Who has time to meal plan, grocery shop, put it all away, chop it all up, and cook after a long day at school? Not teachers. Meal delivery services to the rescue. The convenient kits take all the hassle out of daily food prep or grocery shopping while providing healthy, tasty meals that fit into any budget and dietary needs. Plus, there are a ton out there that offer amazing discounts for teachers!
Here are the best meal delivery services and online grocers to save you time and keep you away from the drive-through.
(Just a heads up, WeAreTeachers may collect a share of sales from the links on this page. We only recommend items our team loves!)
1. Blue Apron
Price range: Starting at $7.49 per serving
You can feed your family a completely nutritious, delicious, and sustainably-farmed supper with these meal boxes. Everything you need to cook foodie-fabulous dinners is included in your fresh deliveries—from the proteins, produce, and spices to step-by-step instructions. Teachers can get $110 off deliveries and their first box shipped free through the Blue Apron Heroes program!
2. Home Bistro
Price range: Starting at $14.99 per serving
Home Bistro boasts gourmet meals crafted by celebrity chefs like Cat Cora from Iron Chef and Claudia Sandoval from Master Chef. The dishes are all pre-prepared and flash frozen, so all you have to do is heat up and enjoy. There is no subscription required and each meal option is priced individually.
3. Veestro
Price range: Starting at $12.82 per serving
A plant-based meal delivery service can help add more nutrient-packed veggies to your diet. Veestro offers a la carte food, meal packs, weight-loss options, or juice cleanses. There’s a protein meal pack for those trying to increase their plant-based protein. Or you can choose a meatless Monday option to ease into more vegan meals.
4. HelloFresh
Price range: Starting at $7.99 per serving
HelloFresh promises “delicious ingredients you’ll love to eat and simple recipes you’ll live to cook.” We especially like the family meal plan for its kid-friendly yet healthy meals and accessible price point. The company also offers a Hero Discount Program that gives teachers 50% off their first box and 10% off subsequent boxes for the next year.
5. Home Chef
Price range: Starting at $6.99 per serving
This meal delivery service sets itself apart by inviting customers to pick the chef-inspired meals they would like to try. Each meal kit is perfectly measured so you can skip the grocery store and reduce waste. Just go straight to cooking a delicious meal. Home Chef offers 50% off the first box and 10% off all future boxes for teachers through their hero program.
6. Sunbasket
Price range: Fresh & Ready meals starting at $9.99 per serving, Meal Kits starting at $14.49 per serving
If speediness is what you’re looking for, Sunbasket might be the winner for you. The pre-made meals made from whole, farm-fresh ingredients can be prepared in as little as four minutes. They also offer do-it-yourself meal kits and cater to a variety of diet needs, including vegetarian, gluten-free, and diabetes-friendly options.
7. Factor_
Price range: Starting at $11 per serving
Factor_ (formerly known as Factor75) focuses on delivering healthy, ready-made meals crafted by their team of chefs and dietitians. All of the tasty dishes are free of hormones, antibiotics, refined sugars, and GMOs, and require zero prep.
8. Freshly
Price range: Starting at $8.99 per serving
Another convenient ready-made option, Freshly meals only take 3 minutes to zap in the microwave and are made with less sugar, less processed ingredients, and an overall emphasis on nutrition.
9. Splendid Spoon
Price range: Starting at $13 per serving
This plant-based meal delivery option offers read-to-eat smoothies, soups, grain bowls, and noodle dishes that are low in sugar and low in sodium. You also have more control over how much you want to spend by selecting from individually priced foods.
10. Green Chef
Price range: Starting at $6.50 per serving
Green Chef is HelloFresh’s sister company that is “all about eating and living green.” They provide recipes and meal kits catering to keto, paleo, Mediterranean, vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free lifestyles. The packaging is also almost exclusively made from recyclable, reusable, or compostable materials. They also provide a discount for teachers: 50% off your first box and 15% of the next 51 boxes.
11. Dinnerly
Price range: Starting at $4.69 per serving
The major difference between Dinnerly and other meal delivery services is their digital recipe cards. By not printing them out, they’re able to cut back on the price of each kit. Plus, you won’t have to worry about losing the recipe or smudging the instructions while you cook!
12. EveryPlate
Price range: Starting at $4.99 per serving
EveryPlate focuses on simplicity with recipes that only have up to six steps, but still taste amazing. As they put it, “Our aim is to bring tasty value and convenience, not make you a chef.
13. Purple Carrot
Price range: Starting at $9.99 per serving
You can get the best of both worlds by choosing between Purple Carrot’s ready-made meals or meal kit delivery options. Either way, the company provides nutritious plant-based dishes that even meat-eaters will love.
14. Thrive Market
Price range: Free membership for teachers, individual product prices varied
This organic grocery delivery service makes healthy living easy and affordable. Thrive features all our favorite organic and non-GMO brands, priced at up to 30% off their regular retail grocery sticker price. Teachers also qualify for the Thrive Gives program which offers free membership, granting access to all the deals without paying monthly or annual fees.
15. Hungryroot
Price range: Starting at $65 per delivery
After taking a quiz to determine the best options for your particular needs, Hungryroot provides grocery deliveries filled with snacks, staples, and recipes. Everything they send must meet a three-point standard: nutritious food that’s made from whole, trusted ingredients, easy and quick to prepare in real life, and tastes amazing.
Did we miss your favorite meal delivery service? Share with us, and find more awesome products in our WeAreTeachers Deals group on Facebook.
Plus, check out our favorite mood-boosting snacks for long teaching days.
I have tried three of these with mixed results.
Home Chef has great variety but not always great quality in their ingredients. Lots of packets are used with preservatives and additives. If you don’t mind substituting your own fresh sauces this is great!
Blue Apron is great but only if you don’t have dietary or food issues. You can’t change your meals so if you don’t like one of the meals the only option is to skip all of them.
Hello Fresh was one I loved at first. The food was tasty and there was variety. Then I received six different shipments with food that had gone bad in them before the box got to me. I cancelled my subscription because I didn’t trust that I would get quality ingredients.
One other to consider is Martha Stewart’s program Marley Spoon. I haven’t tried it yet because your first box is determined for you without choices. I am waiting for a box that includes items I can eat to try it out.