Best Meal Delivery Services for Families of 2023 - Parents

Best Overall: Green Chef

Key Specs

• Starting Price: $11.99 per serving
• Delivery Area: 48 states
• Products Arrive: Fresh

Why You Should Try It

Green Chef delivers organic meal kits that strike the perfect balance between easy prep, big flavor, and healthy eating.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Certified organic
• Healthy and well-balanced
• Vegetarian and vegan options

Cons

• Kits only; no fully prepared meals
• Available only by subscription

Green Chef is a great option for families because it's one of the few services we tried that can deliver meal kits that serve up to 12 people. The eclectic menu rotates weekly and is divided into six meal types: Keto + Paleo, Mediterranean, Fast & Fit, Vegan, Vegetarian, and Gluten Free. Green Chef also makes sustainability a priority with its extensive packaging recycling guide and a 100% carbon offset program.

Pricing and Plans

When you sign up, you can choose two-, four-, or six-serving kits. Once you gain access to your customer dashboard, you'll be able to select eight- and 12-serving options.

• 3 meals for 2 people per week: $13.49 per serving
• 4 meals for 2 people per week: $12.99 per serving
• 2 meals for 4 people per week: $12.99 per serving
• 3 meals for 4 people per week: $12.49 per serving
• 4 meals for 4 people per week: $11.99 per serving
• 3 meals for 6 people per week: $11.99 per serving
• 4 meals for 6 people per week: $11.99 per serving

Meals We Tried

• Harissa-spiced shrimp
• Sesame ginger bavette steak and shrimp
• Middle Eastern-style chickpea bowls
• Maple glazed carrots with figs

Best Overall for Kids' Meals: Nurture Life

Key Specs

• Starting Price: $6.99 per serving
• Delivery Area: 48 states
• Products Arrive: Fresh

Why You Should Try It

Every item on Nurture Life's menu is made especially for babies, toddlers, and kids. Prepared meals take only one minute to heat, and snacks and drinks are ready to go.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Pre-diced finger foods
• Helpful menu filters
• Team of registered dieticians

Cons

• No vegan options
• Limited snack options

Nurture Life is a weekly meal subscription service designed for busy parents looking for an easy way to offer their children natural, appealing, and nutritious food. All of Nurture Life's meals are delivered fresh and fully prepared, so all you'll have to do is heat and serve. There's even a list of favorites for picky eaters.

Pricing and Plans

• 6 items per week: $7.99 per item
• 9 items per week: $7.99 per item plus free shipping
• 12 items per week: $7.16 per item plus free shipping
• 15 items per week: $6.99 per item plus free shipping

Meals We Tried

• White mac and cheese
• Chicken and mac
• Beef taco pockets
• Tortellini bolognese
• Chicken dumplings
• Pesto and cheese ravioli

Best Value: Dinnerly

Key Specs

• Starting Price: $4.99 per serving
• Delivery Area: 48 states
• Products Arrive: Fresh

Why You Should Try It

Dinnerly's low-cost, high-quality food is perfect for those on a budget. Dinner options start at just $4.99 per serving, so you can enjoy tasty meals without breaking the bank.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Excellent value
• Balanced menu
• Easy prep

Cons

• Draws on your pantry more than most services
• Some may find the dishes too simple

With Dinnerly you can order up to six four-serving meals per week, and at just $4.99 per serving, the service is an exceptional value for busy families. The large menu rotates weekly, providing a wide selection with plenty of variety, and the recipes are simple, saving you time on prep and cleanup.

Pricing and Plans

Dinnerly's meal kits serve either two or four diners. Subscriptions are available for anywhere between three and six kits per week. Shipping is always $9.99.

• 3 meals for 2 people per week: $6.39 per serving
• 4 meals for 2 people per week: $5.99 per serving
• 5 meals for 2 people per week: $5.89 per serving
• 6 meals for 2 people per week: $5.79 per serving
• 3 meals for 4 people per week: $5.69 per serving
• 4 meals for 4 people per week: $5.49 per serving
• 5 meals for 4 people per week: $5.29 per serving
• 6 meals for 4 people per week: $4.99 per serving

Meals We Tried

• BBQ cheeseburger with sautéed onions and smashed potatoes
• Low-cal veggie drunken noodles with broccoli, peppers, and cilantro
• Grass-fed ground beef and cheddar quesadillas with corn
• Caramel chicken stir-fry with snow peas and jasmine rice

Best for Easy Prep: Gobble

Key Specs

• Starting Price: $11.99 per serving
• Delivery Area: 47 states
• Products Arrive: Fresh

Why You Should Try It

Gobble's culinary team preps and portions all its meal kit ingredients, so you can serve fresh-cooked meals to your family in 15 minutes or less.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Good menu variety
• Add-ons like sides, soups, and breakfast
• Fast, easy preparation

Cons

• Relatively expensive
• Minimal dietary accommodation

Gobble is a weekly subscription meal kit delivery service. Unlike most meal kit services, Gobble ships the majority of its ingredients pre-prepped, so while you may have to do a smidge of trimming or chopping, your main task will be to simply combine and cook. The menu draws on a mix of international cuisines and rotates weekly, so there's always plenty to choose from.

Pricing and Plans

• 2 kits for 4 people per week: $12.99 per serving
• 3-5 kits for 4 people per week: $11.99 per serving

In addition to its family-size plans, Gobble also offers a dinner-for-two plan.

Meals We Tried

• Scampi-style chicken with linguine in lemon garlic butter sauce
• Chimichurri fish tacos with shredded cabbage
• Grilled king salmon with heirloom tomato panzanella
• Korean bulgogi beef lettuce cups with sweet potato noodles

Best Plant-Based: Hungryroot

Key Specs

• Starting Price: $7.99 per serving
• Delivery Area: 48 states
• Products Arrive: Fresh

Why You Should Try It

Hungryroot's flexible subscription offers a rich variety of plant-based ingredients along with simple recipes to quickly transform them into tasty meals.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Easy recipes
• Great customer service
• Lots of flexibility

Cons

• Experienced cooks may be bored
• Plans don't exceed four diners

In some ways, Hungryroot is more of a grocery delivery service than a meal kit service. But unlike a grocery delivery service, Hungryroot does the meal planning for you, complete with recipes, based on your responses to its questionnaire. Plans are so flexible that they might as well be personalized.

Pricing and Plans

At the end of Hungryroot's quiz, you're presented with a plan that you can either accept or tweak according to your needs.

• 2 servings with 8 recipes: $9.69 per serving
• 2 servings with 7 recipes: $9.69 per serving
• 2 servings with 6 recipes: $10.29 per serving
• 2 servings with 5 recipes: $10.89 per serving
• 2 servings with 4 recipes: $11.39 per serving
• 2 servings with 3 recipes: $11.39 per serving
• 4 servings with 4 recipes: $9.69 per serving
• 4 servings with 3 recipes: $9.69 per serving
• 4 servings with 2 recipes: $10.29 per serving

Meals We Tried

• Spinach artichoke and mushroom tortelloni
• Roasted salmon and sweet potato on Brussels
• Southwest chicken and rainbow veggie tacos
• Thai peanut beef and broccoli stir-fry

Best for Picky Eaters: HelloFresh

Key Specs

• Starting Price: $7.99
• Delivery Area: 48 states
• Products Arrive: Fresh

Why You Should Try It

If you're looking for meal kits that appeal to even the pickiest family member, HelloFresh has an entire menu of crowd-pleasers that aren't too basic.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Perfect balance of simplicity and sophistication
• Accurate prep times
• Easy prep and cleanup options

Cons

• Kits only, no prepared meals
• Not suitable for those with allergies

HelloFresh is a meal kit delivery subscription service with a menu that consistently offers more than 50 weekly choices. It has six categories of cuisine—Meat & Veggies, Veggie, Family Friendly, Fit & Wholesome, Quick & Easy, and Pescatarian—and you can pick one category, all, or make your own selections each week.

What sets the company apart is the impeccable design of its dishes, which strike a delicate balance between adventure, familiarity, and cookability. HelloFresh might be your family's best bet for a service that truly appeals to all: young, old, picky, intrepid, or somewhere in between.

Pricing and Plans

• 2 servings with 6 recipes: $8.49 per serving
• 2 servings with 5 recipes: $8.99 per serving
• 2 servings with 4 recipes: $9.49 per serving
• 2 servings with 3 recipes: $9.99 per serving
• 2 servings with 2 recipes: $11.99 per serving
• 4 servings with 6 recipes: $7.99 per serving
• 4 servings with 5 recipes: $7.99 per serving
• 4 servings with 4 recipes: $7.99 per serving
• 4 servings with 3 recipes: $8.49 per serving
• 4 servings with 2 recipes: $9.49 per serving

Meals We Tried

• Crispy buffalo-spiced chicken
• BBQ cheddar burgers
• Tex-Mex pork with mango salsa
• Pork sausage rigatoni rosa

Best for Toddlers: Little Spoon

Key Specs

• Starting Price: $5.99
• Delivery Area: 48 states
• Products Arrive: Fresh

Why You Should Try It

Little Spoon delivers a surprisingly wide variety of finger food meals that are sure to keep your toddler happy while expanding their developing palate.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Wholesome
• Filter by dietary need
• Squeeze-pack smoothies and vitamin boosters

Cons

• No free shipping
• Menu doesn't rotate weekly

Little Spoon is a prepared meal delivery subscription service for babies, toddlers, and kids. With items like red lentil pasta, hidden veggie marinara, and purple carrot blueberry oatballs, the company offers some of the most wholesome and adventurous finger foods on the market. There's also a surprising degree of international influence on the menu, including dishes like pot stickers, pupusas, gnocchi, and tikka masala.

Pricing and Plans

Little Spoon delivers every two weeks.

• 8 meals per box: $7.49 per serving
• 12 meals per box: $6.99 per serving
• 18 meals per box: $6.49 per serving
• 24 meals per box: $5.99 per serving

Meals We Tried

• Broccoli bites with sweet potato carrot poppers and green beans
• Chicken nuggets with veggie patties with breading and sweet potato carrot poppers and broccoli
• Whole wheat penne with veggie marinara and mini turkey kale meatballs
• Mac and three-cheese with invisible butternut squash carrots
• Chicken pot stickers with brown rice, quinoa veggie stir fry, and edamame
• Turkey rice ball with sweet potato mash
• Three-cheese egg bites with sweet potato hash
• Turkey kale patty bites with veggie millet poppers and carrots

Best for Vegan Families: Purple Carrot

Key Specs

• Starting Price: $11
• Delivery Area: 48 states
• Products Arrive: Fresh (kits) and frozen (prepared meals)

Why You Should Try It

Purple Carrot is 100% vegan and offers both fresh meal kits and frozen prepared meals. It's the ultimate convenient and flexible choice for your vegan clan.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Meal kits and prepared meals
• 100% vegan
• Breakfast and add-ons available

Cons

• Relatively small menu
• Limited organic ingredients

Purple Carrot is a totally plant-based subscription meal delivery service capable of covering all your vegan family's mealtime needs. The company offers breakfast, lunch, and dinner kits, plus snacks and a rotating lineup of fully prepared frozen meals for when you're short on time. There are even special "Celebrations" boxes that are perfect for a cozy night with the spouse after you've sent the kids to grandma.

Pricing and Plans

Meal Kits

• 2 servings with 3-4 recipes: $13.25 per serving
• 4 servings with 2-3 recipes: $11 per serving

Prepared Meals

• 6, 8, or 10 meals per week: $12.99 per serving

Meals We Tried

Meal Kits

• Sesame orange tofu with roasted green beans and sticky rice
• Curry roasted cauliflower with masala chickpeas and ginger cucumber salsa
• Rajas tacos with avocado and roasted corn salsa

Prepared Meals

• Peanut noodles with gingered edamame and braised tofu
• Creamy mac and cheese with peso peas and sun dried tomatoes
• Spelt risotto with summer vegetable caponata
• Chilled curried chickpea salad with dates and quinoa red pepper pilaf
• Tofu palak paneer with carrot biryani