10 Best Meal Delivery Services in Aurora 2023: Eat Healthy

After spending the day hiking, biking, or enjoying the fresh alpine air in Aurora, meal prep might be the last thing you look forward to when coming home.

You can rest your weary head, hands, and feet – I researched the best meal delivery services in Aurora that conveniently deliver healthy meal kits, microwave-ready meals, and more!

Each service offers a wide range of dietary and allergen accommodations, meal customization options, and a mix of high ingredient standards, including humanely-raised proteins, wild-caught fish, and non-GMO veggies.

Home Chef is my top recommendation for meal services in Aurora since you can swap and upgrade proteins in recipes, and the menu variety is great. There’s something for everyone on Home Chef’s menu and in the following top 10 list!

The Best Meal Delivery Services in Aurora Reviewed

1. Home Chef – Best Overall Meal Delivery Service in Aurora

Key Features

• Meal kits for different culinary styles including microwave-ready longer cook times

• Customize proteins by swapping or upgrade proteins with vegetarian options

• 9 dietary filters including shellfish-, tree nut-, and sesame-free

• Current deal: Get 60% off your first three boxes

Home Chef's customizable options are the best, as you can swap out or upgrade protein portions in most meals. The website makes this easy with the View Customize It Options button under most recipes, which shows you what substitutes are available – including Impossible Burgers to make a meal vegetarian!

20+ recipes are on the menu each week, from which you can also easily filter for your dietary preferences and view all recipe options available that fit your needs. Prep times range from 10 to 40+ minutes, so you can prepare a hassle-free meal or savor the prep process.

Home Chef even features recipes from celebrities – including chef Rachael Ray! See how my colleague got on when they tried Home Chef's meals in their full review.

Breads, sides, snacks, and proteins are available as add-ons, and there are a few money-saving bundle options like the Meatlovers Pizza and Avocado Ranch Chopped Salad!

2. Blue Apron – Best Gourmet Meal Kit Delivery in Aurora

Key Features

• Premium quality ingredients, humanely-raised proteins, sustainable processes

• 19+ recipes per week with add-ons and a wine pairing service

• Vegetarian and diabetes-conscious plans

• Current deal: Enjoy $110 off across your first 5 orders

Few other meal services offer the level of culinary attention to each meal that Blue Apron does. Blue Apron is a pricier meal service, but its meals are quality-forward, flavor-focused, and have signature spice mixes. You can choose from a total of 19 rotating gourmet recipes, some of which you can swap, upgrade, or double-up protein portions.

Prep times range from five minutes with the three Heat & Eat meal options each week to about an hour with Signature Collection recipes. If you want to savor your cooking and eating experience – try Blue Apron's wine pairing service.

Gourmet is the name of Blue Apron's game with its Signature Collection. To learn more about Blue Apron's full menu, check out my colleague's full review of Blue Apron's service!

Blue Apron also offers prepared options – like the above Mexican-Spiced Shrimp – which feature recipes that you just need to assemble, bake, and eat!

3. Green Chef – Best Organic Meal Kits in Aurora

Key Features

• First certified CCOF-organic and USDA-certified organic meal kit delivery service

• 20+ recipe options that rotate each week

• 7 dietary and allergy-conscious accommodations including keto, paleo, and vegan

• Current deal: Get $250 off + free shipping

For you organic-conscious Aurorans, Green Chef is my top recommendation. Green Chef offers nutrient-dense, high-quality ingredients and is the first – and one of the few – certified CCOF-organic and USDA-certified organic meal delivery services. This certification means that all ingredients in your meal kits are certified organic!

Additionally, keto and paleo dieters are in luck, as all keto and paleo recipes are also gluten-free! The Spicy Harissa Turkey-Stuffed Peppers pictured above is a perfect example and only takes 25 minutes to prep.

You can view more details about Green Chef’s ingredients and dietary accommodations in this in-depth review.

Green Chef offers up to six servings per meal – while most services offer four servings. You can also view complete recipes of each dish in a downloadable PDF recipe card – with pictures!

 4. HelloFresh – Great Family-Friendly Recipes

Key Features

• Family-friendly recipes that are tasty and easy

• 30+ unique recipes per week with customizable sides and proteins

• Several dietary accommodations including carb-, plant-, and protein-conscious

HelloFresh curated its menu to include plenty of easy-prep and family-friendly options and offers a huge menu with 30+ recipes each week. Meal prep times vary to suit any lifestyle and range from microwave-ready to culinary projects.

There's something for everyone on this menu, which might be why this is one of the most popular meal services. Find out why in my colleague's review after testing HelloFresh's complete delivery service!

What I appreciate most about HelloFresh's website is that it makes planning meals as easy as possible, whether you're cooking for one or a half dozen. You’ll know exactly what's in each meal kit, as each recipe on the website shows ingredients and nutrient details, plus staples that aren't included, like olive oil, salt, and pepper.

The website ushers in another level of ease by listing each utensil required to cook and serve each meal. Few other services offer these details! HelloFresh also posts weekly menus for the next six weeks so that you can plan all your and your family's deliveries in advance.

5. Purple Carrot – Best Fully Prepared Plant-Based Meals

Key Features

• Menu includes breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, snacks

• 12 meal kits, 8-9 prepared meals, plus snacks and desserts

• Unique three-course, two-servings meal boxes for celebrations

Purple Carrot is the best meal delivery service option for plant-based dieters. Eating a plant-based diet usually requires more meal prep than most diets, and can be challenging for those with on-the-go lifestyles. However, Purple Carrot makes mealtime hassle-free, delicious, and satisfying.

Check out my colleague’s in-depth review of his experience with Purple Carrot, or a quick overview below!

Purple Carrot especially focuses on offering nutrient-dense options. While many other meal services offer vegan and vegetarian options by substituting meats for highly processed protein substitutes like tempeh, these recipes focus on nutrient-dense ingredients that enhance veggie-based nutrients and natural flavors.

Prep times are a little longer than the average meal kit prep time, but you can choose from eight or nine microwave-ready meal options per week! Purple Carrot also offers high-protein plans that include a minimum of 20g of protein per meal.

6. Marley Spoon – Great One-Pot Meal Kits

Key Features

• Recipes take six or fewer steps with One Pot and One Pan options

• 45+ unique recipes from a wide variety of international cuisines

• Excellent dietary options including calorie-, carb-, plant-, and protein-conscious

Martha Stewart doesn’t disappoint with her thoughtfully curated, wide variety of easily-prepped standard American and international cuisines on Marley Spoon’s menu. Cooking times average about 40 minutes but are mostly hassle-free one-pot or one-pan recipes.

While Marley Spoon is a very affordable meal delivery service in Aurora, it still offers exotic and flavorful meal kits. There are plenty of standard American, classic Italian, and family-friendly recipes, or more complex and exotic dishes like the One-Pot Chicken Paprikash above!

There’s something for everyone in Marley Spoon’s cookbook, including the pickiest of palates. For an in-depth insight into what it’s like to put together these meal kits, you can check out my colleague’s full review of Marley Spoon.

With 45+ rotating weekly recipes, you can find a variety of recipes to suit any lifestyle.

7. Freshly – Best Microwave-Ready Meal Delivery

Key Features

• Three-minute meals for hassle-free prep breakfasts and dinners

• 40+ microwave-ready recipes that rotate weekly

• Dietary accommodations include calorie-, carb-, plant-, and protein-conscious

Freshly is the fully prepared, best microwave-ready meal delivery service. All meals come in microwave-safe trays and only require 2-3 minutes of heating time – zero prep, zero hassle, and zero clean-up! Plus, you can easily freeze your meals and reheat them later if you don’t get to finish them all on time.

These might sound like TV dinners, but they’re far from the highly processed and preserved meals you might find in the freezer section. Freshly meals are made-to-order to ensure freshness upon arrival. Freshly uses minimally processed ingredients and preps each meal with 100% non-GMO expeller pressed canola oil – and includes certified gluten-free options!

For more details about Freshly’s freshness and service, check out my colleague’s in-depth review here.

Freshly even has an amazing 24/7 live customer service chat that connects you quickly to friendly agents!

8. Fresh and Easy – Easy Prep Meal Kits

Key Features

• Meals arrive in microwave-ready trays or are ready for oven- and grill-safe trays

• 20+ rotating meals options for the week

• Customizable protein selections 

Want the same customizability as Home Chef with guaranteed low-to-no prep times? Fresh and Easy is Home Chef’s easy-prep meal kit delivery service. Read an in-depth review of Fresh and Easy’s meal delivery service here.

Fresh and Easy’s best feature is its short meal prep times. All your ingredients arrive ready to assemble, then popped in the microwave, oven, or grill for a maximum of 15 minutes. Fully prepped meals arrive in microwave-safe trays so you can just heat and eat.

There are plenty of dietary and allergen accommodations, including carb-conscious ad pescatarian or nut-free and shellfish-free. Like Home Chef’s customizable options, you can swap or increase each meal’s protein portion.

9. EveryPlate – Best Affordable Meal Kits in Aurora

Key Features

• Lowest per-serving price

• 15 - 20 rotating recipes per week plus sides and starter packs

• Menu is mostly standard American with vegetarian options

If you have few dietary requirements and are trying out a meal delivery service for the first time – EveryPlate meal kits are for you. With our discount, prices hover around $1.49 per-serving – making this budget-friendly service even cheaper!

For more on meal variety, pricing, and lifestyle accommodations check out our full review of EveryPlate! 

EveryPlate’s menu is mostly American, Mediterranean, and a sprinkling of more complex flavors like Smoky Paprika Pork Chops. The service’s priority is keeping prices low, so allergy- and dietary-specific plans are unavailable, except for some vegetarian options.

While menu cuisine variety is limited, you can choose from about 10 sides per week plus Pantry Essential Packs to get your kitchen ready to cook!

10. Grubhub – Great Food Delivery in Aurora

Key Features

• Receive a fully prepared food delivery in any Aurora zip code within 45-90 minutes

• Choose from over 500 restaurants in Aurora at almost any time of day

• Filter based on cuisine, dietary options, delivery charge, and more

Whether you’ve had a long day hiking, a busy day at the office, or ran out of your delivered meal kits early, Grubhub can deliver any type of meal, at almost any hour, from any restaurant in Aurora that’s connected to its platform.

Grubhub also has a GHG Perks program that offers a “lowest price guarantee” for meals up to $15. You can tell Grubhub when you see a meal available for cheaper on one of its competitors’ platforms, and the company will give you the lowest price available for your meal by crediting the difference on your next meal.

Additionally, Grubhub guarantees that your meal arrives within the estimated delivery time. If it doesn’t, you can tell Grubhub within a week of your order, and you’ll receive a GHG Perk to use on your next order.

Ordering is super simple and easy through Grubhub’s app or website. All you need to do is type in your zip code, filter for cuisine preference, and view over 500 restaurant options in Aurora!

Quick Comparison Table

Tips for Choosing the Best Meal Delivery Service in Aurora

Unsure where to start when choosing a meal delivery service? Here are some tips for choosing the best meal delivery service for you in Aurora:

• Consider your dietary needs: Ensure that your dietary and allergen requirements are accommodated in the meal service’s menu options. All meal services on this list state ingredients and allergens in each recipe. You can also consult FAQ or chat with customer service. While many of these meal services cater to various dietary options and food allergies, each meal service is a little different.

• Consider your lifestyle: Some meal delivery services offer ready-to-eat meals, while others have an average prep time of 25-45 minutes. Ensure your delivered meals require a level of prep that you have available.

• Consider price: Each meal service offers a different per serving price that might change with the number of meals you order. For most services, your per-serving price will show as you adjust your meal plan during checkout. And keep an eye on shipping prices! Shipping is free for some services while others charge an arm and a leg.

• Consider different services: If multiple services cater to your dietary needs and preferences – give them all a try. You can use our discount codes to make trying out these services more affordable! Each of these meal delivery services in Aurora offers a little something different that might surprise you.

Bottom Line: What’s the Best Meal Delivery Service in Aurora?

Aurora has meal delivery services for every diet, budget, and lifestyle, but some are a cut above the rest.

Home Chef is my top recommendation for its customization options, pricing, meal variety, ingredient quality, and excellent dietary and allergy accommodations. Whether you’re a couple on the go, a big, active family, or a busy student, Home Chef can deliver high-quality meal kits to suit your lifestyle.

The per meal price of Home Chef’s meal kits is cheaper than dining out prices, and you can have a whole week of food ready to heat, minimally prep, and enjoy at the end of the day!

For more options that deliver nationwide, check out this list of Best Meal Delivery Services of 2023.

FAQ

What is the best-tasting meal delivery service?

There’s a meal delivery service for every palate! Blue Apron is known for its flavoring and customized spice combos for each of its meals and offers the highest-quality, humanely-sourced product on this list.

If you prefer standard American and Italian comfort foods with a twist – Home Chef, Marley Spoon, and EveryPlate are your best bets. Green Chef and Purple Carrot will do the trick if you prefer Mediterranean, protein-conscious, fresh meats and veg with more international variety.

What is the best fully prepared meal delivery service?

Blue Apron, Freshly, and Fresh and Easy offer a variety of cuisines with a wide range of dietary and allergen accommodations between the three services. Purple Carrot offers fully prepared vegan and plant-based meals with gluten-free, soy-free, and high-protein options. Meal heating processes between these four recommendations include microwave- and oven-ready meals, with heating times ranging from 2-15 minutes!

Does Blue Apron have fully prepared meals?

Yes! Blue Apron offers a line of recipes called Heat & Eat that arrive in microwave-safe trays with a heating time of 5 minutes. Recipes rotate weekly and usually include an Asian-inspired noodle dish, a protein-conscious dish, and a vegetarian dish.

Blue Apron also offers Ready to Cook recipes that only require you to assemble fully prepared ingredients in a pot or oven-safe tray or pan and then heat for the recommended time and temperature.

What are the healthiest meal delivery services in Aurora?

If organic is your definition of health – Green Chef takes the (organic) cake. All ingredients are certified organic by the USDA and CCOF.

If plant-based is your definition of health, Purple Carrot deserves an honorable mention because most of its products are organic and non-GMO such as beans, nut milks, tofu, tempeh, vegan cheeses, and yogurts.

Best Meal Delivery Services in Aurora in 2023 – Final Score: