Budget Meal Options
Almost every meal service advertises a cheap first box, and almost none of them cost that much in week three. This category only includes services that print an ongoing price of ten dollars or less per serving or per meal on their own pages, so the number survives the introductory offer. Budget kits keep costs down with simpler recipes, fewer premium proteins and larger box sizes, and some frozen and prepared services reach the same price at higher order volumes. Every listing quotes the price and the plan size it applies to, and says when shipping comes on top.
- 1
Online grocery store and meal kit in one, filling a weekly cart with groceries, quick recipes and prepared meals, dinners from $8.99 per serving and free shipping over $70.
- 2
Budget cook-at-home meal kit with 35+ weekly recipes, plans from $5.99 per serving plus a flat $10.99 shipping fee, delivered across most of the continental US.
- 3
Weekly subscription of fresh, heat-and-eat meals and snacks for children aged 8 months to 8 years, priced per item and shipped across the contiguous US.
- 4
Frozen, plant-based organic finger-food meals for babies from 6 months and toddlers, sold in 12 to 24 cup subscriptions and shipped on dry ice outside Hawaii and Alaska.
- 5
Chef-cooked, flash-frozen meals in boxes of 10, 20 or 30 with no subscription, from $8.99 a meal, shipped on dry ice from 3 kitchens to the continental US.
- 6
Cook-at-home vegetarian Indian meal kits for 2 or 4, with pre-measured spices and cut vegetables, on monthly plans for Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois.
- 7
Freeze-dried vegetarian Indian meals cooked in India and ready with hot water in about 5 minutes, sold in 5, 10 or 20-meal boxes with free US shipping.
- 8
An Indianapolis meal prep company selling flash-frozen comfort-food entrées with no subscription, in its Indiana stores or shipped in 14 and 28-meal boxes across the contiguous US.
- 9
A family-owned Kansas City meal prep company delivering fresh, never-frozen high-protein meals around the metro on Saturdays and shipping by UPS, with a $129.99 five-day plan and no subscription.
- 10
A New Jersey and New York meal prep company selling fully cooked, high-protein meals from $9.99, with weekend local delivery and pickup, goal-based plans and a nationwide delivery option.
- 11
A New Jersey halal meal prep company with an 80+ meal menu of fully cooked, high-protein dishes from $9.99, coach-built plans, local pickup and nationwide delivery with a 10-meal minimum.
- 12
Budget cook-at-home meal kit with 100+ recipes a week, 2-person or 4-person plans of 3 to 6 meals, and meals from $5.99 per serving.
- 13
Chef-owned service shipping fresh, heat-and-eat Mediterranean-style meals in reduced-oxygen trays every Wednesday, with free shipping plus a flat $6.95 packaging fee per order.
- 14
Houston-based kitchen cooking fresh, never-frozen meals to order, delivered across Texas and shipped by FedEx to the continental US, from $8.50 per serving.
- 15
Fresh, mostly-prepped meals that cook themselves in the Tovala Smart Oven with a barcode scan, from $8.99 per serving on two-packs plus $10.99 shipping.
- 16
Dietitian-built freezer meals, assembled raw and frozen for your slow cooker or pressure cooker, delivered across the Intermountain West from about $3.48 per serving.
- 17
Minnesota kitchen selling fresh, calorie-controlled meal plans from $169 a week, with pickup at Minneapolis-St. Paul partner stores and delivery across 8 Midwest markets.
- 18
Florida prepared-meal company with a weekly menu of 40+ microwave meals, free delivery for subscribers, a GLP-1 friendly line and a growing chain of grab-and-go stores.
- 19
Florida meal prep company delivering fresh, never-frozen meals before dawn on Monday, Wednesday and Friday across South Florida, Orlando, Tampa and Lakeland, from $8 per meal.
- 20
Splendid Spoon delivers frozen, 100% plant-based soups, bowls, smoothies and oats in boxes of 6, 12 or 18 items, with meals from $9.99 and a separate $299 5-Day Detox.
- 21
A New Orleans meal prep company selling fully cooked, microwave-ready weight-loss meal plans, 15 meals from $135, shipped nationwide or picked up locally.
