7 Best Meal Delivery Services in Boston 2020, Budget-Friendly 

Whether you were reluctant to cook even before the shutdown, or are trying to learn a new skill while working from me, there’s always a good time to experience a prepared meal delivery, Boston-style!  

For one thing, you're almost guaranteed to have all the ingredients you want and need to make exciting, delicious and even healthy meals; for another, it beats having to leave the house and mix with the masses in the (probably derelict) supermarkets. 

Whatever the reason, the below list of the best food delivery services Boston has to offer will keep you fed, happy – and even a local business from closing! 

Short on time? Here are the best meal delivery services in Boston. 

1. Home Chef – Best overall meal delivery in Boston

2. Grubhub – Best for variety of meal delivery in Boston

3. Sun Basket – Best for healthy meal delivery in Boston

4. Diet to Go – Best for diet email delivery in Boston

5. Postmates – Best for all-types of prepared meal delivery in Boston

6. Purple Carrot – Best for vegan meal delivery in Boston

7. Fresh & Easy  – Best for ‘no-cook’ meal delivery in Boston

Meal Delivery vs Food Delivery: The Key Difference

It’s all about convenience and it’s all in the preparation. If you want a cooked meal, delivered straight to your door, opt for food delivery. Pick what you want from the menu, as if you’re at a restaurant, they’ll do the hard work and send it to you to eat. Simple.

With meal delivery, you still get to choose the meals and decide what you want to eat, but this time, they’ll send you the pre-portioned ingredients and the step by step guide of how to put it together. With meal delivery, you do the cooking, but in the easiest, simplest way imaginable. 

Food delivery is easier, but often slightly more expensive – you’re paying for someone to cook it for you after all. Meal delivery in Boston works out cheaper per portion, plus you’ll improve your cooking skills and you’ll know exactly what’s going into your meal. 

What I Look For in the Best Meal Delivery Service in Boston

I can even sense the question: “just what makes these meal delivery services better than what I’m used to?” 

Gather round, Bostonians – you're about to learn something. 

• Meal delivery with a purpose – with prepared meal delivery services in Boston, you're receiving so much more than just a meal: it's an ideal solution for those looking to learn to cook, if you have a specific dietary need or even if you're looking to lose weight.

• Weight-loss and dietary-specific – yes, diet meal delivery in Boston really is a ‘thing’. You get a healthy meal delivery straight to your door, fully portioned out and even better, you get to see exactly what goes into your food. 

• Cheaper per portion than many takeouts – as we’re becoming ever more aware of the new pandemic reality we live in, meal delivery in Boston actually works out as cheaper per portion than a restaurant delivery. Yes, a straight-up takeout might be more convenient and there are some great options in this list too, but with a meal kit delivery, you have a healthy food option straight to your door (no delivery tip needed either, and all prepared meal deliveries in Boston come with a contact-free dropoff option). 

1. Home Chef – Best Overall Meal Delivery in Boston

One of my all-time favorite prepared meals services in Boston, Home Chef has a massive range of recipe options to choose from. The absolute best part of ordering from Home Chef has to be the meal upgrades and substitution options (which I’ve not yet seen at any of the other prepared meal delivery options in Boston):  

• 26-30 meal options on offer, for each plan – Lockdown or not, Home Chef's range of meal options won't let you get bored with the same old-food, day in, day out. There’s more than enough variety here for weeks on end, as well as a changing menu every week. If you want to know what they’re really like, though, check out my Home Chef review. I ordered, prepped and cooked the meals myself andI’ve got a lot to say about it.

• Protein substitutes available – Maybe you just don't like chicken, or want to double up on those shrimp (and who doesn't?) – Home Chef lets you do just that. For an extra fee, you can double up your meal’s protein or swap it for something else. 

• Awesome premium meals available – If you're celebrating a special occasion from lockdown, want something extra special or just miss going out to a restaurant, the premium meals have gourmet options (Bistro Filet with Truffle Frites, anyone?) to spoil you with. And, with prices for gourmet meals starting from $15 per portion, it actually works out as cheaper than takeout from a fancy restaurant too. 

2. Grubhub - Best for Variety of Meal Delivery in Boston

If you've not heard of Grubhub, then you're in for a pleasant surprise: Grubhub brings over 12,000 nationwide restaurants’ menus directly to your device, complete with helpful filters for pricing, delivery times and more. Grubhub is the option for you if you can't cook, won't cook, or are looking for a truly pre-prepared meal delivery in Boston. 

• Thousands of restaurants’ (and counting) menu options – delivered hassle-free to your door. You’ll get variety, choice and to answer your exact craving, all without having to cook a thing. Plus, you’ll help your local restaurants stay afloat during the pandemic period. 

• Helpful filters, to find you the exact meal you're looking for – Check out the restaurants offering free delivery and that have order tracking available too. My favorite filter? The “new restaurants” filter, showing you those that have just been added recently. 

• Money-saving coupons available – Maybe you just love a bargain, or you're on a tight budget, either way, the coupons filter allows you to see exactly where you can save on your meal delivery service in the Boston area. 

3. Sun Basket – Best for Healthy Meal Delivery in Boston

I love Sun Basket, and more importantly so do vegans, paleo and keto eaters. Why? Because Sun Basket is the best healthy food delivery service Boston has to offer, period. In fact, you have any type of dietary requirement, Sun Basket should probably be your first port of call. 

• Paleo meal delivery in Boston – Whether you're just curious about eating paleo, or have been on a dedicated paleo diet for years, then Sun Basket has the exact meal plan you  need. It also has plans for vegans, keto and even diabetic customers! 

• 18+ meals on each plan – There’s a ton of meal variety, whether you're on lockdown or even for the future, when we return to more ‘normal’ times. Whatever your diet, know that there are a lot of different options here for you. I’ve even tried them out for myself in my Sun Basket review.

• Fun, family-friendly menu – If you’re looking to feed hungry people in bulk or just get the kids doing something, then Sun Basket has the answer. From the well-stocked family plan, to the kid-friendly instructions during the actual preparation, Sun Basket can be both a healthy food delivery in Boston and something to keep your kids entertained. 

4. Diet to Go – Best for Diet Meal Delivery in Boston

Who says you need to gain the dreaded ‘quarantine 15’? With Diet to Go, you can diet while you wait out the pandemic, with portion-specific and calorie-controlled meals for keto, low carb, vegetarian and even diabetic customers. 

• A complete meal plan for weight loss – Get a tailored plan of 1,200 calories for women and 1,600 for men, daily, with everything you need to eat. This is the new, fresh meal plan Bostonians need and deserve.  

• Five-week meal rotation – Never get bored of what you're eating again! You can easily customize the email you receive every week, or just look forward to what’s automatically selected for you. 

• No cooking necessary – Get twice-weekly deliveries, direct to your doorstep, with everything you need to eat until the next delivery, just heat up your food, and eat. 

5. Postmates – Best for All-Types of Prepared Meal Delivery in Boston

Postmates will deliver literally anything – anything – to your door, from $1000 pizza orders, to your dry cleaning. Even better, while services like Grubhub outsource only the ordering process for takeout, Postmates allow restaurants to outsource the actual delivery. 

• Get your food quicker – As long as a Postmates driver is nearby, you can get your prepared meal delivery in the Boston area pretty quickly – quicker than with other takeout services! 

• A greater range of takeout options – Since Postmates drivers aren't contracted to a specific restaurant, it's up to the Postmates driver themselves how far they want to go to deliver to a customer. Find the right one, and you can source the best meal delivery service Boston has to offer direct to your door.  

• Cheap, or even free deliveries – I’ve always found Postmates to have cheaper delivery fees than say, Seamless or Uber Eats – sometimes, if Postmates has partnered with a certain restaurant you can even get free delivery! 

6. Purple Carrot–- Best for Vegan Meal Delivery in Boston

Hungry vegans in Boston: here’s one for you. Purple Carrot is the only meal delivery service Boston-adjacent that is all-vegan. Whether you're a card-carrying vegan or are just curious, Purple Carrot’s meal delivery service in Boston is tasty, healthy and doesn't really need any cooking either! 

• 8 meal options per week – If you're running out of food options around you, then Purple Carrot has a rotation of 8 different meal options a week for you to enjoy. It really is vegan meal delivery in Boston at its absolute finest. 

• Breakfast and lunch options available – Most meal delivery services in Boston offer only dinner or lunch meals at best, but Purple Carrot, the only vegan meal delivery in Boston, has breakfast and lunch options available too! Who said eating vegan had to be hard? 

• Cooked meals and non-cooked meals available – Maybe, like me, you're a bit of a lazy cook, and if so, Purple Carrot is your best option. Some of the options available each week don't even require cooking – so if you can't cook, you can still eat tasty vegan food, without the added need to cook anything. 

7. Fresh and Easy – Best for ‘No-Cook’ Meal Delivery in Boston

Fresh and Easy, from parent company Home Chef, gives you completely prepared meal delivery in Boston, with only the most minimal of cooking needed. Chuck all of the ingredients in the provided pan, throw it in the oven, and hey presto, you've cooked something awesome!

• 30 meal options a week – No repeated, boring meals here! Choose from a huge range of options, and keep yourself entertained and well-fed during the lockdown and in general. 

• Easy protein upgrades – For an extra fee, you can double up or swap out any protein you want to – I even saw antibiotic-free chicken as an option to swap!  

• Gourmet meals available – Maybe it's a special occasion or maybe you're feeling a little ‘extra’ – the gourmet options on offer at Fresh and Easy are so easy to cook (again: just throw it into the provided pan), that from just $15 a portion it even works out a way cheaper than ordering a gourmet meal from a restaurant.  

The Best Prepared Meals Delivered in Boston in a Nutshell

No need to go hungry: Boston has some of the best prepared meal delivery in the North East! 

If you're still struggling to find the best food delivery service that Boston has to offer, here’s my round-up: 

• If you're feeling a bit adventurous or love home cooking: choose  Home Chef. There’s so much variety,and you’ll receive clearly guided instructions on every step of the cooking process, you really can’t mess it up. 

• If you're looking to ‘cook’ (without actually cooking), try Fresh and Easy. It’s the best food delivery service Boston has to offer, as you only need to choose your meals, put them in a pan and cook them – it’s cooking with minimal effort. 

• If you're looking for the best vegan meal delivery in Boston, or the best paleo meal delivery in Boston, try either Sun Basket or Purple Carrot – Sun Basket has a huge range of dietary-specific meals which you can read about in my Sun Basket review, while Purple Carrot is all-vegan. 

• If you just want takeout – try Grubhub or Postmates – you'll get delicious takeout, delivered contact-free to your door, hassle-free. 

Plus, ordering prepared meal delivery keeps Boston alive! Support your local business and restaurants to help them survive in the post-pandemic world.