Here's Which Meal Kit Service You Should Try, Based On A Few Key Factors

If you’ve been seeking a more convenient way to reap the benefits of eating healthy at home, chances are you might have tried a few meal kit services. These companies take the guesswork out of meal planning and prepping by bringing healthy recipes right to your door. We've tested what seems like every meal delivery service under the sun, and let's just say it takes a bit of comparing and contrasting to find out which is the best your individual health goals. Consider this your Venn Diagram for two of the most popular meal kit subscriptions, Blue Apron vs. Green Chef.

There's a subscription out there for nearly every palette, dietary need, and price point. But after extensive research and testing, we’ve found that these two companies stand out for their healthy, delicious recipes and high-quality ingredients. Below, we’ll help you discover if Blue Apron or Green Chef is worth trying in your own kitchen. Pro tip: Both services offer pretty massive first-time-customer offers, with easy and hassle-free cancellation policies.

Blue Apron vs. Green Chef: Quick facts

Blue Apron

Cost per meal:

From $7.99 per serving

Delivery fee:

Free shipping

Dietary considerations:

Weight watchersVegetarianLow-carb

Organic ingredients:

Some produce

Who should try it?

If eating organic is important to you, but so is saving money, Blue Apron is a great choice. While not every single ingredient is organic, the company uses USDA-certified organic ingredients whenever possible. Every ingredient is certified non-GMO. Blue Apron is Weight Watchers-approved, making it a good option for any participants who want a simple way to stick with the program. Wine lovers will also enjoy the fact that each meal comes with a recommended pairing.

Who should skip it?

While Blue Apron does meet a variety of preferences, those with severe food allergies or strict dietary restrictions may want to look for a meal delivery service with more customization options. Households of more than four people may also find that the serving sizes are not practical.

Green Chef

Cost per meal:

From $11.99 per serving

Dietary considerations:

VegetarianKetoVeganMediterraneanGluten-free

Organic ingredients:

Produce certified USDA organicMeats/animal proteins from high quality farms with welfare standards

Who should try it?

Those who value clean eating and organic, ethically sourced ingredients will be impressed by Green Chef. Additionally, Green Chef is a great option for people on a specialty diet such as keto, paleo, vegan, pescatarian, Mediterranean, or gluten-free.

Who should skip it?

If you're on a tight budget, you might want to opt for a meal service that's a bit more affordable. While you are getting high quality, delicious meals with Green Chef, it is slightly more expensive than Blue Apron and other cheaper meal delivery services.

Pros:

Cons:

Pros:

Cons:

Singing up for Blue Apron is simple. You’ll first select a category preference for recipes, which will determine your recommended meals. Unfortunately there is not an option to filter recipes by gluten-free, Whole30, or keto; the only specialized diet the menu preferences do cater to is plant-based. It’s worth noting that you won't outwardly see Mediterranean diet or Weight Watchers on the plans to choose from, but Blue Apron's Wellness plan follows similar basics to the Mediterranean diet (whole ingredients and healthy fats) while the Signature plan has Weight Watcher approved recipes.

Blue Apron menu categories:

Chef Favorites: the kitchen’s top picks

Wellness: nutritionist-approved recipes

Family Friendly: kid-approved meals for the whole family

Fast & Easy: time-saving recipes

Veggies: entirely plant-based recipes

Next, you’ll decide how many meals per week you’d like to receive (two to five) and how many servings you’d like per meal (two or four). Once you enter your contact information, the next step is to select your meals. The best way to find out if Blue Apron will appeal to you is to browse the menu items for yourself, which you can do for free without creating an account (not every meal delivery service offers this!).

Blue Apron recently added a wine subscription with specific pairings for each recipe, which can be added at this point in the meal selection process.

A look at what's on the Blue Apron menu this week:

Green Chef’s signup is similar to other meal kit delivery services, but leaps and bounds simpler to filter by dietary needs. You'll always have access to all 30 weekly recipes, but you can set your preferences to gluten free, vegan, vegetarian, keto, Mediterranean, plant-based, and more so you'll see the most relevant recipes first. If your preferences change, you can access and update them at any time in your account settings.

Green Chef menu categories:

Keto & paleo: high-protein and lower-carb recipes that exclude gluten, grains, soy, and legumes

Vegetarian: meatless, plant-based recipes (may include some animal products like dairy and eggs)

Fast & fit: calorie-conscious recipes that can be prepared in 25 minutes or less

Vegan: recipes exclude all animal products, featuring vegetables and plant-based proteins

Mediterranean: Mediterranean-inspired recipes featuring lots of vegetables and healthy fats

Gluten free: recipes that feature gluten-free and soy-free ingredients

Once your profile is set up, meals will be recommended for you and you can easily swap them out for other recipes by exploring the weekly menu options. You’ll be able to filter recipes by dietary needs, minimal prep time, adventurous recipes, calories, and so on.

Note: When you register, you’ll automatically be enrolled for weekly delivery—which you can cancel at any time. You can edit your delivery to every other week or once a month. From there, you can skip weeks at any time. After reading reviews, customers seem to be impressed with the overall quality of the ingredients that arrived in their boxes. Fresh and unbruised produce and uncracked eggs? We love to see it.

A look at what's on the Green Chef menu this week:

Blue Apron

Green Chef

Meal delivery kits, by nature, aren’t the most environmentally friendly concept. More often than not, these companies use single-use plastics and materials in every box.

Green Chef claims to be the most sustainable meal kit because it offsets 100% of its carbon emissions and plastic packing in every box. The brand says this results in a 25% lower carbon footprint than other meal kit services. Our testers did notice that Green Chef's packaging doesn’t contain as much plastic as other meal kits. The packaging is mostly recyclable, including the box, insulation, ice packs, and paper bags. Green Chef is also the first USDA-certified meal kit company with organic produce and eggs and proteins sourced from farms with high quality animal welfare standards.

In comparison, Blue Apron is a bit more plastic heavy. Many ingredients will arrive in hard plastic containers that you can toss into your recycling bin, but some plastic bags and films must be dropped off at a recycling center. Blue Apron did hit its goal for carbon neutrality in March 2022, making it a somewhat-sustainable choice. The brand states that its mission is to make all packaging either compostable, reusable, or recyclable by the end of 2025.

Check out our picks for the best sustainable meal delivery services.