There are many great things about being single and living alone, but home cooking usually isn’t anywhere near the top of the list.
When it comes to cooking for one, it is often difficult to guess how much you need to buy. It’s also hard coming up with new meal ideas that you won’t get tired of.
But, just because you’re relishing the single life, it doesn’t mean you have to live off junk food and fast food – there are some great meal deliveries for one person that will allow you to eat healthy, creative, and even exotic meals each week.
Here are some favorite meal kits for singles that can be delivered right to your door.
Freshly
Freshly comes out top when it comes to delicious meal deliveries for one person. Not only are these delicious meals easy to prepare, but all the products are also fresh and seasonal, meaning taste is never compromised. And if you’re worried about eating the same thing day in day out, there’s no need – with Freshly, you’ll be blown away by the wide choice of meals each week.
Key Benefits
- No prep needed – simply heat, eat and enjoy.
- Fabulously fresh – no frozen meals here.
- Generous portion for one.
- Affordable tasty meals starting at just $7.99
- Impressive variety; with 32 to meals to choose from, you’ll never get bored.
The Good Kitchen
Coming in at close second for the title of singles’ favorite meal kits is The Good Kitchen. Winning the crown for the “best healthy” option, this food company impresses with its sheer number of diets it caters to. The a la carte gourmet options are an added bonus.
Key Benefits
- Quality products, which are mostly organic, grass-fed, non-GMO, and wild-caught.
Covers most specialized diets, such as paleo, keto, Whole30, vegetarian, vegan, and more. - Allergy-friendly meal options, including gluten-free and dairy-free meals.
- Easy to prepare with its simple heat and eat instructions.
- Numerous plans available, and if you want to be fancy, there’s also an a la carte option.
EveryPlate
There’s a reason why Every Plate is advertised as America’s “best value” meal kit. With 11 different meal options to choose from each week, which also includes kid-friendly meals, there’s no denying that at $4.99 per meal this is a real bargain.
Key Benefits
- 2 Serving minimum, but that leaves you with enough for tomorrow.
- Save time with quick timings – prepare a tasty meal in less than 30 minutes.
- Inexpensive meals at $4.99 per meal that don’t compromise quality.
- Kid-friendly meal options make this the perfect choice for busy single parents.
- Excellent trust pilot score proves that this meal delivery for one person rocks.
Factor 75
Take the guesswork out of preparing meals with these chef-prepared meal kits for single people. This new approach to pre-prepared delivery meals is set to revolutionize every single person’s life. With excellent trust pilot ratings, this meal kit plan for singles is varied, caters to different diets, and uses organic produce.
Key Benefits
- Single-serve options with nutritional values per serve.
- Easy to prepare – just follow the heating instructions and enjoy.
- Varied choice of fresh organic meals on a weekly basis.
- Diet-friendly options, including keto, paleo, dairy-free, vegetarian, and vegan.
Trifecta Nutrition
Delicious and nutritious at the same time. Trifecta Nutrition caters to health-conscious singles. With its chef-cooked a la carte meals and different plans to choose from, this meal delivery for one person is awesome – what’s not to like?
Key Benefits
- Healthy and packed with nutrition – every meal is gluten-free, soy-free, dairy-free, low in sugar, high in protein, and with no GMOs, making this perfect for people with allergies and food intolerances.
- Chef-cooked meals are made from scratch and are delivered to your door fresh.
- Perfect for special diets, there are plans to suit your dietary requirements, such as keto, paleo, vegan, and vegetarian.
- A rotating menu means you’ll never grow bored of what you’re eating.
- Single serves available to ensure you don’t waste food or go over your daily recommended calorie allowance.
Fresh n Lean
With excellent ratings, Fresh n Lean live up to its name when it comes to providing ready-to-eat freshly prepared foods that simply need heating. Offering different meals and a variety of dishes, Fresh n Lean certainly lives up to its promise of providing delivered meals that require zero meal prep.
Key Benefits
- Freshly delivered healthy meals right to your door – no frozen food here.
- Single portions available for people looking for meal delivery options for one person.
- Reasonably priced, starting at $7.93 on a plan, this is an affordable singles meal kit choice.
- Weekly plans and a la carte options available, depending on your preference.
- Non-GMO organic fresh produce and grass-fed meat and wild-caught fish means healthy food free from chemicals
Icon Meals
Icon Meals takes hard labor out of meal prepping and cooking. Enjoy a range of freshly-made signature and a la carte meals every day with this reasonably priced meal prep service for singles, which also allows you to customize your meals without any stress.
Key Benefits
- Delivered fresh to your door and ready to eat, all you need to do is heat it up.
- A rotating menu offering 22 meal options each week will leave you spoilt for choice.
- Reasonably priced meal delivery for one person starting at $9.91 per meal.
- Offers a wide range of dishes and plans, including its chef-prepared signature meals, a la carte options, and snacks.
- Customization of meals possible, allowing you to cater to your dietary requirements.
Buying Guide
Ingredient Quality
These days more and more people are concerned about the quality of the ingredients and where the food comes from, which is why it’s important to always read nutritional labels and check where the meal delivery company sources its food from.
Thankfully there are meal deliveries for one person that also check this box. A good meal delivery service will always advertise its ingredients. Words like organic, sustainable, ethically- sourced ingredients, grass-fed, and wild-caught are the main terms you should be looking out for, which is why The Good Kitchen won the title of the ‘Best Healthy Option’. Fresh n Lean also lives up to its promise of delivering healthy, chemical-free foods.
Out of everything that you should be looking for, “organic” should be number one, as it covers a number of different points. According to the BBC Good Food Guide, organic food is free from fertilizers, pesticides, livestock feed additives, and growth regulators. Also, genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are forbidden by organic legislation.
Taste and Variety
Gone are the days of just eating to be full. Taste is incredibly important, as is the variety of dishes. There are some meal delivery services that are better than others – look for the ones with rotating menus with a wide variety. Do they have qualified chefs preparing the meals and a la carte options like Fresh n Lean and Icon Meals? Do they have a wide variety of dishes to choose from each week like Freshly, or does it just have standard meat and potato choices you could easily make yourself?
Diet Alternatives
These days, more and more people are following specialized diets. Perhaps you’re following a low-carb diet for weight-loss purposes such as the keto and paleo diet. Maybe you follow a vegetarian diet for religious or ethical reasons. Or maybe you’re diet is even more restricted and follow a combination of two diets, such as keto and vegan.
There are a few single meal kits that cater to these growing diet trends, which is particularly important with the vegan meal-delivery for one person because according to the NY Times, 40% of adults now aim to include a few different plant-based meals in their weekly diet.
The Good Kitchen won the “best healthy” title due to its food quality and diets, which include keto, paleo, Whole30, vegetarian, and vegan. Trifecta Nutrition and Factor 75 also have an excellent range of options for different diets but don’t cater to the Whole30 diet.
Meal Prep
The whole idea of getting a meal delivery for one person is because people want to save time. After a long day at work, followed by the gym, shopping, and whatever other commitments you may have, no one wants to cook, especially if it means buying ingredients and cooking for one.
When searching for a meal delivery service for one person, this is a category that’s important. Freshly is more clear cut with its instructions and each meal takes only 2-3 minutes to heat up in the microwave – it’s just so convenient.
Price
The price point for meal delivery services is also important, especially since you are only one person. Typically, the bigger the plan size you have, say for 4 people, the cheaper each meal is. For singles, this is something to take into consideration.
The best value for money is from Every Plate. At $4.99 per meal, you can’t really go wrong, but this plan has a minimum spend for 2 people. However, you can use the meal for another day or freeze it.
Flexibility
Having the flexibility to pause your meal delivery plan is important, especially for a single person (who is likely to go on vacation more).
All meal plans for singles can be canceled at any time, and if you want to skip a week or two, Freshly makes it easy by allowing you to make changes to your next delivery a week ahead.
The Good Kitchen takes it one step further. Not only does it allow you to pause your meal delivery subscription if you’re traveling within the US you can even take your freshly delivered meals with you by changing the delivery address temporarily.
Choice
A good meal delivery service will also allow you to choose which meals you eat each week; this is especially important if you follow a specific diet or have allergies.
Freshly allows you to choose from over 30 different meals, which change on a weekly basis. Choose from delicious meals like peppercorn steak, buffalo chicken, cauliflower shell bolognese, and more.
With The Good Kitchen, you’ll be asked what your meal preferences are. Each week, you’ll be sent a number of choices to choose from based on these options. And, if you want to change your preferences, this can be easily done a week ahead.
Factor 75 gives you two options. First, you can put your trust into the chefs, who will choose meals for you each week based on your food preferences or you can choose your own.
Bottom Line
Cooking for one can be challenging – it can also be expensive. And let’s face it, it’s always more fun when you have other people to cook for.
Thankfully, there are some great delivery services out there that are also affordable. With such services, you can order exactly what you need and want. There’s no food waste and there’s no having to run out again because you forgot to pick up something from the store.
Freshly is the best overall meal delivery for one person, and its excellent reviews show that it is a singles favorite meal kit option. With an impressive range of fresh meals to choose from, this affordable meal service for one is a top choice. And if you refer a friend, both you and your friend will earn $20 towards your next Freshly delivery.
Coming in at a close second was The Good Kitchen that won the “best healthy” category. The Good Kitchen allows you to filter diet preference and then select a freshly cooked meal using organic produce, grass-fed meats, and wild-caught fish and seafood.
While Every Plate only has a minimum order of two people for each meal, it still works out a lot cheaper, which is why this meal delivery for one person took the “best value” title. At $4.99 per meal, you can’t really go wrong, making this choice the best for those on a budget, however, there are significantly fewer meals to choose from each week.