Many people have their real job, which keeps them busy most of the week, but a lot of us have an unofficial part-time job as well: figuring out what’s for dinner every night. When you’re tired after a busy day of work, meal planning can feel like a lot. That’s why we love food subscription boxes. They make meal planning easy and automatic, and did we mention that we think the food tastes way better than takeout?
To help make dinnertime easier for everyone (though these are great for breakfast and lunch, too), we tested five popular options to find the best food subscription box for you.
Best Food Subscription Boxes of 2026
- Best Food Subscription Box: Home Chef
- Best Gluten-Free Food Subscription Box: Factor
- Best Food Subscription Box for Families: HelloFresh
- Best Vegan Food Subscription Box: Green Chef
- Best Value Food Subscription Box: Hungryroot
Best Food Subscription Boxes Comparison Table
Best Food Subscription Box: Home Chef
Home Chef
Price
Meals starts at $7.99 per serving, and plans start at around $50, plus shippingFood Type
Choose from meal kits, express meal kits, oven-ready, fast u0026 fresh, and heat u0026 eatDietary Restriction Options
Protein-Packed, Gluten-Smart, Fiber-Rich, Carb-Conscious, Calorie-Conscious, Pescatarian, Vegetarian, and Mediterranean
Our tested raved about the restaurant quality meal and ability to swap ingredients.
Our Thoughts on Home Chef
Home Chef is a meal delivery service that sends pre-portioned ingredients in an insulated box, and you use the included recipes to make your meal. You choose the recipes, of course, and the company offers six different recipe categories to choose from. Home Chef also features a different menu each week to ensure variety.
Our tester, Kayla, found the service “super easy to use.” She noted that you can change the cadence of how often you receive meals—including biweekly, weekly, and monthly options. She explained, “You can customize your meals and swap out protein types and different ingredients,” adding that it’s easy to skip deliveries if necessary. She gave positive remarks for how easy it was to navigate the website, saying ,“The UX is great.” Kayla rated it a 5 out of 5 for the overall ordering experience.
When it came time to actually cook the meals, Kayla was impressed. She ordered ingredients to make Home Chef’s truffle cream tortellini, and said, “This was so good! It was something I would 100% eat and make again. It really tastes like restaurant quality, and I was super impressed.” She noted that she received a booklet with instructions, and that the instructions help you with time management. Cooking time was speedy, too. Kayla said, “It took just above 20 minutes because everything was pre-portioned and I didn’t have to do much prep work other than cutting chives and mushrooms.”
Portion size was OK. Kayla noted, “It could be bigger for two people. I think it’s perfect for one person to have some leftovers, but I don’t think two people would be satisfied and full even though it is meant for two people.” She rated the service a 4 out of 5 for portion sizes.
The ingredients Kayle received appeared to be “pretty fresh,” and she said, “There is nothing really outstanding about them but there is nothing bad.” She gave a 4 out of 5 for ingredient quality.
Overall, Kayla was a big fan of Home Chef, saying, “You have so many different options to pick from week to week. They also have menus weeks in advance so you can look down the line of what you are going to order.” She also appreciated that you can customize the meal kits more than some of the other ones she’d tried. Delivery was also “super smooth” and packaging should be recyclable.
Best Gluten-Free Food Subscription Box: Factor
Factor
Price
Price per meal for 8 or 10 weekly meals (the company’s most popular options) is $12.99Food Type
Ready-to-eat, freshly prepared (not frozen) mealsDietary Restriction Options
Keto, Vegan u0026 Veggie, Protein+, Chef’s Choice, GLP-1 Balance, Fiber Filled, and Calorie Smart—and many meals are gluten-free
We loved the variety and high-quality heat-and-eat meals.
Our Thoughts on Factor
Factor isn’t a traditional meal kit service. Instead of receiving recipes or ingredients to cook, Factor delivers ready-to-eat meals to your home, so you just heat them up prior to eating. The company emphasizes that many of its meals are gluten-free, nutritious, prepared by chefs, and fresh—never frozen. The meals arrive in an insulated, recyclable box as well.
Our tester, Taylor, tried Factor and reported back. Taylor said the price per meal, for 8 or 10 meals weekly—Factor’s two most popular options—is $12.99 as of this writing. But when signing up, Taylor disliked having to give payment information before being able to select meals.
Taylor said, “You can see the menu on the first page, but I wanted to be able to see the individual pricing before making a commitment. Sometimes with meal delivery they will lock you into a price but then up-charge you for meals like steak and I think it be more helpful and transparent to see that pricing before paying.” Our tester did note it was easy to cancel, skip, and navigate the Factor website, however, giving them a 4 out of 5 for the overall ordering experience.
When the food arrived, Taylor was pleased with both the delivery and food quality. He said, “The box came promptly and was packed properly. There was ample ice to ensure my meals were cool.” As for the food itself, Taylor said, “I thought the meals were flavorful for a prepared meal. The food was well seasoned and not soupy or watery like I have experienced with some other meal delivery options.” Preparation was very easy as well, with Taylor reporting, “The meal had very detailed instructions to heat up the food. They did a great job of providing extra details like to put the meat on the outer portion of the wheel in the microwave so it gets more heat.” Taylor awarded Factor a 5 out of 5 for the preparation process and directions.
Portion sizes could have been bigger, though. Taylor said, “The portion size was decent, however I feel like it was for a smaller person, not for someone that is 210 pounds. The meals ranged in calories, but most were in the 400-600 range which I think is good for lunches but not sustainable for dinners.” Taylor gave a 3 out of 5 for portion sizes.
Taylor had a great overall experience, reporting, “Sometimes with meal delivery I feel like I’m eating the same thing over and over again, but not with Factor.”
Best Food Subscription Box for Families: HelloFresh
HelloFresh
Price
Price per serving ranges from $8.99 to $12.49Food Type
Meal kit—includes recipes with ingredientsDietary Restriction Options
Meat u0026 Veggies, Veggie, Fit u0026 Wholesome, Quick u0026 Easy, Family Friendly, and Pescatarian
Our testers especially like the range of proteins available.
Our Thoughts on HelloFresh
HelloFresh is a meal kit delivery service that works the way most meal kit services do: You choose meals, and the company sends pre-measured ingredients and recipes to your home so you can make easy, home-cooked meals.
Gwen, our tester, found the HelloFresh website “incredibly easy to use and navigate.” She said the pages were well designed, and she also appreciated that she could edit her box up until a certain cutoff time. Gwen said HelloFresh offers new meals every week, and they have a lot of variety. She said, “I was especially impressed by the protein variety they offered. I feel like I would never get bored if I ordered HelloFresh each week.” Additionally, she noted that HelloFresh offers a lot of customization options for different allergies and dietary restrictions. She gave HelloFresh a 5 out of 5 for ordering experience.
Delivery was smooth. Gwen said you can schedule the delivery day, and she said the package arrived “with huge ice packs in the box to keep the fresh ingredients cold.” Even though her box was delivered in the morning and she couldn’t get it until evening, Gwen noted, “The ice had barely melted at all.” She also appreciated that most of the packaging was made of paper and easy to recycle, with few plastic components.
Gwen made a couple of meals and said, “The flavor was really impressive. Both tasted like something I would order at a takeout spot. It also tasted pretty fresh.” She did have to do some prep work—including breading chicken, plus baking and frying things—which used a lot of dishes, so she wouldn’t recommend this for people without dishwashers. But overall, she said, “The steps weren’t too complicated. The instructions are very easy to follow but it did take more than 20 minutes to prepare the meals.” She rated the preparation process and directions a 2 out of 5.
As for portion sizes, Gwen said, “Both my partner and I are athletes, so the portions were a little small.” She said they cooked two different meals, two servings per meal, and ate them both. “If we had split a two-serving meal, we definitely would have been hungry.” She gave a 3 out of 5 for portion sizes.
She was impressed by the ingredient quality and packaging, however. Gwen explained, “All of the ingredients, including the meat, were fresh. I really enjoyed this aspect because I can physically see the quality of all the ingredients and they were really top notch.” She awarded HelloFresh a 5 out of 5 for ingredients that looked and tasted great.
Best Vegan Food Subscription Box: Green Chef
Green Chef
Price
Price per serving ranges from $11.99 to $13.99Food Type
Meal kit—includes recipes with ingredientsDietary Restriction Options
Mediterranean, Plant Based, Gluten Free, High Protein, Calorie Smart, Carb Smart, Functional Nutrition, and Quick u0026 Easy
Our tested liked both the food itself and the company’s emphasis on sustainability.
Our Thoughts on Green Chef
Green Chef is a meal kit delivery service that offers many certified organic ingredients. The company uses high-quality ingredients including proteins and produce, and even sustainably sourced seafood.
Our tester, Kate, tried Green Chef. When she signed up and went to schedule her first delivery, she noted, “It was super easy to order online. It had over 40 different meals I could pick for the week, and I could specify by the type of food I wanted so it could be low calorie, gluten free, Mediterranean, fiber smart, low sugar, etc.” She said the site was easy to navigate and rated it a 5 out of 5 for the ordering experience.
Once the food arrived, Kate continued to be impressed. She shared the food with two other people and noted, “We had the shrimp scampi, and it was honestly so good. I would eat this again in a heartbeat.” It wasn’t too hard, but it definitely took longer than the 35 minutes it said it would.” On the upside, the instructions were very simple. She gave it a 3 out of 5 for the preparation process and directions.
As with some of the other food subscription boxes in our lineup, portion sizes were on the smaller side. Kate explained, “I don’t think this was great for more than one person. I think if a couple was really trying to cut down on their food intake this would be a better choice, if not I’d say this is for singles.” She gave the portion sizes a 3 out of 5.
The quality of the food was really outstanding, though. Kate said, “Everything tasted so good and fresh. It didn’t taste like it came pre-packaged and the presentation of the food was really good as well. They had great quality ingredients for the meal we made.” She also mentioned the excellent packaging that stayed cool for nearly 18 hours, and the company’s “rockstar” sustainability efforts. The whole experience left Kate “very impressed,” and because of the company’s emphasis on high-quality, organic ingredients we think this would be ideal for people focused on vegan meals where you’d expect vegetables to take center stage.
Best Value Food Subscription Box: Hungryroot
Hungryroot
Price
Prices ranged from $9 to $12 per mealFood Type
Personalized grocery delivery—choose your groceries and peruse the company’s shoppable recipesDietary Restriction Options
The company can suggest ingredients and meals that match your dietary preferences.
We liked the meals, and the recyclable packaging they came in.
Our Thoughts on Hungryroot
Hungryroot is a meal-planning and grocery delivery service that allows you to choose recipes and automatically add those ingredients to your cart. However, you can easily add or remove ingredients as desired, plus do additional grocery shopping.
Meredith, our tester, ordered from Hungryroot and shared her experience. Her initial impression was that the website was “very easy to navigate.” Meredith explained, “You can simply get started by selecting your plan and giving them any restrictions you may have.” She rated the ordering process a 4 out of 5.
After placing her order and receiving her shipment, Meredith said, “The box was very well packaged and sufficiently cold to keep the food inside fresh. All ingredients appear to be fresh and in good condition.” She added that all the packaging is recyclable.
Meredith said that overall, “It took me about 15 to 20 minutes to prepare” the meal using the Hungryroot recipe. She gave a 3 out of 5 for preparation process and directions.
Meredith said the recipes she tried were delicious and filling, and that “the recipe provided plenty of food for two adults.” She reported being pleasantly surprised by how much food she ended up with, noting the meals were perfectly portioned. Meredith awarded Hungryroot a 5 out of 5 for portion sizes.
Another positive? Meredith said, “Most of the ingredients provided were labeled as organic and all packaging is recyclable.”
Other Food Subscription Boxes We Tested
We tested a lot of food subscription boxes but only included our favorites in the final ranking. Here are a few others we tried, and why they didn’t make the final cut.
- CookUnity had some tasty meals, but options sometimes felt repetitive, the steak was usually underwhelming, and the price was higher than other subscription boxes.
- Trifecta was another fairly pricey subscription box, and we found the ordering process confusing.
How We Tested and Selected the Best Food Subscription Boxes
When searching for the best food subscription box, we focused on several key factors that we deemed most important. They include:
Customization
We looked at whether each food subscription box service offered a broad variety of products, including fresh and frozen goods.
Ingredient Quality
Quality was of the utmost importance when analyzing food subscription boxes. We looked for options that deliver fresh, tasty produce.
Ease of Delivery
We prioritized subscription boxes that made it easy to schedule deliveries at convenient times, and also had cool, well-packaged contents.
Ordering Process
Some sites were easier to navigate than others; we wanted an ordering experience that was streamlined, efficient, and not overwhelming.
Value
We got a lot of great feedback from our testers, but here are the things we found most important. Note: We also found meal types very important—we wanted to make sure people with certain food preferences or restrictions could use these services as well. But we found that all the companies in our lineup offered tons of variety, so we didn’t feel the need to include it in the chart below.
How to Find the Best Food Subscription Box for You
We identified the best food subscription boxes for most people, but everyone’s needs are different. Make sure to consider your own personal priorities; is it organic food? Gluten-free meals? Tons of variety to stave off boredom? Determining what matters most to you will help you choose the best food subscription box for your lifestyle.
Dietary Variety
Consider the typical range of foods you eat and make sure you choose a food subscription box that includes a similar kind of variety. Though one of the great things about these subscriptions is that they can introduce you to entirely new ingredients and meals. So, if you’re looking to become a more adventurous eater, take that into account, too.
Fresh Produce
If you ask us, fresh produce is non-negotiable—that’s if you’re opting for meal kits with recipes you cook yourself. But super-busy folks may prefer heat-and-eat meals—meaning fresh produce might be less of a priority. Figure out which you prefer and choose a box accordingly.
Cost
While these boxes can feel like a luxury—they make meal planning, cooking, and cleanup so much easier—we don’t want them to have a luxury price tag. Make sure you choose a food subscription boxes that suit your budget.
Useability
A food subscription box should fit seamlessly into your lifestyle—you shouldn’t have to alter your lifestyle just to accommodate box delivery or cooking plans. Make sure the delivery options suit your schedule, both in terms of frequency and time of day. Also, make sure you can pause or cancel boxes if necessary.
Benefits of Food Subscription Boxes
Food subscription boxes may feel like a fun “nice to have,” but they actually offer some distinct benefits. While there are many reasons we recommend them, here are a few of the most important advantages they offer:
- Easy meal planning: Food subscription boxes eliminate the, “What are we doing for dinner tonight?” When you sign up for one of these services, you’re making mealtime so much easier.
- Convenience: We’re not sure it gets much more convenient than having someone give you amazing recipes to choose from, then deliver pre-portioned ingredients right to your door—unless you choose one of the services that actually cooks the meal for you.
- Gifting: Food subscription boxes actually make great gifts. Whether you’re shopping for a foodie friend or someone who’s underwater at work lately, food subscription boxes are usually fun to make, delicious to eat, and much easier than standard meal planning.
Frequently asked questions
What is a food subscription box?
Food subscription boxes are exactly what they sound like: a recurring delivery of food! You choose the types of meals you want—recipes with ingredients you cook yourself, or fully cooked meals—and pick meal options that sound appealing. You can usually tailor delivery cadence to your own unique needs, and many services offer a variety of meal types like keto-friendly, gluten-free, and so on.
What is the best tasting food subscription box?
This will come down to personal preference, but all the food subscription boxes we tested made our final lineup in part because of the delicious meals. Our testers were routinely amazed at the meal quality, with some saying what they cooked seemed like restaurant-quality food.
What’s the best subscription box for singles?
All of these options are suitable for singles. Just make sure to look at the number of servings and plan accordingly, including making sure to properly store any leftovers.
