10 Best Low-Calorie Meal Delivery Services 2023 + Discounts

Planning out a dedicated weight-loss meal plan takes a lot of time and effort and losing weight can feel like an uphill struggle. That’s why more and more people are looking to meal delivery services to help take the stress out of meal planning.

Luckily there are some amazing low-calorie meal delivery services out there that cater to every kind of diet and weight-loss goal. I’ve rigorously researched the services available to rank the best options in terms of choice, quality, price, and nutrition.

When it comes to low-calorie choices, Blue Apron comes out on top. Blue Apron’s meals are health-oriented but also consider the number of calories and support various dietary needs, like WW Recommended and Vegetarian. Plus, the recipes are delicious, which makes it easier to stick to.

The Best Low-Calorie Meal Delivery Services Reviewed

1. Blue Apron – Best Low-Calorie and Delicious Home-Cooked Meals

If you’re already following the WW plan, Blue Apron is a great match as you’ll have access to a whole range of WW-recommended recipes delivered to your door. This menu section also makes it easier to continue tracking your PersonalPoints and stay on track.

Blue Apron provides an exciting selection of gourmet, restaurant-quality recipes. You’ll find a variety of cuisines from around the world, from classic American flavors with a twist to Italian, Greek, and Asian cuisine. I mean, you don’t usually find recipes like Basil Pesto Gnocchi with Mushrooms or Spicy Pork Udon on a low-calorie menu, right?

Many of Blue Apron’s recipes are 600 calories or less, but you’ll have to open each recipe and check. Sadly, there are no filters or labels to help sort by the calorie content. On the other hand, it’s easy to find fast recipes since the prep time is visible while browsing the menu. In their Blue Apron review, my colleague found that most meal kits take around 25 and 55 minutes to make.

The add-on section is a great way to spice things up. Here, you can find desserts, snacks, à la carte appetizers, ready-made sides (usually protein), and even microwaveable Heat & Eat prepared meals.

You can customize some of Blue Apron’s recipes with swaps, like swapping thinly sliced beef for flank steak. There’s also the option to remove the meat from some of the meals and make them vegetarian (follow the Make It Vegetarian label for this), which can help lower the calories. These customizations come with an additional cost, but they give you more variety.

Blue Apron also offers a unique wine delivery service. The company offers guidance and tips on how to pair the available wines with the meals in your order. You have access to a selection of quality wines from all over the world, and each bottle comes with tasting notes. True, this may not fit into a daily low-calorie diet, but it’s a nice option for special occasions.

Overall, Blue Apron is a great service for couples and families looking to enjoy healthy home-cooked meals. Its pricing structure is quite affordable since the price per serving for the maximum order (4 weekly meals for 4 people) is $5.74. Even if you choose the minimum order (2 meals for 2 people), the cost is still reasonable.

2. Factor – Best Healthy and Fresh Chef-Prepared Recipes

Factor caters to busy individuals who want to maintain a healthy lifestyle without sacrificing flavor. Its meals are nutritionally balanced and include a combination of lean proteins, fresh vegetables, and complex carbs. The menu is divided into 5 plans, which makes it easy to find something for any taste and preference.

For a low-calorie diet, the Calorie Smart meal plan has 18+ meals per week, but you can also choose from the Keto, Vegan & Veggie, and Protein+ plans, too. However, you’ll have to check the calorie content of each recipe since this information isn’t available while browsing the menu.

The overall menu is varied, with a blend of American and international cuisines, such as Thai, Italian, and Mediterranean. Even if you’re on a low-calorie diet, you can still enjoy delicious meals like Homestyle Ground Beef and Chive Potato Mash (510 cal/serving) or Lebanese Chicken and Quinoa Bowl with Asparagus-Pepper Tabbouleh (540 cal/serving).

Factor delivers prepared meals, so the meals arrive fresh and ready to be heated and enjoyed. According to my colleague’s in-depth review of Factor, this is one of the reasons why so many people love it.

Another reason to love Factor is its extensive add-on menu, with 40+ weekly options. Here, you can find a wide selection of smoothies, juices, healthy desserts, breakfasts, proteins, shakes, and wellness shots.

Factor also offers a free 20-min one-on-one online consultation with an expert dietitian. During your consultation, you can ask for help with your personalized nutrition plan, ask about your low-calorie diet, and more. This is an excellent opportunity to learn how to make healthy dietary changes and form better eating habits.

The price per serving is $6.19 when you place the maximum order of 18 meals per week. The minimum order is 6 meals per week, but this is also the most expensive option. If the maximum order is too much for you, you can compromise and get the most popular option, which is 10 meals per week.

3. Green Chef – Best for a Wide Range of Dietary Options

Green Chef’s recipes are nutritionist-approved and contain organic ingredients (mostly eggs and fresh produce). So, in a way, Green Chef takes the guesswork out of healthy eating. Its well-designed meal plans cater to several demanding diets , such as Keto, High-Protein, Gluten-Free, Vegan, Mediterranean, and Fast & Fit.

The Fast & Fit meal plan is the one closest to a low-calorie diet, but you’ll find recipes that fit your needs in the other plans as well. You’ll have to open each recipe to access detailed nutritional facts and calorie content, which can be a bit tedious.

The menu uses tags to help you find the best recipes for your needs. And, according to my colleague’s tested review of Green Chef, the Keto and Fast & Fit tags usually indicate low-calorie recipes. For instance, a serving of Spicy Turkey & Rice Skillet, which is Gluten-Free and Fast & Fit, has 650 cal.

I like that Green Chef’s menu is a combination of American and global cuisines. Most of the recipes are easy to follow, so you can enjoy everything from Asian noodle dishes and stir-fries to Middle-Eastern rice bowls and classic American meatloaves without worrying about your cooking skills. The recipe cards describe each step in detail (with text and pictures).

For more healthy food delivered to your door, check out the add-ons section. Green Chef’s add-ons menu rivals even Factor’s in size and diversity, with extra proteins (cooked and ready to eat), breakfast options, healthy desserts, and 10-minute lunches.

Green Chef uses recyclable packaging materials and sustainable ingredients to reduce its carbon footprint. The company also offsets 100% of its operational and distributional carbon emissions. However, I think they could work a bit more on reducing the amount of plastic wrapping.

Green Chef’s high quality comes with a high price tag. Its starting price is $5.99 per serving, which is available with the maximum order (4 weekly meals for 6 people). The price gets even steeper for the minimum order, which is 3 meals for 2 people.

4. HelloFresh – Best for High-Quality and Varied Ingredients

HelloFresh provides full nutritional information (calories and macros) for each meal, which makes it easier to stick to a calorie-controlled diet. Every meal kit provides clear details on calorie content, the number of carbs, protein, fiber, sugar, sodium, fat, and cholesterol. This comes in handy if you’re using an app to track your macros and calories.

For low-calorie meals, follow the Calorie Smart tag, and you’ll find recipes that are 600 calories and under per serving. HelloFresh uses tags like Veggie, Seasonal, Vegan, and others to help you find the meals you want. 

The menu is large enough to offer something for everyone, whether you’re a meat-lover or vegan. You can enjoy delicious and fresh meals that are tailored to your preferences. To learn more about the HelloFresh menu and how to mix and match across plans, check out my colleague’s tried-and-tested HelloFresh review. 

I was pleased to find that you can swap out proteins and sides according to taste. You do this using the HelloCustom feature, which lets you change, swap, or upgrade 12+ sides and proteins each week. For instance, you can upgrade your Beef and Black Bean Quesadilla by swapping the beef with organic beef, or you can make it vegetarian.

The customization swaps are useful for picky eaters. However, the options are a bit limited, especially compared to Home Chef, where most of the menu has multiple choices. 

I like that HelloFresh’s recipes suit any skill level, from novices to experienced chefs. For something fast and easy, you just have to follow the Easy Prep and Easy Cleanup tags (most of these recipes take between 15-35 minutes). When you want something a bit fancier, look for tags like Premium Picks, Brunch, or Hall of Fame.

HelloFresh is very affordable, with prices starting at $3.32 per serving. This price is available with the maximum order (6 weekly recipes for 4 people), but you still get good value even with the minimum order (2 recipes for 2 people).

5. Home Chef –  Great for Its Varied and Dedicated Calorie-Conscious Menu

Home Chef is a fantastic dieting aid since there’s a dedicated low-calorie menu. The tabs at the top of the menu page allow you to pick from a special range of Calorie-Conscious meals with less than 625 calories per serving, so you won’t have to sift through the whole menu to find the recipes that fit your dietary needs.

The Home Chef menu is varied enough to keep almost everyone interested and offers a good selection of meal kits that take between 20 to 50 minutes to turn into delicious home-cooked dishes that the entire family will appreciate. Most of the recipes are designed to fit the American palate, but there are a couple of international options.

Home Chef also has a good selection of add-ons, which includes a wide range of breakfast items, snacks, soups, salads, bread, desserts, protein packs, beverages, and bundles.

But the thing I love most about this service is the Customize It feature. This tool lets you personalize almost every recipe for an upcharge. You do this by swapping the default protein with a list of alternatives. For instance, with the Everything Bagel Chicken, you can swap the chicken breast with filet mignon, sirloin steak, or USDA Choice New York strip steak. 

You can exclude certain ingredients like nuts and shellfish while placing an order. There’s also a quiz that Home Chef uses to understand your culinary preferences a little better. Just answer a few questions about your preferred tastes, serving sizes, and delivery preferences. Our Home Chef review walks you through the whole sign-up process.

Home Chef is quite affordable, with meals starting at $7.99 per serving for the maximum order (6 weekly meals for 6 people). And even if you’re ordering 2 meals per week for 2 people (the minimum order), the price per serving won’t climb too high.

6. Fresh and Easy – Best for Low-Prep Meals

Fresh and Easy is a Home Chef brand designed to take the stress out of cooking. All the dishes included in this special line of meals can be prepared in no more than 20 minutes, and there are several options, like oven-ready, microwave-ready, grill-ready, 15-minute meal kits, and fast and fresh.

Fresh and Easy is the perfect option for busy people. The kits are specially designed to meet this requirement, each with a different style of speedy prep. For instance, oven-ready and microwave-ready meals don’t need any prep. Just pop them in the oven/microwave and follow the heating instructions.

A potential downside is the lack of niche diet options, but if you’re not a picky eater, then it’s a fantastic way to incorporate healthy meals into your busy schedule. The Home Chef tagging system makes it easy to identify calorie-conscious options. Our Fresh and Easy review goes into more detail about the weekly menu.

Fresh and Easy meals can also be personalized using the Customize It tool, which means that you can tweak the menu according to your preferences. However, you’ll find there are fewer vegetarian options in comparison to Home Chef’s core menu.

As you may have guessed, most Fresh and Easy meals have a low difficulty level. However, there are some medium-difficulty recipes here and there, so make sure to pay attention to which dishes you choose if you don’t want to invest too much effort into prepping and cooking your meals.

Fresh and Easy has the same prices as Home Chef, starting at $7.99 per serving for the maximum order (6 weekly meals for 6 people). You can also order for 4 people, between 2 and 6 meals per week; the minimum order is 2 meals per week for 2 people.

7. BistroMD – Great for Chef-Prepared, Nutritionally Balanced Meals

BistroMD is a prepared meal delivery service focused on healthy weight loss through calorie restriction and portion control. The service offers several doctor-designed meal plans tailored to suit individual needs and health concerns, like diabetes, heart health, and menopause.

The meals are prepared by professional chefs using only the freshest ingredients to create flavorful, healthy meals that can help you reach your health and weight loss goals. Even my colleague was impressed while reviewing BistroMD and called the service the perfect solution for anyone looking to improve their health through a nutritionally balanced diet.

BistroMD’s systems use scientific methods to target fat and provide you with the personalized support you need. This is why I think it’s more successful than other meal delivery services that promise healthy weight loss through nutritionally-balanced meals.

Each meal plan provides options for breakfast, lunch, and dinner to keep cravings and temptation at bay. All meals are carefully selected from a rotating menu of 150+ recipes, and there are 7 weight loss programs to choose from (there’s no mixing and matching in between, though).

The most straightforward meal plans are the ones designed for men and women. These were designed based on each gender’s caloric and nutritional needs. For instance, both meal plans include 3 meals and 2 snacks, but the caloric intake is lower for women than it is for men. In both cases, the meals include healthy fats, lean protein, and complex carbs.

The other meal plans support different dietary needs, such as meals designed for a healthy heart (lower sodium content), gluten-free recipes, a diabetic-friendly menu, dishes for the keto diet, and meals for people going through menopause.

With prices starting at $8.24 per serving, BistroMD isn’t exactly budget-friendly like HelloFresh, but considering the work it went into creating these programs, this is understandable. If the full 7-day plan is too much for you, there’s also the option to order meals for 5 days or to only get lunches and/or dinners.

8. Purple Carrot – Best for Plant-Based Diets

Purple Carrot is a 100% plant-based, gluten- and dairy-free meal delivery service, which is why it can be a great option for people who want to lose weight and lower cholesterol. Meals are usually between 500 and 800 calories per serving and include complex carbohydrates, healthy fats, and lean plant proteins.

Purple Carrot celebrates plants and their health-inducing properties. So, you won’t find any meat substitutes or artificial flavorings in these meals. There are also options from famous plant-based cuisines, such as Thai or Japanese, but the main attractions are meals that resemble classic American dishes.

Whether you're an omnivore or vegan, you'll find something delicious to enjoy on Purple Carrot's menu. Recipes like Japanese Gnocchi, Spicy Buffalo Tofu Bowls, Thai Peanut Noodles, and Mac N’ Cheese are flavorful and satisfying. My colleague was impressed when they tried Purple Carrot at home.

Purple Carrot is known for its meal kits, but it also offers microwavable vegan dinners and a good selection of extras (only available with meal kit purchases). 

Less Prep meal kits are also the perfect solution for busy weeknights, and they're ready in 15 minutes or less. The meal kits section also includes a limited selection of breakfasts and lunches, plus snacks, desserts, and a bunch of grocery items (Plantry items) to add to your order.

The company doesn’t guarantee organic produce, but Purple Carrot sources the highest quality ingredients possible and is constantly looking for organic options. If you’re looking for certified organic ingredients, Green Chef’s Vegan plan may be a better option.

To order, you first need to decide between meal kits and prepared meals, as you can’t mix and match. With meal kits, prices start at $8.50 per serving for the maximum order (3 weekly meals for 4 people). The minimum order is 3 weekly meals for 2 people, and the pricing is a bit higher than with prepared meals.

For prepared meals, the price per serving is fixed at $13, and you can order 6, 8, or 10 meals per week. In this case, you can’t add breakfast, lunches, or extras.

9. Marley Spoon – Great for Easy, Step-by-Step Recipes

Marley Spoon focuses on making cooking simple and pleasurable, with a wide range of meal kits and several ready-made and dessert options. Each recipe is designed to be ready in 6 steps or less, and the instructions are easy to understand even by novice cooks.

The menu is extensive, so everyone can find something to fit their taste and needs. For those of you watching your calorie intake, there are between 12 and 16 low-calorie meals each week. There are also low-carb meals, gluten- and dairy-free recipes, and vegan and/or vegetarian dishes. To find your favorites, you can follow the tags on each recipe.

Marley Spoon uses seasonal produce from sustainable suppliers. Some of the ingredients are organic, so you can look for these recipes on the weekly menu. And, as my colleague highlights in their in-depth Marley Spoon review, the meals come with Martha Stewart’s Signature premade seasonings and sauces.

A large part of Marley Spoon’s menu is made of classic American comfort foods, like meatloaf and turkey burgers, or kid-friendly meals, like quesadillas and breaded pork cutlets. However, there’s something for the more culinary adventurous, with international dishes like Thai Lemongrass Salmon, Hoisin-Glazed Chicken Rice Bowl, or Korean Pork Rice Bowl.

The Marley Spoon menu also includes breakfasts, desserts, and Premium options. The latter are high-quality meals with extra trimmings and restaurant-quality ingredients (usually organic). Of course, since we’re talking about premium quality, these meals come with an upcharge, so these work best for special occasions.

Prices start at $2.99 per serving for the maximum order (6 meals for 4 people each week) and can get pretty steep for the minimum order (2 meals for 2 people each week). You also have to add the $11.99 shipping fee for each order.

10. Nutrisystem – Great for Personalized Healthy Low-Calorie Meals

Nutrisystem is a weight loss program that promises quick and lasting results if you stick to the schedule. The menu includes calorie-controlled recipes with options for all the meals of the day, plus snacks and desserts.

The menu is extensive, with over 130 options spread across 6 meal plans designed for men and women at all stages of adulthood. Most recipes are designed to fit the American palate with a few Mediterranean influences. You can find a large variety of pizzas, soups, stews, pasta dishes, and recipes that include lean proteins such as chicken, beef, pork, or seafood.

Most meals only need a few minutes in the microwave or oven and are ready to eat. On the other hand, meals like shakes or oatmeal don’t need any heating. According to my colleague’s expert Nutrisystem review, each meal is clearly labeled, so it’s easy to know how to store and cook them.

Your Nutrisystem subscription comes with the NuMI app, which helps monitor food and water intake, plus activity. The app also connects you with valuable resources, like free recipes, challenges, and tips on how to make Nutrisystem work best for you. The system constantly adjusts your calorie goals to help avoid plateaus in your weight loss journey.

I like that you can choose between Chef’s Choice and selecting your own meals when placing an order. This way, if you feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of options, or it’s your first time with Nutrisystem, you can let a professional choose your meals. Unlike HelloFresh or Green Chef, Nutrisystem is a monthly delivery service, so it can be quite difficult to know which meals are best for your goals.

Prices start at $8.54 per day for the Basic plan, which only includes essential ready-made meals and access to the NuMi app. If you want more, you can choose the Uniquely Yours or the Uniquely Yours Max plan, but the cost per day will also increase.

Quick Comparison Table

Tips for Choosing the Best Low-Calorie Meal Delivery Services

I’m here to help you choose the best low-calorie meal delivery service for you. These are the key criteria I used when reviewing and ranking the best low-calorie meal delivery services on the market.

• Dedicated low-calorie menus or filters: Look for a meal delivery service with a dedicated low-calorie menu or relevant filters, like Blue Apron, to help you sort through menu options according to your dietary requirements. This makes it easier to find low-calorie meals quickly.

• Full nutritional breakdowns: Choose a meal delivery service that provides full calorie and nutritional breakdowns for each meal, like Nutrisystem. This will help you align your meal plans with your personal goals.

• Dietary compatibility: If you follow specific dietary guidelines (say, you're a vegan or allergic to certain food items), check whether your chosen meal delivery service accommodates your needs. For example, Purple Carrot is a superb choice for those following a vegan or plant-based diet.
  

• Swaps and substitutions: Look for a meal delivery service that offers swaps and substitutions for particular ingredients, proteins, and sides, like HelloFresh or Blue Apron. That way, you can make even more meals work for your particular dietary preferences.

FAQ

What is the best low-calorie meal delivery service?

Can I lose weight with Blue Apron? 

Blue Apron has a good selection of WW Recommended and Vegetarian meals that fit the requirements of a low-calorie diet. There are also Wellness recipes (maximum 650 cal/serving), which are nutritionist-approved and support a holistic approach to healthy eating.

Are meal delivery services healthy?

Most meal delivery services endeavor to create fully nutritionally balanced meals that fit an individual’s requirements for healthy eating. If you’re particularly health conscious, looking to lose weight, or follow a particular diet (such as keto, or vegan), a service like Green Chef may be a great option.

Best Low-Calorie Meal Delivery Services in 2023 — Final Score