Essentials
By Tom Horton
/ Essentials
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If you’re wary of signing up for a meal kit delivery service in 2024, you’re probably not alone. Higher-than-expected inflation rates and dizzying housing prices likely have many people hesitating to add more expenses to their daily lives.
But when you consider how much people are spending on food every week — as well as all of the added benefits that come with a great meal delivery service — there’s a case to be made that meal kits are very much worth the investment.
Are meal kits worth it?
Did you know that the average person spends a little over an hour in the kitchen each day? That includes meal prepping for the week, preparing ingredients, and cooking meals — not to mention all the cleanup that comes after.
A big advantage to meal kits is how much time they can save you. Many meal kits take less than 20 minutes to whip up, and there’s no dirty dishes to worry about (or ignore until the morning) afterwards.
Some meal delivery services take this to another level with prepared meal options; Factor and other services like it offer fully prepared meals that are ready within minutes. In Factor’s case, they’re also nutritious and delicious — a triple win in our book.
Still on the fence about meal kit delivery services? Read more about the benefits of signing up for meal delivery in 2024 below.
Meal kit delivery services are affordable
Let’s face it: those trips to the grocery store are, more often than not, everything but cheap. You have to carve out a chunk of your day to write out a shopping list, sit through traffic, find everything you need, and, if you’re lucky, make it home without a pricey pitstop at the gas station.
The average two-person household typically spends between $450 and $800 per month at the grocery store. That’s up to roughly $27 a meal, which is a lot, even if you’re thrifty. In comparison, meal kit delivery prices are typically between $9 and $13 per meal, making them great budget-friendly alternatives to grocery shopping.
Seek out the cheapest meal kits by cost per serving. Look for budget-friendly meal delivery services like EveryPlate, which has prices starting as low as $4.99 per serving. This is ideal if you’re cooking for four or more, as the cheapest EveryPlate meal plan offers six four-serving meals per week.
Or, most meal kits offer attractive discounts for new subscribers. Perhaps the best example of this is Blue Apron. This popular meal kit currently offers new subscribers 65% off the total price of their first week, as well as free shipping (another $10 discount). That brings Blue Apron prices down to as low as $2.80 per serving (for five four-serving weekly meals).
The best meal kit services offer more than just nutritious meals
Most meal kits have you covered when it comes to dinnertime meals, but that’s far from the only thing on the menu. The best meal delivery services offer a variety of other options to choose from, such as sides, snacks, and marketplace add-ons.
Another benefit to meal kits that is easily overlooked is what they offer beyond meals for the dinner table. Daily Harvest is a meal delivery service that offers a wide range of lunch and breakfast options, from grain bowls and pasta dishes to smoothies packed with whole fruits and veggies. With a bit of planning ahead, subscribers could take care of most meals fort the week using meal kits alone.
Tom Horton is a resident health expert for CBS Essentials, with deep experience in topics ranging from chronic conditions to health-care devices to diet options. He lives in upstate New York, and draws his power from local bookstores, long hikes on a sunny day, and his cat Sammy.
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