Meal Delivery Kits
- Thread starter SamSpade
- Start date
I use a local one "Taste of Southern Maryland". It delivers me fresh veggies and meat from local farmers. They send recipe cards, but I don't use them. It keeps me from having to go to the grocery store, every week, which I am very happy with. It also helps to stock my pantry since they deliver all of the ingredients to make the recipes that they offer. It only runs from Easter to Thanksgiving.
I would like to try some of the other box delivery services but my hubby is strictly meat and potatoes. When I look at the menus for some of the other services,I can''t find much that he would eat.
I would like to try some of the other box delivery services but my hubby is strictly meat and potatoes. When I look at the menus for some of the other services,I can''t find much that he would eat.
Chris0nllyn
Well-Known Member
I've used Hello Fresh, Blue Apron, and Everyplate.
There are like a million out there but my opinion is based on these three and based on 2-serving meals.
Price
Hello Fresh - $8.99/serving - 2 servings - 3 recipes per week - $54/week - $216/month
Blue Apron - $9.99/serving - 2 servings - 3 recipes per week - $60/week - $240/month
Everyplate - $4.99/serving - 2 servings - 3 recipes per week - $30/week - $120/month
There are promotional periods/prices for each one and you typically pay extra for "premium" meals, like steak.
It's been awhile since I had them, but I believe some charged shipping as well.
Meals
Hello Fresh - Mid-range meal quality and good serving sizes.
Blue Apron - Definitely the best quality meals, IMO. Serving sizes were good also.
Everyplate - I felt the serving size was a little lite in some recipes and the meals themselves were good, but not great, and I felt after making the meals that it would be so easy to get the ingredients. You get what you pay for.
An example of Everyplate would be something like "beef banh mi bowls". Sounds good, right? It was literally just rice, ground beef, cucumber, onion, and spicy mayo. I'm sure you could make that for less than $5 a plate.
https://www.everyplate.com/recipes/2018w49r3-beef-banh-mi-bowls-5be5e1afae08b5549724c8b2
Note that sort of thing isn't limited to Everyplate. I found myself saying "that was easier than expected" on a number of meals from all three places.
I think they are good to send to someone as a gift. Maybe someone got a new house, or just had a baby. It's also good for someone like me who is good at following pointed directions, but not coming up with some great/edible meal off the top of their head. I don't think it's good for families who make a lot of at-home meals. It would be too expensive for the benefit of convenience. Especially now that grocery stores have delivery and/or pickup options.
All these places give out "free meal" cards or promo codes for free/reduced meals. It's all a scam because it's not really "free", but cheaper than normal price. Reach out on social media and I'm sure you could get a promo code/free meal, or just log in to their websites as first-timers get discounted rates for their first meals. It's good for wanting to check out a few options and you can cancel anytime so you aren't stuck paying for a month's worth of food. Just make sure to cancel because many of them (if not all) automatically charge your card weekly!
There are like a million out there but my opinion is based on these three and based on 2-serving meals.
Price
Hello Fresh - $8.99/serving - 2 servings - 3 recipes per week - $54/week - $216/month
Blue Apron - $9.99/serving - 2 servings - 3 recipes per week - $60/week - $240/month
Everyplate - $4.99/serving - 2 servings - 3 recipes per week - $30/week - $120/month
There are promotional periods/prices for each one and you typically pay extra for "premium" meals, like steak.
It's been awhile since I had them, but I believe some charged shipping as well.
Meals
Hello Fresh - Mid-range meal quality and good serving sizes.
Blue Apron - Definitely the best quality meals, IMO. Serving sizes were good also.
Everyplate - I felt the serving size was a little lite in some recipes and the meals themselves were good, but not great, and I felt after making the meals that it would be so easy to get the ingredients. You get what you pay for.
An example of Everyplate would be something like "beef banh mi bowls". Sounds good, right? It was literally just rice, ground beef, cucumber, onion, and spicy mayo. I'm sure you could make that for less than $5 a plate.
https://www.everyplate.com/recipes/2018w49r3-beef-banh-mi-bowls-5be5e1afae08b5549724c8b2
Note that sort of thing isn't limited to Everyplate. I found myself saying "that was easier than expected" on a number of meals from all three places.
- Each kit came with just about everything "organic". From something like sour cream to beef coming from organic sources. If that's your thing.
- Some meals include a bit more work, but some are super simple enough to make you regret paying $10-$20 for. You may get a freaking cheeseburger with fries as a meal or you may get something like Salsa Verde Chicken Enchiladas.
- Meals only take about 30 min total to make, so that's nice.
- You get nice laminated meal cards with nutritional facts and easy-to-follow cooking/preparation instructions. I'm personally horrible with multi-tasking in the kitchen and I found each kits' instructions to be helpful. They all seem to do a good job helping the cook prepare for the next step.
- The meals come in boxes with an insulated bag and ice packs. The ice packs are reusable and I still have a handful in my freezer I use on occasion. See below for the flip side to delivery of fresh meals.
- You need to plan your meals in advance. Select what you want from a small list a week before it ships. If not, you may get a meal you don't really want.
- You need to cook the meals during the week you get them delivered. They typically have fresh foods that can go bad somewhat quickly.
- The stuff that comes with the meal kits is usually just enough to make the meals so unlike grocery shopping, you only get enough to make the one meal. (Sometimes they'll give you extra hot sauce to make it to your liking, but that's all)
- It's only 2-3 meals per week, so even after spending all that money, you need to make 4-5 more dinners per week.
- Hopefully your delivery driver/company (UPS/FedEx) delivers late in the day, because if the box sits outside in the sun, during the summer, all day, you may have ruined meals.
I think they are good to send to someone as a gift. Maybe someone got a new house, or just had a baby. It's also good for someone like me who is good at following pointed directions, but not coming up with some great/edible meal off the top of their head. I don't think it's good for families who make a lot of at-home meals. It would be too expensive for the benefit of convenience. Especially now that grocery stores have delivery and/or pickup options.
All these places give out "free meal" cards or promo codes for free/reduced meals. It's all a scam because it's not really "free", but cheaper than normal price. Reach out on social media and I'm sure you could get a promo code/free meal, or just log in to their websites as first-timers get discounted rates for their first meals. It's good for wanting to check out a few options and you can cancel anytime so you aren't stuck paying for a month's worth of food. Just make sure to cancel because many of them (if not all) automatically charge your card weekly!
Last edited:
What a helpful comprehensive review
We'd do something like that (if we weren't always moving) just for the meal-sized ingredients. Having to buy a whole thing of something when I only need a pinch is annoying.
But I'd think it wouldn't be cost-effective for a large family.
A really good friend of mine just discovered Sun Basket and she really likes them over the others. She said they are the least carb heavy and the spices they use with their meals are really unique. She got some deal on the first week or so. THEN, she also got a very good deal with Hello Fresh to come back and try them again, so she took them up on it. I think she changed out the meals to another plan. She also only gets 3 a week, because she doesn't want to have too many meals if she doesn't cook 1 or 2 nights a week.
I'm thinking of trying Sun Basket based on her reviews.
Chris0nllyn
Well-Known Member
The menu looks great!
https://sunbasket.com/menu
On top of that, if anyone has BB&T, they list Sun Basket in the BB&T Rewards program.
Auntie Biache'
Well-Known Member
Some grocery stores are starting to do this. Publix has been doing it for a while, and I just noticed that Kroger now has "kits". I've gotten some from Publix, and they're actually quite good. Now I have to try the meals that Kroger is putting out. Yes, a little pricey, but worth it once in a while.
Many of them - Publix and HEB definitely - have individual meals that you just put in the oven and they're a lot better than frozen microwave meals.
But I still think the most ingenious grocery store invention is the rotisserie chicken.
I LOVE rotisserie chicken!!
SamSpade
Well-Known Member
On that we can agree! 4-5 bucks feeds a small family (plus whatever is around the kitchen).
And the kids like it.
Now I am thinking of pulling that rotisserie chicken thing I got from my parents out of mothballs.
We've done all three (and probably another I am sure). They're all generally the same. I do think you get what you pay for in terms of portion size, overall quality and being a legitimate meal ..... not "rice and ground beef walla!". I recall you can pick complexity of the meals you choose. In other words, do you want simple/easy (usually quick) or something a little more complex in terms of difficulty and overall taste. We would always order the 2 meal package and found there was enough to feed the kids or we could simply supplement the meal to make it stretch. We did get to the point though that we felt we had really plan to use them though. Sometimes, if we weren't careful, the meals would get tossed because we never got to them in time. We've since stopped using the services though I wouldn't be against using them again in the future.
I prefer the grill, easier clean-up (IMO) and I can get 3-4 done at a time if needed.
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