You’ve seen the ads and TV commercials. A busy couple doesn’t have time to grocery shop between work and their social lives so they order a meal kit and it’s delivered right to their front door. People who never had time to prepare healthy meals now have time and access to the freshest ingredients.
It seems like a good idea; it saves time and guarantees freshness, but are they really any better for your health?
Here is a brief snapshot of some of the more popular meal kit delivery providers:
- Blue Apron: Blue Apron has a lot of choices; however, it only gives calories per portion rather than a nutritional breakdown.
- HelloFresh: HelloFresh has an in-house dietician who actually approves recipes. Despite this, some of the options are still healthier than others – don’t get caught assuming they are all the same.
- Plated: Plated has a wide variety of healthy and not-so-healthy options.
- Chef’d: Chef’d offers meals in partnership with weight watchers for those watching calories.
- Purple Carrot: Purple carrot is the only meal-kit service with a set menu. It’s also the only all vegan service.
All of the aforementioned meal kit services offer help in portion control. For those of us with little self-control, this is a huge bonus. The service sends you exactly what you need to make a meal for however many people you choose (from a couple to a large family).
If you don’t know how to cook, the step-by-step instructions will help you, especially if you are trying new ingredients.
Related: If you don’t know how to cook, but want to give it a try on your own, check out these 34 recipes for beginner chefs.
The adventurous people who have tried meal kit delivery services rate them favorably, and people generally seem to like what they get.
Overall, meal kits can be the healthy home-cooked meal you’ve been waiting for, but, if you are a natural in the kitchen who enjoys grocery shopping and makes fresh food anyway, they are probably not worth the expense.
