Best meal kit delivery service for 2021 – CNET [CNET]

The best meal kit service is the one that works best for you — and with so many players occupying various lanes on the meal kit highway, it takes some poking around to find the perfect fit. The good news is that CNET’s been poking around for you — by which I mean, testing out all the leading options — to help you find the best meal service in 2021. 

Even if it’s just for a couple of meals each week, a meal kit service can take something off your plate (pun intended), keep you on track with healthy eating goals, and save you money when purchased instead of takeout. And if you’re craving new culinary experiences, a meal kit delivery service can help you expand your food horizons. 

if you’re new to cooking and it feels daunting to start from scratch on a complex recipe, meal kits will take most of the guesswork out of meal preparation, setting you up to knock out a perfect chicken Milanese, meatloaf or mahi-mahi. And with meal kits, it’s easy to keep track of what you’re eating, since in-depth nutritional information — including calories, sugar content, carbs and protein — is always provided. Many meal kit services even offer specific diet plans that filter out any foods that don’t fit in, like gluten-free, diabetes-friendly, keto or carb-conscious, paleo diet and more. 

Even for the pickiest eater, there’s something about a box arriving with all the fresh ingredients to make a relatively easy and healthy recipe. A meal kit delivery service can also help you avoid that nightly debate about what you’re going to actually make for dinner and save a trip to the grocery store if you’re missing breadcrumbs or flour. Instead, you have a foolproof meal plan with pre-portioned ingredients — whatever meal comes in the box is the meal you make (and the meal selection is extensive). For us indecisive folks, this is an incredible perk.

Read more: Don’t feel like cooking? Check out the best prepared meal delivery for 2021

But with seemingly endless options, how do you find the best meal kit service for your situation? Bright and colorful meal delivery boxes from the likes of Freshly, Home Chef, Sakara Life, Purple Carrot and Gobble are now a staple delivery for busy home cooks — just take a peek at some of your neighbor’s doorstep — but each has its own set of unique features along with strengths and weaknesses, often based on the audience they’re looking to target. While different boxes may offer a meal plan that falls into its own niche (such as vegan, paleo or gluten-free), each box from a meal delivery company sources from chefs, culinary teams, nutritionists and grocery experts and then delivers them into the kitchens and hands of home cooks everywhere with weekly menus and delicious, premeasured ingredients.

The variety of meal delivery program options available today is staggering, including everything from fully prepared meals to gluten-free, healthy meals to organic meals, vegetarian plant-based meals and more, all available and ready to ship within just a few days. Companies such as Sun Basket, Martha & Marley Spoon Snap Kitchen, Daily Harvest and Purple Carrot come with a variety of healthy and niche meal selection customizations. That means even people with special diets — like vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, paleo, pescatarian, keto, low-carb, vegetarian, plant-based and more — can find something just for them. There are even boxes that focus on organic ingredients, humanely raised meats and sustainable seafood. Some services even offer oat bowls and smoothies, so you’re never far away from a delicious meal. 

You’ll also often find promotional offers for new customers and convenient features like being able to skip weeks and cancel anytime. With limited or no commitment, if you’re a calendar master and an account-management ninja, you can dabble in any or all of these meal delivery services and choose, week-by-week, which best suits your circumstances and what meal options you already have in your fridge.

So! It’s time to find the best meal kit delivery service for your needs, tastes, diet preferences and health goals, regardless of whether you’re vegan, on a keto diet or just a picky eater and looking for a healthy meal. And yes, we’ve tested every meal kit service on this list and update it periodically.

Read more: The best seafood delivery services in 2021

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