Having delicious, healthy meals delivered right to your door may have been a thing of dreams in the past, but now it’s a reality with meal delivery services.
The surge in popularity of these services has given rise to many companies, all vying for your business.
So, how much does it cost to have meals delivered? It depends on the company, the type of food, and how often you want delivery.
In this article, we’ll take a look at the average cost of meal delivery services as well as the pricing of some of the most popular meal delivery services.
What Is a Meal Delivery Service?
Before we get into the cost, let’s first answer the question: what is a meal delivery service?
A meal delivery service is a type of subscription service in which a company sends you a package of fresh ingredients in the right proportions for you to cook meals at home. The ingredients are usually pre-measured and come with easy-to-follow recipes.
Meal delivery services take guessing out of cooking by doing the menu planning, grocery shopping, and portion control for you.
All one has to do is follow the recipe and cook the food. By taking care of all the meal prep, meal delivery services save you time and effort.
Also Read: 10 Best Cheapest Meal Delivery Services
How Much Do Meal Delivery Services Cost?
While different meal delivery services offer different features, the average cost of a meal delivery service ranges between $8.49 and $12.69 for each ordered portion. This usually doesn’t cover the delivery fee, which can be around $7.99.
Note that the prices we mentioned are per serving. Most services though not all, calculate the price of your kits using a sliding scale that is based on the number of servings that you order. This is a classic example of the “the more you buy, the more you save” concept.
Some meal delivery services have a subscription fee, where you pay a certain amount each month to have access to the service.
Others don’t have a subscription fee, but they charge per delivery. The average monthly subscription fee is around $38, although you may pay up to $140 per month if your family is large.
Starting Costs Of Popular Meal Delivery Services
Meal delivery services can be extremely convenient, but they can also put a dent in your wallet if you’re not careful.
In this section, we’ll look at the starting costs of some popular meal delivery services so that you can understand how much you might be spending.
EveryPlate
EveryPlate is arguably one of the most affordable meal kit providers, with meals starting at $5 a serving — or even less if you take advantage of their sign-up promotion.
You must first choose how many meals you want to receive every week and how many people you’ll be cooking for.
EveryPlate’s average price per serving is $4.99, and the shipping fee of $8.99.
Every week, EveryPlate posts a menu with 17 different recipes to pick from. There are plenty of family-friendly options, including typical home cooking.
Although meat-free meals are not a highlight, and EveryPlate does not specifically cater to dietary restrictions, some of the recipes are vegetarian.
Dinnerly
Another affordable meal kit is Dinnerly, which costs a reasonable $5.59 per meal. Each meal at Dinnerly costs between $4.29 and $4.99. With Dinnerly, the more servings you order, the lower the price per serving.
Dinnerly uses a few strategies to keep costs down. To begin with, the meals are made using affordable ingredients like pasta, Roma peppers, nonorganic meats, etc. Plus, there are no recipe cards included. To view the recipe, you must visit Dinnerly’s website or app.
HomeChef
If you’re willing to spend a bit more on your meal delivery service, HomeChef is a great option. HomeChef meals start at around $9 per serving.
However, there are categories with prices as low as $7, such as quick lunches and entrée salads.
Some are more expensive ($12 to $19 per serving) and frequently include beautiful cuts of beef or seafood meals.
The majority of Home Chef recipes are very easy to make and don’t need a lot of technical knowledge.
The company serves a lot of comfort meals and dishes that are popular in American cuisine.
Final Thoughts
Meal delivery services can be a great way to save time and money on groceries. Costing an average of $9 per serving, they are more expensive than cooking at home from scratch.
However, they are still cheaper than eating out, and you don’t have to worry about food waste.
Amit has always been interested in food and nutrition. After completing his high school certification, he spent half a decade trying multiple meal delivery services. He was impressed with the quality of the food but was disappointed by the lack of information available to help people make the best choices for their health.
Before starting MealDeliveryService.org, Amit worked for multiple Meal Delivery Companies. He knows first-hand what people are looking for in a meal delivery service and is passionate about helping others make healthy choices for their families.