Anyone have a recommendation for a meal box service?

HelloFresh and Blue Apron were both pretty good, but we stopped getting home food deliveries because there is just no flexibility. There are sides my family simply will not eat, and it seemed wasteful when I wound up tossing ingredients. We're apparently not adventurous enough for those boxes.

HelloFresh has a vegetarian box which I used to get quite often. It was nice to have dinner and a leftover meal for lunch/dinner the next day. The portions were quite large and I thought the food was great.

I like the flexibility with Plated, where you can change around the number of servings and number of meals per week. Sunbasket is a little less flexible - I think meals have to be for 2 or 4 servings, but you can still choose how many meals. Also with Plated, you choose from all the offerings they have for the week. Sunbasket you have to choose items from one menu or the other, although you can switch which menu easily.

At the moment I'm getting Blue Apron AND HelloFresh, but I'm only getting each one like once a month. I get overwhelmed by too many dinner boxes.  Also just so you know, both of them offer the option of three dinners for two people (less expensive) or two dinners for four people (more expensive).

I can give you a free week of Blue Apron if you like. I actually have two to give away, so anyone else interested? Please send me your first and last name and email address, and they'll send you the thing. You have to give them a credit card so they can send more dinners, but you can quit or skip a week any time you like.

ETA both of my freebies are gone now. Enjoy!

My daughter really liked blue apron. But it is expensive.

We got the free box and then bought her 2 more.

If you don't mind the money, purple carrot looks really good. Really good. My husband would even eat the food from it.

Just a quick note from a food scientist here...meal boxes are getting better but are still not where they need to be food safety-wise. Studies have shown that the main issue is perishable ingredients, particularly meats, arriving over 40 degrees Fahrenheit. There is no way to know how long the food was above temperature so bacterial growth is possible. The companies aren't putting enough ice in the boxes. I don't know for sure what kind of ice they were using, but I suspect just regular "blue ice" packets. Those often aren't adequate to keep food cold for more than 24 hours. Shipping on dry ice would be better but that is considered a hazardous substance to ship so special precautions have to be taken by the sender. If you enjoy your delivered meals, it's best to take the temperature of the food products (not the air in the box but the food itself) to be sure they are cold enough. If they are not, I would complain to the company and ask for a refund. Unless consumers complain, the companies won't know there is a problem.

Thanks for bringing this up. We had Blue Apron for a couple of months then switched to Home Chef, which I like much better. Our food comes in a box with insulation around the interior. Everything except the meat/fish is on top, usually with a couple of cold packs. Then there is a piece of cardboard and underneath are the meats/fish with more cold packs. The cold packs are always frozen solid when the food arrives, and I'm really a worrywort about food safety, but I've been satisfied with the temperature always. I'm going to check it with my fridge thermometer, though, next time I get a box.

I cannot recommend Blue Apron because of their poor business practices. Home Chef does offer 1-2 vegetarian options weekly. Their food is, on the whole, more simple, which we like. If anyone wants to try Home Chef I have coupons for $50 free food (enough for 2 meals, I think). Just send me a PM.

Hello Fresh over Blue Apron. Both have good recipes, but B A was more complex and longer prep to meal times.

Both my Blue Apron and HelloFresh boxes come with two gigantic (like 10" x 15") ice packs, and the meat has consistently been half-frozen or fully frozen when it arrives. When we got shrimp, I did cook it the same day to be safe. This has not been a problem for us. But I wasn't getting them at the height of summer, either.

I’m in the process of trying 4 different companies. I received a gift box for each from the Digital Press.
1. Plated - we’ve enjoyed all of our meals from them. I ordered a second box by not realizing I was immediately signed up for the weekly service when I signed up for my freebie. I like the food, the recipe is written with amounts so you could make it again with your own supplies, the ingredients are real not premade mixes. I have a dd with food sensitivities so I need to know what’s in my stuff.
2. Blue Apron - We’ve enjoyed them. Their recipes are written with amounts that you can make again. Their ingredients are real.
3. Hello Fresh- I’ve already canceled them. The meals weren’t as good as the other 2 and they used premade mixes with no ingredient list for a couple of the meals I received. Making the meal concept inconvenient for me. Their recipes are written without the actual amounts so it would be harder to duplicate. Their website was also hard to navigate.
4. Martha & Marley Spoon (?) this box arrives tomorrow, so I’ll let you know over the weekend.

So far Plated is my favorite followed by Blue Apron.

I love, love, love not having to meal plan for those meals and having everything portioned out.