I recently tried 3 popular meal kit delivery services and have given a separate review for each one. Today I am doing a side by side comparison of Blue Apron, Hello Fresh, and Sun Basket. 

Other posts in this series include Meal Plan Like A Boss, Meal Prep Like A Boss, My Blue Apron Review, Easy Slow Cooker Whole Chicken,  Hello Fresh Review, Sun Basket Review

For the past month, I have been reviewing meal kit delivery services for my Back to School Meal Planning and Meal Prep Series. With school back in full swing, I wanted to see how these services could help all of us with meal planning and meal prep during busy weekdays. 

I covered the cost, menu selection, packaging, ingredients, recipe directions, portion size, and taste in each review. I made this handy chart to show you a side by side comparison. The X’s represent my favorite/favorites in each category.

Meal Kit Delivery Services Comparison

 

One category that I did not include in my previous reviews was scheduling/delivery. We had no problems scheduling our orders and all of our meal kits arrived on time. I had our kits delivered on Mondays and we used them by Thursday.

Cost

Blue Apron and Hello Fresh were very comparable in price. Sun Basket was about $2-$3 more per person for each serving depending on the plan chosen. Most of the ingredients I received from Sun Basket were organic. I did not receive any organic ingredients from Blue Apron or Hello Fresh.

Menu Selection

Sun Basket had the biggest menu selection out of the three. They have 18 recipes on their menu each week. Hello Fresh has 15 and Blue Apron has 8. You may have less to choose from depending on the plan you select. I liked Sun Basket’s menu the best because it had the biggest selection with the least amount of processed ingredients.

Packaging

All of the packaging was very similar. Blue Apron was the only one that did not sort all of the ingredients by meal. All of the websites had detailed recycling information.

Ingredients

All of the meal kits I received had fresh ingredients. Sun Basket was the only one that contained organic ingredients and did not contain any highly processed ingredients. Hello  Fresh had the most processed ingredients. Sun Basket’s ingredients were most in line with the way I shop/eat.

Recipe Directions

Sun Basket had the best directions. I liked the way they included items that could be prepped ahead and gave a list of things kids can do to help. I thought Blue Apron’s directions were a little difficult to follow.

Portion Size

For the most part, all of the portion sizes were sufficient for the meal. There were definitely no extras.

Taste

All of the meals that we had from Blue Apron and Sun Basket were delicious! We had several KEEPERS and both had some ingredients and combinations that we had never tried before. We were not crazy about the 2 meals we had from Hello Fresh.

If you would like a more comprehensive review of each service, you can click on the links at the beginning of this post or at the end of the post.

Who Are Meal Kit Delivery Services For?

In my opinion, meal kit services are a great option for a variety of people. I think they are perfect for people who eat out several times a week and want to start cooking at home more often. The kits are less expensive than going out and can be a much healthier option. 

The kits are awesome if you are just learning how to cook. Everything is premeasured and the meals are quite simple to put together. Definitely something I could have benefited from 27 years ago.

If you are absolutely not a meal planner and want to make your week run more smoothly, meal kits are your answer. I have a friend who orders the kits for her family of 4 every week. She has never enjoyed looking through recipes and coming up with meals. Meal kits make her life much easier, and her family enjoys making the meals together.

Single people and couples with no children could benefit because the meals are perfectly portioned. You won’t have to worry about buying a bunch of ingredients that you may not use again. And you won’t have to eat the same meal for a whole week because you followed a recipe that made enough for an army.

We enjoyed receiving our meal kits and trying out all of the recipes. We would not use the services on a regular basis because we enjoy meal planning, cooking, and creating new recipes. Not having leftovers also poses a problem for us. We double most of our recipes and rely on the leftovers for our lunches. This helps us to avoid eating processed food. The cost is also more than I am willing to spend on a weekly basis. 

Will I Order Again?

Even though I would not order on a weekly basis, we will absolutely use meal kits on occasion! They are a great way to change things up and are helpful when we have a busy weekend and do not have time to meal plan. As a matter of fact, we are going to visit our daughter in a few weeks and I have already scheduled our Blue Apron order. I still have a $25 credit. 

Still wondering if you should give meal kit delivery services a try? I say go for it! Every service that I have researched offers a pretty nice discount on your first order. Some also have discounts for referring friends after you have used the service. If you would like to try, Sun Basket or Blue Apron here are my referral links: Sun Basket  Blue Apron  

Did you find these reviews helpful? What do you think? Will you try a meal kit delivery service? 

Blue Apron Review

Hello Fresh Review

Sun Basket Review