Curious are the dining kits more expensive than food? I made the maths to find out

It’s no secret that food prices are high. With TariffsRecently a shortage of eggs connected to birds and food prices in global instability is expected to Jump to 3.3% this yearAccording to USDA.

The inflated costs for everything from meat to maple syrup have people who are looking for money to save money and dining kits, since they are considered an expensive alternative to grocery shopping can be a surprising option. In an attempt to retain subscribers, Blue Apron has recently announced a 6-month price freezing. This made me wonder if the dining kits are now more expensive than buying the same groceries needed to prepare dinner.

Feeding Services as Services as Every slab., Blue apron or Hellofresh are known for helping busy people save time and Eat betterBut I have destroyed the numbers to find out if any of the best food delivery services can save you money compared to your weekly supermarket.

After ranking several lists of ingredients for different recipes, they found that some dining kits were at the same price or in some cases even more expensive than grocery Depending on the service you attract and the meals you choose.

Here’s a breakdown and how I got these numbers.

How did I handle the maths

To see how much a blue apron, Hellofresh and EveryPlate dishes cost, I divided the ingredients for two real recipes that are included in a standard subscription.

When choosing food, I used the cheapest version of the same or similar ingredient that I could find in the Shop-Rite, a grocery store suitable for a budget in my area. Since the recipes for the dining kit include only the required amount of ingredients, I promoted the price with how much you would actually use for the recipe, not the full price of a bottle, jar, box or bag.

I chose basic, inorganic items, unless otherwise stated on the card or website of the recipe for the meal.

How did I choose the recipes

If you are looking for a dining sets like a valueYou will need to be smart on which recipes you choose. Steak, chicken and fish tend to be more expensive to cook at home than plant-based dishes, so I specifically chose recipes that include these proteins. (I also recommend that you take advantage of them if you register for a service).

Not all services include steak recipes without extra charge, but Hellofresh and Blue apron make. The blue apron usually offers at least one pretty high -end beef as Sirus steak No charge added.

Hellofresh offers one or two beef recipes a week but is usually a cheaper cut Like Chuck steak. Seafood options are limited to basic Hellofresh but found a Barramundi recipe In the menu this week, in addition to Ranch steak with Caesar saladS

Services suitable for the budget, including any playground, usually do not offer steak or seafood, so they maintain low prices. For my analysis of any plans I chose a Cherry beef and pork cutlet recipe.

The blue apron represents the best value

Blue apron There are the highest class of recipes from the three I chose to analyze. I chose a recipe that includes a steak with fillet and another with fresh steel trout fillet.

When I developed food to prepare these dishes, they ranked $ 11.26 and $ 8.23 ​​respectively, with an average price of $ 9.75 per serving. Both dishes turned out to be more expensive to buy at the supermarket than the cost of $ 8 a serving for the largest (the cheapest) apron plan.

As much as this may sound, the largest Blue Apron plan is a huge five meal sets a week with four servings each and is probably practical for most people. If you choose a plan for a more intelligent size – let’s say three meal recipes with four servings each – the serving price jumped up to $ 9.50. This is still cheaper than the cost of buying food, but only a little.

Add the delivery cost of $ 11 and the blue apron crawls over the cost of buying food, but only slightly. When you consider the convenience it offers a dining kit, it is difficult to argue that the blue apron is not a good value in 2024.

Hellofresh was the smallest value but not of many

Hellofresh It may be the most popular nutrition service, but it was also the highest value of the three. I chose a Barramundi recipe and a chuckle steak kit to compare with local food prices.

According to my calculations, the Hellofresh dining kits would cost just $ 6.55 Serve for the purchase of grocery and prepare the dishes yourself. This is about $ 2.50 cheaper than the Hellofresh average of $ 9 per serving, and that’s all before you get involved in your weekly delivery price of $ 11. If you need to disseminate this delivery fee in two or three dining sets, the actual service costs are more like $ 11 to $ 12.

Hellofresh may have one of the largest weekly menus of dining kits and order interface, but as it turns out, the popular service does not offer as much value as other dining companies.

Everyplate is approximately the same as the purchase of groceries

Any plates Two dining sets cost $ 4.98 and $ 5.82 when a la carte were purchased at the grocery store that is on average up to $ 5.40. This is only 60 cents less than the cost of serving the dining kits of each plate that cost $ 6 per serving, no matter which plan you choose.

Add the delivery price of $ 10 per box and the price of the dining kit is creeped a little, but it is still about the same price as the purchase of all the foodstuffs yourself.

The menus of the dining kit on each playground are not very different in the path of steak or seafood, so you can expect more convenient protein for budgets such as chicken, ground beef and pork chops. Dishes with all sorts of flat are also easy to prepare and satisfy, which makes it the best service for the best cheap meal kit in 2024.

To get the most out of your delivery, see my guide for Hitting a food delivery subscription in 2025S