The Two Most Affordable Meal Kits In A Side-By-Side Comparison
If someone would offer you a discounted meal kit service, so you can take the burden of planning your meals per week and buying all the groceries for it – would you say no?
We certainly wouldn’t!
When looking at meal kit services, many people’s primary concern is how expensive it will be. That is why, in this article, we decided to look at two of the most affordable meal kit services in the market – Dinnerly Vs. EveryPlate.
Dinnerly offers a low-price meal kit service, with classic simple meals, ideal for those who love to cook at home but resent paying too much for their meals.
EveryPlate, a daughter company of Hello Fresh, is also focusing on the bottom-line price. The company uses less packaging and keeps its meals very simple.
These two meal kits have many similarities, but also many differences. In this review, we will tell you all about it.
Dive Into Our comparison of Meal Kits Starting at $4.99 per serving!
EveryPlate and Dinnerly Meal Plans
Both dinnerly & EveryPlate offer two subscription plans:
- A Two-person plan, with the option of three to five recipes per week.
- A Four-person plan, with three recipes per week.
Dinnerly also offers the option, with both plans, to have your subscription be vegetarian.
Variety and Style Of Meal Kit Options
These meal kit services keep their low price by creating more uncomplicated recipes containing 5-7 ingredients.
Dinnerly offers a massive variety of 16 portion-sized meals every week, plus two easy-to-make desserts and an assortment of protein packs. The recipes include six ingredients each, with most of them can be fully prepared in 30 minutes or less.
Dinnerly offers a weekly menu with specific dietary recipes for vegetarian, low-carb, low-calorie, no-gluten-added, and Dairy-free diets, along with kid-friendly menu options like burgers with wedges, teriyaki stir-fry over white rice. The culinary range of different meals goes from classic meals like seared steak with potatoes to Mexican-style tacos, enchiladas, and Asian-style meals like noodles and stir-fry.
EveryPlate has a weekly changing menu of 14 meals, plus options for protein packs. The meals are generally classic, allowing easy cooking at home, with some vegetarian meal options. The EveryPlate customers can also choose a premium meal available for an additional $2.99 per serving.
Recently, EveryPlate added two other great features to the menu, enabling their customers more flexibility:
- Double-up – allowing you to double the order on your selected meals.
- Modularity option – allowing you to replace the protein in some of your selected meals.
EveryPlate and Dinnerly Meal Plans
Both companies offer two subscription plans::
- A Two-person plan, with the option of three to five recipes per week.
- A Four-person plan, with three recipes per week.
Dinnerly also offers the option, with both plans, to have your subscription be vegetarian.
Variety and Style Of Meals:
These meal services keep their price very low by creating more uncomplicated recipes containing 5-7 ingredients.
Dinnerly offers a great variety of 16 portion-sized meals every week. Most of the recipes can be prepared in 30 minutes or less.
The Dinnerly menu has options for vegetarian, low-carb, and child-friendly needs.
EveryPlate has a weekly changing menu of 11 delicious meals. The meals are generally classic, allowing easy cooking.
The EveryPlate customers can also choose a premium meal available for an additional $2.99 per serving.
Recently, EveryPlate added two other great features, enabling their customers more flexibility:
- Double-up – allowing you to double the order on selected meals.
- Modularity option – allowing you to replace the protein in some meals.
Popular Dishes
Both companies offer such an excellent selection of dishes that it is hard to choose! Here are some mouthwatering examples:
EveryPlate meals:
- Herb butter steak with roasted Brussels sprouts and cheesy potatoes
- Sweet ponzu beef bowl
- Cajun chicken sausage penne
Dinnerly meals:
- No-stir shrimp scampi risotto with spinach & lemon
- Glazed Teriyaki Chicken with Asian Slaw and Steamed Rice
- Roasted Red Pepper Panini
Dinnerly and EveryPlate Nutritional Value of Meals
With both, the menu is designed by a team of professional chefs. The meals are well-balanced, with the right proportions of carbs, proteins, and fats. Most meals include fresh or cooked vegetables.
The calorie count ranges from 500 to 900 calories per serving while keeping the portions generous. Both companies have full nutritional value details of each meal on the website.
The Delivery Box
The Dinnerly and EveryPlate delivery both arrives in a medium-sized labeled box. Each box comes hand-packed with quality ingredients. The portion-sizes ingredients are insulated, and all proteins are at the bottom of the box with ice packs to keep them cool during the delivery.
Part of keeping the low-cost (and also being more eco-friendly) is by using minimum packaging. The ingredients are not packed per meal. This required some sorting after unpacking.
The EveryPlate delivery includes some recipe cards, while with Dinnerly, the recipe cards are available online, and you can print it out at home or save paper and just follow the recipe on your screen.
Special Features On The Menu
The weekly menus of both EveryPlate and Dinnerly are presented in a very well-organized way. Obviously, their primary focus is on delivering cost-effective $5 dinner solutions.
The Dinnerly meals are categorized and marked – dairy-free, gluten-free friendly, vegetarian, low-carb, low-calorie, kid-friendly meals, and more.
In comparison, EveryPlate is more focused on delivering more common meals. The company offers one vegetarian meal and one premium meal every week.
Flexibility
Here is what makes these two meal delivery kit services flexible:
- Option for two-person or four-person plan
- Option to skip weeks and change your plan.
- Easy online cancelation. There are no long-term commitments.
- There is some flexibility in choosing the delivery day.
- Dinnerly goes the extra mile in terms of flexibility with their menu selection, with 16 meals, dessert options, and add-on protein packs.
- Dinnerly offers a dedicated vegetarian meal plan, plus low-carb, low-calorie, dairy-free, and gluten-free friendly meal options.
- EveryPlate offers options to double up or change the protein in your meals.
The Website and Ordering Process
Registering and managing your account with both Dinnerly and EveryPlate is intuitive and user-friendly. You can register, order your meals, change your meal selections, update your details, change payment methods, and manage all your account details. The account area also enables you to look at future menus and set up your next deliveries.
To register, you just need to press the ‘sign up’ button and then follow the order process. This involves choosing your preferred plan, advising your location, selecting delivery times, and paying.
The final step is selecting your meals, and you can choose your meals up to four weeks in advance.
Customer Support
If you need any assistance with your subscription, you can quickly contact the EveryPlate and Dinnerly customer service in a chat, email, or phone. Their support team, from our experience, is very responsive and will get back to you promptly.
Delivery Area
Both companies offer their service to the vast majority of the continental USA. The delivery dates could change based on your location. To check if the service available at your address, you will need to enter your zip code during the registration process.
Dinnerly Vs. EveryPlate – Our Favorite Is Dinnerly!
We loved our experience with both EveryPlate and Dinnerly. We can honestly say both offer excellent affordable meal kits with incredible value for money. Most importantly, both companies provide delicious and very satisfying dinners.
There is always a winner, and in this case – it is Dinnerly!
There are many reasons why we prefer dinnerly. First, the Dinnerly menu offers a wider variety of tasteful meals each week, with options to cater to different audiences like vegetarians, dairy-free dieters, low-calorie dieters, kid-friendly options for busy families – and yummy desserts!
Second, The Dinnerly meals we ordered and cooked from their menu were always delicious and satisfying in portion, yet very easy and straightforward to cook.
Lastly, we were impressed by the excellent quality of ingredients, despite the incredibly low prices.
