About Green Chef: Green Chef is the first CCOF-certified organic meal kit delivery service, which means they’re committed to sourcing organic fresh produce and eggs, as well as providing organic beef, chicken, and wild-caught seafood as an option. While the company acknowledges that they reserve the right to replace a given ingredient with a high-quality conventional option if the organic option doesn’t meet its quality standards, this is not a common occurrence, according to our tests.
What we loved: Senior SEO editor Joe Sevier praised Green Chef for its generally tasty meals, writing, “This was the best packaged kit I’ve ever reviewed.” Senior service editor Kelsey Jane Youngman appreciated the ease of cooking thanks to premade sauces, stocks, herb blends, and precut vegetables. “I am confident that a beginner cook could easily follow the instructions and make a delicious meal,” she writes.
Green Chef also offers a free one-on-one nutrition coaching session with your first box. While neither of our testers took advantage of this, it’s a great option to have for people with specific health goals.
What we’d leave: The recipe offerings tended to be pretty formulaic, consisting of a protein, a veggie, and a carb or a starch. Youngman felt a few of the recipes didn’t quite work, like a Spiced Salmon with Mango Salsa, in which the ratio of purple sweet potatoes to black beans and bell peppers felt off. Sevier also noted that the prep for his Coconut Curry Glazed Cauliflower dish “was a little all over the place,” and thought that the use of multiple pans and both the oven and the stove could’ve been better streamlined.
Read our full review of Green Chef here.
Best healthy meal delivery service for salad lovers: Gardencup
Pros:
- Fresh ingredients
- Meat options come with generous amounts of protein
- Super convenient for on-the-go lunches
Cons:
- Vegetarian/vegan salads don’t feel as substantial
- Hard to mix thoroughly without transferring to a bowl
Tester: Wilder Davies, commerce writer
About Gardencup: Gardencup specializes in salads and bowls packaged in plastic jars (or cups, as the brand name suggests). Their offerings are nostalgic (think Caesar, Cobb, Southwest chicken, and wedge salads), travel-friendly, and ultra convenient—just open the jar, add your dressing, shake, and eat (or transfer to a bowl if you prefer).
What we loved: Commerce writer Wilder Davies appreciated that the salads didn’t skimp on the meat. The salads he tried averaged around 30 grams of protein, “which left me feeling full by the time I finished eating,” he writes. For even more protein, the brand’s Powercups—with a grain or noodle base—range from 30 to 46 grams per serving.
While many pre-made salads wilt quickly in the fridge, Davies found his Gardencups stayed relatively fresh through day five. Crunchy toppings are packaged separately, so there’s no need to worry about sogginess.
What we’d leave: Davies notes that the vegetarian offerings didn’t feel as substantial to him, so those who don’t eat meat may want to look elsewhere. He also found that the cups were often so full, it was difficult to fully mix the salad with the dressing by shaking alone.
Read our full review of Gardencup here.
How we tested these meal delivery services
We continually test and retest meal delivery services throughout the year to ensure we’re getting multiple perspectives on each brand, and that we’re always keeping up to date with the latest quality levels and menu offerings. Each time we test, we try to subscribe to multiple weeks of the service to get a true sense for how well it integrates into our lives, and how sustainable it is to eat for an extended period of time. We evaluate food delivery services based on the following criteria:
How does the kit fare in an unboxing test?
We take note of how each delivery is packed, making sure everything arrives adequately cold and that ingredients are packaged securely. We also pay attention to how the ingredients are divided up: Are they separated by recipe, or all thrown together in a single bag? We appreciated when the ingredients were packed according to their corresponding recipes, as this made it easier to grab them all in one go when it came time to cook.
We cook each meal according to the provided instructions, and evaluate whether those instructions are clear and accurate.
This is arguably the most important metric! We taste every meal and take notes on the seasoning, how well proteins and veggies are cooked, and how well the components work together.
How balanced are the meals?
For this healthy meal delivery services review in particular, we paid close attention to how balanced each meal was. We wanted to see an adequate amount of vegetables, sufficient grams of protein, and a mix of protein, carbs, and fats that kept us full and made us feel good.
Who is this meal kit right for?
Different meal kits are designed to meet different needs, so while we assess them compared to each other, we also keep in mind whether they’re serving the particular user they’re targeted for. A meal kit designed to be ultra fast and family-friendly should include kid-friendly options and speedy cook times, while a meal kit designed to introduce you to new flavors and techniques should have a menu that reflects that.
We also note the degree to which each meal kit caters to different dietary needs and preferences. Whether you’re pescatarian or carb-conscious, it’s helpful to have clear labeling and filters when you go to select your meals.
How does the price compare to grocery store prices, takeout, and the cost of other meal kits?
Meal kits are, on average, going to be pricier than getting groceries yourself. That’s because you’re paying a premium for the convenience they afford—not only do they save you a trip to the store, but they also spare you the hassle of meal planning and meal prepping. But when testing, we consider the price of each meal kit and whether it feels merited based on the quality of the service.
What to look for in a healthy meal delivery service
The word “healthy” can mean a lot of things, so we spoke with registered dietitian-nutritionist Lauren Manaker, MS, RDN, LD, CLEC, about what to look out for when selecting a meal delivery service.
