Meal subscriptions can be had for as little as $5 per serving, but are they any good? We tested them all to find the best budget meal delivery in 2024.
Updated Nov. 18, 2023 1:55 p.m. PT
Written by
David Watsky
Our expert, award-winning staff selects the products we cover and rigorously researches and tests our top picks. If you buy through our links, we may get a commission.
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David WatskySenior Editor / Home and Kitchen
David lives in Brooklyn where he's logged more than a decade writing about all things edible, including meal kits and meal delivery subscriptions, cooking, kitchen gear and commerce. Since earning a BA in English from Northeastern in Boston, he's toiled in nearly every aspect of the eats business from slicing and dicing as a sous-chef in Rhode Island to leading complex marketing campaigns for major food brands in Manhattan. These days, he's likely somewhere trying the latest this or tasting the latest that - and reporting back, of course. Anything with sesame is his all-time favorite food this week.
ExpertiseKitchen tech, cookware, small appliances, food innovation, meal delivery and meal kits.
After you've picked between meal kits or meal delivery, you'll want to find a service within your budget. There are meal kits with recipes for as cheap as $5 a serving with basic menus and no-frills recipes. More expensive services include recipes with more exotic ingredients, high-end cuts of meat and organic produce but can cost as much as $15 or $20 a serving.
Meal kit or prepared meal delivery
The first big decision you'll make is whether you want meal kits, which require some prep and cooking, or a prepared meal service that sends fully cooked meals that are ready to heat and eat. Meal kits will demand more of your time and energy but they'll also cost a little less per serving. Prepared meals require almost no time and energy, other than what it takes to actually eat the food, but typically run a few bucks more per serving.
Healthiness
While most meal delivery services have healthy options, some are much healthier than others. If you're keen on eating low-calorie, low-carb, plant-based or pescatarian food, certain meal kits and meal delivery services will be better than others. Our list of the healthiest meal delivery services for 2023 is a good place to find all the most nutritious options.
Number of meals per week
With almost every service, the more meals or servings your order per delivery, the cheaper it becomes per meal. But you'll want to hone in on exactly how much food makes sent for your household. If you can't imagine yourself cooking more than twice per week, don't order more than two meal kits because they typically won't last more than a week in the fridge.
Most prepared meals either arrive frozen or can be frozen after unboxing. That means it's less of an issue if you order too many meals on your first go around. Most services allow you to change the number of meals or servings in your plan even after you've started.
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Our meal delivery experts have logged more than 5 years of cooking more than 75 meal kits and tasting more than 100 prepared meals from various services to help land on our list of the best healthy meal subscriptions in 2023.
With a multitude of meal delivery services now available, it takes some work to separate the tasty, successful recipes from the ones that have us saying "Hmm, I think maybe not." Abundant meal delivery options now include several cheap meal delivery services, some with meal plans valued at just under $6 a serving. After several rounds of testing and dozens of recipes cooked,EveryPlate tops our list as the best cheap meal service for 2024. But we have more picks for affordable vegan food, cheap meal kits for families and low-cost prepared meal subscriptions that require no cooking.
The big takeaway? Being budget-friendly certainly doesn't equate to poor quality, and that includes meal kits and prepared meal delivery. If you're looking to eliminate a few weekly tasks -- grocery shopping, meal planning, prep, cooking -- without going broke, we tested dozens of the top wallet-friendly services to find the very best cheap meal subscriptions in 2024.
Best cheap meal delivery services for 2024
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tested EveryPlate and was pleasantly surprised with how much I liked the meals. You won't find a lot of foofy, upscale cuisine or complicated recipes, but you will get a lot of satisfying comfort food, such as hoisin meatloaf with mashed potatoes, cheeseburgers, umami pork chops and sweet potato quesadillas. " page-position="" linktext="" linkurl="" can-collapse="true" collapse-on-page-load="true" can-truncate="true" truncate-on-page-load="true" offer="{"id":"840296b7-7415-402d-8e44-94827e1fa5c6","label":"EveryPlate","slug":"everyplate","edition":["US","ES"],"imageId":"eda3a91b-b6e5-40c4-b985-bf2721d33f0e","imgUrl":"/content/image/redirect/eda3a91b-b6e5-40c4-b985-bf2721d33f0e/resize/75x56","typeLabel":"Tech Product","objectType":"content_product","icon":"type-icon ct-cmg-tech-product ct-small"}" techobjectinfo="{"uuid":"840296b7-7415-402d-8e44-94827e1fa5c6","slug":"everyplate","name":"EveryPlate","productType":"PRODUCT","updateType":"PRISM","mod":1703214963851}" overridecredit="EveryPlate" overridecaption="" imagegroup="{"uuid":"6b3ec26b-83b0-457d-a487-3db1ad5239e8","alt":"Every Plate meal delivery service","caption":"","credits":"EveryPlate","imageData":{"id":"6b3ec26b-83b0-457d-a487-3db1ad5239e8","filename":"ep.jpg","path":"https://www.cnet.com/a/img/resize/6069aba7e6ee6af59f0e6178a00e38027d091ae0/hub/2020/12/03/6b3ec26b-83b0-457d-a487-3db1ad5239e8/ep.jpg?auto=webp&height=500","dateCreated":{"date":"2020-12-03 20:33:42.000000","timezone":"UTC","timezone_type":3},"primeColor":null,"hasWarning":false},"size":"","float":"","lightbox":false,"imageUrl":"https://www.cnet.com/a/img/resize/6069aba7e6ee6af59f0e6178a00e38027d091ae0/hub/2020/12/03/6b3ec26b-83b0-457d-a487-3db1ad5239e8/ep.jpg?auto=webp&height=500","imageCaption":"","imageCredit":"EveryPlate","imageAltText":"Every Plate meal delivery service","imageFilename":"ep.jpg","imageWidth":1200,"imageHeight":800,"imageDoNotCrop":false,"imageDoNotResize":false,"imageWatermark":false,"imageDateCreated":"2020-12-03","imageParallax":"","imageCrop":"","imageEnlarge":false}" usepricing="false" ng-block="{"id":"umsyuq1njukp46v","type":"listicle"}" edition="us" data-key="cnetlisticle__6c9f4751-bc6c-44b4-ac26-4bc7c1a08782" index="1" imagecredit="EveryPlate" tagslugs="hv90,bl-promo-banner,meal-kit" contenttype="Best List - Precap" isbestlistredesign="true" filtershortcodetypes="cnetlisticle" totalfilteritems="7" pagelayout="Default - Article Page" productpromo="true" showdetails="true" suppressautoplay="true" tocheadlineitem="[object Object]" class="c-bestListProductListing">
The bottom line: EveryPlate's meal kits were all solid and easy to make. This is also the cheapest meal kit, with plans as low as $5 a serving. EveryPlate meal kits are easy to prepare and I loved everything I made in multiple rounds of testing.
EveryPlate is the overall cheapest meal kit service, with recipes starting at $5 a serving -- sometimes less if you snag a sign-up offer. I tested EveryPlate and was pleasantly surprised with how much I liked the meals. You won't find a lot of foofy, upscale cuisine or complicated recipes, but you will get a lot of satisfying comfort food, such as hoisin meatloaf with mashed potatoes, cheeseburgers, umami pork chops and sweet potato quesadillas.
Having tested all of the leading prepared meal delivery service options, Fresh N Lean ran away from the competition, ticking more boxes than any other. The food is healthy, thoughtfully prepared, tastes fantastic, looks appetizing and is fairly affordable, depending on the plan you select.
Fresh N Lean has five meal plans to help keep folks on track with their specific nutrition goals, including low-carb, vegan, paleo and protein-plus options. The food I tried was all made exceptionally well, made from simple, whole ingredients.
The bottom line: Dinnerly has an enormous selection of easy recipes, more than 60 in a given week, and plans starting at under $6 a serving. This is the perfect service for families with picky eaters trying to eat well on a budget.
Clocking in at a comparable $5.59 a serving is Dinnerly, another great cheap meal kit. Much like EveryPlate, Dinnerly has a lot of comfort foods such as ravioli with spinach and parmesan sauce, carne asada tacos and chicken pad thai. Dinnerly has an enormous menu of recipes -- typically more than 60 to choose from in a given week.
The bottom line: This plant-based meal delivery service had some of the best, healthy prepared meals of any service we tried. Meals are also affordable, with some costing as little as $6 a serving.
I sampled about nine of Mosaic Food's plant-based prepared meal offerings and the vegetarian prepared meal delivery service had an astoundingly high hit rate. Mosaic uses bold and interesting global flavors and employs creative use of meat substitutes such as tofu, jackfruit, cauliflower and vegan sausages to create tasty and satisfying vegetarian meals -- even for this omnivore. There are some vegan meals, but many of them use dairy products, so vegans must choose their Mosaic meals more carefully.
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most eco-friendly service of the major players, according to a recent study." page-position="" linktext="" linkurl="" can-collapse="true" collapse-on-page-load="true" can-truncate="true" truncate-on-page-load="true" offer="{"id":"c86eac5e-9ed1-4940-a0bd-0ffbcb7c4ce1","label":"Blue Apron","slug":"blue-apron","edition":["us"],"imageId":"","imgUrl":"","imageHeight":0,"imageWidth":0,"typeLabel":"Product","objectType":"content_product","icon":""}" techobjectinfo="{"uuid":"c86eac5e-9ed1-4940-a0bd-0ffbcb7c4ce1","slug":"blue-apron","name":"Blue Apron","productType":"PRODUCT","updateType":"PRISM","mod":1703214963707}" overridecredit="David Watsky/CNET" overridecaption="" imagegroup="{"uuid":"7bbf7c57-0228-4d96-9c0c-3c31b7dd3819","alt":"blue apron steak dinner","caption":"","credits":"David Watsky/CNET","imageData":{"id":"7bbf7c57-0228-4d96-9c0c-3c31b7dd3819","filename":"steak-dinner.jpg","path":"https://www.cnet.com/a/img/resize/f42715593e3e36b9e5b759fc65c94a0ff1de167e/hub/2023/05/31/7bbf7c57-0228-4d96-9c0c-3c31b7dd3819/steak-dinner.jpg?auto=webp&height=500","dateCreated":{"date":"2023-05-31 20:36:30.000000","timezone":"UTC","timezone_type":3},"primeColor":null,"hasWarning":false},"size":"","float":"","lightbox":false,"imageUrl":"https://www.cnet.com/a/img/resize/f42715593e3e36b9e5b759fc65c94a0ff1de167e/hub/2023/05/31/7bbf7c57-0228-4d96-9c0c-3c31b7dd3819/steak-dinner.jpg?auto=webp&height=500","imageCaption":"","imageCredit":"David Watsky/CNET","imageAltText":"blue apron steak dinner","imageFilename":"steak-dinner.jpg","imageWidth":4032,"imageHeight":3024,"imageDoNotCrop":false,"imageDoNotResize":false,"imageWatermark":false,"imageDateCreated":"2023-05-31","imageParallax":"","imageCrop":"","imageEnlarge":false}" usepricing="true" ng-block="{"id":"gqvxl9iymdbt6v0","type":"listicle"}" edition="us" data-key="cnetlisticle__e735b319-a1d5-40a2-a791-6f1847cbf862" index="5" imagecredit="David Watsky/CNET" tagslugs="hv90,bl-promo-banner,meal-kit" contenttype="Best List - Precap" isbestlistredesign="true" filtershortcodetypes="cnetlisticle" totalfilteritems="7" pagelayout="Default - Article Page" productpromo="true" showdetails="true" suppressautoplay="true" tocheadlineitem="[object Object]" class="c-bestListProductListing">
The bottom line: Blue Apron is a classic example of a quality meal delivery service. One of the original providers of this service, it also stands out for eco-friendliness.
Blue Apron is one of the original meal kit services and it's also one of the best. In fact, Blue Apron topped our list of best meal delivery services for 2023 with a wide range of excellent recipes, all for an affordable price. It's true, you can order bistro steaks and roasted trout dinners with Blue Apron's standard plan, where many services charge extra for those premium proteins. In addition to solid meal kits, Blue Apron is the most eco-friendly service of the major players, according to a recent study.
The bottom line: It doesn't get much easier than HelloFresh. This service has tons of cheap meal kit options, more than 50 per week, and allows you to add proteins or extra servings to keep the whole crew fed and happy.
HelloFresh is a bit more per serving than EveryPlate or Dinnerly -- $9 a serving if you order meals for four -- but this budget-friendly meal delivery service affords you more recipe options and I'd contend the recipes and ingredients are of a higher caliber too. HelloFresh has as many as 25 dinner meal kits per week, so it is nearly impossible not to find something you'll like. HelloFresh also has five or six plant-based recipes a week, making it the best cheap meal kit service for vegetarians.
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I tried Daily Harvest, I loved the interesting smoothie combos such as a chocolate blueberry smoothie with greens, banana and almond butter. The heartier meals are great too, like the cauliflower rice and pesto harvest bowl with cashews and spinach. You won't need more than a saucepan, toaster or blender to prepare most of the meals, and most can be made in as little as 5 minutes." page-position="" linktext="" linkurl="" can-collapse="true" collapse-on-page-load="true" can-truncate="true" truncate-on-page-load="true" offer="{"id":"1b94beb7-8087-4c9d-99e3-2fdc04beb6a1","label":"Daily Harvest","slug":"daily-harvest","edition":["US","ES"],"imageId":"7c5c91ae-61f3-48b3-a7ad-c50125b1619b","imgUrl":"/content/image/redirect/7c5c91ae-61f3-48b3-a7ad-c50125b1619b/resize/75x56","typeLabel":"Tech Product","objectType":"content_product","icon":"type-icon ct-cmg-tech-product ct-small"}" techobjectinfo="{"uuid":"1b94beb7-8087-4c9d-99e3-2fdc04beb6a1","slug":"daily-harvest","name":"Daily Harvest","productType":"PRODUCT","updateType":"PRISM","mod":1703214963378}" overridecredit="Daily Harvest" overridecaption="" imagegroup="{"uuid":"f740c142-7083-4234-af5d-738db37d0f21","alt":"several daily harvest meals in glamour shot","caption":"","credits":"Daily Harvest","imageData":{"id":"f740c142-7083-4234-af5d-738db37d0f21","filename":"daily-harvest-collections-2.jpg","path":"https://www.cnet.com/a/img/resize/2e74308a0b58ad033f51973ff2acdcdfcc27d14b/hub/2020/11/09/f740c142-7083-4234-af5d-738db37d0f21/daily-harvest-collections-2.jpg?auto=webp&height=500","dateCreated":{"date":"2020-11-09 17:58:27.000000","timezone":"UTC","timezone_type":3},"primeColor":null,"hasWarning":false},"size":"","float":"","lightbox":false,"imageUrl":"https://www.cnet.com/a/img/resize/2e74308a0b58ad033f51973ff2acdcdfcc27d14b/hub/2020/11/09/f740c142-7083-4234-af5d-738db37d0f21/daily-harvest-collections-2.jpg?auto=webp&height=500","imageCaption":"","imageCredit":"Daily Harvest","imageAltText":"several daily harvest meals in glamour shot","imageFilename":"daily-harvest-collections-2.jpg","imageWidth":3000,"imageHeight":1688,"imageDoNotCrop":false,"imageDoNotResize":false,"imageWatermark":false,"imageDateCreated":"2020-11-09","imageParallax":"","imageCrop":"","imageEnlarge":false}" usepricing="false" ng-block="{"id":"wgyo4vy1r4quhjw","type":"listicle"}" edition="us" data-key="cnetlisticle__095a8cc1-ea45-4f2f-a215-3c3520ab2954" index="7" imagecredit="Daily Harvest" tagslugs="hv90,bl-promo-banner,meal-kit" contenttype="Best List - Precap" isbestlistredesign="true" filtershortcodetypes="cnetlisticle" totalfilteritems="7" pagelayout="Default - Article Page" productpromo="true" showdetails="true" suppressautoplay="true" tocheadlineitem="[object Object]" class="c-bestListProductListing">
The bottom line: For simple and healthy breakfasts and lunches with almost no fuss, Daily Harvest has loads of superfood-packed smoothies, soups, snacks and bowls to stock the fridge, many of them costing under $10.
Daily Harvest isn't a traditional meal kit company but rather sends healthy, plant-based smoothies, soups and grain bowls to your door, starting at $7 a meal. When I tried Daily Harvest, I loved the interesting smoothie combos such as a chocolate blueberry smoothie with greens, banana and almond butter. The heartier meals are great too, like the cauliflower rice and pesto harvest bowl with cashews and spinach. You won't need more than a saucepan, toaster or blender to prepare most of the meals, and most can be made in as little as 5 minutes.
We cooked our way through dozens of meal kits from all of the most popular services.
David Watsky/CNET
Over the past few years, we've tested nearly every meal kit delivery and prepared meal delivery service we could get our oven mitts on, and that includes the best budget meal delivery services. Many of the menu options for the meal delivery services we've listed include nutritious plant-based food or high-protein recipes with lots of veggies and lean meats.
To test each cheap meal delivery service, I tried at least four and sometimes as many as 10 meals from any given service. I always choose a range of meals from the various menu and meal plan offerings. For instance, if a meal subscription service offers vegan or vegetarian meals I was sure to try at least one. I also mixed up the cuisine types to include pasta, meat dishes, bowls and other various styles offered by the brand.
To test the best cheap meal kits, there was another set of standards and protocols to adhere to. Here's more on how we test meal kits at CNET.
Factors to consider when choosing a meal delivery service
Cost
After you've picked between meal kits or meal delivery, you'll want to find a service within your budget. There are meal kits with recipes for as cheap as $5 a serving with basic menus and no-frills recipes. More expensive services include recipes with more exotic ingredients, high-end cuts of meat and organic produce, but can cost as much as $15 or $20 a serving.
Meal kit or prepared meal delivery
The first big decision you'll make is whether you want meal kits, which require some prep and cooking, or a prepared meal service that sends fully cooked meals ready to heat and eat. Meal kits will demand more of your time and energy but they'll also cost a little less per serving. Prepared meals require almost no time and energy, other than what it takes to actually eat the food, but typically run a few dollars more per serving.
Healthiness
While most meal delivery services have healthy options, some are much healthier than others. If you're keen on eating low-calorie, low-carb, plant-based or pescatarian food, certain meal kits and meal delivery services are better than others. Our list of the healthiest meal delivery services for 2023 is a good place to find the most nutritious options.
Number of meals per week
With almost every service, the more meals or servings are in your order per delivery, the cheaper it becomes per meal. Ideally, you'll want to determine exactly how much food makes sense for your household. If you can't imagine yourself cooking more than twice per week, don't order more than two meal kits because they typically won't last more than a week in the fridge.
Most prepared meals either arrive frozen or can be frozen after unboxing. That means it's less of an issue if you order too many meals on your first go-around. Most services allow you to change the number of meals or servings in your plan even after you've started.
Why you should trust us
Our meal delivery experts have logged more than 5 years of cooking more than 75 meal kits and tasting more than 100 prepared meals from various services to help land on our list of the best healthy meal subscriptions in 2023.
Cheap meal delivery FAQs
What is the cheapest meal delivery service?
EveryPlate and Dinnerly are the cheapest meal kits with most plans clocking in at under $6 per serving. HelloFresh and Home Chef are in the next tier with portions for $7 or $8 per serving.
With family meals clocking in at $5 a serving and single meals around $9, Mosaic Foods is the cheapest prepared meal service we've tested. Fresh N Lean also has prepared meals for around $9 or $10 each, depending on how many you order. Services like Daily Harvest and Splendid Spoon have meals for similar prices but are focused more on grain bowls and smoothies and might be better for breakfast or lunch versus dinner.
What is the best meal delivery service for weight loss?
When it comes to meal kits, your options are many, and most services provide weekly recipes that are low on calories but still filling. HelloFresh has the most recipes per week of any meal kit service, so that might be your best bet for finding consistent meals that keep your diet goals on track. But all services list the calorie content for each recipe, along with carbs, protein, sugar and sodium.
Depending on your weight loss goals, a healthy prepared meal delivery or meal kit service can help. Fresh N Lean, Pete's Real Food and Daily Harvest all have low-calorie meals to choose from.
What's the difference between meal kits and premade meal delivery?
Some of the services listed here are healthy prepared meal delivery services, sending fully cooked meals -- often frozen or partially frozen -- and ready to eat when you receive them. Others include health-focused meal kits with premeasured ingredients all boxed up and ready for easy weeknight cooking. There's a stark difference between meal kits and meal delivery, but both make dinnertime easier and can translate into healthier eating choices for you in 2023. Plus, we sussed out the best healthy meal services for those on special diets like keto or paleo or for those who wish to eat organic prepared meals and meal kits.
The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.
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