Updated on Dec. 04, 2024
The last thing busy parents need is a never-ending grocery list and cumbersome meal prep. We've found the best meal kits for families with various needs and budgets.
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Imagine coming home after a long day and finding a perfectly portioned dinner on your front stoop. Investing in one of the best meal kits for families means saving time and mental energy. Suddenly, the soccer carpool and late Zoom meeting don’t seem so overwhelming because you know a family-friendly homemade meal is just 30 minutes away.
Nowadays, meal delivery services are everywhere, and you can find different options that suit a variety of tastes and diets. When looking for a service, nutrition should always be at the top of your priority list—especially if you have kids.
Kristen Smith, MS, RDN, LD, Spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics notes that it’s best to peruse the menu before choosing a meal service. “Similar to any meal you’d prepare for your family, seek out a service that offers meals with a well-rounded nutritional profile, incorporating lean protein (like chicken, fish or beans), whole grains and a variety of fruits or vegetables,” she says. “Look for a meal delivery service that provides a diverse selection of menu items, too.”
Taste of Home editors spent hours researching, testing and reviewing to determine which services are worth the weekly splurge. Overall, we sought variety, nutrition, family-friendly menus and fresh ingredients. After trying each service multiple times over the course of two years, we found the best meal kits for every lifestyle. Our recommendations will leave more time (and energy!) to gather around the table together.
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HelloFresh checks all the boxes as the best meal delivery service for families. It offers flavorful meals that you can throw together in 30 minutes—a must when you have young kids scurrying around the house. Each meal is tested more than 200 times to ensure it’s delicious and easy to prepare. Bonus: There are more than 65 available entrees each week, so your kiddos are bound to find something they like.
Registered nurse and contributing writer Carrie Madormo is a former recipe tester for HelloFresh. She attests that the company is tireless about making sure chefs of any experience level can easily follow their recipes to create something tasty. I’ve tried HelloFresh three times, and can concur that the recipes would appeal to kids and adults alike.
“Apple Crisp, as we call it in our house, has always been a favorite of mine. HelloFresh calls this lovely dessert a Breakfast Bake—less guilt this way,” says Product Tester Sheri Kaz, who also enjoyed testing HelloFresh. “Of course, this is the first one I tried in the box. I was a little concerned that this recipe would be way too sweet for me, so I omitted a tablespoon of sugar. Perfect! But what made this really stand out was the lemon zest added to the yogurt. Wow—delish. Per the recipe, I also included the creme fraiche and honey. Who knew?! Everything blended together so nicely, and it was a warm treat on a rainy autumn day.”
The meal plans are flexible and easy to cancel or skip. You can even tell them which foods your family (or, honestly, your kids) won’t eat to guarantee each meal is a winner. Child-friendly favorites include One-Pan Beef Enchiladas Verdes and Homestyle Turkey and Biscuit Pot Pie. Some meals are even explicitly labeled as “Make Ahead Kids Eats,” “Family Dinner” and “15-Min Kids Lunch” to make for quick picking each week.
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If you’re looking for an affordable way to try meal delivery services, check out EveryPlate—tied with Dinnerly as the cheapest service on this list. It’s a super flexible option with simple recipes that taste anything but. Perfect for beginners and old pros alike, EveryPlate offers classic, vegetarian, family-friendly and easy meal plans.
The app is easy to use and lets you skip weeks or cancel without hassle. The pre-portioned ingredients are always fresh, and the colorful recipe cards make following instructions easy. Plus, we love that you can add extra protein like ground beef or chicken breasts to keep on hand for busy nights. Speaking of, have you tried these meat delivery services?
Some family-friendly options from their menu include Tortellini Chicken Sausage Bolognese and Creamy Corn & Bacon Chowder. I raved about the latter in my full review of EveryPlate. Tester Dylan Fischer notes that navigating through all the meal options is a bit cumbersome due to the lack of filters. However, there’s a pretty good variety to be found with EveryPlate. Every option really is a full, balanced meal. One of his favorite dishes? Southwest Pork Flautas.
“These were absolutely delicious and worth the extra time to prep. Lining the baking sheet with oil, as well as rubbing some into the tortillas, allowed them to get nice and crispy,” he says. “The pork mixture was delicious as well. It felt like all the additional ingredients (garlic, onion, southwest spice and chicken stock) actively contributed to the overall flavor instead of just being filler. There were layers to the flavor. You could actually taste everything that was in it, and the spice was just the right amount.”
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Blue Apron is one of the original meal kit delivery services, but it’s fancier than most. Sure, Blue Apron offers everyday favorites, but it also offers adventurous, health-conscious choices and premium dishes for special occasions. All the recipes I tested felt sophisticated—but without much intensive work. (Hoisin Pork Belly and Miso Ramen, anyone?) This can especially be said for the company’s line of Ready to Cook recipes.
“This service definitely felt gourmet. I enjoyed all of the meals and loved how everything was well balanced—you have a main entree and then sides to accompany it every time,” says Sydney Manning, Editorial Coordinator. She particularly enjoyed the Steaks and Black Bean Butter Sauce with Miso Broccoli and Sesame-Roasted Potatoes.
“This one was one of my favorites. The sauce on the steak was delicious, and the cut of the steak was great and not very fatty,” she says. “I really loved the broccoli because of the miso paste, which had great flavor and a slight kick to it. I haven’t used white miso paste before, so it was fun to discover how much I enjoyed it.”
Blue Apron has special meal plans, too, with options such as plant-based, WW-approved, diabetes-friendly and carb-conscious. We also love that ingredients are responsibly sourced. Your teenagers, college-age kids or bold middle-schoolers will savor each bite. Some customer faves include Ravioli, Pancetta and Prime Beef Bolognese and One-Pan Udon Noodle and Spicy Peanut Stir-Fry. Note, however, that the fanciness of these meals is reflected in the price.
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While other meal delivery services offer the occasional 15-minute meal, Gobble promises all its meals take 15 minutes. Woah! Although our writer and tester Molly Allen needed more than 15 minutes to finish some recipes, you can count on Gobble to be quick. (Read her full review.) Gobble’s menu is smaller than others, but you can add salads, soups, sides and even desserts to make the experience your own. Plus, you can input your preferences and allow the service to auto-select recipes for you. That’s a big score for families with packed schedules!
“The Chicken Parmesan with Penne Pasta and Marinara Sauce was the last meal I made, six days after the box was delivered,” says Dylan, who also tried the subscription. “At this point, the ingredients were still holding up fine, except for the basil leaves. The spinach was right on the verge of starting to go bad—another day or two, and it likely would’ve been unusable. But nice to know that you can stretch out all the meals throughout the week until the next shipment comes!”
Although the recipes are fast, they still serve up plenty of food—and with high-quality ingredients. Some of the ingredients even arrive already chopped or sliced! Meals like the Bistro Cheeseburger, enjoyed by our tester, or the Chicken Tortellini Alfredo will keep the whole family’s hearts and tummies happy.
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When there’s no time to waste (looking at you, folks with newborns), Tovala is our meal kit of choice. This heat-and-eat option requires minimal prep—slicing and seasoning veggies or adding water or milk to a tray of gnocchi, for instance. Sure, it’s a little extra work than, say, a microwavable meal, but this makes these meals feel homemade and nutritional. Then, pop your dish into the Tovala smart oven, which makes cooking these meals almost seamless.
Simply prep each meal according to the instructions, scan the QR code on the recipe card with the app and press start on the oven. I’ve found that the trickiest part about using air fryer toaster ovens is figuring out cook times, functions and temperatures. Unlike those finicky appliances, the QR code system that Tovala uses with its meals and smart oven is completely foolproof.
The Tovala smart oven costs $300 for the cheaper model and $350 for the pricier one if bought alone. Alternatively, it costs $50 and $99, respectively, if you buy six meals to accompany it and subscribe to the service. I found the splurge to be worth it, though. One thing to note: Tovala meals are only delivered on Mondays.
In addition to traditional entrees, some breakfasts are available, as well as add-ons like egg rolls and garlic bread for select meals. Once you choose all your meals and proceed to the next page, you can add the previously listed add-ons, desserts (such as a brownie, cookie or single-serve pineapple upside-down cake) and small breakfast items, like an Eggo Belgian waffle.
The companion app pertains just as much to the Tovala smart oven as the meal service. You can manage upcoming menu selections/deliveries and access support and cooking instructions on basics that are specific to the brand’s proprietary appliance (e.g., air-fried pizza and chicken) along with more detailed recipes (e.g., Pear Walnut Crisp and Coconut Curry Steamed Mussels). There’s also a list of brands with items that cook well in the smart oven, as well as cooking instructions for those specific items. You can even connect the smart oven to WiFi and pair it with the app.
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Variety is the spice of life, especially when little ones are always changing their mind about whether they like broccoli or cheese. That’s where Home Chef comes in. Not only is it endorsed by food celebrities like Tieghan Gerard and Rachael Ray, but the website boasts over 40 meals per week—including lunches. Choose from myriad dietary options like keto-friendly or gluten-smart, and sort meals by prep time with the “oven ready” and “30 mins or less” categories.
Not only did we test Home Chef for our full review, but we also asked Sydney to revisit this option. Little did we know she’s already a fan!
“I’ve used Home Chef before and have canceled it since, but I still go back to the digital cookbook that’s on my account to re-create yummy meals I remember liking from when I had the subscription,” she says. “It’s also nice that they have a flexible schedule to receive your box at any time during the week besides Saturdays.”
Our biggest gripe with Home Chef is a lack of price transparency. The total charge in our confirmation emails didn’t always match the charges made to our card—and it was around a $50 difference. As with any subscription, we urge anyone thinking about subscribing to take a close look at their bank statements to ensure the monthly charges are correct.Â
Tee up your little one’s week with delicious meals like One-Pan Acapulco-Style Steak Quesadillas or Pan-Seared Caprese Gnocchi. Each meal comes neatly packed in its own bag within the box, so it’s easy to see which ingredients pertain to which recipe. While all the dishes she tried were winners, Sydney’s favorite was the Lemon Rockefeller Scallop Penne.
“The sauce was amazing, and it was really easy to make because this was an express meal,” she says. “I’ve cooked scallops before, so we had an idea of how to cook them, and they weren’t too rubbery. The lemon also provided a fresh taste and complemented the dish well.”
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Dinnerly is an affordable option that’s flexible enough for any family, both in terms of recipe customization and cancellation and pause options. It helps save money with its cheap meals (starting at $4.99 per serving) and eliminates suppertime food waste from leftover ingredients. Dinnerly is able to keep costs low thanks to its digital recipe cards and fewer ingredients per recipe.
Despite the cheaper price, the recipes are in no way lacking—our Dinnerly review confirms it. I was obsessed with the Seared Cheddar Bratwurst with Horseradish Cream and German Potato Salad. And your kids will love the Tex-Mex Stuffed Zucchini Boats and the Oven-Baked Tilapia and Chips.
“With an abundance of simple and quick meals, Dinnerly is a great fit for college students or young adults looking for an easy way to feed themselves,” says Dylan. He particularly enjoyed the Chicken Shawarma Burger. “The entire time I was cooking the patties, the meat was very fragrant and aromatic. If you’re familiar at all with chicken shawarma, you know this is a very, very good thing,” he says. “And the payoff lived up to the hype. The meat was juicy and tender and had that slight bit of sweetness to it from the spice blend.”
Dylan notes that this was the least “well-rounded” dinner kit he tried in terms of nutrition, so he recommends serving these meals with a side or salad for those extra veggies.
Recent testing led to a few slight changes, including moving HelloFresh to the “Best Overall” category and moving Dinnerly to HelloFresh’s previous category, “Best for Kids.” We also tested and included Tovala and Home Chef as “Best Prepared” and “Best Variety,” respectively.
There are a lot of reasons to invest in a meal delivery service. On top of the convenience factor (especially for new parents), Kristen says meal delivery services also help families with dietary restrictions or specific nutritional needs, since gluten-free or vegan services take the guesswork out of sourcing ingredients. Here’s what to consider when choosing a meal kit:
Additionally, Kristen suggests aiming for meal choices that fill half of each family member’s plate with fruits and vegetables. She notes that while protein needs will vary among family members, a protein source should typically fill at least a quarter of their plate. The remaining quarter should be filled with a good source of complex carbohydrates, such as sweet potatoes or brown rice.
The best meal delivery services for families remove the stress of meal planning, grocery shopping and all the chopping. According to Kristen, additional benefits include alleviating the need for meal planning and reducing food waste.
In addition, Kristen recommends being mindful of the number of people the meal kit indicates it will feed. “A meal kit that feeds two people per meal is likely not sufficient to feed a family of two adults and two teenagers,” she says. As for picky eaters, she recommends involving them in the process and trying to choose meals with familiar foods.
Our editors tested these meal kit services multiple times over the course of two years to find the best meal delivery service for families. Although they’re experts at curating gift guides and testing products, they’re not culinary professionals. They’re home cooks with busy schedules and regular kitchens—just like you and the meal-prepper in your family. When cooking the recipes in their homes, they replicated the authentic experience of any consumer of these meal kit delivery services. You can trust that their needs, skills and budget match those of an average shopper.
Nancy Snyder is a registered dietitian and seasoned professional in nutrition and culinary expertise. She reviewed and fact-checked this piece. With nearly a decade of experience collaborating with restaurant chefs and food manufacturers, Nancy has forged a path at the intersection of nutrition consulting and culinary innovation. She is also a former senior shopping editor for Taste of Home, working alongside the Test Kitchen to identify and test products that help each individual reader elevate their personal kitchen experience.
We chose the best meal delivery service for families by cooking two to three recipes from each. Then, we evaluated the services based on the aforementioned criteria. We noted overall value (i.e., price versus quality), family-friendliness, freshness and ease and taste of the recipes. We’ve tested over 10 meal delivery services, but only a portion of those made this list based on how suitable they are for families.
Additional research contributed by Carrie Madormo, Taste of Home writer, and Emily Way, Shopping Editor. For this piece, we consulted Kristen Smith, MS, RDN, LD, Spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, in order to determine what aspects to look for in a family meal delivery service.
