Curious if Meal Kits Are Cheaper Than Groceries? I Did the Math to Find Out | Global News Avenue

It’s no secret that groceries are expensive. and tariff,recent Egg shortages associated with bird flu and global unstable grocery prices are expected This year, the jump is up to 3.3%According to the USDA.

The cost of all kinds from meat to maple syrup has people looking for money-saving food and meal kits that once considered expensive alternatives to grocery shopping, which could be a surprising option. To retain subscribers, Blue Apron recently announced a 6-month price freeze. This makes me wonder that meal kits are now cheaper than the groceries you need to buy dinner.

Meal kit services, e.g. Each board,,,,, Blue apron or Hellofresh Known for helping busy people save time Eat betterbut I read the numbers carefully to find out if any high-yield delivery service can save you money compared to the supermarkets that are weekly.

After calculating several ingredients lists of various recipes, it was found that some meal kits were the same price, or in some cases even more than Grocery Shopping Depends on the service you enlist in and the meal you choose.

It’s a crash and how I get these numbers.

How do I do math

To see how much it costs for a blue apron, hellofresh and each meal, I priced the ingredients for two real recipes included in the standard subscription.

When choosing groceries, I used the cheapest or similar version I could find on a budget-friendly grocery store in my area Shop-Rite. Since the cutlery pack recipe only includes the amount of ingredients you need, I pay for the full price of the recipe you actually use instead of the bottle, jar, box or bag.

I chose basic inorganic items unless it was otherwise stated on the cutlery kit recipe card or on the website.

How do I choose a recipe

If you want to use the kit as a Value Propositionyou have to feel smart about which recipe to choose. Steak, chicken and fish are cooked at home more often than plant-based meals, so I chose these protein recipes specifically. (I also recommend that you sign up for services, please take advantage of them).

Not all services include steak recipes without surcharges, but Hellofresh and Blue Apron do it. Blue aprons usually offer at least one pretty tall beef cut Beef lo steak No surcharges.

Hellofresh offers one or two beef recipes a week, but usually Cheap cuts Like Chuck steak. Seafood choices are limited by basic hell, but I found Barramundi Recipe On this week’s menu, except Ranch steak and Caesar salad.

Budget-friendly services, including all licenses, usually do not offer steak or seafood, which is how they keep prices low. For all my brand analysis, I chose Cherry Beef Meatballs and Pork chops recipe.

Blue apron shows best value

Blue apron It is the highest of the three recipes I chose to analyze. I chose a recipe that included beef lo steak and another recipe with fresh hard-headed trout.

When I make these meals for groceries, they are $11.26 and $8.23 per hour, with an average price of $9.75 per serving. It turns out that the two meals are purchased at supermarkets are more expensive than per service on the largest (cheapest) blue apron plan.

Sounds good, Blue Apron’s biggest plan is a massive five-meal set of meals per week, four servings each, which may be practical for most people. If you choose a more reasonable plan – assuming four recipes per serving, the serving size jumps to $9.50 per serving. This is still cheaper than buying groceries, but only a little bit.

Add to the shipping cost of $11 per week, the blue apron spreads over the cost of buying groceries, but only slightly. When you consider the convenience that tableware kits offer, it’s hard to say that the blue apron isn’t a great value in 2024.

hellofresh is the worst value, but not a lot

Hellofresh Probably the most popular cutlery kit service, but it’s also the worst value of these three services. I chose a Barramundi recipe and Chuck Steak Meal kit for comparison with local grocery prices.

According to my calculations, the hellofresh tableware kit will only cost $6.55 Buy groceries per service and cook your own meals. This is $2.50 cheaper than the average meal plan for Hellofresh at $9 per serving, and that’s all before considering your weekly delivery costs $11. If you are passing that shipping in two to three-piece meal packs, the actual service fee is more like $11 to $12.

Hellofresh may be one of the biggest cutlery kit menus and user-friendly ordering interfaces every week, but it turns out that popular services are less valuable than other cutlery kit companies.

Each board is roughly the same as buying groceries

Each board When ordering LA at grocery store, the two meal kits cost $4.98 and $5.82, and the average price at the store is $5.40. This is only 60 cents less than the meal kit per serving price per board, and no matter which plan you choose, each cutlery kit costs 6 cents.

Adding to the $10 shipping cost per box, the cost of dining kits increases slightly, but the same price as buying all groceries yourself is still greater than the same price.

The menu of each plate’s cutlery kit won’t be too functional in terms of steak or seafood, so you can expect more budget-friendly proteins like chicken, ground beef and pork chops. Each plate of meal is easy to make and satisfy, which makes it the best choice for 2024 best cheap cutlery kit service.

To get the most out of your meal, see my guide Hacker Meals in 2025.