Are Meal Kits Cheaper Than Groceries in 2024? I Priced Out 6 to See [CNET]

Could popular meal kit services like Blue Apron, HelloFresh and EveryPlate actually save you money? I did the math to find out.

If you’re trying to decide which meal kit service to pick, overall value is likely high on your list — it’s certainly high on ours. I’ve tested all of the meal kit services available, most of them three or four times, and I have my favorites. 

Meal kits are simple, ultra-convenient and produce excellent eats with very little effort. Everyone knows a good meal is made even better when it’s affordable. I’ve put on my math hat to find out which meal delivery service offers the best value in 2024.

To find the real cost of meal kits, I priced out the same groceries you would need to make meal kits from three of my favorite services: HelloFresh, Blue Apron and EveryPlate. I then looked at the cost for the groceries needed to make each serving against what those services are charging you, the customer.

It turns out that not only are meal kits affordable in 2024, but some are actually cheaper than grocery shopping. Thats particularly true depending on the service you enlist. 

Meal kits vs. buying the groceries

	Cost per serving (average plan)	Cost of same ingredients at grocery store
EveryPlate	$6	$5.40
Blue Apron	$10	$9.75
HelloFresh	$10	$6.55

How I did the math

To see how much Blue Apron, HelloFresh and EveryPlate meals cost to make, I priced out the ingredients for two real recipes that are included in a standard subscription. 

When choosing groceries, I used the cheapest version of the same or similar ingredient I could find at Shop-Rite, a budget-friendly grocery store in my area. Because meal kit recipes include only the amount of ingredients needed, I prorated the cost by how much you would actually use for a recipe, not the full price of the bottle, jar, box or bag. 

I chose basic, non-organic items unless it was otherwise specified on the meal kit recipe card or website. 

How I picked the recipes

If you’re looking to meal kits as a value proposition, you’ll have to be smart about which recipes you choose. Steak, chicken and fish tend to be more expensive to cook at home than plant-based meals, so I specifically chose recipes featuring those proteins. (I also recommend you take advantage of them if you’re signing up for a service).

Not all services include steak recipes without a surcharge but HelloFresh and Blue Apron do. Blue Apron typically offers at least one fairly high-end beef cut like sirloin steak with no added charge. 

HelloFresh offers one or two beef recipes per week but it’s usually a cheaper cut like chuck steak. Seafood options are limited with a basic HelloFresh but I found a barramundi recipe on this week’s menu, in addition to the ranch steak with Caesar salad. 

Budget-friendly services including EveryPlate don’t usually offer steak or seafood, which is how they keep consumer prices down. For my EveryPlate analysis I chose a cherry beef meatballand pork chop recipe.

Blue Apron presents the best value

Blue Apron has the most high-end recipes of the three I chose to analyze. I picked a recipe featuring sirloin steak and another with fresh filets of steelhead trout.

When I priced out the groceries to make these meals, they clocked in at $11.26 and $8.23 respectively with an average price of $9.75 per serving. Both meals proved more expensive to buy at the supermarket than the $8 per-serving cost for the largest (cheapest) Blue Apron plan. 

As good as that sounds, Blue Apron’s largest plan is a whopping five meal kits per week with four servings each, and likely practical for most people. If you choose a more reasonably-sized plan — let’s say three meal recipes with four servings each — the price per serving jumps to $9.50. That’s still cheaper than the cost of buying the groceries but only by a little. 

Add the $11 weekly shipping cost and the Blue Apron creeps over the cost of buying the groceries, but only slightly. When you consider the convenience a meal kit provides, it’s hard to argue that Blue Apron is not a good value in 2024.

Blue Apron vs buying the groceries

Trout with feta, couscous and vegetables
Ingredients:	Cost:
Steelhead trout filets, 10 oz	$11.50
Pearl couscous, 1/2 cup	$2
4 oz. grape tomatoes	$1.25
1 red onion	$1.29
Crushed pepper flakes	$0.10
Feta cheese, 1/2 oz	$2
Spice blend, 1 tbs	$0.25
Green beans, 6 oz	$3
Roasted sunflower seeds, 2 tbs	$0.50
Pitted niçoise olives, 1 oz	$0.64
Total:	$22.53
Per serving:	$11.26
Mexican steak with green beans and sweet potatoes
Ingredients:	Cost:
2 sirloin steaks, 11 oz	$7
Guajillo chile pepper sauce, 1/3 cup	$1
Lime, 1	$0.50
Raw pepitas, 2 tbs	$0.59
Cotija cheese, 2 tbs	$0.60
Sweet potatoes, 1 lb	$3
Green beans, 6 oz	$3
Smoky spice, 1 tbs	$0.25
Garlic, 2 clove	$0.20
Worcestershire sauce, 2 tbs	$0.46
Total cost:	$16.55
Per serving:	$8.23

HelloFresh was the worst value of the three

HelloFresh might be the most popular meal kit service but it was also the worst value of the three. I chose a barramundi recipe and chuck steak meal kit to compare with local grocery prices. 

By my calculations, HelloFresh meal kits would cost just $6.55 per serving to buy the groceries and make the meals yourself. That’s about $3.50 cheaper than HelloFresh’s cheapest meal plan of $10 per serving, and that’s all before factoring in your weekly delivery cost of $11. If you were to spread that shipping fee out across two or three meal kits, the actual per-serving cost is more like $11 or $12. 

HelloFresh may have one of the largest weekly menu of meal kits and user-friendly ordering interface, but as it turns out, the popular service doesn’t offer as good of a value as some other meal kit companies in 2024. 

HelloFresh vs buying the groceries

Barramundi with lemony carrots & couscous
Ingredient:	Cost:
Barramundi, 10 oz	$7.56
Carrots, 12 oz	$1.50
Lemon, 1	$0.57
Cumin, 1 tsp	$0.23
Israeli Couscous, 2.5 oz	$0.75
Cilantro, ¼ oz	$1
Garlic, 2 cloves	$0.20
Chili flakes, 1 tsp	$0.23
Veggie stock concentrate, 1 packet	$1
Total:	$13.04
Per serving:	$6.52
Balsamic-glazed steak tagliata
Ingredient:	Cost:
Potatoes, 12 oz	$1.50
Lemon, 1	$0.57
Italian seasoning, 1 tbs	$0.50
Garlic powder, 1 tps	$0.23
Ranch steak, 10 oz	$6
Mixed greens, 2 oz	$0.70
Caesar dressing, 1.5 oz	$0.45
Croutons, 2 oz	$1.00
Parmesan cheese, 3 tbs	$1.50
Balsamic glaze, 5 tsp	$0.80
Total:	$13.17
Per serving:	$6.59

EveryPlate is a good deal, about the same as buying groceries

EveryPlate’s two meal kits cost $4.98 and $5.82 when purchased a la carte at the grocery store, which averages out to $5.40. That’s just $0.60 less than the per-serving price of EveryPlate’s meal kits which cost $6 per serving no matter which plan you choose.

Add the $10 shipping cost per box and the meal kit cost creeps up a bit but it’s still around the same price as buying all the groceries yourself.

EveryPlate’s meal kit menus don’t feature much in the way of steak or seafood so you can expect more budget-friendly proteins such as chicken, ground beef and pork chops. EveryPlate meals are also easy to make and satisfying, making it our top pick best cheap meal kit service in 2024.

EveryPlate vs buying the groceries

Cherry meatballs with zucchini and garlic mashed potatoes
Ingredients:	Cost:
Potatoes, 12 oz	$1.50
White bread, 2 slices	$0.50
Zucchini, 1	$2
Ground beef, 8 oz	$3.50
Cherry jam, 1 oz	$0.85
Garlic powder	$0.10
Sour cream, 4 oz	$1
Soy sauce, 1 oz	$0.50
Total	$9.95
Per serving	$4.98
Smothered pork chops with potatoes and carrots
Ingredients:	Cost:
Carrots, 12 oz	$1.50
Potatoes, 12 oz	$1.50
Yellow onion, 1	$1
Scallions, 2	$0.50
Boneless pork chops, 10 oz	$4.93
Chicken stock concentrate	$1
Cayenne pepper	$0.25
Sour cream, 4 oz	$1
Total	$11.63
Per serving	$5.82

To get the most out of your meal delivery, see my guide to hacking a meal delivery subscription in 2024.