:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/45-cheap-healthy-lunch-ideas-for-work-2000-690a7758df1b4388a0b4db96d11ea070.jpg "Cheap and healthy meal solutions")
Top with delicious crusty bread and dill. The crispy, golden mashed potato crust is the star of this dish. Since the ham and potatoes are already cooked, half the work is done for you. Enjoy with a ton of cracked black pepper and strips of parsley. A warm slice of pizza is the ultimate in comfort food.
Perfect for using up the extra produce hanging out in your fridge, this pizza can easily be customized to your liking. Skip the bacon and add crispy roasted chickpeas for a vegetarian twist.
via Half Baked Harvest. With pasta, ground beef, cheese, garlic , and tomatoes just to name a few , this is one cheap dinner idea that everyone is sure to love. via Culinary Hill. via Diethood. The thick fool-proof sausage gravy acts like a warm blanket on the flaky buttermilk biscuits.
via Love Grows Wild. A rotisserie chicken is an economical shortcut in this recipe. Shred the chicken skin and all and broil it for a quick 10 minutes, then pile it in a warm tortilla. Taco Tuesday will never be the same. via The Endless Meal.
Roasting a whole chicken is not as scary as it seems. Make sure to let the chicken rest on your counter after baking to give it time to reabsorb all the juices. Use the meat in your salads, quesadillas , and sandwiches for the next week. via The Whimsical Wife. Every element of this dish, from the chicken to the whole wheat pasta, is perfectly seasoned since it all cooks together in the same pan.
via The Garlic Diaries. Seasonal without tasting like a pumpkin spice candle, this twist on traditional stuffed shells will have you hoarding cans of pumpkin puree. via Love and Olive Oil.
The crunchy walnuts and olive oil dressing take this spaghetti to the next level. A sprinkle of parmesan cheese is the bow that ties it all together.
via Well Plated. A food processor makes this soup come together in no time, but it can also be done with an immersion blender. Top the soup the same way you would a taco, with guacamole, sour cream, and cilantro.
Crush a few tortillas chips and sprinkle over your soup for a crunchy alternative to crackers. via Something New for Dinner. This recipe makes enough to feed a group of your hungriest friends, or you can make it for yourself and have enough left to last you the rest of the week.
Using leftover rotisserie chicken and a bag of frozen veggies means you can have a meal that tastes like it took all day to make when really you were done in under 45 minutes. via Spicy Southern Kitchen. This kid-friendly recipe will please the pickiest eaters and skinniest of wallets!
Coat the chicken in corn flakes to get a super crispy crust without frying. Serve alongside your favorite dipping sauces — honey mustard and peppercorn ranch would be delish!
via Damn Delicious. This savory pumpkin pasta is just the kind of comforting meal you need after a long day. The creamy sauce completely engulfs whichever type of pasta you use basically whatever is hanging out in your pantry.
Just make sure you use canned pumpkin puree and not spiced pumpkin pie filling. Transfer three cups of chili to your food processor and blend until smooth, then pour the pureed chili back into the original pot.
This helps thicken up your chili without having to add cornstarch or flour, which can sometimes affect the taste. via Little Broken. Go with boneless, skinless chicken thighs, as opposed to the breast, for this recipe.
via The Clever Carrot. Take leftover turkey and turn it to a steaming pot of comfort food at its finest. This basic recipe is like a magic cure-all elixir and will be one of your go-tos for years to come. via I Heart Naptime.
This lentil and chickpea sloppy joes are packed with protein and are a great meatless Monday recipe. Make your own barbecue sauce or grab a bottle of your favorite one from the store. via She Likes Food. Here's another one-pot recipe you can whip up in 15 minutes or less! via Takes Two Eggs. To help you find the best fit for a hassle-free dinner, we tested more than two dozen of the top players.
We also dove deep into prepared meal delivery subscriptions that require no cooking at all. In that category, Fresh N Lean was our clear favorite, sending great-tasting premade meals made from healthy ingredients that kept us fueled all week. The best meal kit or meal delivery service ultimately depends on your eating habits, schedule and budget.
To help you find the best service for your money, we tested more than 20 to find the best meal subscriptions in several categories. We also found a few exceptional vegan meal delivery services to satisfy plant-based eaters.
For those looking to accomplish health or nutrition goals, we also tested to find the best meal delivery for keeping to a keto , paleo and low-calorie diet.
And if you're wondering if meal kits are worth it, we compared recipes from EveryPlate and Blue Apron to see how they compared with buying the groceries yourself. Below you'll find the best meal delivery services of , as tested and reviewed by CNET. Why our testers picked Blue Apron : With tasty, premium entrees such as steak and seafood at some of the best prices in the meal kit category, Blue Apron represents the best overall value for any meal delivery service we tried.
Blue Apron is the granddad of meal kit programs in the US and the brand still manages to deliver excellent meals with easy-to-follow recipes all at a fair price.
Weekly menu choices available range from simple pasta dishes to inventive global cuisine, with high-end recipes including those for steak and seafood at no extra cost. Read our full review of Blue Apron here.
Why our testers picked Fresh N Lean : With extremely high-quality meals, tons of healthy options and fair pricing, this service was an easy pick for best prepared meal delivery service.
Fresh N Lean ran away from the competition, ticking more boxes than any other with healthy food that is thoughtfully prepared, tastes great, looks appetizing and is fairly affordable depending on the plan you select.
Fresh N Lean has five meal plans to help keep folks on track with their specific nutrition goals including low-carb, vegan, paleo and protein-plus options. The food was all made exceptionally well using simple, whole ingredients. Why our testers picked Pete's Real Food : While it's more expensive than other prepared meal services on our list, the quality of food doesn't get much higher than Pete's.
The cuisine is designed to fuel those following the precise paleo diet, but even those not keeping to the plan should enjoy this grub. Pete's Real Food formerly Pete's Paleo won me over in a week-long taste test of its healthy organic and paleo meals, earning a spot as one of the best healthy, organic meal delivery services.
Pete's meals are all fully prepared and ready to heat and eat. The dozen or so Pete's Real Food meals we've tested were all cooked well: meats were tender, vegetables mostly cooked to proper doneness and all the flavors worked.
If you're in training or keeping to a paleo plan and looking for lots of protein, healthy fats and nutrient-filled carbs such as sweet potatoes and beets, Pete's should hit the spot.
Pete's Real Food formerly Pete's Paleo is an excellent meal service if you're adhering to a paleo or whole foods eating plan. Read our full review of Pete's Real Food here. Why our testers picked CookUnity : This is a prepared meal service aimed at those with refined tastes and an adventurous palate.
The best thing about CookUnity is the sheer volume of meal options you can choose from, all originating from chefs -- some famous and some not -- of different backgrounds and culinary styles. I liked almost everything I tried, with recipes ranging from very healthy to more comfort-style food.
There are plenty of options for vegetarians, too, but note that the menu will vary depending on where you live since they pull from local chefs to create the weekly offerings.
Read our full review of CookUnity here. Why our testers picked Mosaic Foods : This plant-based service was one of the best prepared meal services we tried, and not just among vegan options.
I sampled more than 10 of Mosaic Food's plant-based prepared meal offerings and the vegetarian prepared meal delivery service had an astoundingly high hit rate.
Mosaic uses global flavors and employs creative use of meat substitutes such as tofu, jackfruit, cauliflower and vegan sausages to create tasty and satisfying vegetarian meals. While everything I ate from Mosaic was at least good, some standouts included the bean and jackfruit chili, tomato olive and feta ragout and a tangy Thai noodle dish.
Why our testers picked HelloFresh : HelloFresh combines, convenience, selection and family-friendly options for an all-around excellent meal kit experience. HelloFresh has the most recipes per week of any meal kit service we tried making it a good pick for families and homes with picky eaters.
This meal kit service's portion sizes are generous and there are meals to fir eating plans and diets of all sorts. It's also affordable, especially if you order larger meals. Ya know, for a family. HelloFresh recipes are mostly fast and easy to follow, even for beginner cooks.
Plus, they'll allow you to make substitutions so you can always find a recipe that suits your taste. Factor is a healthy prepared meal service and had some of the best meals I tried in all my testing of prepared meal services, including a zesty pesto salmon and a divine keto cheesecake.
Among the hits, however, were the occasional misses, so you may have to learn the menu over time. Factor puts a focus on healthy meals with plenty of low-carb options, and all the nutritional information is listed on the website before you choose your meals each week.
With all the keto and paleo meal options, it's certainly a solid choice for people keeping to either of those plans. Read our full review of Factor here. Why our testers picked Purple Carrot : For authentic, organic, plant-based cooking, Purple Carrot delivered big with a bounty of interesting recipes and fresh ingredients.
Out of all the vegan meal kits I've tried, Purple Carrot's provided me with the best base for cooking vegan cuisine and its ingredient mainstays such as lentils and grains. There are about eight recipes to choose from each week. I tested a full week's worth of meals and enjoyed all of them.
Read our full Purple Carrot review here. Why our testers picked Green Chef : This meal kit service uses almost all organic meats and produce, and offers interesting and healthy recipes for the discerning home cook. While it may be one of the pricier options, we like Green Chef for its versatility in the different specific diet plans available.
The healthy meal kit service also boasts the most organic ingredients of any meal kit service including produce, meats and fish. Green Chef also offers paleo, keto, pescatarian, vegan and vegetarian meals as well as gluten-free meal kit recipes and meals.
Read our full review of Green Chef here. EveryPlate keeps overhead costs low by offering just eight easy meal kit recipes to choose from weekly, which mostly excludes vegetarians and those on special diets, but the eight available meals are full of variety and flavor otherwise.
You can expect a lot of comfort food from this meal kit service such as meatloaf, burgers and pasta dishes but everything I made was solid. Why our testers picked Home Chef : Home Chef is a meal kit service with a sprawling menu that includes tons of low-carb options. Even if you're not going full keto, but just want to curb your carb intake, Home Chef offers 15 recipes per week with less than 15 grams of net carbs in each.
On balance, Home Chef meal kits weren't the best we tried, but the bulk of meals we made took less than 25 minutes and the portions were more than satisfying.
That, coupled with its slew of easy, healthy low-carb options, makes Home Chef the best meal kit service for keto eaters. The first big decision you'll make is whether you want meal kits, which require some prep and cooking, or a prepared meal service that sends fully cooked meals that are ready to heat and eat.
After you've picked between meal kits or meal delivery, you'll want to find a service within your budget. Here we've outlined all the best cheap meal delivery services for Our list of the healthiest meal delivery services for is a good place to find all the most nutritious options.
Lastly, you'll want to hone in on exactly how much food you'll want sent to you per week. Most services allow you to change the number of meals or servings in your plan even after you've started.
With nearly every service, the more meals your order per delivery, the cheaper it is per meal. All the meal delivery services may look delicious in their website glamour shots, but that's certainly not enough to convince me. To settle on this list of the best meal delivery service I tried as many as we could get our hands on, noting everything about them from freshness and flavor to ordering, packaging and delivery.
Testing meal kits for CNET means rolling up our sleeves and cooking at least one week's worth of meals from each service, often more.
How each meal kit tastes, how easy it was to prepare and the portion sizes are all considered. We also evaluate the website and how easy it is to navigate along with determining how easy it is to pause, cancel or change your order at any given time.
To learn more, we have an in-depth look at how we test meal kits here at CNET. To test each meal delivery service, we tried at least five and sometimes as many as 10 meals from any given service. I choose a range of meals from the various menu and meal plan offerings and took note of the ordering process, recipe variety and information available.
I reheated meals according to the instructions. If there were none, I heated them the way I would if left to my own devices. Often that meant warming gently in a nonstick skillet or reheating in my air fryer.
Many of the meal delivery services offer a microwave heating option, but I almost always found that produced worse results than my trusted methods, even if they typically take a few seconds longer.
Not all meal kits are created equally. You should check with your doctor or a health professional before making any drastic changes to your diet. That said, there are meal delivery services that cater to nutrition plans of all types including keto, paleo, Mediterranean diet, low-calorie, vegan, vegetarian and diabetes-friendly.
The most budget-friendly meal kits are EveryPlate and Dinnerly. This really depends on your nutrition goals. And know that just about every meal delivery service claims to be healthy.
The options that made this list excelled among the competition, with fresher ingredients, a better selection of truly balanced and nutrition-packed meals as well as detailed guidance and information to make tracking nutrition, carbs, calories, fat and protein easier.
Even among this list, there are meal services that are geared towards particular health and nutrition goals including plant-based meal delivery, meal delivery for paleo eaters and those for folks trying to eat a low-carb diet.
Some of the services listed here are healthy prepared meal delivery services , sending fully cooked meals -- often frozen or partially frozen -- and ready to eat when you receive them. Others include health-focused meal kits with premeasured ingredients all boxed up and ready for easy weeknight cooking.
There's a stark difference between meal kits and meal delivery, but both make dinnertime easier and can translate into healthier eating choices for you in Plus, we sussed out the best healthy meal services for those on special diets like keto or paleo or for those who wish to eat organic prepared meals and meal kits.
Wellness Nutrition. Best Healthy Meal Delivery Services of , Tested and Reviewed If you've vowed to eat better in , these healthy meal subscriptions and meal kit services will keep nutritious food rolling in with minimal effort required.
Written by David Watsky. Our expert, award-winning staff selects the products we cover and rigorously researches and tests our top picks.
If you buy through our links, we may get a commission. Reviews ethics statement. David lives in Brooklyn where he's spent more than a decade covering all things edible, including meal kit services, food subscriptions, kitchen tools and cooking tips.
Since earning a BA in English from Northeastern in Boston, he's toiled in nearly every aspect of the food business, including as a line cook in Rhode Island where he once made a steak sandwich for Lamar Odom. Right now, he's likely somewhere stress-testing a blender or researching the best way to make bacon.
Anything with sesame is his all-time favorite food this week. Expertise Kitchen tools, appliances, food science, subscriptions and meal kits. See full bio. Why You Can Trust CNET. See at Green Chef. Best healthy meal delivery for most.
See at Fresh N' Lean. Best for eating keto or low-carb. See at Daily Harvest. Best meal delivery for easy lunch. See at Purple Carrot. Best healthy vegan meal kits. See at Hungryroot. Best healthy grocery delivery. See at Mosaic Foods. Best vegan meal delivery.
See at Blue Apron. Best meal kits for weight loss. See at ModifyHealth. Best for those with digestive issues. See at Splendid Spoon. Best for soup and smoothies.
See at Pete's Paleo. Best paleo meal delivery. Pete's Real Food formerly Pete's Paleo. Best Cheap Meal Delivery Services in See at Cnet. Show less. Pros Healthy meal kits with plenty of organic options Good recipes variety Allows protein swaps to suit your taste.
Cons Expensive Some premium meals trigger an upcharge. Type Meal kits. Recipes per week Good for Organic, healthy, low-calorie, pescatarian, vegetarian, keto, gluten-free, Whole30, gourmet. See at Green Chef Best healthy meal delivery for most Green Chef.
Show expert take Show less. Editors' choice. Pros Meals are consistently good Options for keto, paleo, gluten-free, low-sugar, Whole30, vegan and more. Cons Expensive if you don't order enough meals Recipes aren't kid-friendly. Type Prepared meals. Meal options per week Good for Keto, paleo, Whole30, gluten-free Mediterranean, vegan, vegetarian, high-protein.
Full Review Read full review. See at Fresh N' Lean Best for eating keto or low-carb Fresh N Lean. Pros Meals are light, healthy and made with quality ingredients Pasta recipes are excellent and affordable Meals are priced a la cart Most food tastes great.
Cons Soups and smoothies requires some prep Flatbreads were just OK Not many low-carb options. Type Prepared Meal. Good for Vegan, vegetarian, paleo, Whole30, gluten-free, breakfast, lunch.
See at Daily Harvest Best meal delivery for easy lunch Daily Harvest. Pros Fresh ingredients and vibrant recipes Great for learning to cook vegan food. Cons Expensive Only 12 recipes per week. Recipes per week 8.
Good for Vegan, vegetarian, paleo, gluten-free, low-calorie. See at Purple Carrot Best healthy vegan meal kits Purple Carrot. Pros A more convenient way to buy groceries High-quality items at good prices Flexible recipe suggestions.
Cons A bit more expensive than shopping yourself Somewhat limited selection. Type Meal kit, grocery provider. Regional Availability Continental United States. See at Hungryroot Best healthy grocery delivery Hungryroot. Cons Not many low-carb options The flatbreads were just OK. See at Mosaic Foods Best vegan meal delivery Mosaic Foods.
Make the most of high-flavor, low-cost ingredients for budget-friendly meals everyone will love. These recipes from Food Network make it What are your favourite cheap and healthy family dinners? · Butter beans and rice with mayo, salt, pepper, and raw onions · Nachos with refried Pasta, frozen vegetables, canned soups, and rice or potatoes can stretch cheap meats quite far. Pow. Continue Reading
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