I’m not a vegetarian, but every time I’ve tried Dinnerly, my kids have enjoyed not only eating, but helping to prepare the family-friendly meal kits. And for what it’s worth, many of the meat-heavy recipes also allow you to substitute the animal protein with Impossible Foods’ plant-based proteins.
In addition to the meal kits, you can also order from Dinnerly’s impressive add-on market for extras like Roberta’s pizza, heat-and-eat breakfast items, microwavable vegetarian meals, produce, plant-based proteins, sides, desserts, and some kid-friendly snacks.
The best organic meal kits for families: Green Chef
If your goal is getting organic family meals on the table, and you don’t mind spending some time on prep, Green Chef is a high-end meal delivery service that prioritizes sustainability.
According to its website, Green Chef is the first CCOF (California Certified Organic) meal kit company and the service offers a variety of meal types with organic as well as locally- and sustainably-sourced ingredients. Green Chef also caters to a variety of special diets, including keto, gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, Mediterranean, low-calorie, and high-protein. When you sign up, you can also set your preference to “healthy meal kits for families.”
In our testing, we found that these meals do take a little more work and time—and produce more dirty dishes—than comparable kits, but Green Chef does offer a selection of quick-and-easy recipes every week too.
The best meal service for snacks and super-quick prep: Hungryroot
There are few things I dislike more than grocery shopping with my two young kids—which is one of the many reasons I love Hungryroot.
More of a grocery delivery service store than a traditional meal kit service, Hungryroot offers a large selection of high-quality ingredients (often semi-or fully-cooked) and packaged groceries that can be thrown together for super-quick, satisfying dinners for two or four people. It’s not uncommon to cook and then start to eat meals within 10 or 15 minutes—which is cheaper, faster, and seemingly healthier than takeout, and far less stressful than taking small kids to the grocery store. For example, this kid-friendly chicken quesadilla recipe uses pre-cooked, seasoned chicken and takes just 10 minutes start to finish. When I don’t want to think about dinner, I can go by the recipe card, and if I’m feeling creative, I can use the ingredients to make something else.
In addition to the ingredients intended for meals, you can also get most of your other groceries from Hungryroot, including meat, fish, eggs, dairy, poultry, pantry staples and snacks—so many great snacks! There’s a pretty lengthy survey at signup to help the system learn your preferences, and Hungryroot has an impressive number of filters for cuisines and dietary restrictions, including pescatarian, high-protein, carb conscious, dairy-free, tree nut-free, and even diabetes friendly. And if you or your kids hate something, you can add it to your “never send” list.
The best meal delivery service for babies and toddlers: LittleSpoon
There seems to be a meal service for nearly every diet and wellness trend (paleo, keto, smoothies, grain bowls, etc.). And if you simply want to outsource wholesome food for your small children and want to do absolutely no meal prep, there’s a service for that too! Yes, Little Spoon is a fully-prepared meal delivery service exclusively for babies and toddlers.
With guidance from registered dietitians, pediatric nutritionists, and other feeding experts, Little Spoon offers snacks and nutritious meals for kids of all ages, starting with organic purees, baby cereal, and puffs for the earliest solids stage. As your littles get bigger, you can introduce new flavors and textures through healthy meals like kid-friendly smoothies (in a pouch, of course!) and three-course finger-food dinners made with whole, organic ingredients. There are even premade meals for bigger kids; think Lunchables, but made with premium organic ingredients.
Like meal kits for adults, you can personalize your kids-only subscription to fit your family’s dietary preferences and you can filter different meal options based on common kid allergens like tree nuts, shellfish, and gluten. Little Spoon also makes it easy to pause or skip your subscription and to adjust the quantity and frequency as needed.
