Maximum meal delivery at minimum cost
June 30, 2022 1:35 PM Subscribe
I'd like to take advantage of any free or reduced-rate offers available to new users of meal-delivery services. Specifically, I'd like to try one company for a week or month, then cancel that subscription and try another, and another, etc., serially, for perhaps a few months. Can you help me maximize my options while minimizing my cost and commitment?
We're having a baby! Woo-hoo! But we don't have family members nearby to run a "meal train" for us when our hands are literally and figuratively full of said baby. Some friends will, I'm sure, bring us pans of lasagna and the like, but I'd also like to try out some of the sixty quintillion meal-delivery services as a way to minimize my kitchen time.
It occurred to me that I might be able to take advantage of the reduced fees that these services sometimes offer for new customers, and then do that again, and again, until I'm ready to do full-on meal prep again. I'm not looking for freebies (thought that'd be fine!), but first-time-customer deals/coupons. I'm specifically seeking offers that require no long-term commitment on my part -- ones that I can cancel after the first, discounted trial period.
But I have no idea where to start. I don't know which meal-delivery services are good, bad, ugly, sustainable, fairly priced, organic, etc. And I sure don't know which ones have introductory offers at the moment, or which ones require no multi-month commitment.
Can you hope me, MeFi, develop a week-by-week or month-by-month plan for signing up for, then serially cancelling and signing up for another, meal-delivery service? We eat more or less anything, but our snowflakes are:
- Gluten-free options are a must.
- Organic and local to Northern California preferred.
- Good range of veggie options preferred. Meats are fine, too, though we eat veg more often.
- Not too expensive.
- Good introductory offer with easy cancellation and no commitment.
I'd love to hear your specific suggestions about current deals that are worth trying, as well as more general advice about which services you like. Thank you!
We're having a baby! Woo-hoo! But we don't have family members nearby to run a "meal train" for us when our hands are literally and figuratively full of said baby. Some friends will, I'm sure, bring us pans of lasagna and the like, but I'd also like to try out some of the sixty quintillion meal-delivery services as a way to minimize my kitchen time.
It occurred to me that I might be able to take advantage of the reduced fees that these services sometimes offer for new customers, and then do that again, and again, until I'm ready to do full-on meal prep again. I'm not looking for freebies (thought that'd be fine!), but first-time-customer deals/coupons. I'm specifically seeking offers that require no long-term commitment on my part -- ones that I can cancel after the first, discounted trial period.
But I have no idea where to start. I don't know which meal-delivery services are good, bad, ugly, sustainable, fairly priced, organic, etc. And I sure don't know which ones have introductory offers at the moment, or which ones require no multi-month commitment.
Can you hope me, MeFi, develop a week-by-week or month-by-month plan for signing up for, then serially cancelling and signing up for another, meal-delivery service? We eat more or less anything, but our snowflakes are:
- Gluten-free options are a must.
- Organic and local to Northern California preferred.
- Good range of veggie options preferred. Meats are fine, too, though we eat veg more often.
- Not too expensive.
- Good introductory offer with easy cancellation and no commitment.
I'd love to hear your specific suggestions about current deals that are worth trying, as well as more general advice about which services you like. Thank you!
I have sent you codes for Hello Fresh and Home Chef over Memail and can send you a code over email for Everyplate. It is not hard to get these codes for other services if you read r/mealkits. Often these codes give the referrer a small discount as well, but if you find your own code, you can use that, too. I find all three pretty similar but Everyplate is cheaper and often has no cheese in the burger kit or some other cheaper changes.
posted by soelo at 3:16 PM on June 30, 2022
posted by soelo at 3:16 PM on June 30, 2022
i tried this earlier this year and it was a bust for me. Factor was eh, basically healthier frozen food than we could buy at the grocery store but not great for price. Hello Fresh and Green Chef - the meals required way more chopping and pans than things I normally cook so not a time saver and the price was not that great either even with intro coupon.
Also, there was a significant amount of trash generated with each weeks order. So all in all it was an interesting experiment but not something I’d recommend as a time or money saver.
If there’s a Trader Joe’s near you it might be better to go crazy buying some frozen food. Also trail mix is so good when you are awake with baby and want something easy to eat.
posted by MadMadam at 3:17 PM on June 30, 2022 [8 favorites]
Also, there was a significant amount of trash generated with each weeks order. So all in all it was an interesting experiment but not something I’d recommend as a time or money saver.
If there’s a Trader Joe’s near you it might be better to go crazy buying some frozen food. Also trail mix is so good when you are awake with baby and want something easy to eat.
posted by MadMadam at 3:17 PM on June 30, 2022 [8 favorites]
Lots of people have discount-hopped through whole years of introductory meal kit offers! At times, the kits have courted me so aggressively, I've wondered whether the subscriber base was related to stock prices.
But I would try a few before you have the baby to see if they work for you. There are benefits: It is easy to get enough protein and calories, which you may seek if you're extra tired in the early days, and/or breast-feeding. In the best kits, the end result does feel restaurantish, which you may appreciate if you're home bound a lot. The average weekly order is six (6) meals total (or three meals, each for two people), but there are ways to play with this by, for example, ordering the same thing for all 3 meals, so you can freeze a big batch! Further, I found the kit cooking experience kind of meditative.
But there are also drawbacks: The packaging can be annoying. There will be almost no leftovers. And many meals take longer than their estimated time, and sometimes require a fair number of dirty dishes. On the whole, estimate between 30-45 minutes for most meals, but Everyplate and Blue Apron seemed to take a lot longer. Marleyspoon is loosey goosey about time too, but the recipes are a lot better and, like HelloFresh, they have recently have been offering more 20-minute options.
Once you try one meal kit, you will probably get offers for others in the mail. When you cancel a meal kit, they may extend the freebies a week or two to keep you on. Outside of r/mealkits, which looks nearly professional, keep your ads on and Google for mealkits in your locale to unearth more savings — and to find regional and local meal kits you might not find otherwise.
Overall, HelloFresh, which is one of the largest mealkit providers, and owns several others, will offer the most discounts, barring the lowest tiers, shown in Tiltedsun's pretty accurate chart of the best-known kits.
$ Value Kits: Dinnerly & Everyplate
$$ Budget Gourmet: HelloFresh, HomeChef, BlueApron & MarleySpoon.
$$$ Prepped Ingredients: Gobble & GreenChef
$$$$ Prepared Meals: Factor & Freshly
Personally, I loathed both Dinnerly and Everyplate. The former didn't believe in vegetables, the latter didn't have any flavor and way overestimated preparation time. I also hated everything about Blue Apron: The offerings, the font size of the instructions, just everything.
But HelloFresh is extremely dependable and has a good range. Marleyspoon, which is connected to Martha Stewart has the best recipes, by far. The former, as noted, gives discounts frequently, and you can go weeks paying about $50 for 6 meals/week. The latter gives discounts very infrequently, and averages about $30 more. Gobble is a level up in price, and not a big discounter either, but is worth mentioning because their kits literally take 10 or 15 minutes, and that is central to the way the service is designed. SunBasket is the more hippie alternative to MarleySpoon. I didn't think their recipes always worked, and they weren't as filling as other kit providers.
Anyway, I agree with others that you may want to explore several ways to keep lots of food in the house and prepare big batches so you have a range to choose from, depending on your energy. But it's definitely worth checking out meal kits to see if you want to add them to your arsenal.
posted by Violet Blue at 4:31 PM on June 30, 2022 [4 favorites]
But I would try a few before you have the baby to see if they work for you. There are benefits: It is easy to get enough protein and calories, which you may seek if you're extra tired in the early days, and/or breast-feeding. In the best kits, the end result does feel restaurantish, which you may appreciate if you're home bound a lot. The average weekly order is six (6) meals total (or three meals, each for two people), but there are ways to play with this by, for example, ordering the same thing for all 3 meals, so you can freeze a big batch! Further, I found the kit cooking experience kind of meditative.
But there are also drawbacks: The packaging can be annoying. There will be almost no leftovers. And many meals take longer than their estimated time, and sometimes require a fair number of dirty dishes. On the whole, estimate between 30-45 minutes for most meals, but Everyplate and Blue Apron seemed to take a lot longer. Marleyspoon is loosey goosey about time too, but the recipes are a lot better and, like HelloFresh, they have recently have been offering more 20-minute options.
Once you try one meal kit, you will probably get offers for others in the mail. When you cancel a meal kit, they may extend the freebies a week or two to keep you on. Outside of r/mealkits, which looks nearly professional, keep your ads on and Google for mealkits in your locale to unearth more savings — and to find regional and local meal kits you might not find otherwise.
Overall, HelloFresh, which is one of the largest mealkit providers, and owns several others, will offer the most discounts, barring the lowest tiers, shown in Tiltedsun's pretty accurate chart of the best-known kits.
$ Value Kits: Dinnerly & Everyplate
$$ Budget Gourmet: HelloFresh, HomeChef, BlueApron & MarleySpoon.
$$$ Prepped Ingredients: Gobble & GreenChef
$$$$ Prepared Meals: Factor & Freshly
Personally, I loathed both Dinnerly and Everyplate. The former didn't believe in vegetables, the latter didn't have any flavor and way overestimated preparation time. I also hated everything about Blue Apron: The offerings, the font size of the instructions, just everything.
But HelloFresh is extremely dependable and has a good range. Marleyspoon, which is connected to Martha Stewart has the best recipes, by far. The former, as noted, gives discounts frequently, and you can go weeks paying about $50 for 6 meals/week. The latter gives discounts very infrequently, and averages about $30 more. Gobble is a level up in price, and not a big discounter either, but is worth mentioning because their kits literally take 10 or 15 minutes, and that is central to the way the service is designed. SunBasket is the more hippie alternative to MarleySpoon. I didn't think their recipes always worked, and they weren't as filling as other kit providers.
Anyway, I agree with others that you may want to explore several ways to keep lots of food in the house and prepare big batches so you have a range to choose from, depending on your energy. But it's definitely worth checking out meal kits to see if you want to add them to your arsenal.
posted by Violet Blue at 4:31 PM on June 30, 2022 [4 favorites]
I have not read the other comments (sorry), but I'm gluten free and I have opinions, so:
1) Everyplate: the cheapest of them all, decent portions, decent quality, limited GF options but as long as you don't mind a lot of rice and potatoes it's not bad. They're cheap because they repeat ingredients between meals, so as long as you don't mind slightly repetitive, not bad, B+ would use in a pinch.
2) Dinnerly: BFF got us a free week for the cost of shipping. Quality was fine. Not enough vegetables (but no one includes enough vegetables). Very limited GF options, only one of which was also vegetarian, and I ended up adding chicken to it because the portion size was not big enough. It's a good thing I tolerate soy sauce to an extent these days. C-, would do again if it were hella cheap.
3) Hello Fresh: Sister got us a free week for the cost of shipping. Quality was good, directions were good, more GF options than Dinnerly but not great, nothing memorable. B.
4) Sunbasket: the most expensive of the options we tried; also the best quality, the most GF options by far, and the most vegetables. Easily my favorite of the straight meal kits, too expensive for us for regular use. A-.
5) Hungryroot: Less a meal service and more a grocery service, but the ingredients are grouped into meals for you (log in and make an account, it'll make more sense if you look at it), though you can also just use it for groceries. FANTASTIC quality, tons and tons of GF options, super easy prep (lots of "sautée this thing, stir in these precooked rice noodles, add this sauce, you're done.") Intro deal is not as great as the other services, but still affordable for when you need a week where you just can't think. I pop them back on for a week or two here and there. A+.
General thoughts on all of them but Hungryroot: how does anyone poop in this country? None of them have enough vegetables. Hello Fresh had a meal that was quesadillas (I used my own corn tortillas) where the sole vegetable for the entire meal for two was a single green pepper.
Next up this summer for us when we want a treat, I want to try Purplecarrot, which is all plant based.
posted by joycehealy at 7:08 PM on June 30, 2022
1) Everyplate: the cheapest of them all, decent portions, decent quality, limited GF options but as long as you don't mind a lot of rice and potatoes it's not bad. They're cheap because they repeat ingredients between meals, so as long as you don't mind slightly repetitive, not bad, B+ would use in a pinch.
2) Dinnerly: BFF got us a free week for the cost of shipping. Quality was fine. Not enough vegetables (but no one includes enough vegetables). Very limited GF options, only one of which was also vegetarian, and I ended up adding chicken to it because the portion size was not big enough. It's a good thing I tolerate soy sauce to an extent these days. C-, would do again if it were hella cheap.
3) Hello Fresh: Sister got us a free week for the cost of shipping. Quality was good, directions were good, more GF options than Dinnerly but not great, nothing memorable. B.
4) Sunbasket: the most expensive of the options we tried; also the best quality, the most GF options by far, and the most vegetables. Easily my favorite of the straight meal kits, too expensive for us for regular use. A-.
5) Hungryroot: Less a meal service and more a grocery service, but the ingredients are grouped into meals for you (log in and make an account, it'll make more sense if you look at it), though you can also just use it for groceries. FANTASTIC quality, tons and tons of GF options, super easy prep (lots of "sautée this thing, stir in these precooked rice noodles, add this sauce, you're done.") Intro deal is not as great as the other services, but still affordable for when you need a week where you just can't think. I pop them back on for a week or two here and there. A+.
General thoughts on all of them but Hungryroot: how does anyone poop in this country? None of them have enough vegetables. Hello Fresh had a meal that was quesadillas (I used my own corn tortillas) where the sole vegetable for the entire meal for two was a single green pepper.
Next up this summer for us when we want a treat, I want to try Purplecarrot, which is all plant based.
posted by joycehealy at 7:08 PM on June 30, 2022
I did meal service roulette with a bunch of coworkers a couple of years ago, and we exchanged discount codes. I probably tried half a dozen.
I ended up thinking none of them were worth the standard prices, to me. But with a new baby maybe I'd feel different.
I concur with the above that Sunbasket was high quality and had more veggies than most. I found some of their food combos strange, but sometimes they worked anyway. They got me to like a pasta with both mint and peas, neither of which I normally like.
As also mentioned above, many of these meal services require quite a bit of effort on your part. Yes, you're saving time not having to shop and meal plan, but I too found that I was often using more pans than I normally do. I also felt there was too much focus on multiple sauces and condiments.
Unfortunately, it wasn't uncommon for something to be wrong with what I was sent, for example missing ingredients, missing recipe, or bad produce. It's no longer convenient if you have to call the company to try to fix that. I'd like to believe maybe some of these companies have fixed their inconsistent quality in the last couple of years, but I kinda doubt it.
I too think you would probably do better stocking up on high quality Trader Joe's or the like frozen meals. When you're sleep deprived and hungry, you're probably not going to want to wash and peel and chop and stir and do dishes, but rather just shove something in the microwave and chow down.
Batch cooking can also be great but it is more work and requires time to portion, package, and thaw.
posted by Flock of Cynthiabirds at 8:42 PM on June 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
I ended up thinking none of them were worth the standard prices, to me. But with a new baby maybe I'd feel different.
I concur with the above that Sunbasket was high quality and had more veggies than most. I found some of their food combos strange, but sometimes they worked anyway. They got me to like a pasta with both mint and peas, neither of which I normally like.
As also mentioned above, many of these meal services require quite a bit of effort on your part. Yes, you're saving time not having to shop and meal plan, but I too found that I was often using more pans than I normally do. I also felt there was too much focus on multiple sauces and condiments.
Unfortunately, it wasn't uncommon for something to be wrong with what I was sent, for example missing ingredients, missing recipe, or bad produce. It's no longer convenient if you have to call the company to try to fix that. I'd like to believe maybe some of these companies have fixed their inconsistent quality in the last couple of years, but I kinda doubt it.
I too think you would probably do better stocking up on high quality Trader Joe's or the like frozen meals. When you're sleep deprived and hungry, you're probably not going to want to wash and peel and chop and stir and do dishes, but rather just shove something in the microwave and chow down.
Batch cooking can also be great but it is more work and requires time to portion, package, and thaw.
posted by Flock of Cynthiabirds at 8:42 PM on June 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
Like many parents of brand new babies (congrats!!!) I don't want to do ANY cooking and the ones that have worked for me are Sunbasket (which in addition to meal kits has the "Fresh & Ready" line that are just meals you stick in the microwave for 4 minutes - don't sleep on the glass noodles, they cook up so perfect in the microwave!), Freshly (these seemed like airplane meals to me but my husband liked them), and Thistle (which does require you to dump everything in a pan and warm it up for 2 minutes, but definitely the most edible of the bunch IMO). I believe all of those had introductory discounts with no obligation to continue, and I heard about all of them from work colleagues in the Bay so I expect you can get them. I've been a Thistle subscriber for the longest time of these - I get three meals every Monday morning and almost always end up using them as a lunch or dinner at some point in the week. I am the only vegetarian in a fairly carnivorous house so it's nice to have them on hand. Had the adobo pinto beans for dinner tonight in fact. Chef kiss.
Marley Spoon is genuinely good food when you make it, but even the quicker meals are a lot of work. I tried it for a while to see if I could get my kids into cooking but they lost interest quickly and therefore so did I :)
posted by potrzebie at 10:33 PM on June 30, 2022
Marley Spoon is genuinely good food when you make it, but even the quicker meals are a lot of work. I tried it for a while to see if I could get my kids into cooking but they lost interest quickly and therefore so did I :)
posted by potrzebie at 10:33 PM on June 30, 2022
I forgot to address cancellation last night - they're all easily paused or cancelled online, no high pressure screens or anything, just pay careful attention to the deadlines and set an alarm. They will also incentive you to not cancel, or to come back, though it won't be as good as the initial deal.
posted by joycehealy at 6:09 AM on July 1, 2022
posted by joycehealy at 6:09 AM on July 1, 2022
I'm on the East Coast but we had Territory for a while postpartum and I think it checks all your boxes (other than location since I don't know what zip code to check). The food was tasty and it's a pre-made meal delivery so heat and eat.
posted by brilliantine at 8:05 AM on July 1, 2022
posted by brilliantine at 8:05 AM on July 1, 2022
Response by poster: Thanks, everyone, for all of this detailed info (I'd never heard of most of these services!), and for the suggestion that, hey, maybe there are better alternatives to this half-thought-out plan! Good tips here!
posted by Dr. Wu at 8:41 AM on July 1, 2022
posted by Dr. Wu at 8:41 AM on July 1, 2022
I did this for a bit for other reasons and have a few logistical suggestions:
- Most meal kits have a 1-2 week lag before they will start shipping, so set calendar reminders 2 weeks before you want to switch services so that you can actually start on the date you want. Use the skip functionality for the first week if you need it to start when you want.
- You can’t cancel your account until after all the food ships, but you can skip weeks. So when you set up your account, pick your meals for the 2-5 weeks that the discount applies and then “skip” the next 5 weeks so that you have time to cancel. Stick the cancel reminder on your calendar.
- Beware travel, visitors, or anything else that might change your plans and leave you with more food than you can eat. My local buy nothing group always has people giving away meal kits they can’t eat before leaving town.
As far as the actual meals themselves:
Sunbasket - my favorite, the most California fresh/local and with a lot of protein customization options. Sometimes their instructions don’t quite make sense, especially if there are lots of protein options for a disk, so I would only recommend it for a confident cook trying to either simplify planning or expand their recipe choices.
(on edit) Gobble - easiest of the meal services because they target 15 min prep times. I found their recipes a bit quirky and inconsistent, but couldn’t argue with the semi-prepped food that meant I spent half the time in the kitchen as with the other kit services.
Blue Apron, Marley Spoon, HelloFresh - these have many more “kid friendly”, less adventurous options. I enjoyed many of the meals but they’re more mainstream in terms of cuisines offered and dietary restrictions supported. Blue Apron had somewhat better directions than the other two.
Green Chef - It was fine, but I found more of the meals meh.
Freshly - These are microwaveable pre-made meals. The veggies were always way over cooked and I would generally be happier eating a can of soup and some frozen broccoli cooked in the microwave.
Jessie and Laurent - this is a Bay Area local company that delivers premade meals. I sent a gift certificate to a friend post-partum but never got the review. Pretty pricey, doesn’t run any deals as far as I know.
posted by A Blue Moon at 1:17 PM on July 1, 2022
- Most meal kits have a 1-2 week lag before they will start shipping, so set calendar reminders 2 weeks before you want to switch services so that you can actually start on the date you want. Use the skip functionality for the first week if you need it to start when you want.
- You can’t cancel your account until after all the food ships, but you can skip weeks. So when you set up your account, pick your meals for the 2-5 weeks that the discount applies and then “skip” the next 5 weeks so that you have time to cancel. Stick the cancel reminder on your calendar.
- Beware travel, visitors, or anything else that might change your plans and leave you with more food than you can eat. My local buy nothing group always has people giving away meal kits they can’t eat before leaving town.
As far as the actual meals themselves:
Sunbasket - my favorite, the most California fresh/local and with a lot of protein customization options. Sometimes their instructions don’t quite make sense, especially if there are lots of protein options for a disk, so I would only recommend it for a confident cook trying to either simplify planning or expand their recipe choices.
(on edit) Gobble - easiest of the meal services because they target 15 min prep times. I found their recipes a bit quirky and inconsistent, but couldn’t argue with the semi-prepped food that meant I spent half the time in the kitchen as with the other kit services.
Blue Apron, Marley Spoon, HelloFresh - these have many more “kid friendly”, less adventurous options. I enjoyed many of the meals but they’re more mainstream in terms of cuisines offered and dietary restrictions supported. Blue Apron had somewhat better directions than the other two.
Green Chef - It was fine, but I found more of the meals meh.
Freshly - These are microwaveable pre-made meals. The veggies were always way over cooked and I would generally be happier eating a can of soup and some frozen broccoli cooked in the microwave.
Jessie and Laurent - this is a Bay Area local company that delivers premade meals. I sent a gift certificate to a friend post-partum but never got the review. Pretty pricey, doesn’t run any deals as far as I know.
posted by A Blue Moon at 1:17 PM on July 1, 2022
« Older Looking for one quick but amazing thing to do in... | Specific examples of content in "banned books" Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.
Look into local options, either businesses or someone on facebook who offers meal prep services or something like that. If you live in/near a city this will likely be a cheaper option.
Another option is being your own meal delivery company in a sense. Batch cook meals and vacuum seal individual portions to stock your freezer with ready-to-eat meals. Far far far cheaper than a meal delivery service, but the trade-off is a lack of variety. I get around this by for example cooking things unseasoned/plain and doing my seasoning prior to reheating. If you really wanted to lean into it you could buy a separate deep freezer or something, spend a sunday or two or three, and not cook for months or maybe even up to a year?
posted by ToddBurson at 2:19 PM on June 30, 2022