Bloated costs on everything from eggs to olive oil have folks looking for ways to cut costs. Meal kits -- once considered a splurge -- may not have caused a blip on your thrifty radar. While supermarkets seemingly jack prices up at will, meal kit companies have been more careful when raising consumer costs, since retaining subscribers is key to their survival.
Meal kit services such as EveryPlate, Blue Apron or HelloFresh are known for helping busy people save time and eat better, but I crunched the numbers to find out if any of the top meal delivery services are cheaper than a supermarket haul of the same items.
Meal kits vs. buying the groceries
Cost per serving (average plan) Cost of same ingredients at grocery store EveryPlate $6 $5.40 Blue Apron $11 $9.75 HelloFresh $9 $6.55
After looking at several ingredient lists for various recipes, I found that some meal kits are more expensive while others are about the same price as grocery shopping, or in some cases, even cheaper. It depends on the service and, more importantly, the meals you choose.
Here's a breakdown and how I got these figures.
How I did the math
I put on my math hat to see if meal kits are actually a good deal in 2025. Oscar Wong/Getty Images
To see how much Blue Apron, HelloFresh and EveryPlate meals cost to make, I priced out the ingredients for two real recipes that are included in a standard subscription.
When choosing groceries, I used the cheapest version of the same or similar ingredient I could find at Shop-Rite, a budget-friendly grocery store in my area. Because meal kit recipes include only the amount of ingredients needed, I prorated the cost by how much you would actually use for a recipe, not the full price of the bottle, jar, box or bag.
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