As a healthcare worker, you know the importance of eating nutritious foods. Not only does eating nutritious foods make you feel physically and mentally better during the day, but it’s also good for your long-term health. Healthy eating is associated with a healthier heart, stronger bones, reduced cancer risk, better cognitive function, and much more.
But eating well isn’t always easy. Sourcing healthy ingredients and prepping nutritious meals takes time, effort, and mental concentration – three things you may not have when you’re coming home after a long shift and just need something to eat. Plus, stressful work environments can make you even more likely to seek out comfort and convenience foods, when what you need most is a healthy meal.
What’s the answer? Meal kits! Whether you rely on meal kits as a long-term solution, order them from time to time as a treat, or try them out to get you in the habit of making healthy home-cooked meals from scratch, meal kit delivery services are totally worth checking out.
We’ve gathered a list of our favorite meal delivery kits, highlighting each service’s healthy options and fast options. If you’re new to meal kits, give them a try! You’ll find that eating healthy doesn’t have to be hard.
Simplify Meals with Meal Delivery Kits
Meal kits make life easier, especially when you’re so busy you don’t have time to meal plan for the week ahead. We love meal kits because:
- Meal kits come with everything you need (except basics like salt, pepper, and oil) to make a recipe for 2 or 4 people. Some kits also have options for larger families.
- Recipe cards are included with easy step-by-step instructions; keep recipes you love to make again and again.
- You can get great food in a hurry! You’ll find healthy meals that can be made quickly (25 minutes or under) or easily (in the oven, in one pot, or on one pan), or both (pre-cooked and microwaveable).
- Eating food you make yourself is healthier. Every meal kit service below offers meals for the health-conscious.
- They offer a great selection of options for every palate. You can choose the recipes yourself or indicate your dietary preferences and let the meal kit service pick.
Plus, most meal kit services now have add-ons or markets, so you can get breakfast items, sides, desserts, extra proteins, and other grocery items in your meal kit box to make meal prep easy – so convenient!
HelloFresh
Do you like a lot of variety? HelloFresh boasts 100+ options to choose from for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and more, with new recipes added regularly. HelloFresh also allows you to swap out proteins (beef for chicken, for instance) and sides on many of their meals so you can truly cater to your tastebuds. The HelloFresh Market also offers add-on items like breakfasts, desserts, snacks, and proteins.
Healthy options
HelloFresh offers vegetarian plant-based meals, “fit & wholesome” recipes, pescatarian dishes, and more that support healthy eating.
Speedy options
- Fast & Fresh meals that are ready in 15 minutes
- 5-Min Lunch and 10-Min Lunch kits ready in 5-10 minutes
- Quick Meals from the Hello Fresh Market
HelloFresh
Get 55% Off + Free Shipping on your First HelloFresh Box Today! Plus Ongoing 15% Off for Nurses.
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Green Chef
Green Chef leads with organic ingredients and menus filled with healthy (and delicious) meals, offering 30 recipes to choose from each week. It caters to a number of specific dietary requirements and preferences, including Keto, Protein Packed, Vegetarian, Vegan, Gluten Free, Mediterranean, and Fast & Fit. Green Chef also offers add-ons like breakfast items and protein bundles for easy meal prep.
Healthy options
Everything! Seriously, Green Chef is primarily focused on healthy meals with fresh produce, high-quality protein, and many organic ingredients, so you can feel good about any meal you choose.
Speedy options
Green Chef doesn’t focus on fast meals, but it does have some options for chefs who don’t want to spend a ton of time in the kitchen, including:
- Fast & Fit meal kits that can be prepared in 25 minutes or less,
- Add-on items are ready-to-eat or fast to prep
Green Chef
Nurses Get 65% off + Free Shipping on your first box today! Plus, on-going 15% Off (discount applied for 52 weeks)
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Home Chef
Home Chef, like Hello Fresh, is a great all-around meal kit service with a wide variety of recipes to choose from each week. Like other kits, you can swap out proteins and sides on some meals. Home Chef also offers lots of extras like breakfast items, drinks, soups, salad kids, snacks, proteins, and desserts. You can easily get a week’s meals with one delivery.
Healthy options
Filter to quickly find healthy meals that are calorie-conscious, carb-conscious, or vegetarian.
Speedy options
Home Chef excels when it comes to offering options for fast and/or easy meals. Choose from:
- Express Meal Kits that take about 15-20 minutes to make
- Oven-Ready meals that go directly in the oven into an included oven-safe tin for easy prep and cleanup
- Fast & Fresh options to make in the microwave in minutes
- Extras like soups, sides, and breakfast items you can prepare in just 5-15 minutes
Home Chef
Nurses: Get 50% Off your first box & 10% Off ongoing boxes
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Blue Apron
Blue Apron offers 70+ options each week, which include healthy meals, comfort food, premium craft recipes, and more. Blue Apron also offers many extras and add-ons including protein bundles, breakfast items, salads, sides, desserts, and ready-to-heat meals. Like many other meal kits, it allows chefs to swap out proteins on certain recipes. Blue Apron uses high-quality ingredients and often features recipes from around the world to suit a variety of palates and expand the home cook’s repertoire.
Healthy options
Blue Apron has vegetarian recipes, Wellness recipes, and has partnered with WW (formerly WeightWatchers) to create balanced, healthy meals that are WW-approved.
Speedy options
Blue Apron has a number of options for chefs who want great food in a hurry, including:
- Regular meal kits that take an average of 25 minutes to make
- Heat & Eat meals that take 5 minutes or less in the microwave
- Ready to Cook meals that are fast and easy to assemble and cook in the oven
Blue Apron
Nurses: New Customers Save $110 Across Your First 5 Boxes of Delicious Recipes Delivered to Your Door
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Dinnerly
Dinnerly has over 100 options to choose from each week, including breakfast and dessert items. A few things set Dinnerly apart:
- Each recipe has no more than five steps
- Lower prices per dish (on average)
- Market by Dinnerly, so you can shop for groceries to be delivered with your order
Healthy options
Filter to find meals that are labeled Healthy, Nutritious, Low-Calorie, Dairy Free, Vegetarian, Vegan, No Added Gluten, and so on to suit your preferences.
Speedy options
Dinnerly makes it easy to get tasty food fast. Choose from:
- Meal kits labeled Under 30 Minutes or One Pot for fast and/or easy meals
- Ready-made meals that can be heated in the microwave in minutes
- A huge variety of items from the Market that are either ready-to-eat or easy-to-prepare
Dinnerly
50% Off the First Order and Free Shipping for Nurses
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Related: Is Now the Time to Try a Meal Delivery Service?
Shop Easy Meals & Snacks Online
What if you like the idea of healthy, tasty groceries delivered to your door but you feel that cooking a meal kit isn’t for you? Then check out Thrive Market, an online membership-based store that delivers groceries to your door at wholesale price.
Some people just don’t like to cook, no matter how easy meal kits make the process. Or they want to simplify healthy eating, but they’d rather choose their own recipes and ingredients.
Sound like you? We have good news! Check out Thrive Market, an online membership-based store that delivers groceries to your door at wholesale prices.
Thrive Market
Free Membership for Nurses (normally $12/month or $60/year)
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Thrive Market focuses on healthy foods and allows you to filter for dietary preferences and requirements like Organic, Gluten-Free, Dairy Free, Low Sugar, Keto, and Whole 30 Compatible. Find quick meals, snacks, drinks, proteins, pantry staples, and other items like vitamins and supplements, health and beauty products, and cleaning supplies. Skip the grocery store and shop online to save both time and money. Choose new items with every order, or place a recurring order for must-have staples to save an extra 5-10% with Autoship.
Membership is FREE for nurses (normally $12/month or $60/year) and it’s a great way to make healthy eating easier for you and your whole family.
