There are different types of online delivery services on Android that allow you to request an order from a restaurant or grocery store. But what if you wanted to cook your own food at home while trying out different recipes? That’s where a meal kit service app comes into play.
Better yet, a meal kit service app saves you time, since you don’t need to go to the store every time you want to cook a new recipe. The question is, what is the best meal kit app to try out different recipes? Let’s find out.
What is a meal kit service app?
A meal kit service delivers pre-measured ingredients with recipes to your door. If you want to order, you can choose your favorite cuisines in a meal kit service app and a courier will deliver all the ingredients you need in a refrigerated box to your door.
This is convenient for people who find it tedious to buy fresh ingredients for cooking every day or week. It’s also a good idea to use a meal kit service app if you have a disability or are a senior. Not to mention, you can use it to learn how to cook different varieties of food each week.
1. Hello cool
With over 10 million downloads, HelloFresh is one of the most popular meal kit service apps for Android. It comes with more than 40 diverse menu options. Most impressively, the menus include meals for children and diabetics, making it convenient for families with different dietary preferences.
Once you log into the app, you can customize your meal plan with meat, vegetable, family, calorie-smart, pescatarian, and quick cook options. After choosing a dining plan, you can choose the number of people that will be at the table. This helps measure food potions to minimize waste.
With meal plans starting at $8 per serving, HelloFresh can be more affordable compared to some retail stores. Similarly, it gives you the option to choose between two and five meals a week. As for delivery standards, ingredients are carefully packed in an insulated box with ice that can keep your order cool for up to 24 hours.
However, HelloFresh charges an additional $10 shipping fee. Also, it does not include seasonings like salt and black pepper in its delivery.
Discharge: hellofresh (Free, subscription required)
2. Home Chef
If you love quick and easy recipes, you should consider Home Chef. Most of her recipes take an average of 20 minutes to prepare. Plus, they’re easy to follow and include illustrations to help you through the cooking process.
When you sign up, you can customize your menu to suit your diet, lifestyle, and preferences. This means that if you have food allergies, you can swap out an ingredient. Also, like most meal kit services, all ingredients are packaged in an insulated box to keep them fresh.
Another interesting thing is that you can skip a meal without any penalty; this is useful if you are traveling out of town. The other side of the coin is that the Home Chef app includes a section for more expensive premium recipes.
Discharge: home chef (Free, subscription required)
3. Blue apron
Blue Apron is convenient if you are looking for recipes inspired by world cuisine. This makes it ideal for people who love to try new dishes that are out of their comfort zone.
Most of the meals in the app are between $7.49 and $9.99 per serving. However, the more servings on your table, the cheaper the meals will be since it comes with free shipping. On the other hand, if you have a small order, you will need to pay $9.99 for the shipping fee.
Although Blue Apron can be more expensive than grocery stores for some recipes, they offer hormone-free meats, non-GMO plant ingredients, and sustainably sourced seafood. Not to mention, their meal plans are safe for diabetics and weight watchers.
But if you have many family members who have different food preferences, this app may not work for you. Your family-size meal plan does not offer meal options for individuals with special dietary preferences, unless you choose two servings.
Discharge: blue apron (Free, subscription required)
4. Sun basket
The Sunbasket app is ideal for anyone looking for a meal kit service that offers a creative and healthy meal. Most of their products are organic, and there is a wide range of options for vegetarians and pescatarians. Also includes diabetic and keto diet recipes.
Most of the recipes take about 20 minutes to prepare, as they include easy-to-follow recipe cards with illustrations. On top of that, Sunbasket also offers oven-ready meals that just require heating; this way, you’re also prepared for days when you don’t feel like cooking.
Although Sunbasket focuses on vegetarian meal kits, it also offers meat recipes, but they are more expensive with an average cost of between $15 and $17 per serving. On top of that, the meat recipes don’t include comfort foods like pork chops or meatloaf.
Unlike most Android meal kit apps, Sunbasket also offers an individual meal kit delivery option. You can also add groceries like coffee, sugar, snacks, and bread to your box.
Discharge: sun basket (Free, subscription required)
5. All dishes
EveryPlate offers a variety of inexpensive recipes with meal kit boxes starting at $5.49; its price is constant whether you buy two servings or more. However, if you are interested in the seafood and steak options, you have to pay an extra $3 as they are only available on their premium subscription.
EveryPlate features 16 weekly menus consisting of popular comfort food recipes such as chicken pot pie, pork chops, meatloaf, tacos and rice. You can choose three to five meals per week with two to four servings per meal.
If you are on a strict diet, each ingredient in this app comes with dietary information to help you control your calorie count. On the other hand, if you enjoy a vegan diet, this app may not work for you as it focuses more on comfort foods with more meat-based recipes.
Discharge: Each plate (Free, subscription required)
A meal kit service app saves you time
Using a meal kit service app is like sending your assistant to shop on your behalf. Better yet, a meal kit service makes it easy to try different recipes and enhance your culinary creativity. Another benefit is that you can choose healthy eating plans and avoid wasting food. Give them a try to see which one suits you best.