Take the guesswork out of dinner with these prepared meal delivery services

NBC Select independently determines what we cover and recommend. When you click on or buy through our links, we earn a commission. Learn more .

After a long, busy day, cooking dinner may be the last thing you want to think about. Prepared meal delivery services remove the guesswork with low-effort, ready-to-eat meals that you can pop into your oven or microwave. Unlike meal kits, which come with individual ingredients you prepare and cook yourself, pre-made meal services can save a lot of time.

I’ve tested and written about meal delivery services for over five years. Below, I compile the best ones that I, along with my fellow NBC Select editors, have tried and loved. I also connected with chefs and nutritionists and included their favorites.

Selected. Our top picks

Want more from NBC Select? Sign up for our newsletter, The Selection, and shop smarter.

Best prepared meal delivery services of 2026

Best overall

Factor

Price is based on 10 meals per week with new member discount applied.

Factor has a weekly rotating menu of more than 100 prepared meals designed by dietitians. Lisa Young , an adjunct professor of nutrition at New York University, recommends this service because it caters to many diets and dietary needs, including keto, paleo, low-carb, vegetarian , plant-based and high-protein. You can choose from five plans, ranging from four meals per week up to 18 meals per week.

I tried Factor after the brand sent me a few boxes, and I found the meals to be both delicious and convenient — after a long day at work, I simply popped them into the oven and they were ready to eat in under 10 minutes. Though they don’t look the prettiest in their container, the meals are tasty and varied, which made me excited to eat dinner at the end of the day. I’m also someone who struggles with portion control, so these single-serve meals are satisfying and help me avoid that uncomfortably full feeling.

Experts also like that the service has a great price point for the quality of meals: “Factor is incredibly reasonably priced for the quality of health-oriented food they offer,” says Resnick.

Best variety

CookUnity

Price is based on eight meals per week with new member discount applied.

Cookunity has multiple plans depending on how many meals you want to receive, with subscriptions ranging from four to 16 meals per week. You can make your selections from a rotating menu of ready-to-eat options each week or have the service pick for you based on your preferences, including your choices of protein and any dietary restrictions like vegetarian, vegan, low-carb and gluten-free .

“The convenience is unbeatable — it also offers a ton of gluten-free and pescatarian options, so I didn’t feel limited by the menu at all,” says NBC Select reporter Zoe Malin . However, Malin did have to take out a few components of meals before microwaving them, like a kale salad or coleslaw, which was tricky and caused her to do more dishes (normally, she would reheat and eat meals out of the same disposable containers they came in). “This didn’t take away from eating the meal, but it did make prep more involved — if I was in a rush or wanted to heat something up at the office, it would be frustrating,” says Malin.

Cookunity is also a favorite of NBC Select senior editor Nikki Brown , who loves browsing and picking her meals each week. “It feels like grocery shopping, except I don’t have to push a cart or carry bags,” she says. There’s something for every type of diet, and the vegan and vegetarian options are hearty and filling, according to Brown. The meals are also easy to prepare: “All I have to do is remove the film and pop it into the oven for 15-30 minutes, depending on what it is,” says Brown.

You can flag any allergies or foods you don’t like, and the service will notify you if they appear in any meals on the menu. “I appreciate that they provide full ingredient lists, down to the individual ingredients in cheeses,” says Ariane Resnick , a special diet chef and certified nutritionist. The meals come in a reusable bag that you can send back to the company instead of having to break down boxes every week. The meals are fresh and have a refrigerated shelf life of about four to seven days, according to Cookunity.

Best for most dietary restrictions

BistroMD

Price is based on 20 meals per week with new member discount applied.

BistroMD is a single-serve, individualized plan, so this may not be a good option if you’re looking to feed a family or yourself and a partner. It lets you choose from over 150 chef-prepared meals based on your dietary needs. Lisa Moskovitz, a registered dietitian and CEO of NY Nutrition Group , recommends this service because it has various health-conscious plans — you can pick from five different programs: signature, gluten-free, heart healthy, diabetic and menopause. Each week, you’ll be able to customize which meals you receive.

The service also has an EATS (Essential And Tasty Snacks) program that provides healthy snacking options for either five or seven days for an additional charge, as well as a Men’s Snack Program that costs an additional $53 for three snacks a day for seven days, and a Women’s Snack Program that costs an additional $35 for two snacks daily for seven days.

Best vegan

Purple Carrot

Price is based on four meals per week for two people/servings with new member discount applied.

Purple Carrot has both prepared meals and meal kits, all of which are plant-based and include several gluten-free options. “Because it’s fully plant-based, Purple Carrot is an easy way for people to add more plant foods into their diets without having to fully convert to veganism,” says Resnick. She calls the meals a perfect mix of “familiar and innovative,” with options like kimchi grilled cheese and Baklava overnight oats.

Malin tried Purple Carrot after the brand sent her a few pre-made options, and she loves the convenience and taste of the meals. “When it comes to prepared vegetarian and vegan meals, I often find that they’re either bland or overly seasoned to make up for the fact that they’re boring. But Purple Carrot’s were genuinely delicious,” says Malin, who took the microwavable meals to work. “The pre-filled tray fit in my lunch box and I looked forward to eating it halfway through the day.”

You can customize the number of meals you get per week, ranging from six to 10 frozen meals. Deliveries take place on Mondays, Tuesdays or Wednesdays depending on your shipping location, and you can choose to skip a delivery on any given week.

Best for families

Home Chef

Home Chef’s weekly rotating menu has a Fast & Fresh section with multiple microwave-ready meals, as well as oven-ready meals that lets you throw pre-chopped ingredients in a pan and heat them up with minimal prep and clean up, according to the service. Keep in mind that Home Chef is first and foremost a meal kit delivery service, which means its prepared meal options are limited each week: Within its weekly menu of more than 30 meals to choose from, Home Chef offers about 10 prepared options. However, it’s great for families who hope to rotate their meal kits with oven- and microwave-ready meals to cut down on cooking time each week, according to my experts. The service also has a family plan with four-serving oven-ready meals.

Before ordering, you’ll be prompted to take a quiz that personalizes your menu based on your taste, serving size and delivery preferences. When looking at individual menu options, each meal shows the estimated time it takes to heat up. Home Chef also lets you customize the type and amount of protein you want in each meal (including low-calorie and vegetarian options), which makes it a great option for people who want variety or those with certain dietary restrictions, says Ben Leonard , chef and culinary manager for GreenPan. With that said, it may not be the best option for people who are indecisive or picky eaters, says Leonard.

Best gluten-free

Sunbasket

Sunbasket is made for those who follow specific diets like gluten-free, paleo and diabetes-friendly. On its weekly rotating menu, Sunbasket has around 10 single-serve meals, which the service calls its fresh and ready plan, that you can heat in your oven or microwave and add to your order each week. If you don’t feel like committing to prepared meals, you can mix and match with over a dozen meal kits from its menu, giving you options for days you want to cook, as well as those sporadically busy days when you just don’t have time. Each meal indicates whether it accommodates certain dietary restrictions, including gluten-free, soy-free, pescatarian and vegetarian.

Malin tried Sunbasket for a week and became a huge fan of the service. “There were almost too many delicious dishes to choose from, and each one I tried came with an easy-to-follow recipe — I loved that some of them also prompted me to cook with ingredients I don’t normally buy,” she says. “And don’t sleep on the fresh and ready meals: They taste like homemade meals, but all you do is warm them up in the microwave.”

Best prepared and meal kit combo

Blue Apron

Blue Apron recently joined the prepared meal delivery scene with its Prepared & Ready plan, and it now has over 30 single-serve meals on its rotating weekly menu. These meals heat up in the microwave in under five minutes, and they come in one tray that you can recycle afterward. You can also combine prepared and meal kit plans by adding the pre-made meals to your meal kit orders as add-ons each week.

I tried Blue Apron’s prepared meals for two weeks and was impressed by how tasty they were, in addition to being super quick and easy to heat up when I’m feeling too lazy to cook. The options are also fairly varied each week (though you will find a lot of pastas on the menu, which can be a con for some), and I found the portions to be just right for myself. However, the meals do not come with sides, so it may be lacking in variety. Sides like veggies are mixed into the meals rather than portioned separately (like you would find in most other prepared meal services).

Best for healthy eaters