Meal format preferences
The first big decision you’ll make is whether you want meal kits, which provide ingredients and a recipe but require some prep and cooking, or prepared meals, which are fully cooked and ready to heat and eat. Meal kits will demand more of your energy and time (around 30 minutes of prep), but they’ll also cost a little less per serving. Prepared meals require almost no time and energy, other than what it takes to heat them (usually a few minutes), but they typically run a few bucks more per serving. Prepared meals may be better for beginning cooks, and meal kits can work best for beginning to experienced cooks.
Budget and value
After you’ve made your choice between meal kits or prepared meals, you’ll want to find a service within your budget. Price per serving ranges from $11 to $17. There are meal kit services with basic menus and no-frills recipes for meals as cheap as $11 a serving. Pricier services include recipes with more exotic ingredients, high-end cuts of meat and organic produce, and those meals can cost as much as $17 a serving. For this list, the midrange price is around $12. Elsewhere on CNET, we’ve outlined all the best cheap meal delivery services right now.
Shipping is usually free for the first order but after that costs $11 on average. More expensive prepared meal services can charge up to $40 for shipping, depending on your location.
It’s important to note that most meal kits and prepared meal delivery services offer you the option to skip a week and to pause or cancel your subscription. You can typically make these adjustments in your account settings or on your app.
Keto strictness level
There are different levels to keeping keto. One decision you’ll want to make is whether to choose a meal service or meal plan that includes only or mostly keto or one, like Green Chef, that has options for nonketo meals. You’ll also want to pay attention to the net carbs per meal and macro ratios to ensure they fit with your specific diet.
If dietary certifications are important to you — such as USDA organic or certified gluten free — make sure the service you choose has these certifications. Or simply make sure the ingredients are grass-fed or wild-caught, if that’s important to you.
Meals per week and frequency
Lastly, you’ll want to home in on exactly how much food you’ll want sent to you per week (aka meals per week). 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. Also, think about serving options by considering the number of people you’re cooking for each week.
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.
With nearly every service, the more meals your order per delivery, the cheaper it is per meal.
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