In today's fast-paced world, convenience is king, especially when it comes to mealtime. For those living solo, the prospect of cooking elaborate meals for one can often feel daunting and wasteful. Meal delivery services offer a practical solution, providing single individuals with access to a variety of delicious, portion-controlled meals without the hassle of extensive grocery shopping, meal planning, or cleanup. This article explores the landscape of meal delivery services tailored to the needs of single-person households, highlighting some of the best options available and delving into the factors that make them suitable for solo diners.
The Rise of Meal Delivery Services: A Boon for Singles
The meal delivery industry has exploded in recent years, with a plethora of companies vying for a slice of the market. This surge in popularity can be attributed to several factors, including busy lifestyles, a growing interest in healthy eating, and a desire for convenience. For single individuals, meal delivery services offer a particularly compelling proposition.
Dinner-for-one has its perks. You get to eat exactly what you want without worrying about others’ tastes or preferences. After several weeks of trying more than 40 meal delivery services, expert testers narrowed down the options to some of the best meal delivery services for singles.
Types of Meal Delivery Services
Meal delivery services generally fall into two main categories: meal kits and prepared meals.
Meal Kits
Meal kits provide pre-portioned ingredients and recipes, allowing users to cook meals from scratch with minimal effort. These services are ideal for individuals who enjoy cooking but lack the time for extensive meal planning and grocery shopping.
Read also: Guide to Solo Meal Kits
Prepared Meals
Prepared meal services offer fully cooked meals that simply need to be heated and eaten. These are a great option for those who want to minimize time spent in the kitchen.
Factors to Consider When Choosing a Meal Delivery Service for One
When selecting a meal delivery service for a single person, several factors should be taken into account:
- Menu Variety: A diverse menu ensures that you won't get bored with your meal options. Look for services that offer a wide range of cuisines and regularly update their menus.
- Portion Sizes: Services that allow you to order single-serving meals or offer meal kits designed for two people (with the option to save the leftovers) are ideal.
- Dietary Preferences: Many services cater to specific dietary needs, such as vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, keto, or paleo. Choose a service that aligns with your dietary requirements and preferences.
- Price: Meal delivery services vary in price, so it's essential to find one that fits your budget. Consider the cost per serving, delivery fees, and any additional charges.
- Ease of Preparation: If you're short on time, opt for a service that offers quick and easy meal preparation. Prepared meal services are the most convenient option, but some meal kits also offer express options that can be ready in 15 minutes or less.
- Ingredient Quality: Look for services that prioritize high-quality, fresh ingredients. Some companies even source organic or locally sourced produce.
- Flexibility: Choose a service that allows you to easily skip weeks, pause your subscription, or cancel altogether if your needs change.
Top Meal Delivery Services for Single Individuals
Here are some of the top-rated meal delivery services that cater to the needs of single-person households:
CookUnity
CookUnity is the first chef-to-consumer meal marketplace, connecting award-winning chefs with food lovers nationwide. Our chefs craft restaurant-quality meals in local kitchens and deliver them fresh at a price that makes premium dining more accessible. CookUnity partners with award-winning chefs, acclaimed restaurateurs, and your favorite Food Network alums to deliver unmatched culinary artistry in every meal delivered to your doorstep. With over 300 rotating dishes, CookUnity offers an unparalleled variety of cuisines and dietary options, all made with high-quality ingredients. CookUnity earned pretty average scores across the board (3.5 out of 5 overall). The portions were on the small side and one tester found some bones in one of his seafood dishes. There were also several ingredients missing from his orders. You can choose from 4 to 16 meals per week. Each meal starting from $12.59 $6.30.
How CookUnity works:
Read also: Meal replacement guide for women
- Pick your weekly plan: Choose from 4 to 16 meals per week - you can pause, skip, or cancel deliveries at any time.
- Select your meals: Browse our menu and select your meals - new menus drop every week with exciting new offerings added all the time.
- Let chefs work their magic: Every meal is made to order in small batches with the craft and artistry offered only by top-tier chefs.
- Sit back and enjoy: Delivered fresh every week, enjoy chef-crafted meals in minutes with no prep or cleanup.
HelloFresh
HelloFresh doesn’t offer a specific meal kit for one. However, HelloFresh still has the best meal kits for singles since their boxes allow you to cook a little extra and stock up for the week! Cooking a recipe designed for two? Just refrigerate half and eat it another day. Cooking something bigger? Just split by portion and you can eat your favorite meal for lunch and dinner. (And maybe even breakfast!)
Meal plans for one person from HelloFresh bring you a veritable feast of benefits. Their meal kits for one give you everything you need to get creative at dinner time without having to spend hours at your local grocery store. With our pre-prepared ingredients, you’ll spend less time in the kitchen and end up with delicious meals for one that last for days. There’s less food waste since everything inside the box is perfectly portioned. Plus, you’ll get a healthy dose of inspiration each week with our easy-to-cook recipes, making meal planning for one easy!
Each of their meal kits for singles includes easy-to-follow recipes from around the world, convenient box sizes that fit easily into your fridge, and the chance to get truly creative at dinner time. They’re perfect for singles, making meal delivery for one person extra special. Our meal kits for one person include 100+ weekly menu and market items every week that vary from gourmet and vegetarian options to low-calorie meals that taste as delicious as they are healthy.
Meal Kits for One = More Variety. Cooking for one doesn't have to be boring! HelloFresh offers the best meal kits for singles, enabling you to pick from a selection of 100+ weekly menu and market items crafted and curated by our chefs. Choose from vegetarian, pescatarian, Carb Smart, Calorie Smart, and more meal plans for one person.
Hungryroot
Hungryroot offers a unique take on meal delivery, in that you find a recipe you like, and the company will send you all of the ingredients to make it. There are many options for types of food to choose from, and you can even order extra groceries that you might need as well. Hungryroot isn’t really a meal kit delivery service per se-it’s more of a meal kit and online grocery store mashup.
Read also: Low-Carb Meal Ideas
Pros:
- Multiple options for breakfast, lunches, and dinners
- Can also order groceries for one-stop shopping
- Detailed, easy to follow instructions
Cons:
- Some of the meals are very high in sodium
Hungryroot was our best pick overall because the service allows you to easily choose foods that help meet nutrition goals at a price that's affordable enough to be an excellent deal for the value. The brand's most affordable plan starts at just $69 a week. Editorial assistant Sabrina Talbert loved her experience with Hungryroot. Everything from the easy ordering and customization options allowing her to choose protein-forward meals to the detailed instructions and delicious end results exceeded her expectations. “I had marked off that I wanted my meals to be protein-forward and Hungryroot definitely delivered on that by sending me meals that were more focused on veggies, lean meats, and high-protein snacks,” Talbert says. The meals do take time to prep-for Talbert, some meals took as little as eight minutes, while others went up to 25. All in all she found her meals very flavorful and satiating, especially raving about the lemon pepper chicken she was sent.
Purple Carrot
Purple Carrot offers vegan meal kits and prepared meals. There are no specific meal plans, but you can choose from the full menu, which includes breakfasts, lunches, dinners and “plantry” items-add-on products like brownie bites and salad dressing. Most meal delivery services offer plant-based meals, but Purple Carrot is 100% vegan.
Pros:
- Includes meal kits and prepared meals
- Dinners, lunches, and breakfast options
- Can add snacks and other groceries to your order
- 100% vegan menu
Cons:
- Not able to adhere to many diet restrictions or food allergies
Unlike Green Chef (further down on this list), Purple Carrot delivers prepared meals, so there's no need to fuss around with any ingredients. If you're a single person who doesn't have much time or just haven't mastered the art of cooking for one, Purple Carrot is an easy way to explore a vegan lifestyle.While the only actual diet plan offered is vegan, the meals have various nutritional preferences listed, such as <600 calories, soy-free, nut-free, low sodium, gluten-free, high-protein, and high-fiber, so you can choose meals that align with your unique goals.
Home Chef
Home Chef is a meal delivery service that gives you options between meal kits, heat-and-eat meals, and grill-ready selections. It does require a subscription, but you can cancel any time or skip a week if you don’t want a shipment. Home Chef has some of the tastiest meal options, with testers scoring it a 5 out of 5, and the second is it truly does help you pick up cooking skills. Cooking your own meals can also have an impact on your overall health, according to registered dietitian Perry Nix. “Home Chef is a good option for those wanting to learn how to build balanced meals and acquire new cooking skills,” she says.
Pros:
- Multiple meal types are available
- Many diets to choose from
- Easy-to-follow recipes
Cons:
- Meal expiration dates are less than a week
- Uses more plastic than competitors, and recycling is inconvenient
One feature about Home Chef meals is that it offers an option of ordering meals at different stages. "I could order a full meal kit, an oven-ready meal, and a Fast and Fresh meal that just needed to be assembled and cooked through," she explains. "Having the option for multiple types of prep makes it easy when you have several busy days, but enjoy the process of cooking when you have time." The meal types also run the gamut of cuisines, whether you're looking for vegetarian plates like a Hawaiian-Style BBQ Tofu Flatbread or a meat-eater friendly plate like a Pear Chutney Pork Chop. Kunik particularly enjoyed that the oven-ready meals made clean-up easy, since they can be prepped right in their tins. That being said, prepare to spend anywhere between 15 minutes to an hour if you opt for meals that aren't "heat and eat" options. When it comes to portion size, the meals pack just enough for one person, making them truly ideal for single people.
Factor
Factor is a heat-and-eat delivery service that works well for those on specialized diets. Factor is known for its keto-friendly meals and definitely lives up to the hype. The menu changes weekly, and you can see three weeks’ worth in advance to plan your meals. Should your dietary preferences change, Factor also has low-calorie, high-protein, vegan, and vegetarian options. Factor also got high marks for ordering (5 out of 5) and customer service (4 out of 5). She was also very impressed with the portion sizes, especially since most other prepared meals tend to have lighter portions. “This is the only meal service I tried that had ample portions,” she says. “These meals can fill up a triathlete in the middle of a tough training block, so they can fill up just about anyone.
Pros:
- Meals are ready in less than 3 minutes
- Many diet options to choose from
- Most of the packaging is recyclable
Cons:
- Some of the meals are high in sodium
Kunik enjoys the ability to choose between different diet options each week since she likes a mix of meat, seafood, and plant-based meals in her diet. "The portions are perfectly-sized, and a few times, I had to save leftovers to snack on later in the day as the meals really are filling," she says. So far, one of her favorite meals is the Shredded Chicken Taco Bowl With Roasted Corn Salsa.
EveryPlate
EveryPlate offers a student discount, which is 75% off of your first box and 15% off of every box thereafter for a year. The same pricing is available for the “hero discount” (verified medical professionals, first responders, active military, and veterans). If you’re looking for a filling, budget-friendly meal kit and you don’t have too many dietary restrictions or preferences, EveryPlate is a good option. With meals priced at just $5.99 a serving, its the best cheap meal delivery service for busy, budget-minded home cooks and couples without too many dietary restrictions. While EveryPlate doesn’t cater to specific dietary restrictions or preferences, allergen and nutritional information is included with every recipe, so you’ll know exactly what ingredients are in each kit before you set your weekly order. Recipe cards come with each insulated kit, and they’re also available online.
How Our Meal Kits for One Work:
- You decide: Choose from 35 delicious and affordable meals for one and up to 50+ add-ons that change every week.
- We deliver: Pre-portioned ingredients and easy recipe cards - everything you need to cook a delicious dinner for 1 person is shipped to your door.
- You devour: Home-cooked deliciousness is ready in 20-30 minutes. The best part? Since we send two servings per recipe, the second serving becomes a tasty lunch for tomorrow!
Daily Harvest
Daily Harvest offers smoothies, soups, and flatbreads. Each week you can choose between 9+ items, 14+ items, or 24+ items, which makes this an ideal delivery service for single people since you can customize the amount of food you get. They can cut down costs by delivering just the right amount of food or ingredients you need without forcing you to spend money on any extra food that may go bad before you're able to use it. Plus, in our experience living in New York City, we found that most of the services on this list were cheaper per meal than ordering takeout at a fast casual restaurant.
Pros:
- High-quality smoothies at a good price
- Three quantity options to choose from each week
- Volume-based discounts
- Multiple options of smoothies, treats, breakfasts, dinners, flatbreads, and more
Cons:
- Meals are low in protein
- Several meals had a watery texture when warmed up
You should keep in mind that Daily Harvest's portions are definitely a lot smaller than the ones offers by other meal delivery services on this list. The protein content and calories of most options are too small to truly count as a full meal. That being said, if you're a single person looking to eat smaller, more frequent meals, as opposed to a larger meal once or twice a day, or looking for healthy snacks to supplement your diet, Daily Harvest can definitely be a good option for that.
Green Chef
Green Chef is a USDA-certified organic company that prioritizes organic ingredients. Green Chef is a meal kit service, and Nicole says most of her meals took about 30 minutes to prepare, which is the most she’d want to spend on weeknight cooking, so she gave it a 3 out of 5 for ease of preparation. All the recipes come with a minimum of two servings, so a single person could easily just increase their portion size.
Pros:
- Multiple meal types are available
- Many diets to choose from
- Easy-to-follow recipes
Cons:
- Meal expiration dates are less than a week
- Uses more plastic than competitors, and recycling is inconvenient
One feature I love about Green Chef is that to add to their sustainability efforts, they offer seasonal meals and selections," she says. Though the ingredients come pre-portioned, this service does require some cooking. Her favorite meal was the Chicken with Cherry BBQ Sauce. "It had so much flavor and was pretty simple to put together." The awesome part about cooking with Green Chef, though, is that you will have leftovers.
Tempo
Tempo is a prepared meal delivery subscription that serves up fast, feel-good, single-serving meals. Customers receive fresh, chef-designed, ready-to-heat meals crafted to be microwaved in just 2 minutes. We offer 7 different size plans of 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14 or 16+ delicious meals delivered to you each week! 1. We use your preferences to recommend meals we think you’ll enjoy. You can edit or change those meals at any point before our menu closes. 2. From there, our team gets moving to source fresh, quality ingredients and deliver your menu selections right to your door. 3. Your delivery will arrive and you’ll pop your pre-made meals into the refrigerator.
Tempo is a flexible, fully prepared meal delivery service. You can select the day of the week that’s most convenient for you. The time of delivery may vary depending on the delivery partner in your region.
Tips for Making the Most of Meal Delivery Services as a Single Diner
- Plan Ahead: Take the time to browse the menu and select your meals in advance. This will help you avoid impulse decisions and ensure that you have a variety of meals to choose from throughout the week.
- Utilize Leftovers: If you opt for meal kits designed for two people, save the leftovers for lunch the next day or freeze them for future meals.
- Customize Your Orders: Many services allow you to customize your orders by adding extra servings, swapping out ingredients, or adding snacks and other grocery items. Take advantage of these options to tailor your meal delivery to your specific needs and preferences.
- Read Reviews: Before committing to a particular service, read reviews from other single diners to get an idea of their experiences.
- Take Advantage of Introductory Offers: Many meal delivery services offer discounts or free trials to new customers. Take advantage of these offers to try out different services before committing to a subscription.
The Financial Aspect: Affordability and Value
Finding the cheapest meal delivery service isn’t always as straightforward as it should be. Or they might be based on a minimum weekly order that’s far more food than your household would actually consume, and most tack on an additional shipping cost. Also, how do they determine what counts as a portion size? Your six-foot-tall, athletic husband and a company’s consulting dietitian might have very different opinions on that subject. And let us not forget that time is money; if an entrée requires too much prep time, this particular home-cooked meal model might not be worth it for you in the end.
It’s also worth noting that, even if they end up being a bit more than the grocery store, meal kits and prepared meal delivery services will still be cheaper than takeout, even after the introductory offer has expired. They also cater to a variety of dietary needs and restrictions to make meal planning around those factors simpler. Many are very generous with substitutions too.
Cheapest meal delivery services:
- Lowest price per serving: EveryPlate, $5.99/serving
- Best for intermediate cooks: Dinnerly, $7.99/serving
- Best for families: HomeChef, $7.99-$9.99/serving
- Best selection: Hello Fresh, $9.99/serving
- Best for snackers and grazers: Hungryroot, $9-$11/serving
While it’s true that advertised meal kit pricing is often deliberately opaque, it’s still entirely possible to get delicious meals, organic produce, and even kid-friendly snacks at or below grocery store prices. Even some luxe and wellness-focused options are competitively priced.