The 4 Best Meal Delivery Services of 2026: Tested and Approved

Best Value: Home Chef

Score: 9 out of 10

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Pros and cons

Pros

• Lowest cost per serving on this list
• Straightforward prep 
• Generous portions 

Cons

• Some food tasted bland
• Preparation may take longer than some recipes suggest

Features

• Type: Meal kit and prepared meals
• Plan options: Two to six meals per week — standard plan includes two to eight servings per meal or family plan includes four to 12 servings for each per meal
• Vegetarian/vegan friendly: Yes
• Other diets available: Keto, high protein, calorie-conscious, carb-conscious or gluten-smart

Key takeaways from our testing

Low cost per serving. Home Chef has the lowest starting price per serving on this list for dinners. We tested the standard plan, which includes traditional meal kits with pre-portioned ingredients you prepare from start to finish. These standard plan meals are sold in two-serving increments. Family plans are designed to appeal to a wide age range and are sold in four-serving increments. So what are the prices for these meals? In general, standard plans range between $9.99 to $11.99 per serving, and family plans range between $6.99 to $8.99 per serving.

Easy-to-follow recipes with very good portions. Testers awarded Home Chef either perfect or almost-perfect marks for ease of preparation. Peggy, one of our nine testers, cooked two meals from this company: trout with a roasted garlic-herb sauce and a peach-glazed pork chop. She said both were easy to put together because the recipe cards were clear and included photos. Tester Will added that his serving of pulled pork ragu with arrabbiata sauce was the perfect size for two people. Peggy agreed that the portions were generous, which earned this service an above-average rating on this measure. 

So-so taste and potentially extended prep time. Home Chef earned a middling overall taste score. Will said the basil in his kit was “mildewy,” so he couldn’t use it. Donna said the chicken was “a bit bland,” adding that it could have used more salt. However, Peggy, who limits her sodium intake, liked the taste of the meals she cooked from Home Chef. But, she also noted her speedy peach-glazed pork chop meal tasted too salty and that she would have liked to know the salt content of the accompanying spice packet. Peggy also noted the recipe card advised that prep time for her pork chop meal would be 35 minutes, but she said it took nearly double this amount of time to prepare them. She attributed this time difference to her need to take additional steps to de-stem the packaged green beans and cut tomatoes. Will and Donna, however, said it didn’t take them any extra time to prepare their Home Chef meals.

Best for Customizations: HelloFresh

Score: 9.9 out of 10

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Pros and cons

Pros

• Large recipe catalog with customizations
• Accurate estimates for cook time 
• Excellent portions and taste 

Cons

• Some produce may not be ripe upon delivery
• May experience shipping delays

Features

• Type: Meal kit
• Plan options: Two to six recipes a week with two to four servings each
• Vegetarian/vegan friendly: Yes
• Other diets available: Pescatarian, calorie smart, carb smart

Key takeaways from our testing

Numerous options allow swaps for proteins and some sides. HelloFresh earned a standout customization score from testers because they could swap proteins, request double protein and occasionally swap sides such as vegetables or potatoes. The ability to change proteins is fairly standard, but this is one of the only meal delivery services we’ve seen that lets you swap sides as well. For example, when Annie, a 62-year-old tester, was considering the garlicky shrimp couscous bowl, the company gave her the option to swap both the protein and sides. Testers also noted that this service has a large collection of recipes. In fact, the company confirms it offers more than 2,500 options. “I really appreciate the variety of meals. You have everything from soups to burgers to salads to steak dinners,” Annie said.

Accurate estimated cook time. Tester Annie, who values easy meal prep and clean-up, made HelloFresh’s chicken and green salad pita pockets recipe, which is estimated to take 25 minutes to cook. “It took 25 minutes on the dot,” she said. “These instructions were very simple and included large photos,” she said. “I really liked how they included photos of how the chopped items should look, like sliced vs. cubed.” Meanwhile, the actual cook times for other services on this list did not always match the estimated cook times, including Home Chef, which showed a nearly 30-minute discrepancy for some testers. Annie also gave HelloFresh a near-top-level score for the taste and portion size of her meal. “The taste was very summery and fresh,” she said. But she noted the tomato she received wasn’t ripe yet, so she substituted it with cherry tomatoes she already had at home.

Delayed shipping. Annie said her HelloFresh meal kit arrived a day later than she expected, so she gave it an average delivery score. But she did note the third-party delivery service HelloFresh uses, Veho, was very communicative and provided updates via both email and text. You may remember that Factor also uses Veho for shipping, and one of those testers also had a similar delivery delay.

Best for Dietary Restrictions: Hungryroot

Score: 9.5 out of 10

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Pros and cons

Pros

• The most options for special diets on this list
• Excellent taste 
• Grocery add-ons available 

Cons

• One tester experienced limited communication about order status
• Inconsistent estimates for prep time

Features

• Type: Meal kits and prepared meals
• Plan options: Varies, based on the type of meals you want
• Vegetarian/vegan friendly: Yes
• Other diets available: Low-sodium, dairy-free, low-sugar, gluten-free, pescatarian, egg-free, peanut-free or shellfish-free

Key takeaways from our testing

Accommodates many dietary preferences with standout taste. This service offers eight filtering options for specific dietary preferences — the most among companies on this list. If you’re looking for a low-sodium option, this service offers one, including dishes with 500 mg or less of sodium, according to the company. Meanwhile, offerings like those from Home Chef and Factor lack dedicated low-sodium meal options. Another pro? If you set up a Hungryroot profile, you can select goals such as “less prep time” or “carb-conscious.” This service also allows you to filter by low-sugar, gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan or vegetarian options. The company says its full recipe catalog totals more than 5,000, which makes it the service with the most reported recipes on this list. So how might those recipes taste? In our assessment, tester Annie awarded Hungryroot a perfect score for taste when evaluating her chile-limon chicken kale salad. She said all of the flavors complemented each other, and the ingredients were fresh. 

Meal kits and grocery staples available. Hungryroot says it offers the “convenience of a meal kit with the variety of the grocery store.” You can not only order prepared meals or meal kits, but you can also add grocery staples like dairy and eggs to your weekly delivery. When evaluating this service, Annie ordered the kit to make her salad but also ordered other items to round out her weekly grocery shopping, like cookie dough, marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese. She said this ability to add one-off items to her orders would prevent her from needing to make another trip to the grocery store and would save her time.

Lack of email communication. While the Hungryroot meal kit arrived on time and without issues, Annie said the only communication she received from the company came upon delivery. She said she would have liked more updates on the status of her order while she was waiting for it to arrive. This experience may be specific to Annie, but we still elected to note it. It’s possible that more communication went to spam, so consider checking there if you find you’re lacking updates. Another ding? Annie also noted that the meal kit’s recipe estimated it would take six minutes to make her salad, but the actual prep time was 11 minutes — nearly double the time. While that’s not a major inconvenience, overall, this extended timing may matter for some older adults. After all, in our April 2026 survey of 300 adults ages 50 and older who currently use or have used a meal delivery service in the last 12 months, 54 percent of respondents said “convenience and time saving” was the reason they signed up for a meal delivery service.

How we tested the best meal delivery services

We started the process of finding the best meal delivery service for adults ages 50 and older by researching the market. Which services are popular and why? Which companies have the best customer reviews — and are the reviews legitimate? After consulting nutrition experts, we tested 15 meal delivery services and narrowed our list to those featured on this page.

To identify each service’s strengths and weaknesses, we recruited a group of nine testers ages 50-plus — including community members from AARP’s The Ethel community — to test their meal kits and share their unbiased feedback. Testers then cooked their meals in their home or our AARP Smart Picks test kitchen and shared their honest thoughts on key factors such as food quality, portion size, taste, customization options and ease of preparation. 

We also paid close attention to the delivery process, including the number of updates the company provides during delivery and the quality of the packaging. We also reviewed the cancellation process for each service to determine how long it takes and whether any challenges arise before pausing or ending your subscription. 

For more details, see our meal delivery service testing methodology page. 

Other meal delivery services to consider

To find the best options for adults ages 50-plus, we tested 15 meal delivery services overall. While the services below didn’t make our list of the best offerings due to factors like inconsistent cook times and low taste scores, they might be good options for some people to consider.

• Green Chef. This service uses organic ingredients and is certified by The Clean Label Project, a nonprofit organization that independently tests food and consumer products to ensure they’re free from heavy metals and pesticides, among other contaminants. But testers said recipes routinely took longer than estimated and that preparation instructions were often unclear. 
• Blue Apron. Blue Apron is a well-known meal delivery service that doesn’t require a subscription for weekly deliveries. You can order meal kits, minimal prep offerings or prepared dishes. Another plus? The nutritional information for this company’s meals is readily available online, which may be helpful for older adults with specific dietary limitations. But this company’s offerings earned one of the lowest taste scores of any meal delivery service we tested.
• Cookunity. Cookunity offers chef-crafted meals that are ready to eat after heating. Each meal has a shelf life of about three to seven days before heating. There is a “use by” date on the label of each meal, and the company offers customization options for different diets and preferred cuisines. In our testing, this service received high scores, but it’s expensive compared to the picks on our list. And testers said they wanted more in-depth storage and preparation instructions.

How to choose the best meal delivery service

If you're age 50 or older, meal delivery services can be a tool to help you get the nutrition you need, skip grocery shopping or reduce meal-planning, says Kezia Joy, a registered dietitian nutritionist in London. For instance, nearly 77 percent of our survey respondents said they’ve reused recipes from a meal kit. 

But if you’re not sure how to choose the best meal delivery service for you, Joy recommends evaluating your nutritional needs and goals for using a meal kit. “If someone is interested in maintaining heart health, then they will want to focus on low-sodium meal options, for example,” she says.

To find the best meal delivery service that matches your preferences and goals, consider the following features.

Prep time

Convenience and time savings were the most common reasons survey respondents purchased a meal delivery service, with about 54 percent of respondents citing these reasons. So consider whether you’d prefer a prepared meal that just requires reheating or a meal kit that you need to cook. 

If you want a meal kit, testers reported that HelloFresh's cooking estimates were accurate. If you’re looking for prepared meals, you may like options like Factor or Home Chef because of short reheating times. 

Meal kits typically list an estimated prep time for each meal, though our testing showed that cooking time can sometimes be longer than indicated. Still, you can use the estimated cook time as a guideline to help you choose meal kits or prepared meals that suit your lifestyle and goals.

And if you feel like you’re not the best cook, Joy explains that meal kit instructions that are easy to follow — such as those that include clear, simple directions and pictures — may increase your confidence in cooking and reduce your chances of skipping meals in the future.

Nutritional needs and dietary restrictions

Proper nutrition is an essential part of our healthy aging. Joy says older adults should focus on consuming meals with adequate amounts of protein, fiber and other nutrients that support good muscle health, digestion and energy levels. She says one potential issue with meal kit delivery services is that they don’t always suit older adults’ nutritional requirements. For example, sometimes prepared meals include too much sodium or not enough protein, which Joy says could damage a person’s cardiovascular system or ability to maintain muscle mass.

In our assessments, the high sodium content in meals by some services was a sticking point for several testers. And Hungryroot was the only service on this list that included a filter for low-sodium meals, which it defined as meals with 500 mg or less of sodium. So, if you’re looking for the best meal delivery service for you, you may want to consider options that allow for this level of customization. When it’s time to make your meal selections, Joy emphasizes the importance of carefully reading the nutritional information, including sodium content.

Elizabeth Odvarka, our medical reviewer for this article and a registered dietitian at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, also encourages older adults to ensure their meal delivery services are giving them foods that have enough vitamin D and vitamin B12, which play a role in bone health and central nervous system functioning. One of the best ways to ensure your meal delivery service is meeting your nutrition needs is to consult with your health care provider about your options. Odvarka says it’s especially important to get enough vitamin B12 since our ability to absorb that vitamin decreases as we age. Good sources of B12 include fish/shellfish, meat/poultry and dairy/eggs. Good sources of vitamin D include oily fish like salmon, red meat and egg yolks. 

Most meal delivery services that we’ve recommended on this list let you choose your dietary limitations or preferences. Some services also provide clear descriptions of the type of diet their recipes fit into. For example, Home Chef has badges on recipes like “fiber-rich,” “gluten-smart” and “calorie-conscious.” 

These kinds of labels can be especially helpful if you have dietary restrictions or are trying to stay within certain recommended guidelines. For example, one of our focus group participants, Vielka, said she prefers a set meal plan so she doesn’t have to think about which low-salt meals to cook, as this kind of thinking can be tiring. So, choosing a meal delivery service that meets your dietary needs may help reduce your daily food-planning decisions — and make it easier to cook a healthy meal at home.

Delivery experience

Some meal delivery services allow you to schedule your delivery, while others don’t and deliver your food on a pre-appointed date and time each week. It’s important to consider your delivery preferences when comparing meal delivery services, especially for offerings that include fresh produce that could spoil if you’re not home for delivery. In the case of a delay with your delivery, the service will likely notify you of any changes. If your delivery is delayed due to a carrier issue, you should be able to report it to the meal delivery service and explore your options. 

Odvarka suggests freezing any unused prepared meals to prevent spoilage and save money. But some companies, like Home Chef, don’t recommend freezing meals at all — whether they're prepared meals or meal kits — to maintain quality. We advise following the advice of your meal delivery service provider, or doing what best fits your life.

Also consider whether the meal delivery service you choose provides delivery updates. For example, while services like HelloFresh provided frequent delivery updates, tester Annie received a notification from HungryRoot only after her food was delivered. If you rely on delivery updates to know your package's status and ensure you can pick it up in time, we suggest keeping a close eye on any tracking information you receive.

How much do the best meal delivery services cost?

The best meal delivery services on this list range in starting price from about $6.99 to $15.99 per serving for dinner.

You can see the chart below to see the typical starting price per serving for these services. These prices do not account for any upgrades or modifications that could change the cost per serving, and some specialized meals may be more expensive. Additionally, you’ll likely have to pay a shipping cost, which may be higher than in other shopping categories, because of the specialized packaging required to safely ship perishable food products. The total cost of your weekly meal subscription may vary depending on factors such as the number of meals you select, any customizations you make and the length of your subscription. 

How to save money on meal delivery services

Companies that provide these services often offer sales and discounts, especially for new sign-ups. We’ve seen discounts of up to 75 percent off your first box, but that may depend on committing to a service for several months in advance. Before signing up, check the company’s website for any promotions or first-time subscriber discounts. 

FAQs

What meal delivery services have the freshest ingredients?

Based on our testing, HelloFresh and Hungryroot had the freshest ingredients. For example, when our testers tried the chicken and Greek salad pita pockets from HelloFresh and the chile limon chicken kale salad from Hungryroot, they said these meals came with vegetables that were fresh and crispy. 

Do all meal delivery services require a subscription?

Many meal delivery services require a subscription, but not all do. For instance, all companies that we recommend on this list of the best meal delivery services require some sort of subscription, though you’re free to pause or cancel at any time. However, another meal service that we tested, Blue Apron, now offers meal kits or prepared meals both on a recurring basis with “auto ship” as well as on an à la carte basis that does not require a subscription.

What meal delivery services offer free trials? 

Generally, no meal delivery service offers a completely free trial package. Instead, many meal delivery services offer “free meals” as part of your signup. While they’re not always a traditional free trial (you’ll still need to pay a reduced amount), they can be a way to save money while you’re trying out the service. For example, HelloFresh sometimes offers free meals or boxes you can apply to your normal weekly shipments. Other brands may offer free boxes outright, but you typically still pay for shipping costs.

Questions or feedback? Email us at AARPSmartPicks@aarp.org.