Best Prepared Meal Delivery Services for Quick Chef-Style Dinners

Fancy chef-worthy dishes but trying to cut down on takeaways? 

When people thought that nothing could save them as much time as pre-portioned ingredients and recipe cards, the best prepared meal delivery services must have been like… hold our beer!

Obviously, they’re all miles away from store-bought frozen meals, but let’s see which of these options is right for your preferences and lifestyle.

Best prepared meal delivery services to enjoy a fast but delicious dinner

Not all prepared meal delivery services are the same! From fresh to frozen and varied to vegan, here’s a little overview of what you can choose from:

1. BistroMD - Our Top Pick

Over 150 chef-prepared meals and 5 different plans with health-focused options.

BistroMD can even help you create the perfect diet for your needs and lifestyle thanks to their registered dieticians. 

No wonder it’s the very best weight-loss plan as well as one of the top frozen meal delivery services!

After all, does this sound like traditional diet food to you?

• Pork Tenderloin with Mushroom Marsala
• Manicotti with Vodka Marinara Sauce
• Spinach and Feta Stuffed Salmon

Didn’t think so!

Covering either 5 or 7 days a week and delivered frozen, BistroMD’s portions range between $9.50 and $13 per serving.

Who is BistroMD best for?

Time-poor professionals who’re after a custom dietary plan or still want plenty of choices when it comes to their ready meals.

2. Trifecta - Healthiest

Organic, health-focused, and with options for different diets.

One of the best meal delivery services for paleo, Trifecta includes various customizable health-focused plans as well as bundles and a la carte options.

• Healthy Salmon Chowder
• Vegan Burrito Bowl
• Garlic Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes

Obviously, organic ingredients and a specific dietary focus come at a price compared to standard prepared meal delivery services, with portions ranging from $13.79 to $14.79.

Who is Trifecta best for?

Anyone following specific dietary lifestyles (particularly keto) and who wants more customization.

3. Fresh n’ Lean - Gluten-Free

Entirely gluten-free and, just like the name suggests, always delivered fresh.

These ready meals are also organic and available as high-protein, keto, paleo, and different vegan options.

Because you can decide to cover one or more type of meals (dinner and breakfast), you could choose recipes like:

• Italian Aioli Garbanzo Beans with Sustainable Salmon
• Roasted Pepper Cage Free Chicken Wings with Sweet Potato
• Egg Whites with Maple Turkey Sausage

As for price, there’s a pretty big difference depending on how many portions you get, as they can go from $7.93 (which is surprisingly cheap for such high-quality gluten-free food) to $12.64.

Who is Fresh n’ Lean best for?

The gluten-free squad or anyone following a vegan, keto, or paleo diet, including picky eaters wishing to avoid a specific ingredient or allergenic.

4. Freshly - Varied Menu

While some of the best prepared meal delivery services might either be too predictable or experimental for you, Freshly gives you the best of both worlds.

In fact, its menu features over 30 weekly choices ranging from familiar Crafted Classics to the most creative Takeout Twists.

Check out our Freshly review or some of their popular recipes:

• Dijon Pork Chops
• Brilliant Beef & Chicken Risotto
• Spiced Dukkah Chicken with Persian Apricot Rice & Cauliflower

Always fresh (duh), Freshly’s portions range between $8.49 and $11.49.

Who is Freshly best for?

Households who enjoy trying different dishes and don’t follow specific diets or food lifestyles.

Save $15 off each of your first 4 boxes with code LAUNCH15

5. Home Bistro - Most Choice

Whether you opt for individual meals or combos, you definitely won’t get bored with Home Bistro’s 50 different weekly dishes.

Including some exclusive recipes by Cat Cora, their dishes are the closest thing to having an actual chef cook at home for you. 

Some of the ones that made us drool the most are:

• Shrimp with Romesco Sauce, Lebanese Rice and Honey Roasted Carrots - Homebistro
• Chianti Braised Short Ribs with Roasted Garlic Marble Potatoes and Brussel Sprouts 
• Zesty Tofu Vegetarian Feast

Home Bistro doesn’t include a price-per-portion structure like traditional plan subscriptions, but a meal can go from $12.99 to well over $20.

Who is Home Bistro best for?

Anyone who doesn’t want to commit to a more traditional prepared meal delivery service subscription and is happy to pay a bit more for a restaurant-style dinner.

6. Snap Kitchen - Customizable

A highly customizable prepared meal delivery service for any time of the day.

As well as familiar dinner dishes, Snap Kitchen lets you create plans (including keto and low-carb) based around breakfast, lunch, drinks, and snacks, too.

For example:

• Chicken Tenders with Turnip Mash
• Banana Pancakes
• Beef Satay

This means that prices will change quite drastically depending on what you decide to include, but dinners are usually between $9.58 and $11.67.

Who is Snap Kitchen best for?

Anyone who feels restricted by traditional dinner-focused prepared meal delivery services and wants to try a different combination.

7. MamaSezz - Most Sustainable & Budget-Friendly

This company has found the magic spot: an eco-conscious service that doesn’t break the bank.

Put off by all the plastic included in most of the best prepared meal delivery services? MamaSezz lets you return your box and packaging to its zero-waste premises for reuse and recycling.

Choosing among a la carte options, bundles, and subscriptions, you can try comforting and hearty dishes like:

• Ricotta Style Tomato & Mushroom Bake
• Gardener’s Pie
• Veggie Loaf

And they literally cost as little as $4-6 per serving!

Who is MamaSezz best for?

Eco-conscious customers without specific dietary requirements and for whom budget is a decisive factor.

8. Diet to Go - Weight-Loss

The best prepared meal delivery service to lose weight, not appetite.

Diet to Go includes 4 different menus mostly built around specific diets or culinary lifestyles (balance, diabetes, keto-carbo, vegetarian) and even offers options for breakfast.

Personally, we found their dishes to be fairly basic but still much tastier than your average diet food:

• Spanish Stuffed Peppers
• Beef Casserole
• Blueberry Pancakes & Soy Sausage

As for price, portions usually range between $8.57 and $12.19, which is actually pretty good for a diet-focused prepared meal delivery service.

Who is Diet to Go best for?

Anyone who wants to follow a specific diet while still treating themselves to delicious dinners.

9. Factor 75 - Best Paleo

With this prepared meal delivery service, your paleo diet won’t ever feel boring.

As well as several options including vegetarian and keto plans, Factor 75 is definitely one of the best paleo prepared meal delivery services.

Every week, you’ll get to choose among over 20 dietitian-designed dishes like:

• Steak with Roasted Sweet Potatoes
• Grass Fed Burger with Tomato Bacon Chutney
• Keto Poblano Bowl

Each portion can range between $11 and $15 depending on your plan.

Who is Factor 75 best for?

Busy people following a specific food lifestyle and, especially, a keto diet.

3 Things You Should Consider Before Choosing a Prepared Meal Delivery Service

While reading reviews of the prepared meal delivery services will certainly help you find the right one for you, we also recommend asking yourself these questions:

Are you following a specific dietary lifestyle?

• If you are, be sure to look for a ready-meal delivery that makes it easy to stick to it. For example, some of them have vegan, keto, or paleo plans, whereas some others allow you to avoid a specific ingredient or allergen
• If, on the contrary, you’d just like to eat tasty and healthier food but without specific requirements, then it’d be more cost-effective to opt for a more generic plan. For instance, you could choose a plant-based service to enjoy more meat-free dinners if you aren’t strictly vegan

2. What kind of meals do you want to cover?

Dinner is obviously the most popular option when it comes to prepared meal delivery services, but, with some of them, you might be able to cover lunch and breakfast too, if you wish to.

Think of your routine and when you most need to save time by skipping food prep altogether (perhaps a few lunch options could help you cut down on junk food when you’re at work?).

3. Fresh or frozen?

While fresh meals are usually more appealing, this choice mainly comes down to personal preference and habits. 

For example, if you were planning on freezing some of the meals yourself to save them for a rainy day, there’s no point in paying more money for a company that prides itself on delivering them fresh.

FAQs

Just in case you still have some questions, we thought we’d cover the ones we’ve heard the most:

1. Which meal delivery is already cooked?

Unlike traditional meal kits, meal delivery services like BistroMD, Trifecta, and Fresh n’ Lean are already cooked, so you only need to heat them up in your oven or microwave. 

Specifically, all of the options included in this article are delivered as pre-cooked ready meals.

2. What is the best frozen meal delivery service?

We believe that BistroMD is the best frozen meal delivery service: it’s fairly affordable, offers plenty of dishes to choose from every week, and includes more specific dietary plans.

However, the best frozen meal delivery service for you is the one that focuses on whatever matters the most to you personally (whether that’s a wide menu or a vegan approach), so be sure to follow our guide to identify it.

3. Are prepared meals worth it?

Prepared meals are definitely worth it if you want to save time by removing food preparation altogether.

While they’re obviously more expensive than buying groceries yourself, they’re usually still cheaper (and probably healthier) than ordering takeaways.

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