6 Best Prepared Meal Delivery Services, Tested & Reviewed (2025)

I also thought the quality of the heat-and-eat meals varied. For instance, the Tomatillo Pulled Pork with Rice had a nice depth of flavor and high-quality-seeming protein (it definitely rivaled anything you’d get from Chipotle), but the Asian-Style Chicken Bowl was a let-down. The sauce was cloying and the chicken a little chewy.

It’s worth noting that none of the HelloFresh ready-made meals I tried were spicy or had challenging flavors, even when their names indicated that might be the case (see: Chipotle Mac and Cheese). This is good news for people who don’t like spice, but could be disappointing for folks who prefer a kick.

Who is HelloFresh best for? Picky eaters, families with kids, or people prioritizing ease at mealtime.

Tested and reviewed by: Wilder Davies, commerce writer

About Gardencup: Gardencup is a food delivery service specializing in salads and bowls served in, you guessed it, a cup. Their meals are designed to be easily taken on the go—just add your dressing and shake in the provided jar, no heating or additional dishware required.

Ordering process: The ordering process is extremely easy. All you have to do is click through their menu and decide which Gardencups you want in your shipment. You can get either six or nine cups per shipment, and they have a generous selection of salads packed with toppings and protein. The menu skews toward meat, but there are vegetarian options as well. Beyond salads, they also offer a few noodle and grain bowls, soups, fresh fruit, and snack cups.

What we love: Gardencup’s menu is based on a modest selection of crowd pleasers. The salads are the kind you’d recognize from [YOUR PARTICULAR SHOPPING MALL]’s casual American restaurant chain—there’s a Caesar, a cobb, a southwest chicken, a wedge—you can probably anticipate the others. This meant that every Gardencup I had tasted familiar. For a prepared meal service geared towards weekday convenience, I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing. They are generous with the meat, with the salads averaging around 30 grams of protein, which left me feeling full by the time I finished eating.

The salads arrived quite fresh, but I was apprehensive at first as to how they’d hold up in the fridge over the course of a week. However, come day six I found the last salad to be as crispy as the first, and there was nothing funky going on with the meat or other toppings.

What we’d leave: I tried one week with meat and one week without, and the vegetarian and vegan cups felt significantly less substantial. If you don’t eat meat, I don’t think I’d recommend Gardencup to you. The options will be a lot more limited and you’ll probably find yourself wanting to doctor things up.

This is a smaller gripe, and not wholly negative, but almost all of the Gardencups came so full of ingredients that they didn’t mix very well from shaking alone. Unless you really need to eat it on the go, I’d suggest pouring it out into a bowl.

Who is Gardencup best for? Office lunches and people who really love salad.

The best prepared meal delivery service for wellness heads: Sakara

Tester: Emma Laperruque, associate director of cooking

Sakara is a prepared meal delivery service with a focus on nutrient- and plant-rich meals made with whole foods, all of which are gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan. They have two programs to choose between: a five-day “detox” and their Signature Nutrition Program, which is what Emma tested.

The ordering process: When you go to sign up for Sakara’s Signature Nutrition Program, you’ll choose between a plan that includes breakfast, lunch, and dinner, or one that includes just lunch and dinner. Sakara rolls out a new set menu every week, and there are no substitutions allowed, so the ordering process is mandatorily simple. You can choose between ordering a weekly subscription, or prepaying for 1, 4, 8, or 12 weeks at a time.

What we love: “All of the meals I received were straightforward and quick to prepare. A lot of them required no heating at all (for example, a parfait for breakfast or a salad for lunch),” says Emma. While some meals were designed to be briefly heated in an oven, Emma found that a quick zap in the microwave could also do the trick.

While breakfasts veered towards the sweet, Emma notes “these were not sweet sweets—they were super balanced, which I appreciated.” Some favorites were a pumpkin pie parfait with a maple-cinnamon granola and the coconut praline granola with cacao mylk.

“Sakara’s salads are excellent—a reliable delight to dig into in the middle of a busy workday,” says Emma. “They’re generously portioned, so you have enough fuel to power you through the afternoon. And they’re thoughtfully designed with a range of textures and colors.” Emma particularly liked the dressings, many of which she’d buy by the bottle if she could. Dinners were tasty, too, if perhaps a bit small depending what your appetite is.

What I didn’t like about Sakara: As someone who eats wheat flour, Emma notes that the gluten-free baked goods were hit or miss. But the main downside to Sakara is the pricing, which is $140–$465(!) per week depending on your plan. “But if you’re someone who prioritizes wellness and sees food as a source of nourishment and healing, you’ll like what you get. It’s also a great option for people who are gluten-free or vegan,” says Emma.

Who is Sakara is best for: Wellness-focused people or those with specific dietary needs.

Other prepared meal delivery services we tested

Territory’s fully prepared meals are all gluten-, refined sugar-, and dairy-free. “Ultimately, this is not a meal kit for someone who wants to eat with flavor in mind—speaking personally, I wouldn’t order this particular service again. That said, it may be a good option if you have very particular nutrition goals, like high-protein, gluten-free, or paleo,” says tester Shilpa Uskokovic.