best meal delivery services

The Best Meal Kit Delivery Services

April 9, 2020 | Lifestyle & Community | By: The Goodhart Group

The Best Meal Kit Delivery Services

The COVID-19 epidemic has changed life in the DMV in so many ways. The entire region is under a stay-at-home order, all but essential businesses are closed, and restaurants can only offer take out and/or delivery meals. Going grocery shopping is a major challenge too, with concerns about spreading the virus, limited stock, and long lines. With everyone at home needing three meals a day, now may be the perfect time to check out a meal delivery service.

Below is our roundup of the best meal delivery services. No matter your budget or diet, you can find a great option!

The Best Meal Delivery Services

Blue Apron

Blue Apron offers chef-developed recipes with step-by-step instructions and uses “responsibly-sourced, quality ingredients.” Plan options range from $7.49 to $9.99 per serving and free shipping, depending on order size and frequency. Customers can order two- or four serving options and either two or three meals per week. Blue Apron has tremendous variety in its offerings, including meat, fish, Beyond Meat™, Weight Watchers-approved, diabetes-friendly, and health-conscious offerings. Add a bottle of wine from a renowned winemaker to your order for just $10 a bottle. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Blue Apron has significantly enhanced its daily cleaning, sanitation, and disinfecting practices.

Hello Fresh

Hello Fresh offers meals for two or four people, delivered two or three times a week (you can easily skip weeks). Meals prices range from $7.49 – $8.99, plus shipping of $7.99. Hello Fresh meals include meat and veggie options, all veggie, low-cal (like its Amazing Apricot Chicken), quick/kid-friendly, and gourmet options. Hello Fresh is taking several extra steps to ensure customer safety during the pandemic. It has increased its sanitation efforts to include hand sanitizer stations and more frequent mandatory handwashing. Its employees now wear facemasks at all times and have a daily temperature check before working.

Dinnerly

Touting itself as the most affordable meal delivery option, Dinnerly’s meals begin at just $4.49 per serving (plus $8.99 shipping). You can order a two-person box or a Family Box, two to four times per week. Dinnerly make is very easy to skip weeks. Dinnerly has great vegetarian options like Creamy Lemon-Garlic Ravioli with Snap Peas and Stir-Fried Peanut Noodles with Blistered Green Beans & Edamame. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dinnerly is reinforcing its sanitation and hygiene procedures and adhering to Good Manufacturing Practices The company has also prohibited all nonessential visitors from entering its fulfillment centers.

Home Chef

Home Chef offers a wide range of meal options, including carb-conscious, calorie-conscious, vegetarian, and slow cooker meals. Home Chef offers the largest number of meals per week (up to 6) and feeds the greatest number of people (up to six). It is very easy for its customers to upgrade, double-up, and add or swap proteins. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Hello Chef is offering discounts for military, first responders, health care workers, and educators. It is sanitizing its facilities more often and encouraging employees to use CDC best practices in and outside of work.

Purple Carrot

Purple Carrot is a 100 percent plant-based meal delivery service with meals with two or four servings. Prices start at $9.99 per serving. Examples of its meals include a Hazelnut Barley Pilaf and Crispy Cauliflower Pakoras. You can order Purple Carrot for two people three or four times a week ($11.99 per serving) or for four people, delivered two or three times per week ($9.99 per serving). Purple Carrot is currently offering 30 percent off orders for COVID-19 frontline healthcare workers through the end of May.

The Bottom Line

If you’ve always wanted to try a meal delivery service, now is the perfect time. If you have a favorite meal delivery service, please let us know so we can check it out too!