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Food box and prepared meal service reviews

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Last updated: 08 November 2023
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We subscribed to five food box meal delivery services and six prepared meal delivery services and ordered and cooked/heated a selection of meals from each one to answer the following questions.

  • How easy is it to sign up, select meals and place orders?
  • Is the delivery timeframe specified?
  • Were all the correct meals/specified ingredients delivered?
  • Was the food adequately chilled on delivery?
  • Are the recipes easy to follow?
  • Are the ingredients fresh?
  • Are the recipe times (prep/cooking) and heating instructions accurate?
 
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If you enjoy cooking but don't want the hassle of shopping for ingredients or planning meals, then food box (meal kit) delivery services can be a good option. Or if you don't like cooking at all, prepared meal services might be what you're after.

Our meal delivery services buying guide explains the difference between food box (meal kit) and prepared meal delivery services, profiling the major players in each category and looking at whether meal delivery services are good value for money.

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Brand

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List of brands we tested in this review.

    Price

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    This is the average cost of a two-person box (three meals per week). Where different options are available, we've shown the cost of the 'classic' box. For food boxes, delivery is automatically included in the price, but not including discounts. For prepared meals, prices do not include delivery or any discounts.

    enter value/s in increments of 1 between 54 and 94.1

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    Meal type

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    Either food box or prepared meal service.

      Meal choices each week

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      How many different meals/recipes you can choose from each week. Where different options are available we've shown the options available for the 'classic' box. The number of meals available is subject to change.

      enter value/s in increments of i between 16 and 48

      Included in this review

      Members-only access
      • Average cost per person per meal
      • Recommended
      • Overall score
      • Performance score
      • Order accuracy score
      • Ordering and delivery score
      • Freshness score
      • Recipe score
      • Temperature score
      • Exact quantity of ingredients
      • Allergen information
      • Meal prep time
      • Weekly meal choices
      • Menu change frequency
      • Good points
      • Bad points
      • Other comments
      • Price
      • Type
      • Average cost for 4-person box with 3 meals per week
      • Delivery area (states)
      • Recipe card format
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