Meal delivery is great but it gets even better (and cheaper) when you sign up for a new service, since they almost universally offer absurdly low new-customer pricing to entice you to give their grub a try. And if you think it’s a ploy to keep you subscribed for life, know that all of them make canceling or pausing the meal subscription pretty easy, so the commitment is minimal.
Heck, I say try ’em all at these wildly low sign-up prices — some as cheap as $1.50 a serving — and decide later. You can always go back and restart the one you liked best. Trust me, they’ll gladly have you back. There are affordable meal kits and prepared meal subscriptions for every type of eater too: keto and paleo dieters, vegans, carnivores, experienced home cooks and newbies alike.
Read more: Buying Groceries Online vs. In-Store: Which Is Cheaper
The best meal delivery deals right now
That depends on what you’re looking for. If it’s the lowest possible cost, EveryPlate and Gobble will send meal kits that are ready to cook with some clocking in for under $1.50 a serving when you sign up for the first time. Other popular prepared meal services such as Splendid Spoon, Pete’s Paleo and RealEats are ready to send premade, ready-to-eat dinners to your doorstep, at per-serving prices that are far cheaper than takeout.
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The best meal kit for you
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Do meal kit sign-up deals have commitments?
Nope. Virtually all of them allow you to pause or cancel any time just in case you don’t love it, so there’s almost no risk after the deal is up. Although you may have to unsubscribe from their email blasts. The point is, most brands just want you to try out the meals and see if you dig them and those brands are willing to make it very easy (and cheap) to do that. To make things easier, we already tried the top meal kits and meal delivery services so you’ll know exactly what to expect and you can pick the best food delivery deal for you and your tastes.
Pssst, over here. Because all these meal-kit companies let you cancel for free after the trial, you can try multiple services, all at hugely discounted sign-up prices and then see which one you like the best. You’ll save a ton and find out firsthand what each one has to offer.
Read more: Best Cheap Meal Delivery Services in 2022
So which meal delivery service is the best?
I’ve tried most of them and they’re all pretty solid, with differences to consider depending on your budget, diet, taste and kitchen skill level. You can check out CNET’s roundups of the best meal-kit delivery services and best healthy food delivery services for a more detailed, er, taste. And remember, nearly all of these meal-kit companies let you pause or cancel anytime, so the risk and commitment when signing up for a meal-kit service is minimal.
Whether you’re looking for ways to eat healthily, learn to cook new recipes or just make fewer trips to the grocery store this winter, a healthy, versatile and budget-friendly meal delivery deal can help you do it on the cheap.
These offers were valid at the time of publication, but they can end at any time and may be restricted by geography and other cookie-based conditions in your browser. If you don’t see a deal populate, try in a new window or private browser. In the meantime, if you’ve already tried one or more of these, tell me which ones and what you liked or didn’t like.
Thrive Market
Thrive Market is less of a meal kit or prepared meal service and more of a specialty online market with excellent snacks, pantry staples, beauty supplies, pet food and loads more. Thrive has a $5 monthly membership fee but if you have a taste for high-end groceries or seek organic foods, you won’t likely find them cheaper than on Thrive. Plus, Thrive Market will price match anything you do find cheaper at another retailer.
Order from Thrive Market in August and you’ll get 30% off your first shipment of groceries.
Fresh N Lean
This isn’t the biggest sign-up offer we’ve ever seen, but it is for one of the best meal delivery services we’ve tried. Fresh N Lean is healthy, tasty and won’t break the bank, with some meal plans clocking in at around $9 a serving.
Sign up now for any plan and Fresh N Lean will knock an Andrew Jackson off the tab. Read my full review of Fresh N Lean here.
EveryPlate
EveryPlate has had some eye-poppingly low sign-up offers, but this is the lowest price per serving deal we’ve seen since we began tracking them.
EveryPlate is already our pick as the best meal-kit service for families on a budget, but it’s bordering on ridiculously cheap when you give it a try in Junly. You can score EveryPlate’s already cheap meal kits for just $1.49 per serving for your first delivery, and a total of $70 off spread across your first three boxes.
You won’t see a lot of haute cuisine, but I’ve tried its pork sloppy joes and its chicken and linguine in a tomato cream sauce. All the meals I tried were delicious, easy to prepare and light on the wallet. Read our EveryPlate review.
RealEats
If you’re ready for simple, prepared meals at a big bargain, Real Eats has one of the best offers going this month. I tried the meal service and thought everything was cooked well, fresh and flavorful. While Fresh N Lean (deal above) is still my top pick for prepared meals, RealEats isn’t too far behind.
Sign up before Sept. 8 and you’ll get 15% off your first five boxes of meals. Pause or cancel anytime.
ButcherBox
OK, so ButcherBox isn’t exactly a meal delivery service, but you can certainly make some excellent meals with what this online butcher service sends in its monthly boxes. ButcherBox is an online meat subscription service specializing in Australian grass-fed beef. But you can also have heritage pork and organic chicken in your monthly box depending on the subscription you pick.
Monthly shipments of 8 to 11 pounds of meat start at $137 but If you sign up now, ButcherBox will include 1 pound of bacon in every shipment for the life of your subscription. Plus, you’ll get $20 off your first five shipments totaling $100 in savings.
David Watsky/CNET
Pete’s is all about wholesome, nondairy and grain-free Paleo eating, and it’s one of the best prepared meal services I’ve tried, especially for anyone trying to keep the caveman diet (paleo).
Pete’s is on the pricey side but well worth the extra few bucks per week. If you order meals today, Pete’s will throw in a free meal and a pound of paleo-friendly bacon in your order. See my full Pete’s Paleo review here.
Veestro
Veestro is a fully prepared vegan meal delivery service, so all you’ve got to do is heat and eat. I tried it and found the 100% plant-based food to be consistently fresh and tasty. Veestro has a massive menu of ready-to-eat, meat-free meals with lots of (but not only) organic ingredients. You’ll have a whopping 44 dinners to pick from each week, and Veestro makes use of some alternative meat substitutes too, so you’ll see a lot of meals that make you forget you’re eating vegan food at all.
To get your initial discount you’ll have to leave it to chance by spinning a virtual wheel (Wheel of Fortune-style) and see what discount the gods have bestowed on you from 15% all the way up to 50% off. (No, I’m not kidding.)
Freshly
Freshly is one of the most consistent prepared meal delivery services we’ve tried. The meal subscription service offers a wide range of recipes from comfort classics to lean and healthy meals. They all arrive fresh, ready to be eaten or stored in the fridge for the next time you need a quick lunch or dinner but have no time to cook.
Right now, CNET readers can score $25 off each of their first five orders with promo code CNET25. That’s $125 in total savings if you go for all five boxes. But there’s no commitment and you can give Freshly a try (with the discount) and pause or cancel after the first week if it’s not for you.
Sunbasket
Over the past year, we’ve tried just about every meal kit service there is and one of them outpaced the rest of the field as our clear favorite. Sunbasket recipes were the most consistently delicious, interesting and fresh-tasting, landing it the No. 1 spot on our best meal kits of 2022 ranking.
If you’ve never tried Sunbasket, we’ve got an exclusive offer that’s too good to pass up. Sunbasket meals usually break down to about $10 or $11 per serving depending on your plan. If you’re trying it for the first time, you’ll save $100 across your first four deliveries, plus free shipping and four free gifts. Read our Sunbasket review.
Brandy Yowell
Gobble is quite similar to the other services, except that many items come already chopped, peeled, marinated and so on — which can definitely save you some prep time. The two meals I received, Yankee pot roast and cacio e pepe, were terrific. Dinner prices are normally a flat $12 per serving, however, so you do pay a bit extra for that convenience.
Gobble will send your first six easy meal kits for $36 total. That’s about as cheap as you’ll find high-end meal kits anywhere. For more, read our Gobble review.
Splendid Spoon specializes in deliveries of quick smoothies, soups, rice bowls and other smaller noshes that are great for breakfast and lunch. Some work well for dinner too, but I like this service better for those first two meals of the day. The meal delivery service has some interesting recipes along with classics, so there’s a little something for everyone.
If you want to give Splendid Spoon a try, you’ll get a full $120 off spread out over your first three boxes. Read our Splendid Spoon review.
HelloFresh
HelloFresh has more total meal-kit selections than any other service and most of them are pretty easy to prepare. You can check out my deep-dive review of HelloFresh to learn more about the easy meal delivery service.
HelloFresh is offering a major sign-up offer but it requires a commitment of seven weeks. Order seven weeks of meals and HelloFresh will give you 16 meals for free over the course of the promotional trial.
Hungryroot
While it’s not a traditional meal kit or meal delivery service, Hungryroot melds artificial intelligence and healthy groceries to send a curated heap (based on your preferences) of high-quality groceries, snacks and proteins for quick meals — or more intricate meal-making. This is a good option if you like cooking and are looking for some healthy kitchen inspiration, but find meal kits too restrictive. Like, maybe you just don’t want tilapia tacos with lime crema tonight.
Hungryroot is offering new customers 30% off to try the service and a free gift in every delivery for life. If you’re hoping to try it out, know you can pause or cancel the service anytime. Even if you pause and reactivate, your free gift remains intact. Read my full review of Hungryroot here.
Home Chef
I tested Home Chef last year and loved its highly customizable meal kits and comfort-food recipes with a healthy bent, all of which were easy to prepare. Home Chef is also one of the more affordable meal-kit companies, starting at $7 per serving, and is even more so if you sign up using this offer.
For new subscribers, Home Chef is offering $110 off when you sign up for four boxes of meals. The savings are spread out over four deliveries — $30 off the first two and $25 off the next two. If you’ve been wanting to try a meal-kit subscription, Home Chef makes it easy (and cheap). You can pause or cancel anytime, so the risk is low. Read our Home Chef review.
My advice: Take advantage of each and every one of these offers (making sure to pause or cancel after, unless you want to continue). You can see which service you like best and get super cheap takeout-style meals for weeks at a time.
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