Home Chef Review: What to Know About This Meal Delivery Service

This company delivered standout performance in key testing areas like packaging, taste and portion sizes — but lacks a dedicated low-sodium option

Taylor Leamey,

AARP

Medically reviewed by

Morgan Pearson, RDN

Comments

Published June 10, 2026

The products and services discussed on this page have been independently tested and researched. AARP may earn a commission through affiliate links, but this does not influence our objective reviews. Proceeds earned go toward supporting our mission.

Home Chef meal kit components on display

AARP Smart Picks™

We all want to simplify dinner prep, and one way to do that is by signing up for a meal delivery service. Some send you ingredients to make a meal; some send you fully prepared dishes that you simply heat up. Home Chef is a service that offers both — and for a fairly affordable price compared to other meal delivery services. These options can make it easier to plan meals, shop and get dinner on the table. For older adults trying to eat better at home, this convenience has real appeal: 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, 51 percent who purchased Home Chef said they eat out less per week after subscribing.

To assess this meal service, the AARP Smart Picks team worked with a group of testers ages 50 and older to review this service on key measures, including food preparation, meal variety and taste. As part of this process, the testers, along with our lab team, ordered and cooked meals from the company’s website. Some of our testers evaluated the meals at home, while others completed their review in our Smart Picks test kitchen. Our lab team evaluated the ordering and shipping process. Our home testers also assessed these factors and shared their feedback.

In addition, we held a focus group in April 2026 with people ages 67 to 77 who are part of AARP’s The Ethel community. The Ethel is a free weekly newsletter, website and online community that’s named in honor of AARP founder Ethel Percy Andrus.

Based on our survey, focus group and testing, we found Home Chef offers reliable packaging, a user-friendly ordering process and tasty, generous portions. It is also one of the more affordable meal delivery services on the market. Read on to get our full breakdown of the upsides and downsides of this service, so you can determine if it’s the right fit for your needs.

What we like about Home Chef

Our testers gave this service outstanding scores for delivery, packaging and ease of ordering, including delivery options at checkout and ease of subscription cancellation. Testers found the website easy to navigate and noted that it walks you through each step of the signup process in a logical sequence: dietary preferences first, then meal count, delivery date and payment. First-time customers usually receive a promotion spread across five orders, typically starting with 50 percent off the first box (up to a $41 discount), which softens the upfront cost for those who want to test the service before committing. For example, Peggy, a 67-year-old tester from our focus group, reported she found a discount on the Home Chef website for $38 off her first box.

Home Chef offers traditional meal kits, oven-ready meals designed for families that include pre-portioned ingredients ready to cook in an oven-safe tin and single-serving prepared meals you cook in the microwave. We appreciate that you can customize select meals (primarily protein swaps via a “Customize It” feature), giving selective eaters some flexibility. But the company does not offer a low-sodium filter, which may be a concern for older adults who are watching their sodium intake for health reasons.

Testers especially praised the portion sizes and ease of preparation, noting the included recipe cards had helpful pictures. In our survey, 81 percent said the font on the recipe cards was easy to read and the instructions were clear and easy to follow.

We also like that the price per serving is lower than that of other meal delivery services and generally ranges between $9.99 to $11.99 for standard meal plans. Family plans range between $6.99 to $8.99, and are sold in four-serving increments. Both plans charge a flat $10.99 shipping fee. These are lower prices for the average meal delivery service, which is why we named it the best value in our roundup of the best meal delivery services for older adults.

Our experience testing Home Chef

A person holding multiple meal kit recipe cards with ingredients spread out before them

AARP Smart Picks

Score: 9.2 out of 10

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Pros and cons

Pros

Packaging keeps food cold and fresh on delivery
Streamlined ordering with clear dietary filters and delivery dates
Excellent taste and portions

Cons

No filter for low-sodium options
Cook times may be longer than estimated

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

Food arrives fresh and cold. The packaging earned perfect scores from our testers, who noted that everything arrived cold and undamaged. Donna, a 60-year-old tester, reported the box arrived with foam insulation along the sides, cooling packs at the bottom and ingredients grouped by recipe in clear plastic bags — a detail she found made meal prep easier. Tester Peggy said that “the box was well insulated and the food was cold to the touch.” The ordering experience was also seamless. Will, a 65-year-old tester, found the website easy to navigate, with dietary filtering, delivery date selection and payment laid out in a clear sequence that reduced guesswork.

A person holding open a box with a foam lining and meal kit materials inside

Our testers gave Home Chef perfect scores for packaging, noting that the food arrived cold and the boxes were undamaged. Testers said the box was well insulated (as shown here).

AARP Smart Picks

Tasty recipes with filling portions. Testers awarded Home Chef perfect or almost-perfect marks for ease of preparation. Peggy 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 for each step of preparation. 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. Donna tried the oven-ready Parmesan chicken and shared that it was easy to put together and tasty. “I liked the garlic potatoes a lot, and the garlic butter is very savory but not overpowering,” she said.

There is no low-sodium filter and meals may take longer to prepare than promised. Home Chef doesn’t offer a low-sodium meal filter, and some of our testers flagged sodium as a concern with their meals. Peggy noted that she used fewer of the included spice packets in both recipes she tested because she was uncertain about the spice levels and concerned about the sodium content. The packets themselves may not include sodium information. “The recipe included way too much sodium. I adjusted the amount of spices that I used as they tasted salty to me,” she said. And some testers found the cook times ran long. “This was supposed to be an express meal that comes together in 15 to 20 minutes. It took me an hour,” Peggy said. She attributed this time difference to her need to de-stem the packaged green beans and cut tomatoes. For older adults who plan their evening around a specific cooking window, the possibility of an extended prep time could be a drawback.

How we tested and reviewed Home Chef

To identify Home Chef’s strengths and weaknesses, we recruited older adult testers ages 50 and older — including members from AARP’s The Ethel community — to test this meal delivery service and give their feedback. Testers ordered and then cooked the meals in their homes or in 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.

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We also paid close attention to the delivery process, including the number of updates the company provided for delivery and the quality of the packaging. We also reviewed the cancellation process for each service to determine how long it takes and whether there are any challenges when pausing or ending a subscription.

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

Complementing your meal delivery service with practical tips

For older adults looking to stretch their food spending further, AARP’s guide to eating healthy on a budget offers strategies that pair well with a meal kit subscription. And for people managing specific health needs, AARP’s coverage of new dietary guidelines for older adults is a useful starting point for understanding how nutritional needs shift with age.

Who is Home Chef best for?

Home Chef may be a good fit for older adults who enjoy cooking but want the convenience of making dinner using pre-portioned ingredients or fully prepared meals. Meal types range from meal kits that require some prep to oven-ready options, so you can plan your menu based on how much time you have to cook each week. You can also pause or skip deliveries if you’ll be traveling, busy watching grandkids or trying to take advantage of the fresh produce at the farmer’s market.

Here are a few questions to ask yourself if you’re considering trying this meal delivery service.

Do you want to cook at home more but find meal planning exhausting?

Home Chef can help remove the daily decision of what to cook while letting you stay hands-on in the kitchen.

The value of meal delivery services extends beyond convenience, notes Isaac Bernal, executive chef of the Representation of Spain to the United Nations. “Meal kits can truly help create healthier habits, especially for people with limited time,” he says. “They can also significantly reduce impulsive fast-food consumption.” Terry Tateossian, a certified nutritionist in New York City, points out that while these services are more pricey than grocery shopping, they are often cheaper than takeout. “They remove the inclination to order out,” she says, “especially when you know you have a meal ready in your fridge.”

Are you managing specific dietary needs?

Home Chef does not offer a low-sodium filter, which may be a problem for adults 50 and older watching their sodium intake. Your only option is to go beyond the dietary filters and check each recipe’s full nutrition panel before adding it to your online cart. People who need stricter sodium control, low-carb plans or a wider vegetarian and vegan selection may want to compare options in AARP’s best meal delivery services roundup before committing to a service.

Do you want flexibility without long-term commitment?

If you’re more concerned with variety, user-friendliness and reliable delivery than dietary customization, Home Chef may meet your needs. In our testing, this company’s subscription management earned favorable scores. One tester paused their account entirely online without having to contact customer service and found the process to be straightforward. The ability to skip weeks, select delivery dates in advance and swap proteins on select meals gives you control over how this service fits into your routine.

For more on building healthy, satisfying meals at home, alongside or independent of a subscription, consider consulting AARP’s guide to creating healthy meals at home.

FAQs

Are Home Chef meals healthy?

Generally, yes, but it depends on the meal. Some options provide a healthy mix of lean protein and vegetables, while others have higher sodium levels or calorie-dense sauces. The website shares nutrition facts and ingredient lists for each recipe (unless you swap items or upgrade proteins), except for pre-packaged spice blends, sauces and certain dressings. While a low-sodium filter is not available, you can filter by dietary preferences like high protein, low carb or high fiber. This can make it easier to find choices that fit your health needs.

How much do Home Chef meals cost?

Their meals are reasonably priced at around $9.99 per serving, or as low as $6.99 per serving for family plans. Both plans charge a flat $10.99 shipping fee per box, which is on par with most other meal delivery services. First-time customers usually receive a promotional discount — the most common being 50 percent off the first box, up to $41 — which substantially lowers the initial cost. In the April 2026 AARP meal delivery survey, 35 percent of respondents who had purchased from Home Chef said they spent $50 to $75 per week on their meal kit subscription, with 24 percent spending $75 to $100 per week and 18 percent spending up to $50 per week. These numbers are lower on average compared to other meal delivery services.

What are the best Home Chef recipes?

The best Home Chef recipes depend on your dietary preferences, cooking comfort level and how much time you want to spend in the kitchen. And sometimes, it comes down to your personal taste. Tester Donna, for instance, gave the oven-ready Parmesan chicken stellar scores for portion size and impressive scores for flavor balance. And tester Peggy found the peach-glazed pork chop tasty, despite sodium concerns.

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

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