Best Keto Meal Delivery for 2023 – CNET
Best Keto Meal Delivery for 2023 - CNET
What’s the best keto meal delivery service?
Keto living generally means cutting carbs way down or completely out of your diet, which isn’t easy. It can be easier with a tasty low-carb, keto meal delivery service that will send protein-packed meals for you to pop in the fridge or freezer and remove some of that pesky temptation. Fresh N Lean is the best keto meal delivery service I’ve tried and is my pick to try if you’re looking to send the carbs packin’ in 2023.
Many health professionals will tell you the best way to lose weight is by eating a balanced diet and exercising regularly, but trimming carbs, particularly empty ones, can help shed unwanted pounds in a shorter period of time. If you’re like me, the thought of constantly cooking, especially diet food, can be a turn-off to healthy living as a whole. Meal prep requires extra time, which is something many of us don’t have.
Luckily, keto-friendly meal delivery services are here to help. These services cater to all dietary preferences and will help kickstart your weight loss.
The keto diet plan remains as popular as any other known for fast results (and all-you-can-eat bacon) and that means an abundance of low-carb and carb-free options. Subscribing to one of these services can also introduce you to some new recipes. Since most of them can be frozen, they’ll work with unpredictable schedules. You’ll get fresh or frozen meals sent to your door when there’s no time to cook.
But I mean it when I say that some keto meals you can get in the mail are virtually inedible. So be wary and keep reading.
Fresh N Lean offers exellent premade keto meals that are ready when you are.
Fresh N Lean
What is the keto diet?
Keto (short for ketogenic) started as something of a fad diet decades ago, when it was commonly referred to as the Atkins Plan or the South Beach Diet. People are drawn to keto and other low-carb programs for many reasons, such as wanting to limit their total carb count for weight loss or upping their protein intake to help build muscle or for training purposes. And many delivery services now cater to the keto diet.
In fact some of the most popular meal kit services, including Home Chef and Green Chef, have low-carb meal plans with as many as eight or nine keto menu options to choose from each week. If you don’t want to cook at all, there are more meal delivery services that will deliver ready-to-eat keto and paleo meals via weekly subscription or one-time order.
What are the different kinds of keto meal delivery?
Not all low-carb meals are created equal, however, so I’ve tried a few of the most popular keto plans to separate the delicious meals from the tragic. Whether you’re trying to eat keto and organic or you’re keen on low-carb versions of comfort food classics made with fresh ingredients, there’s a healthy, tailored meal delivery service out there for you. There are also paleo-friendly meal services that can work for the keto diet and keto meal plans with lots of vegetarian options, although this is a trickier needle to thread, since meat is the most obvious source of protein. Having tried all of the keto meal kits on this list — and many more, I might add — I’ve determined the best keto meal delivery to keep your low-carb lifestyle in good order while allowing you to enjoy more than just grilled chicken and veggies.
And if you’re unsure about trying a keto meal kit service or aren’t jazzed about committing to a subscription, know that all these companies allow you to pause or cancel your meal plan at any time. Some offer a one-time order to avoid the subscription altogether. Many of these services have enticing trial discounts and new customer sign-up offers too, so there’s not much standing between you and some affordable keto options.
I’ll continue to update this list periodically as I try new keto-friendly meal delivery services.
Read more: Best Keto Snacks to Buy Online
Best keto meal delivery for 2023
Fresh N’ Lean
Pricing
Starting at $9/meal
Type
Pre-made
Regional Availability
United States nationwide
Number of Meal Options per Week
13
Menu Options/ Diet Types
Keto, vegan, paleo, protein, whole 30, mediterranean
Yes, grammar nerds will tell you it should be “Fresh ‘n’ Lean.” But if you can get past that missing apostrophe, I can tell you this: Fresh n’ Lean is the best keto meal delivery service I’ve tried. Period. Not only was the healthy food well-prepared, but it looked appetizing and wasn’t overly expensive. For those looking for low-carb diet meals with lots of protein and healthy fats, Fresh n’ Lean offers keto meal plans, and that food was just as good.
You don’t have to just eat keto with this service, however. With Fresh n’ Lean, you can opt for either a standard low-carb or a low-carb vegan meal plan and choose from as many as 13 meals per week. Some of the creative keto diet-friendly entrees you’ll find with this meal service include almond-crusted cod over cherry tomatoes and olives, tender beef stroganoff with mushrooms and asparagus or a beanless chili con carne with cauliflower.
Pricing for Fresh n’ Lean’s keto plans starts at about $9 a meal. If it’s tasty, high-quality, low-carb food for your ketogenic diet you’re after, Fresh n’ Lean is my clear pick.
Keto meals per week: 15
Fresh n’ Lean pricing: Meals are between $9 and $16 depending on the plan.
Home Chef
Pricing
Starting at $8/serving
Type
Meal kit, pre-made
Regional Availability
98% of United States
Number of Meal Options per Week
30
Menu Options/ Diet Types
Calorie-conscious, carb-conscious
If you’re looking to make keto dinners at home, Home Chef has the most flexible meal kits of any service I tried and that makes it an excellent choice for those keeping to a low-carb keto diet.
Home Chef’s Carb Conscious meal plan starts at about $9 a serving and you’ll have as many as seven meals to pick from each week for the standard plan, plus a few Culinary Collection meals you can add for an additional cost. Most Home Chef meals are wholesome and hearty but not overly complicated and some of its keto recipes take as little as 25 minutes to cook.
One great feature Home Chef offers is that you can swap or double the protein in any meal and since keto diet followers are all about that protein, it makes finding the right low-carb meals each week that much easier. As if that wasn’t enough, Home Chef also has oven-ready keto-friendly meal options like sesame chicken and with cilantro lime broccoli that require almost no chopping or prep. Just assemble the ingredients in a provided baking tin and have fresh keto meals ready 30 or 40 minutes later.
Keto-friendly meals per week: 7 standard (plus 3 to 4 premium meals)
Home Chef Pricing: Meal plans start at $9 per serving. Two meals for two people is about $36 per week, plus $10 shipping. Students can receive up to $116 off their subscription via StudentBeans.
Green Chef
Pricing
Starting at $12/serving
Type
Meal kit
Regional Availability
Continental United States
Number of Meal Options per Week
30
Menu Options/ Diet Types
Keto and paleo, gluten-free, fast and fit, mediterranean, vegan, and vegetarian
Green Chef is one of the healthiest meal kit delivery services and caters to an array of designer diets including a keto meal plan for folks looking to cut carbs. With a Green Chef meal kit subscription, you’ll find creative keto meal kits such as creamy chicken alfredo with spaghetti squash noodles or za’atar-spiced fried cheese over cauliflower couscous.
These inventive recipes coupled with Green Chef’s high-quality, mostly-organic ingredients make for a higher price tag. The Keto or Paleo meal plans start at around $12 per serving when you order four meal kits per week with four or more servings per meal. Order fewer meals and things get even pricier, but if you want low-carb meals to make at home and eating organic is important to you, Green Chef is the best option for a delicious keto meal.
Keto-friendly meals kits per week: 9
Green Chef pricing: Keto and paleo meal kit plans are roughly $13 per serving.
Fresh n’ Lean
Pricing
Starting at $9/meal
Type
Pre-made
Regional Availability
United States nationwide
Number of Meal Options per Week
13
Menu Options/ Diet Types
Keto, vegan, paleo, protein, whole 30, mediterranean
Fresh n’ Lean takes this category too and it’s the only service that I liked with a low-carb vegan meal plan. You’ll get to choose from low-carb, plant-based meals including bolognese vegetables, cream of broccoli soup and chimichurri vegetables.
In all honesty, if I were vegan and trying to eat keto (no easy task), I would probably do a lot of cooking at home because the meal delivery pickings are a bit slim, but if you’re craving some easy meal delivery, give Fresh n’ Lean a crack.
Pricing for Fresh n’ Lean’s vegan keto plans start at about $10.66 a meal. If it’s tasty, high-quality, low-carb food for your ketogenic diet you’re after, Fresh n’ Lean is my clear pick.
Pete’s Paleo
Pricing
Starting at $14/meal
Type
Pre-made
Regional Availability
United States nationwide
Number of Meal Options per Week
32
Menu Options/ Diet Types
Vegan, paleo, keto, AIP
The paleo and keto diets have a lot in common, but there are some important distinctions too. If you’re more inclined to keep to a paleo plan that allows for healthy foods that may also have a high carb count, like carrots and sweet potatoes, then I’d recommend Pete’s Real Food. You can still order plenty of low-carb, keto-friendly meals through Pete’s Real Food, but it’s not the foundational diet plan for this meal delivery service.
I tried several of the service’s healthy options loaded with protein and healthy fats and I was entirely impressed. A slow-cooked pork shoulder with sweet potatoes and celery was tender, with great flavor. Another win was the moist Mediterranean chicken thigh dinner with salty olives, served alongside spaghetti squash and cauliflower. This is definitely thoughtfully prepared and healthy food made with quality paleo-friendly ingredients.
Keto/Paleo-friendly meals per week: 20-25
Pricing: Pricing is a bit complicated and you have several options, including a one-time order of 10 a la carte meals for $121 with Pete’s Paleo bundle. That seems like the most cost-effective option, but you also can subscribe and get five meals for $76, 10 meals for $140 or 15 meals for $215.
Other keto meal delivery services I tried
Factor: This healthy meal service fared well in a taste test but was similar to Fresh N’ Lean in both price point and style. Fresh N’ Lean was just, well, better. Factor — sometimes called Factor75 — is priced between $11 and $15 per meal depending on how many meals you choose. Read my full Factor review.
Territory Foods: The portions from this meal delivery service were far too small considering how expensive they are — as much as $15 a meal — but they did taste OK. If you’re looking for some serious portion control for weight loss and to cut down on calories, this might be a good option. Otherwise, it doesn’t seem worth the money.
FlexPro: These frozen keto meals were some of the worst I tried and I would not recommend the service.
Read more: The 6 Cheapest Meal Delivery Services
The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.
About The Author
