skills or who doesn't have a lot of time to cook meals.
Overall, I would say that HelloFresh is the best meal delivery service. Before choosing one, check their website to learn more about their pricing and offerings. Here is more information about some meal subscription services that I would recommend. There are SO many options for meal kits (many more than I've listed) and you don't have to just pick one of the meal delivery services. Feel free to try out different ones until you find the perfect one that fits your lifestyle!
Final Thoughts
Subscribing to a meal plan is a great revolution in today’s available facilities for us to cook and eat fresh & healthy food at home. You can have an option to prepare a dish with something else than what you have stored in your fridge. It would also be a great help for those who don’t know cooking and want help in it with buying the right ingredients from the grocery store. There are many meal subscription options from which you could choose a meal kit subscription or delivery service. It would be a great step to take better care of yourself and your loved ones for a better future! If you want to find out more about meal subscription services, you can learn more about meal subscriptions in this article.
So, all you need is to unbox a meal kit, follow the recipe instructions, and prepare the food in your kitchen. Then you can ensure that you are eating fresh and good quality food! You can easily prepare your diet food or achieve the taste you need in your dish very well. Congrats, you have saved much of your time in due course as well!
Frequently asked questions:
Q) What is a meal subscription?
A meal subscription is a service that delivers boxes of ingredients and recipes directly to your door. These services have become increasingly popular in recent years as they provide an easy way to cook and eat healthy meals at home.
Q) How much do meal subscriptions cost?
Meal subscriptions can vary in price depending on the type of service and the ingredients offered. However, most subscription services start at around $5 per serving.
Q) What are the best meal subscription services?
There are many great meal subscription services available, but some of the most popular ones include HelloFresh, EveryPlate, and Purple Carrot.
Q) What are the benefits of a meal subscription?
There are many benefits to subscribing to a meal subscription service, including convenience, healthy eating, and trying new recipes.
Q) Do meal subscriptions offer vegetarian and vegan-friendly meals?
Yes, many meal subscription services offer vegetarian and vegan-friendly options. There are also many options for gluten-free, low-carb, low-calorie, and organic meals.
Q) What are the drawbacks of a meal subscription?
The main drawback of a meal subscription is the cost. These services can be expensive, depending on the ingredients and recipes offered. Additionally, some people may not like the idea of having to cook their own meals.