Meal Delivery Subscriptions Are Cheaper Than Takeout. Here’s How Much

Meal delivery services are plentiful in 2023, with extra popping into the class — and our social media feeds — on a regular basis. Ultimately rely, there have been effectively over two dozen meal subscriptions that make and ship nearly any kind of meals you would wish to almost any tackle within the continental US. Many of those providers, together with Recent N Lean, Blue Apron and Every day Harvest, are fairly tasty, wholesome and tremendous easy to arrange. However is meal supply value the fee? 

I am no stranger to calling in my favourite order to a neighborhood restaurant, however I do not at all times make the healthiest food or monetary selections in these hungry moments with a menu splayed out in entrance of me. With my month-to-month eats invoice hovering from some hard-to-break lockdown habits, I began questioning if meal delivery may pose a viable, extra budget-friendly different to all that takeout and supply. Maybe, a more healthy one, too. 

With dozens of nice meal kits and ready meal supply providers to choose from, all of which ship ready-to-eat meals or preportioned elements to cook dinner up into dinner, I got down to see how less expensive meal supply providers are than a typical takeout order. In some instances, meal kits and ready meal providers proved to be greater than 50% cheaper than takeout, and as much as 75% cheaper than supply through fee-happy apps reminiscent of DoorDash or Uber Eats.

This is how I did the math and a snapshot of how a lot meal supply prices in 2023. 

How a lot does the typical takeout meal price?

This is not probably the most simple reply since there is no such thing as a common pricing for takeout. As an alternative, we’ll have to make use of some ballpark figures and averages to discover a quantity to match to meal kits and ready meal providers.

Restaurant takeout prices range by area, however this report reveals the typical restaurant takeout meal prices round $13. To confirm, I priced out the price of takeout in my New York Metropolis borough of Brooklyn for a wide range of common dishes at midrange eating places. 

From there, I’ve taken the typical of these meals to search out an approximate price per serving for restaurant takeout. Common all these meals out and also you get $12.90 for the typical takeout meal. Fairly spot on with the opposite knowledge I discovered for common meal prices. In the event you wished to incorporate a few bucks towards a tip for the counter individual, it will be extra like $15. 

Supply is markedly dearer because it usually contains app service charges, supply costs and a much bigger tip. For supply, the typical price per meal with charges and costs is a whopping $21.80.

Whereas these are technically “one-serving” meals, you would definitely argue that the standard order of pad Thai, lamb curry or hen fried rice is nice for a couple of serving. That mentioned, a lot of the meal kits I’ve made are additionally good for extra servings than marketed. A meal package “for 2” is usually extra like three meals in my home, and I am a reasonably good eater (simply ask my mother). So let’s simply name {that a} wash.

Are meal kits cheaper than takeout?

In a earlier breakdown, we outlined how less expensive takeout classics are to make at home. In one other, we priced meal kits towards buying all the groceries to make yourself. Right here, we value out how less expensive it’s per serving to make use of a meal package versus ordering out. As a result of meal package plans range relying on what number of meals and servings you order, I used each the worth for a median, middle-of-the-pack plan and the most affordable plan for every meal service to see how they examine.

As proven under, budget-friendly meal kits reminiscent of EveryPlate and Dinnerly price roughly half as a lot as a typical takeout meal. In the event you order supply with all these added charges, your typical meal will price about thrice as a lot as the most affordable meal package service. Even the most costly meal kits price lower than the typical takeout meal. 

In the event you select the most affordable plans — often out there if you buy extra meals per week — from the varied providers, the financial savings are higher. The cheapest meal kits are about one-third the price of takeout on common and greater than 75% inexpensive than supply.”

How less expensive is ready meal supply than takeout?

Ready meal providers reminiscent of Fresh N Lean, CookUnity and Factor are a more in-depth match to takeout and supply since there is no such thing as a prep or cooking required, simply heating and consuming. Whereas the delta between ready meal supply and takeout is smaller than with meal kits, most providers are nonetheless cheaper than most orders of takeout and completely cheaper than supply, which sits at almost $22 per meal. 

In the event you select a service reminiscent of Mosaic Foods (considered one of my favorites) which has bigger family-size meals, you will save massive over takeout with parts clocking in at $6, far lower than the price of the typical takeout meal. 

Is meal supply more healthy than takeout?

There isn’t any simple technique to measure the general healthiness of meal supply versus meal kits or ready meal supply. However I’ll say this from my very own expertise: In the event you’re selecting meals in bulk for the week or weeks forward on an information-packed web site, you are most likely extra more likely to choose some wholesome, protein-packed dishes than you’d be if you happen to’re hungry within the second, perusing a takeout menu with all its tantalizing choices. 

Meal kits and meal supply providers present you all of the elements and dietary data as you are deciding on them, together with energy, carbs, sugar and salt so you can also make a sober and measured determination as to what you need in your eating desk within the coming days and weeks. 

What is the catch? With meal kits, you will should do some cooking however most of them do all of the measuring for you upfront and a few even do the prep, so dinner can take as little as 20 minutes from begin to end. Providers reminiscent of Blue Apron and Home Chef even have ready-to-cook meals which take as little as 5 minutes to arrange, plus time to cook dinner. Ready meal supply extra intently resembles the comfort of takeout. 

The underside line: Meal kits or ready meal supply could possibly be the reply to your restaurant takeout funds woes. Select the proper one, like several from this CNET-tested listing of the best healthy meal delivery services, and it’d simply kick your wholesome consuming habits into gear, too. 

Foods and drinks supply suggestions