6. Home Chef

Home Chef is a well-priced service with easy-to-follow recipes and fresh ingredients. The variety of meals to choose from is by far the best, as every week includes a wide and varied selection of ten dinner dishes, plus a breakfast option, smoothie option, and even a fruit basket. What’s more, the website where you select meals includes clear labels on each meal including allergens and restricted diet indicators before you even click through to the recipes. My favorite part? Each recipe card includes suggested wine and beer pairings in addition to cooking tips, so you can become a sommelier as you practice your chef skills.

Pricing

Each meal is $9.95 per serving for two or more meals each serving two people. Occasionally, Home Chef also offers premium dinner dishes at market price. Shipping is free for orders over $45, or $10 for orders under $45.

Meal Options

Each week’s menu includes ten dinner choices (you choose any number you’d like to receive). There are always two chicken, one beef, one pork, one seafood, three vegetarian, and two additional meat or seafood dishes. A fruit basket, a smoothie, and a breakfast recipe are available as add-ons.

Sample Menu Choices

-Seared Flat Iron Steak with Garlic-Chive Butter with buttermilk biscuits and pecorino zucchini

-Apple-Glazed Pork Tenderloin with BBQ-rubbed cauliflower, caramelized shallots, and green beans

-Feta and Herb Crusted Salmon with Greek arugula salad

-Blue Cheese, Quinoa, and Arugula Salad with candied walnuts and dried apricots

Potential Drawbacks

-The company is not committed to organic, free-range, non-GMO, sustainable foods. If you’re the kind of person who wants to know where your food comes from, you won’t love this service.

-Again, since the company does not focus on sustainability, the packaging seems wasteful as the majority of it is plastic.

7. Purple Carrot

Purple Carrot is ideal for vegans, vegetarians, or anyone who wants to learn more about cooking without animal products. Mark Bittman, the food columnist for the New York Times, curates the majority of the recipes, and there are occasionally cameos from celebrity chefs who are experiences in plant-based cuisine. It’s a tasty, healthy, and environmentally-friendly to experience unique ingredients and bolster your vegan repertoire. And the food is so delicious, even die-hard carnivores will rethink their life choices.

Pricing

-The Perfect Pair is $11.33 per serving for three meals each serving two. Shipping is free.

-The Whole Bunch is $9.25 per serving for two meals each serving four. Shipping is free.

Meal Options

-Each week’s menu includes three vegan meals curated for you that incorporate fresh seasonal produce.

Sample Menu Choices

-Coffee Teriyaki Skewers with Citrus Edamame Salad

-Thai Red Curry Vermicelli with Radishes and Swiss Chard

-Cauliflower L’Orange with Beets and Fresh Herbs

-Caramelized Onion Crepes with Warm Spinach-Mushroom Salad

Potential Drawbacks

-These recipes are not for the unadventurous. Recipes are curated and not chosen by individuals, so chefs will probably be working with ingredients that are out of their comfort zones, such as jackfruit.

-Recipes take about 45 minutes to prepare and include a lot of preparation work, so the service is not great for those who just want a quick bite to eat.

-Packaging is excessive and often there are leftover ingredients. If you’ll use those in later meals, great! Otherwise, you may have some waste.

-If you refuse to eat a meal without meat, this is not the service for you.