Best Meal Delivery Services for Weight Loss in 2022

A quick look at Healthline’s picks for the best meal delivery services

• Best doctor-designed meal delivery service: BistroMD
• Best meal delivery service for clean eating: Trifecta Nutrition
• Best fresh meal delivery service: Factor
• Best overall meal delivery service: Blue Apron
• Best vegan meal delivery service: Purple Carrot
• Best flexible meal delivery service: Freshly
• Best organic meal delivery service: Sunbasket

Meal delivery services have become increasingly popular among health-conscious consumers and those following specific diets.

In addition to being simple and convenient, many meal delivery services can:

• aid weight loss
• promote nutrient-rich eating habits
• make it easier to follow a balanced and nutritious diet

Here are the top 7 weight loss meal delivery services.

How we chose

• Convenience: We looked for meals that were convenient to prepare to minimize the extra time it might take customers to fit healthy meals into their schedules.
• Vetting: All the services included have been vetted to ensure that they meet Healthline’s medical and business standards.
• Meal plans: We looked for meal delivery services that offered diet-specific meal plans that help customers reach their weight loss goals.
• Nutrient-rich meals: We looked for meal delivery services that offer balanced and nutrient-dense meals to help customers feel supported in their weight loss goals.

Best doctor-designed meal delivery service

BistroMD

• Price: starting at $10.99 for their 7-day, full signature program or $13.50 for their 7-day lunch and dinner program
• Subscription: 2 or 3 meals per day for 5 or 7 days per week, delivered weekly
• Who it’s good for: specifically for people looking to lose weight
• Sample meal: Tilapia with Orange Parsley Sauce and Red and Wild Rice Blend
• Shipping cost: $19.95 standard fee

BistroMD is a doctor-designed meal delivery service geared toward weight loss.

It allows you to customize your weekly meal plan by selecting from 150 meals, each of which can be prepared in 5 minutes or less.

In addition to the standard meal plan, Men’s, Women’s, Signature, Heart-Healthy, Gluten-Free, Keto, Diabetes, and Menopause weight loss plans are available.

It’s important to note that the meals are extremely low in calories, with some meals coming in at under 300 calories. Their meal plans are based on 1,200 calories a day for females and 1,400 calories a day for males, which is extremely low.

All plans are high in protein, which has been shown to help reduce body weight, fat mass, and appetite (4, 5, 6, 7).

Depending on whether you purchase the full plan with breakfast, lunch, and dinner, or limited plans with lunch and dinner only, prices range from $10.99–$13.50 per serving. Snacks are all available as add-ons. These are roughly 150 calories each.

Some of the meals offered include Lasagna with Garden Marinara, Salmon with Dill Mustard Sauce, and Meatloaf with Bourbon Glaze.

BistroMD says that they follow a strict shipping schedule, so shipping dates for your meals aren’t able to be customized, but you are given tracking information so you’ll know in advance when to expect your meals.

This also includes personalized support from a registered dietitian, which can help foster health-promoting eating habits to support long-term weight loss (8).

Best meal delivery service for clean eating

Trifecta Nutrition

• Price: starts at $15.80 per meal
• Subscription: 1–4 meals per day for 5 or 7 days per week, delivered weekly
• Who it’s good for: those following any dietary lifestyle with health-promoting benefits like the keto meal plan which is designed for those following a keto diet
• Sample meal: Beanless Chili Con Carne
• Shipping cost: free shipping to all 50 states

Trifecta Nutrition is a meal delivery service that claims to be scientifically backed and makes it easy to follow certain dietary plans. Trifecta offers keto, vegan, vegetarian, and “clean” meal plans.

Trifecta Nutrition offers a rotating menu of fully prepared breakfast, lunch, and dinner options that can be heated, plated, and enjoyed with little to no effort.

All meals are made using organic ingredients and sustainably sourced seafood and grass-fed meat.

Meals are also macro-balanced, meaning Trifecta aims to help you hit protein, carb, and fat content goals by making sure each meal is balanced with lean proteins, complex carbs, and vegetables.

Meals on the sample menu at the time of this writing include chicken pesto pasta, salmon and wild rice, and roasted chicken breast with asparagus. All meals are organic, and menu options vary based on what meal plan you choose.

Each week, you can select between 1–4 keto-friendly meals per day and can opt to receive meals either 5 or 7 days per week.

Trifecta aims to have meals delivered on Saturdays to allow you to meal prep for the upcoming week.

They also have other meal plans other than keto, including paleo, gluten-free, and vegan options.

Their keto plan starts at $15.80 per serving, depending on the number of meals you select, and free shipping is available for all 50 states.

Best fresh meal delivery service

Factor

• Price: starting at $11 for their 18 meals per week program and up to $15 for their 4 meals per week option
• Subscription: 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, or 18 meals, delivered weekly
• Who it’s good for: people who want to improve their diet quality, lose weight, or follow a keto, paleo, gluten-free, or vegan lifestyle
• Sample meal: Buffalo Chicken Breast with Pepper Jack Cauliflower Mash, Roasted Broccoli, and Ranch Dressing
• Shipping cost: $9.99 shipping fee

Factor is a meal subscription service that delivers nutrient-rich, fully prepared meals straight to your door.

Each week, you can select from a new menu that includes the following options: Chef’s Choice, Keto, Calorie Smart, and Vegan + Vegetarian.

Their Calorie Smart option includes meals that are under 550 calories each to help customers stay within their caloric deficit goals.

Factor meals feature grass-fed and pasture-raised meat and are free from refined sugars and genetically modified ingredients. Other meal plans will include meals over this calorie threshold, so if you’re looking to maintain a caloric deficit, you may want to pay close attention to the nutrition labels of other individual meals.

Some of the menu items include Keto Supreme Pizza Casserole, Charred Corn Elote Bowls, and Creole Shrimp Jambalaya.

Each subscription includes a 20-minute consultation with a registered dietitian, while monthly coaching packages are available for an additional fee.

You can choose between 4, 6, 8, 12, or 18 meals per week, and the price is $11–$15 per serving, depending on how many meals you purchase. As one of the highest price-point options on the market, it may be more difficult to follow long term compared with other eating plans.

The exact date that meals are delivered depends on your zip code, but the cutoff date to order menu items is by end of day Wednesday to ensure chefs have enough time to prepare your meals.

Best overall meal delivery service

Blue Apron

• Price: starting at $8 for their 4-serving, 4 meals per week plan up to $12 for their 2-serving, twice a week plan
• Subscription: 2 or 4 servings for 2–4 meals per week, delivered weekly
• Who it’s good for: people who like to cook and want to add nutrient-rich meals to their diet
• Sample meal: Southern-Style Chicken and Creamy Relish with Asparagus and Rice
• Shipping cost: $9.99 shipping fee

Blue Apron is a popular meal kit service that provides nutritious meals that are made with sustainably sourced ingredients.

There are several plans available with 2–4 servings each, including vegetarian options featuring seasonal produce.

Each weekly box includes preportioned ingredients and simple recipes so you can prepare fresh and healthy meals at home.

Some of the recipes you may be able to choose from include Miso Butter Scallops, Southern Chicken and Creamy Relish, and Beef Enchiladas Rojas.

Depending on which plan you select, the cost is roughly $8–$12 per serving, making it one of the most affordable options on the market.

Blue Apron is one of the few delivery services that allows you to choose your own delivery day, and you’re allowed to change your delivery day anytime by going to your account settings.

Those looking to lose weight can use Blue Apron as part of WW, a weight loss program that uses a points system.

According to a study that WW funded involving 1,267 people, following a WW diet for 1 year was more effective for weight loss than using self-help materials and brief nutrition counseling sessions (9).

That said, Blue Apron isn’t as customizable as other meal delivery services and may not be a good fit for those with food sensitivities or specific dietary restrictions.

Additionally, Blue Apron offers “Heat and Eat” meals that include pre-made, microwavable meals for customers who don’t have the time to cook. Additionally, unlike other meal delivery services Blue Apron also offers applicances such as knives and aprons along with “pantry staples,” which include a variet of spices.

Best vegan meal delivery service

Purple Carrot

• Price: starts at $9.99 per serving for meal kits and $12.99 per serving for prepared meals and $13.25 for meal kit meals
• Subscription: 2 servings for 3–4 meals per week or 4 servings for 2–3 meals per week, delivered weekly
• Who it’s good for: people looking to lose weight, eat more nutrient-dense foods, or follow a vegan diet
• Sample meal: Tamarind Curry Noodles with Grilled Tofu and Ginger Vegetable Stir-Fry
• Shipping cost: additional $8 shipping fee for orders less than $85, but those orders $85 and higher qualify for free shipping

Purple Carrot is a strictly plant-based meal delivery service that offers nutrient-rich vegan prepared meals and meal kits to help promote weight loss and overall health.

The prepared meal plan options include a 2-serving option with either 3 or 4 meals per week or a 4-serving option with 2 or 3 meals per week, ranging from $10–$13 per serving. The meal kit options similarly include a 2-serving option with either 3 or 4 meals per week or a 4-serving option with 2 or 3 meals per week, though it seems to be slightly more expensive than the prepared meals.

For both the meal kit and prepared meal plans, you can customize your meals or choose specific meal preferences like High Protein, Gluten-Free, or Quick & Easy. You can even customize your order to include a mixture of both prepared meals and meal kits.

You’re able to pick the meals you want from the weekly menu and add up to 3 extras to any 2-serving plan or 1 extra to any 4-serving plan. Extras include breakfast, lunch, and snacks.

Purple Carrot offers a wide variety of meal options, including items such as crispy black bean burgers with avocado spinach salad and lime aioli, crispy sheet pan tofu with midnight grains and miso power dressing, and kale pesto cavatappi with charred peppers and sun-dried tomatoes.

Meals are delivered on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday of each week, depending on your location, and weekly boxes can be skipped or canceled in your account settings. Each weekly meal kit box contains premeasured ingredients, complete with recipes and nutritional information for each meal.

Just keep in mind that the Purple Carrot meal kit option requires basic cooking skills and can be more labor-intensive than its prepared meal option, so this option may not be a great fit for everyone.

Studies show that people who follow a vegetarian diet tend to have a lower body mass index (BMI) than non-vegetarians. Additionally, other research suggests that switching to a vegetarian diet may aid weight loss (1, 2, 3).

Best flexible meal delivery service

Freshly

• Price: starting at $8.99 per meal for their 12-meal plan and up to $11.79 per meal for their 4-meal plan
• Subscription: 4, 6, 8, 10, or 12 meals per week, delivered weekly
• Who it’s good for: people or families who want to eat nutritious meals but don’t have time to cook
• Sample meal: Savory-Sweet Chicken Teriyaki Bowl
• Shipping cost: $9.99 for 4–9 meals per week, $10.99 for 10–11 meals per week, and $11.99 for 12 meals per week

Freshly is a meal delivery service that delivers convenient, prepackaged, nutritious, and ready-to-eat meals.

They offer nutritionally balanced meals prepared using minimally processed, high quality ingredients.

Several plans are available including Signature, Plant, and Freshly Fit. These include low calorie, low carb, plant-based, and gluten-, dairy-, and peanut-free options.

Their Freshly Fit plan specifically offers calorie-portioned, single-serving prepared meals that range between 240 and 480 calories. Many of these meals are relatively low carb, high protein meals.

The plans also vary based on how many meals you’d like, ranging from 4, 6, 8, 10, or 12 meals per week. Most of the meals offered are single-serving, with a few “multi-serve” options like grilled chicken or gluten-free mac and cheese.

Freshly plans start at around $11.79 per meal for 4 meals per week, while bigger plans with up to 12 meals are around $8.99 per meal for the same duration.

Popular menu items include Sesame-Ginger Chicken and Noodles with Stir-Fried Veggies, Pork Carnitas with Basmati Rice, Black Beans and Corn, and Chicken Tikka Masala.

You can also pick the delivery date that’s more convenient for you, and weekly packages can be skipped or canceled in your account settings.

While some of their meals may contain major food allergens, they’re prepared in a gluten-free-certified facility, and chefs must keep allergen-containing ingredients separated, covered, and labeled.

However, cross-contamination can still happen. Therefore, people with severe allergies should verify with their healthcare professional first to see if their meals would be a good fit.

Best organic meal delivery service

Sunbasket

• Price: prepared meals start at $9.99 per serving, and meal kits start at $11.50 per serving
• Subscription: 4–10 single-serving meals per week or 2–4 servings for 2–5 meals per week
• Who it’s good for: health-conscious people who prioritize organic ingredients
• Sample meal: Black Angus Steak Salad with Lemon-Pepper Marinated Beans
• Shipping cost: free on your first order, then a $9.99 shipping fee

Sunbasket is a meal plan delivery system that offers both meal kits with preportioned ingredients and easy recipes or prepared meals to just heat and eat.

It offers multiple weekly menus, including paleo, vegetarian, pescatarian, low carb, low calorie, Mediterranean, gluten-free, and diabetes-friendly.

While it focuses on providing nutritious dinner options, their meals can make great lunches too. It also has a market section featuring nutrient-rich breakfast, lunch, and snack products.

Sunbasket plans also vary based on how many people you need to feed. Its Fresh & Ready prepared meal plans serve one and start at $9.99 per serving. Yet, its meal kits start at $11.50 per serving and offer flexible serving sizes that serve 2–4 people — great for couples and families.

Some menu items are Broccoli Mac and Cheese, Butter Chicken, and Spaghetti Alla Beef Bolognese. You can also easily skip or cancel your weekly deliveries as long as you make your changes before their weekly cutoff on Wednesdays.

Lastly, Sunbasket is a USDA-certified organic service that focuses on using responsibly raised meats and sustainably sourced seafood.

Studies show that consuming organic foods may reduce the risk of allergic disease and adult overweight and obesity and that organic food consumers tend to have a lower incidence of chronic diseases than non-consumers (10, 11).

Meal delivery service comparison table

Take a look at how these meal deliveries for weight loss compare:

How to choose

• Price. Make sure to choose the meal delivery service that best fits your weekly or monthly food or grocery budget, and don’t forget to consider shipping costs and whether you’ll have to shop for additional meals or foods.
• High quality ingredients. Pay special attention to the ingredients, namely their freshness and whether they use unrefined and minimally processed foods. Also, high quality meats and produce, such as grass-fed or organic items are a plus.
• Nutritional information. Look for services that offer nutritionally balanced meals or disclose each meal’s nutritional information. That way, you’ll better understand your calorie and macros intake.
• Variety. Look for alternatives that offer a varied menu, which will prevent you from getting bored with their dishes. It is also important that they adapt to your specific diet, be it omnivorous, vegan, gluten-free, low carb, etc.
• Convenience. Whether you have time to do a little cooking or just have a few minutes to warm up and eat, choose an option that meets your convenience needs. This will help you avoid wasting food and time.

Can a meal delivery service help you lose weight?

Meal delivery services can be strategic allies for weight loss for multiple reasons, such as helping with portion control and improving dietary variety.

Portion sizes are directly linked to energy intake, so reducing them is recommended as a weight loss strategy if you’re looking to reach a calorie deficit. Meal delivery services help you with portion control by providing preportioned meals with a fixed and known total calorie and macronutrient content (12, 13).

In addition, meal delivery services can help improve your diet quality by prioritizing complex carbs, lean proteins, and adding more veggies — and thus fiber — to your days, which promote weight loss by facilitating an energy deficit (14, 15).

On the one hand, added fiber from complex carbs and veggies helps reduce your caloric intake by increasing feelings of fullness and reducing the digestibility of fats, leading to an increased fecal energy excretion and reduced energy absorption (16).

On the other hand, proteins help enhance body composition by reducing fat mass while preserving muscle mass. They also increase feelings of fullness by raising the levels of hunger-reducing hormones such as glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), cholecystokinin (CCK), and peptide tyrosine-tyrosine (PYY), thus reducing your energy intake (17, 18).

Lastly, research shows that exposure to greater healthful food variety — which is the case with most meal delivery services — can increase the intake of low calorie, energy-dense foods like fruits and vegetables, helping support and sustain weight loss (19).

Healthy ways to lose weight

Here are 5 healthy and quick tips to help you lose weight:

• Maintain a temporary calorie deficit. Maintaining a temporary and controlled calorie deficit leads to you using more energy than you gain via the foods you eat (negative energy balance) that results in weight loss with a lower risk of weight regain due to metabolic adaptations (20).
• Limit processed foods. High intakes of processed foods — such as sugary drinks, fast food, sweets, and even diet foods — cause excess calorie intake that leads to weight gain while providing little to no nutrients at all (21).
• Staying physical active. Increasing your physical activity or exercise also helps with losing weight and maintaining weight by creating a negative energy balance (22).
• Get enough sleep. Sleep deprivation is associated with weight gain due to hormonal changes that may alter the metabolism of sugars and behavioral changes that increase caloric intake. Thus, evidence recommends adults get at least 7 hours of sleep (23).

Check out this article for more science-backed tips on losing weight healthily and sustainably.

Frequently asked questions

Can you lose weight on HelloFresh meals?

Weight loss is achieved by reaching and maintaining a calorie deficit. Yet, because caloric needs are influenced by physical activity, height, and age, among other factors, one person’s caloric deficit can differ significantly from another person’s (24).

HelloFresh offers six different plans, including a lower calorie option called Calorie Smart, which provides meals under 650 calories per serving.

Consuming 650 calories per meal can easily fit into a caloric deficit. If it doesn’t match yours, you could always plan around the rest of your daily meals to avoid a calorie surplus.

That said, weight loss is not guaranteed.

Does Weight Watchers still deliver food?

Weight Watchers (WW) is a weight loss program that uses a point system to promote a calorie deficit by encouraging nutrient-rich eating choices.

While it provides over 11,500 meal ideas and recipes, it is not a meal delivery system and thus, it does not deliver foods.

However, most meal delivery systems, such as Blue Apron, can be used as part of WW. Alternatively, you can always keep track of your meals on the WW app, which helps convert your food intake into program points.

Take a look at this review to learn more about the new Weight Watchers program: myWW+.

Does Noom really work?

The Noom Diet is a weight loss app that, like WW, encourages eating low calorie, nutrient-dense foods to achieve a calorie deficit.

It calculates your calorie budget depending on a series of questions and your specific weight loss goal. It also color-codes foods depending on their nutritional profile to encourage nutrient-dense food choices. You just need to track your food intake and avoid going over your calorie budget.

Therefore, if you stick to your recommended calorie deficit, you will most likely lose weight. In fact, a study involving 35,921 Noom app users with obesity and overweight found that 77.9% of users reported a reduction in body weight while using the app (24).

However, calorie tracking is not for everyone, and the Noom membership is at a higher price point.

Head to this Noom diet review if you want to know more about the diet.

The bottom line

There are many meal delivery services available that can help you reach your weight loss goals — each of which varies in price, flexibility, and effectiveness.

They also vary by the amount of time and preparation they require, with some offering fully prepared meals and others providing recipes and preportioned ingredients to allow you to make your own nutritious meals at home.

With a bit of research and experimentation, you can likely find a plan that works for you.