At this point, I have tried so many meal delivery services that I’ve lost count. And if your social media is anything like mine, I am sure your feed is flooded with ads for them.
Whether it’s HelloFresh, EveryPlate, Blue Apron, or any other delivery service, these weekly meal kits are skyrocketing in popularity. It’s easy to see why, though: they do a great job at marketing them as cost-effective, healthy, and convenient.
Have you ever wondered if they are actually worth it? Do they live up to all the hype?
When these types of services started really picking up in popularity some years back, I tried several of these different services out. Many of them were running discounts I just couldn’t ignore. Some of those discounts matched what I was already spending on weekly groceries.
Plus, I was curious. I mean, I cook a lot. I’m certainly no professional chef, but I do enjoy cooking and trying new recipes. And we all have to eat, right?
Well, were any of these meal delivery services worth it? As with everything, there are pros and cons to these meal kits. Whether or not they are worth it depends largely on your personal situation and what you need. It also varies by each service and what they provide, because they aren’t all the same.
So, let’s talk about when it is actually worth it, and when it is not.
Are You Hoping to Pick Up New Cooking Skills?
I watch Food Network like there’s no tomorrow, but it isn’t exactly the best way to learn real-life cooking skills. They make everything look so easy, right? They chop so fast it makes me scared for my own fingertips! Not to mention, they have basically anything they could ever need. Those for-TV pantries are stocked with a plethora of ingredients – some of which none of us regular people keep on a consistent basis.
The truth is, cooking is a skill. And like any other skill, it requires patience and practice – lots of patience and practice for some of us! There’s no amount of Food Network that’s going to turn you into a master chef.
Read More: Genius Kitchen Hacks You Wish You’d Known Sooner
Hands-on practice is really the best way to expand your knowledge in the kitchen. Meal kits come packed with everything a home chef will need to create the recipes — from pre-portioned ingredients and seasonings down to easy-to-follow recipe cards. Some even include step-by-step photos in the instructions (thanks, HelloFresh!).
You’ll need to know the very basics, like how to melt butter or the difference between a dice and a chop. But really, these kits ensure you have everything, and they really set you up for success.
Are You Super Busy and Running Low on Time?
If your schedule is always packed and you need a way to save time, meal delivery services can definitely be worth it. When the box drops on your front porch, it has saved you more time than you might think.
Cooking meals doesn’t just start in the kitchen with the first chop of a vegetable, or when you throw a cutlet into a pan. Coming up with ideas, finding recipes, and planning meals take up plenty of time, and you haven’t even left the house yet. Add to that making a grocery list and then wandering around the store trying to find everything you need, and now you’ve spent a lot of time on making dinner… and you haven’t even started cooking yet.
How much time you need to save can influence which kind of service you choose, to be honest. There are some that send you the recipes and ingredients, but still require you to do all the prep work and cooking. It still requires some of your time, but it will save you the hassle of planning and shopping.
There are others that ship their ingredients already prepared and ready to cook. You need a lot less time for these kits. You obviously won’t need time to plan or shop, and you’ll also barely need any time to prep. This is for anyone who only has time to put a pan on the stovetop. Just pull out the precut ingredients and throw them in that pan!
Of course, then there are other services that ship you pre-made meals that only require you to heat them up and eat! These are usually chef-prepared meals that have already been portioned out, and you just pop them into a microwave. It’s like ordering takeout, but much, much healthier.
Are You Trying to Eat Healthier, But Just Don’t Know Where to Start?
Speaking of pre-made meals being healthier than takeout… Are you stuck in a takeout rut? Takeout is easy because it’s convenient, but a heavy takeout habit can be pretty unhealthy over time. Not to mention, all that takeout isn’t good for your wallet, either. Eating at home instead typically translates to better, more nutritious diets — and for less money.
Delivery kits can be a great way to transition from eating out all the time to eating more meals at home, regardless of if you’re low on time or lacking cooking skills. It still takes the guesswork out of what’s for dinner, but while also bringing you healthier foods than what you might find on a takeout menu.
Those pre-portioned, pre-made meals that only require a trip to the microwave are a great first step to breaking a takeout habit. From there, you can test the waters with other meal kits that will teach you a few kitchen skills. But hey, there’s no shame in starting slow!
What If You Are On a Budget and Trying to Save Money?
Here’s where meal delivery services get dicey. See what I did there?
If you’re working with a strict budget and hoping to save money on your grocery bill, these kits are not for you. All that convenience definitely comes at a price.
Meal kits are definitely cheaper than eating at a restaurant, but they will never beat traditional grocery shopping. They will always still be more expensive than just planning ahead and buying the ingredients yourself.
On top of the ingredients themselves, you’re also paying for the convenience of having someone else create recipes, choose what’s on the menu for the week, and pick out produce. Then you’re paying for someone to pack all those items into a box, and ship it to your door. With each added hand in the process, you’re spending just a little bit more money. These people aren’t working out of the goodness of their hearts.
Now, if you can order boxes with those deep first-time customer discounts, it can sometimes come out to be around the same cost as your regular grocery bill. Unfortunately, the discounts eventually run out and you’re spending more on food than before. That’s when you switch to a new subscription, right?
Have Small Kids or a Large Household?
If you have a larger household, these kits won’t be worth it to you. To be completely honest, one of the biggest complaints I had with every delivery service I tried was that the kits aren’t suitable for more than four people. Some of them that catered to specific dietary restrictions, such as a vegetarian diet, don’t even go over two people.
So, what do you do if your household includes five or six people? What if you need a box of meatless recipes, but you have four people under one roof? Some meal delivery services suggest purchasing double the amount of boxes… ouch.
I ended up having to pick up extra items to add to the meals I was cooking, in order to make the meal large enough for our household. Doesn’t purchasing more ingredients defeat the purpose of the meal delivery service? I was still finding myself heading to the grocery store. It added more cost and used up more of my time.
Oh, and if you have picky kids, forget about it.
While there are a couple of meal delivery services that manage a few kid-friendly recipes — mostly carb-heavy pasta dishes that aren’t going to help you eat super healthy — many of the dishes aren’t kid-approved. I learned from experience. These boxes just end up being more of a hassle than anything else.
I found most of the recipes involve spices, flavors, and veggies that don’t always please young children. At first I figured it would be a great way to introduce new flavors to my kids, but it didn’t really work out that way. I ended up spending a ton of time in the kitchen, just to end up with a bunch of hungry kids.
If you have kids with picky palates, you’ll wind up having to omit some ingredients, especially any spices with an extra kick to them. Or, you wind up making the meal kit, and having to cook a separate dinner for those picky taste buds. There goes all that time you tried to save!
