Food & Drink

15 best meal delivery services, tested over five years

Editor reviews of the best healthy meal prep services that you can trust, for saving your stomach when you're short on time.
15 Best Meal Delivery Services Tested Over Five Years

All products are independently selected by our editors. If you buy something, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn how we test.

1. Best Meal Delivery Service For Ready Meals: CheflyRead more

2. Best Meal Delivery For Speed: Lions PrepRead more

3. Best For Pre-Portioned Ingredients: GoustoRead more

Show more
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All products are independently selected by our editors. If you buy something, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn how we test.

Have your weeknight dinners gotten boring? A healthy meal delivery service will change that. We’ve been testing meal kit delivery services for the past five years, learning their benefits are plentiful – not only when it comes to grocery shopping convenience, but for their ability to increase the variety of meals you eat, reduce the number of takeouts you buy, and help you reduce food waste. It’s no surprise the wellness crowd are getting in on the action.

Sure, it’s unlikely meal prep services will ever be as popular as they wear during lockdown – but they do still have a place in our 2024 lives. All things considered, the award-winning meal kits in this edit are actually better than they were back then, serving nutritious meals made from more varied ingredients – with better meal options for all dietary preferences. Pescatarian, flexitarian, vegan and vegetarian included.

AllPlants specialises in home-cooked plant-based ready meals like Chickpea Curry and Italian Rigatoni Bolognese, while Chefly serves genuinely good food to your door that you can reheat in three minutes. Gousto and HelloFresh provide the fresh ingredients you need to cook and eat meals from scratch, while low-calorie providers like Frive cover you for breakfast, lunch and your evening meal. Plus smoothies, even.

I suppose it’s there we have the greatest conundrum: with so much choice, how do you know which meal delivery service is best for your dietary needs? In the name of healthy eating, we’ve spent the past five years reviewing British meal prep services in a bid to bring you your most delicious dinners yet. It’s time unleash your inner home chef.

SKIP TO: How we test meal delivery services | Our full reviews.

How we tested the best recipe boxes:

Our editors and freelance contributors have been testing meal prep kits for the past five years. When testing each, we ordered a weeks’ worth of food and scored based on delivery, sourcing and freshness of ingredients, nutritional information provided, how varied cuisine and meal plan options were, portion size, and how easy the recipe cards were to follow. There are a few services in this edit that haven’t been tested; for those, we’ve referred to customer reviews and expert knowledge.

Meet the testers:

After more food & drink content? Shop meal prep containers, the best probiotics for women to support your gut health, our Our Place Always Pan review and the best cutlery sets.

What is the best healthy meal delivery service? Scroll for our top picks.

  • 1. Best Meal Delivery Service For Ready Meals: Chefly

    Pros: “As far as microwave meals go, Chefly does a stellar job at transforming them into something delicious, fresh and healthy. The brand as a whole is all about speed and ease, with chef-prepared meals delivered to your door which can each be reheated in 2-3 minutes. They come in a 100% recyclable cardboard box, they stay fresh in the fridge for 10 days and they're made up of a good mix of food groups. Meals average approximately 500 calories.”

    Cons: “Nothing to note, other than the fact you may get a little bored of microwave meals quite quickly - so they're a good option for lunches or a few nights per week.”

    • Tested by: Sophie Cockett.
    • Star dish: “The Grilled Bavette Steak, Roasted Carrots, Sweet Potato and Tenderstem Broccoli was so good.”
    • Cost: Price start at £6.99 per meal for the highest-volume order, and you can choose between four and 12 meals per week.
    • Delivery: All over mainland UK via DPD.
    £7.98 at Chefly

  • 2. Best Meal Delivery For Speed: Lions Prep

    Pros: “I tried LionsPrep for a week and was so impressed with how easy they made my life. Serving grab-and-go meals that are fresh and delicious, you can sort your breakfasts, lunches and dinners in one order. Each week, LionsPrep spotlights a ”current" menu on their site (and the time of writing my review, they had Citrus and Miso Salmon Poke Bowl and Sticky Korean Turkey Bowl on the menu) to choose from, and it changes super regularly. The best part of my order was actually my

    Cons: “There honestly was not much I didn't like, other than the freedom of cooking my own meals – and perhaps the fact that meals only stay fresh for four days, so you might need to factor this into your routine. I'd probably stick to doing LionsPrep every other week for the former reason.”

    • Tested by: Sophie Cockett.
    • Star dish: Citrus and Miso Salmon Poke Bowl.
    • Cost: Meals start from just £4 per meal. You can choose from once or twice weekly deliveries to arrive on Sundays and Wednesdays, and the price is dependent on the number of meals you choose. You can choose between and 3, 5 or 6 day plan – and you can pause or cancel your subscription at any time.
    • Delivery: All of mainland UK.
    £4 at Lions Prep

  • 3. Best For Pre-Portioned Ingredients: Gousto

    Pros: "The portions are for two (so call your BFF), the ingredients – from flatbreads to meatballs, pesto and quinoa – are fresh and healthy, and the delicious meals are super easy to make. They have photos of each step and they send you all the spices and condiments you'll need, so there's no way you'll mess it up. I love so many of their dishes and tend to go for plant-based meals – their Date and Tamarind Curry and One-Pot Butternut Squash Biryani are two of my favourites. I love that you can keep the recipe cards after cooking and recreate them yourself at a later date, and you can order add-ons like deserts, recipe books and wine. Oh, and you can choose the delivery day when you select from the ever-changing weekly menu.”

    Cons: To be honest? Nothing at all. We're forever impressed with the service.

    • Tested by: Sophie Cockett.
    • Star dish: Lamb Meatball Biryani With Minty Mayo & Pickled Onions.
    • Cost: From £24.99 for a 2-person box.
    • Delivery: Nationwide.
    • Gousto discounts: Get £15 off your next box when you refer a friend to Gousto right now, or save money on your first purchase with our Gousto discount codes.

    Read our full Gousto review here.

    £2.05 at Gousto

  • 4. Best For Healthy Eaters: Green Chef

    Pros: “Green Chef is a recipe box with five diet options to choose from each week. You choose between keto, lower carb, balanced, vegan and vegetarian, (or mix and match tasty nutritionist-designed recipes to fit your lifestyle), then you receive healthy, top-quality ingredients and easy-to-follow recipes to your door. I loved that most dinners were ready in 30 minutes or less."

    Cons: Nothing to note.

    • Tested by: Sophie Cockett.
    • Star dish: Smoked Tofoo Red Thai Inspired Curry with Black Rice.
    • Cost: From £4.70 per service.
    • Delivery: Green Chef will deliver your recipe boxes across the UK, including: UK Mainland Jersey Guernsey Isle of Man Isle of Wight.
    £4.70 at Green Chef

  • 5. Best Gym Meal Prep Service: The Good Prep

    Pros: This Manchester-based company is so easy. “You simply pick the plan that works best for your preferences and activity level (Trim & Slim serves up low-carb, high-fat meals, while Grow & Gain delivers up to 2,600 calories a day through high protein and carbs), then choose the meals you like the sound of. They're made only from the freshest ingredients, and you can compliment your meals with five snacks or detox juices. The cherry on the cake? Every meal is ready in two minutes.”

    Cons: It's pretty expensive, with the two-day taster starting at £49.

    • Star dish: Beef Bolognese + Roasted Root Veg.
    • Cost: from £99 per plan.
    • Delivery: Nationwide, and delivery is free.
    £99 at The Good Prep

  • 6. Best For Food Freedom: Simply Cook

    Pros: “Simply Cook sends you boxes full of herbs, spices, pastes and flavours so that you can create restaurant-quality meals by adding just four-six ingredients from your fridge or cupboard. The boxes fit through your letterbox, which is handy if you’ve nipped out on your daily walk, and recipes take 15-20 minutes to cook. The recipe cards make things super easy to follow, and you can choose from over 100 recipes when you’re ordering. My faves have got to be the Malay Laksa and Nasi Goreng. You can cancel, pause or change your subscription at any time, online for free.”

    Cons: You don't receive all of your ingredients with SimplyCook, so you will still have to go out to the shop each week for all of the fresh components.

    • Tested by: Sophie Cockett.
    • Star dish: Cuban Prawn Pasta.
    • Cost: £3 for four recipes during your trial, then £9.99 per box with free delivery.
    • Delivery: Nationwide.
    £3 at Simply Cook

  • 7. Best For Stocking Your Freezer: Tastily

    Pros: "I loved Tastily as an easy, healthy ready-meal service. Having them in my fridge and freezer for lunchtimes when I didn't have a chance to cook was a life-saver. The ordering process was super easy: you choose between 4 and 12 meals by Friday, Tastily prepares, cooks and packages the meals fresh with a 7 day shelf-life and your meals are delivered by the following Wednesday. Everything tastes genuinely fresh and healthy - from the butternut squash lasagne to the chicken pad thai. All meals are between 400-500 calories (or 600-700 calories if you upgrade to large), have at least three servings of vegetables and will never include additives, preservatives or refined sugar. Plus, there are vegan and veggie options to boot."

    Cons: Everything is pre-prepared, so if you enjoy cooking, you might want to go for something a little different.

    • Tested by: Sophie Cockett.
    • Star dish: butternut squash lasagne.
    • Cost: from £6 per meal.
    • Delivery: Nationwide. They deliver for free in carbon neutral vans.
    £6 at Tastily

  • 8. Best Meal Delivery For Smaller Portion: Mindful Chef

    Pros: "Healthy? Tick. Quality ingredients sourced from small farms? Tick. Ready for me to put together when I get home (no Tesco’s required)? Tick. Bonus? It actually delivered more. The thing about food delivery is that they give you just the right amount of food meaning there's minimal to no waste. This is a game–changer for me. Consider your dinners, sorted."

    Cons: It's a little more expensive than HelloFresh and Gousto.

    • Tested by: Sophie Cockett.
    • Star dish: Tiger prawn korma.
    • Cost: 1 person - from £7 per portion, 2 person - from £5 per portion, 4 person - from £4.50 per portion. They also offer a Care Box which you can send to your relatives for £34 plus delivery.
    • Delivery: Nationwide.

    Read our full Mindful Chef review.

    £4.50 at Mindful Chef

  • 9. Best For Plant-Based Beginners: Plantly

    Pros: Planty launched in 2019 with an ambition to create a vegan delivery offering that was wrapped around eating better, tastier and being better for the planet. With their commitment to taste they hired Michelin starred chefs to create their delicious dishes and this has led them to being awarded three Great Taste Awards. You can expect to receive restaurant-quality dishes which are packed with fresh, natural ingredients naturally resulting in maximum flavour all arriving in minimal packaging. This is healthy, tasty, vegan food that arrives effortlessly to your doorstep whenever you need what feels like your own personal chef.

    “A great vegan meal delivery service which allows you to choose from 6 to 12 dishes, with up to 12 extras, Planty makes eating plant-based a total breeze. Every meal is frozen for freshness to keep the nutrients in, and rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes. Planty has a huge focus on sustainability, so their packaging is 100% recyclable, compostable or reusable – and delivery is carbon-neutral. You simply heat everything up in the microwave and you're ready to go.”

    Cons: You'd probably not want to eat Planty meals every night of the week, because it's sometimes nice to cook. But they're a great thing to have in the freezer.

    • Tested by: Sophie Cockett.
    • Star dish: Korean Bibimbap.
    • Cost: From £5.65 per dish.
    • Delivery: Planty delivers to any postcode in the mainland UK, except for a few exceptions. If you'd like to know whether Planty delivers to you, contact the team. Choose your plan and delivery day. Get it delivered Tuesday to Saturday with DPD, with free weekday delivery.
    £5.65 at Plantly

  • 10. Best Meal Delivery Service For Families: HelloFresh

    Pros: “The price, options and flexibility of this delivery service make it a winner in my books. It's one of the most accessible services in the country and marries quality with low cost. My fiancé and I travel often and HelloFresh allows us to pick and choose which weeks we actually want food delivered. The recipes are consistently delicious and it’s fun to experiment with new dishes I would never think to cook on my own. And the gluten-free and vegetarian options are ACE. If you're looking to lose weight, there are plenty of options under 650 calories."

    Cons: Nothing to note, other than the recipe cards being printed on paper which can get a little mucky and wet when you're cooking. Card would be better.

    • Tested by: Bianca London and Sophie Cockett.
    • Star dish: Fragrant Chicken Laksa with Red Peppers and Noodles.
    • Cost: from £4.05 for 5 recipes for 2 people. Save with our HelloFresh promo codes.
    • Delivery: All of the UK as well as outside of the country - as far as New Zealand, Canada and Japan, actually.
    • HelloFresh discounts: Save money on your first order with our HelloFresh promo codes.

    Read our full HelloFresh review.

    £4.05 at Hello Fresh

  • 11. Best Vegan Meal Delivery Service: AllPlants

    Pros: “On first appearances, allplants' endless options of creamy carbonara, risotto, and what looks like parmesan-topped bolognese had me double-checking the 'vegan' claim. Then I clicked on the ingredients. Cashew cream, almond parm crum and butternut-squash béchamel, all 100% dairy-free with no added preservatives. The meals arrive frozen, in individual or double-up portions, and after a quick oven/microwave zap, you're tucking into creamy hot pasta, without the guit. Verdict? Let's just say, it's easy to forget you're doing the vegan thing. Well, I do at least."

    Cons: We found that eating frozen meals every night of the week got a little tiring, so we'd recommend alternating between AllPlants and your normal cooking routine.

    • Tested by: Bianca London and Sophie Cockett.
    • Star dish: Sri Lankan Cauli Curry.
    • Cost: From £4.99 per serving.
    • Delivery: Nationwide.

    Check out our full allplants review here.

    £4.99 at AllPlants

  • 12. Best Vietnamese Meal Delivery Service: Phomo

    Pros: “If you're a fan of Vietnamese food, Phomo – a pho delivery kit – is one to get acquainted with. It's so delicious and makes for a really special mid-week dinner. In each kit, you get all the ingredients you need to make a fresh, healthy and colourful bowl of Pho - however spicy you like it. There are vegan options which come with tofu, but you can also choose beef, chicken and king prawn pho. Oh, and the whole thing takes no more than 10 minutes to cook. You just have to heat up the ingredients and broth, and arrange the toppings however you like. I loved the whole process, and the results were delicious."

    Cons: This is more of a one-off, rather than something you'd eat every day.

    • Tested by: Bianca London and Sophie Cockett.
    • Star dish: Chicken pho.
    • Cost: From £19.95 for two people.
    • Delivery: Nationwide. They now offer next day delivery on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays if you order by 10am.
    £19.95 at Phomo

  • 13. Best For Organic Produce: Abel & Cole

    Pros: “They have a delicious and seasonal menu for you to choose from which changes every week. There's so much variety, and all ingredients are, of course, organic. Some of our favourite dishes include the roast butternut squash, spinach and lentil daal and the tangy tempeh and noodle stir fry. Once you've chosen, they deliver direct to your door and collect your recyclable, collectable boxes the following week. Oh, and if you don't fancy a full recipe box, they also offer fruit and veg boxes. Or you can just order the standalone ingredients you're after, from meat and fish to produce for your pantry. It's such a great site."

    Cons: Nothing to note.

    • Cost: From £6 per plate.
    • Delivery: Nationwide.
    £6 at Abel & Cole

  • 14. Best For Amazon Prime Members: Amazon Fresh

    Pros: While this isn't technically a prepared meal delivery service, Amazon Fresh should be on your radar, with a choice of thousands of grocery items every week to help you make healthy meals. You can order meat, fruit, vegetables, seafood, snacks and more – from big brands, artisan producers and local suppliers. You can even get same-day delivery on orders placed before 9pm in most postcodes across the country.

    Cons: This isn't technically a meal delivery service, so if pre-prepared meals are your wish, look elsewhere.

    • Cost: Various, and with free delivery on orders over £40.
    • Delivery: Nationwide.
    Buy Now at Amazon Fresh

  • Best For Busy Professionals: Fresh Fitness Food

    Pros: "The perfect meal delivery service for any fitness foodie. If you struggle with meal prep and find it difficult to eat clean whilst leading a busy-working life, it might be worth giving this a go. The FFF team pride themselves on convenience, nutrition and customer service, ensuring that your food is as personalised and delicious as can be. My favourite meal so far was my Matcha Protein Waffle breakfast! I could definitely NOT make those at home. Every meal is made fresh, using high-quality ingredients and designed by a Michelin star trained menu consultant, and you can sign up to a trial if you're not certain. You can also select a meal plan according to your fitness goals, such as fat loss or muscle building.

    Cons: They are on the expensive side, but this is mainly due to the hyper-personalisation and in-house team of nutritionists available for consultations and to put together the meal plans – so we'll let them off.

    • Tested by: Bianca Dawes.
    • Star dish: Lean & Tasty Beef Teriyaki.
    • Cost: From £26/per day.
    • Delivery: Nationwide.
    £26 at Fresh Fitness Food

  • Are meal kits worth it?

    If you're asking whether meal kits save money, to be honest, probably not. Based on the meal delivery services we tested, recipe kits won't save you money directly. In most cases, they're slightly more expensive than it would be too Google the recipes, order the ingredients and cook them autonomously. However, they will save you time… and your time is worth money, right?

  • What is the cheapest recipe box?

    The cheapest recipe box overall is actually Simply Cook – but that's because you have to provide the fresh ingredients yourself. Simply Cook provides the spices and that is all. If you're looking for everything – from meat and vegetables to cards and dairy produce – to be provided, then the cheapest is Gousto, followed by HelloFresh.

  • Is Gousto or HelloFresh cheaper?

    At the time of writing, Gousto is cheaper than HelloFresh, by about £10. That said, it's worth noting that both recipe box companies have introductory offers running almost constantly. For instance, HelloFresh is offering 60% off your first box as well as free dessert for life right now. Your friends might have referral codes they can share, too.

  • How do I get the most out of a healthy meal delivery service?

    Variety is the spice of life, and the key to a healthy, balanced diet. So, to get the most out of your meal delivery kit, experts recommend choosing different meals each week rather than constantly choosing the same favourites. Use your recipe box as a chance to experiment with plant-based and vegetarian meals if you don't already, and choose meals that feel realistic from a time point of view. E.g.: if you're signing up to a meal delivery box because you're time-poor, don't be ordering recipes that take 50 minutes to prepare.

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