Choosing the best meal delivery service in Fort Wayne doesn't have to be challenging. There are lots of different options depending on whether you like to cook or not and how much time you want to spend in the kitchen every night. You might also be looking for family-friendly meals, or specific dietary considerations as well.
My team and I have extensively researched and analyzed 10 of the best options in Fort Wayne. Whether you're looking for prepared meals, meal kits, vegan meals, vegetarian meals, or even organic ingredients, there's something on this list for everyone. There are also lots of different cuisines you can choose from if you're looking to try something new.
Overall, I’ve found Blue Apron to be the best choice in 2023. Since it offers both prepared meals and meal kits, lots of different cuisines to choose from, a large menu variety, and tons of Blue Apron Market items, it’s my top pick.
Blue Apron – Best overall meal delivery service in Fort Wayne
Factor – Best fitness-related meal delivery
HelloFresh – Best family-friendly meal delivery in Fort Wayne
Green Chef – Best for organic produce and eggs
Home Chef – Best for meal customization in Fort Wayne
Access tons of Market items like holiday boxes, wines, and utensils
Choose from 25+ weekly recipes
Select different diets like Veggie and WW-approved
Current deal: Enjoy $180 off across your first 6 orders
Blue Apron lands in the number 1 spot on this list thanks to its high-quality meal kits and prepared meals. The prepared meals can be heated up in the microwave in about 2 to 3 minutes, depending on power, and the kits take no longer than around 45 minutes, at most.
Plans include Signature, Wellness, Veggie, and Wellness for Four, and diets include meat, fish, WW Recommended, and health-conscious. Some menu items even give you the option to “Make it Veggie”.
Our reviewer noted that many of the recipes are internationally inspired. This is definitely good news if you've been wanting to try out something new and stick to the more run-of-the-mill recipes.
It offers one of the most impressive selections of international cuisines like Korean, Japanese, Middle Eastern, Chinese, Italian, French, classic and Latin American, and more. There are plenty of options each week, and they rotate quite frequently, too.
You can find meals like Crispy Tilapia and Caper Mayo, Vietnamese-Style Turkey Meatballs, Honey-Harissa Chicken, Charred Gochujang Pork Chops, and tons more. I find the selection to be pretty eclectic, so it may not be perfect for kids – but you can still find a respectable number of kid-friendly choices.
Something else I find impressive is the number of Blue Apron market items. These items include seasonings and specialty salts, kitchen utensils and tools, wine deliveries, and tons of other things you might need around the kitchen.
Add-ons include things like Fried Egg and Prosciutto Breakfast Sandwiches and Flourless Chocolate Cake, as examples. You could also find specialty salts and different seasonings from the pantry.
Some specific kitchen tools you can find include pots and pans, aprons, and even small appliances. This really makes Blue Apron a one-stop shop for most, if not all of your kitchen needs. However, something that I find surprising is the relative lack of sides and extras compared with Home Chef, for example.
Lastly, the minimum order is 2 meals of 2 servings each, but you can get as many as 4 meals of 4 servings weekly. If you go with the maximum order, you’ll save more money at around $5.74 per serving.
Enjoy prepared meal plans like Protein Plus, Keto, Calorie-Smart, and more
Choose from over 30 restaurant-quality prepared meals every week
Access add-ons like pancakes, other breakfasts, macaroons, and many more
Current deal: Up to $276 off!
Factor is one of my favorite meal delivery services for prepared meals. All its meals are prepared, and they're all very high quality despite being microwavable. Also, if you're on a bit of a weight-loss mission, you can choose meals specifically from the Calorie-Smart menu.
You'll be able to choose from 5 different meal plans including Chef’s Choice (made up of chef-chosen meals), Keto, Calorie Smart, Vegan & Veggie, and Protein Plus. The meals can, of course, be mixed and matched across any plan you wish.
Also, every meal is prepared with mostly organic ingredients and is GMO-free. For the full scoop on Factor’s ingredients, check out the full review.
I find that a lot of prepared meals can have tons of added things like MSG and too much sodium, which are both less than desirable. For a prepared meal delivery service to make a concerted effort in using high-quality ingredients, that's not only surprising but very much welcome.
In terms of contents, each meal has between 350-900 calories, but I found that the vast majority fall somewhere in the middle. Unless you’re going with the keto plan, you’re also looking at a fairly balanced macronutrient profile of carbs, fats, and protein.
If you have any allergies, Factor provides allergen information on its website and meal sleeves. It recommends reviewing the ingredients in each meal carefully before placing your order to ensure the meals meet your needs – especially if you have a severe allergy.
Finally, the minimum order is 6 single-serving meals per week, but you can get up to 18 at a time. The more you order, the more you’ll also save per serving. For example, if you go with the max order, you’ll pay around $6.19 per serving.
Get access to lots of quick, 20-30-minute meal kits
Choose recipes based on your cooking ability (easy to medium)
Customize your meals by replacing some proteins and carbs
Current deal: 18 free meals + first box ships free + 3 surprise gifts with code DR18HF
HelloFresh is quite possibly the most family-friendly meal delivery service out there. Its meals aren't overly fancy and don't rely too heavily on exotic ingredients that would alienate people. This also makes its meals quite kid-friendly as well.
You might be nervous about meal kits that you’re not familiar with. The meals are even easy enough for beginner cooks like our reviewer found when testing the service out. Each meal comes with a recipe card included in your delivery with simple-to-follow instructions. If you don’t like something, you can also replace the meats, veg, and carbs in some meals. This is known as HelloCustom.
Regarding plans, these include Veggie, Meat & Veggies, Fit & Wholesome, Quick & Easy, and Pescatarian – and you can mix and match them as you wish. Not all competitors offer you this ability, so that’s nice to see.
You get a healthy selection of international cuisines, but the meals aren’t as fancy as Blue Apron’s, for instance. Options include Northern Chinese, Middle Eastern, Italian, Latin American-influenced, classic American, Thai, and some others.
Specific meals include Creamy Dijon Dill Chicken, Fully Loaded Pork Taquitos, flatbreads, soups, and Zingy Gouda Burgers, to name a few. But dinners aren’t all you get. You could also order any combination of breakfast, desserts, treats, sides, meal complements, extra proteins, produce, spices, and seasonings.
Most of the meal kits only take around 20-40 minutes to make. Lots of kits only take 30 minutes or less as well. For instance, look out for the 10-Minute Lunch or Fast & Fresh labels to find the fastest meals on the menu. However, since there are no filters on the menu, it’s a bit tricky to navigate and find what you want.
If you’re an allergy sufferer, note that HelloFresh handles all major allergens in the same facility. You can check the ingredients for each recipe on the menu but remember that there’s always the chance of cross-contamination.
Lastly, you’ll have to order at least 2 recipes for 2 people per week. You can order as many as 6 recipes for 4 people, though – and if you go for the maximum order, you’ll only pay around $3.32 per serving.
Get 30-minute meal kits featuring certified-organic ingredients
Access 24+ meal kits every week
Enjoy various diets like vegan, keto, and more
Green Chef is one of the top quality meal delivery services today thanks largely to its certified organic produce and eggs. I mention this, specifically, since many – if not most – other competitors don’t have organic items.
It also has a respectable selection of international cuisines you can try including Italian, Thai, classic American, Mediterranean (Greek), Latin American, Middle Eastern, and more. Some specific meal examples include Spicy Southwest Turkey Soup, Shrimp Scampi, Mediterranean Chicken, and a ton more.
What I like most is that many of the ingredients come pre-prepared like the sauces, seasonings, and some of the marinades. If you want to get the full details on the pre-prepped ingredients, make sure to check out our full Green Chef review.
You can also choose from many dietary preferences including Keto, Protein Packed, Mediterranean, Vegan, Vegetarian, and Gluten Free (note that the gluten-free meals are actually certified). There's definitely something for everyone here, and most of its meals, I'd say, are also fairly kid-friendly. Of course, it’s also easy to mix and match any meals from any plan.
If you’d like to add any extras, Green Chef offers tons of add-ons. For instance, you’re looking at items like french toast, egg bites, breakfast tacos, muffins, oatmeal, and tons of extra proteins. Specific protein add-ons include salmon, shrimp, steak, ground meats like beef and turkey, chicken breast, and more.
Finally, you could get as many as 4 meals for 6 people every week, but the minimum order has to be at least 3 meals for 2 people. If you choose to buy the largest order, you get a pretty significant discount of nearly $2 per serving – so your price per serving would only be around $5.99.
Access a variety of recipes and cuisines that are simple and quick to prepare
25+ unique recipes every week
Enjoy dietary options like low-carb, and calorie-conscious
Home Chef offers one of the largest menus out there and has something for everyone. For example, you can get lots of different high-quality and convenient options like oven- and grill-ready prepared meals, Fast & Fresh meal kits, regular meal kits, entreé salads, <15-Minute meal kits, and more.
I also found that you’ll have a fun time cooking with Home Chef as well since most of its recipes are quite beginner-friendly. You can attribute that to its easy-to-follow, colorful instructions included in each delivery. Best of all – though simple, the recipes still turn out restaurant-quality.
You can customize your meals as well, specifically, the protein options. For example, some meats can be replaced with other meats or even seafood. One such example is the Chicken in Poblano Cream Sauce. It can be made with NY strip steaks, sirloin steaks, or even antibiotic-free boneless skinless chicken breasts instead of regular chicken breasts.
You can also customize your actual order with lots of add-ons and extras. Home Chef is known to have one of the largest selections of extras. You can get everything from pretzel bites, dips, soups, salads, cakes and desserts, banana bread, quiche, frittata, smoothies, lattes, garlic bread, sourdough bread, crunch rolls, mac and cheese, and a ton more.
And, that’s not even mentioning the protein add-ons. For those, you’ll have plenty of choices like chicken breast, strip steaks, salmon filets, Mahi-Mahi filets, and Protein Packs which include chicken breast, steaks, salmon, and/or shrimp.
You’ll have to get at least 2 recipes for 2 people per week, and you can get up to a maximum of 6 recipes for 6 people. Pricing starts at around $7.99 per serving if you go with the maximum order.
Get microwave-, grill-, and oven-ready meal kits and prepared meals
Choose from over 25 recipes every week
Enjoy different diets like low-carb and low-calorie
Fresh and Easy is essentially a meal plan from Home Chef. What it means for you is that you're getting oven- and grill-ready prepared meals, <15-Minute meal kits, and entreé salads that all take less than 30 minutes to prepare. Since the meals are backed by Home Chef’s reputable brand name, this is another one of my favorite services for this year.
Its prices are the same as Home Chef, but our reviewer noted that the meals require much less prep and effort while not sacrificing quality. If you’re a busy mom or dad and you just need to get a high-quality meal on the table quickly, Fresh and Easy could be a great fit for you.
As well as Fresh and Easy meals you also get access to the main Home Chef menu. That means you can pick and choose any of its meals as well – which also means you can easily mix and match them in any order.
Look out for the Express, Express Plus, Fast & Fresh, or Oven-Ready labels on the menu, or simply use the <30-Minute button at the top of the menu at homechef.com/our-menus. This will help you only see the fastest meals available.
Specific meals include Walnut-Crusted Chicken, Mongolian-Style Pork Meatballs, and Tangy Pork Al Pastor-Style Tacos. All of these have the Express label which means they can be ready in 10-15 minutes.
You can expect the same minimum order as Home Chef at 2 recipes for 2 people per week. And, again, you can get up to a maximum of 6 recipes for 6 people. Pricing starts at around $7.99 per serving for the max order.
Dietitian-approved weight loss meals
Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and tons of extras available
Plans for women, men, and more
BistroMD’s main goal is to help you lose weight effortlessly. It accomplishes this by connecting you with custom meals for your goals and dietitians who help design the meals. Though weight loss is 1 of BistroMD’s objectives, you can choose from several other meal plans, too.
For instance, there’s a Men’s and Women’s weight loss plan, plus Heart Healthy, Gluten Free, Keto Flex, Diabetic Friendly, and Menopause. If you’re not sure what each one does, you could click on Compare Programs under Programs to get the full scoop.
You’ll choose whether you want 5 or 7 days’ worth of breakfast, lunches, and dinners, or just lunches and dinners. You also get access to plenty of snacks and add-ons, too, if you want them.
All the meals are prepared and don’t require you to prep, cook, or clean anything. This also makes it super simple for you to stick to your diet plan without really weighing your food or tracking calories very closely. I find the added convenience a nice added bonus.
Some of the cuisines you’ll find include Greek, UK-inspired, Caribbean, Italian, French-inspired, and a few others. You’ll also find meals like pork tenderloin, lasagna, tilapia filets, meatloaf, shepherd’s pie, and more.
For breakfast, there are things like omelets, waffles, frittata, and oatmeal. And, for snacks, you can choose items like parfaits, nut bars, cheesecake, cookie crunch, lemonade-style punch, dried fruit, dried meats, and others.
The minimum order for BistroMD is enough lunches and dinners for 5 days. You can also order food in a couple of other formats. For instance, you could get breakfast, lunch, and dinner for 5 days, just lunch and dinner for 7 days, or breakfast, lunch, and dinner for 7 days.
If you go with the maximum order, you’re looking at per-serving prices of only $8.24.
Choose from a large menu of 45+ weekly options
Opt for a variety of 30-minute meal kits that are quick and easy
Enjoy various diet plans like Health & Diet, Vegetarian & Vegan, Meat & Fish
Marley Spoon is officially endorsed by Martha Stewart, which means that these are some of the highest quality meal kits available. Not only is the menu very large, but it also offers a good range of dietary preferences with most of the meals being family- and kid-friendly. You can sometimes also find 2-3 prepared meals, too.
Some of the meals can sometimes be slightly more complex, but they were still all easy enough to prepare, even for a self-confessed beginner cook like our reviewer. For me, simplicity is key when I'm cooking, so I like the fact that you don't need to be a master chef here.
There are plenty of diets and special considerations you can choose, too. For instance, you can get meals labeled Low-Carb, Low-Calorie, No Gluten Added, Kid Friendly, Healthy, Nutritious, Dairy Free, and lots more. Check the labels on the menu for specific options.
In terms of allergies, Marley Spoon offers recipes that are adjusted to certain allergens. However, it doesn’t offer a full menu that caters to specific allergies or diets. It lists all the ingredients and allergens in each recipe if you click on it on the menu. Meal tags include Low Carb, Low-Calorie, Poultry, Healthy, No Gluten Added (and more) – I was just a bit disappointed to see the lack of any way to filter the menu quickly.
There’s a huge number of options on the weekly menu. I find that a bit overwhelming, yet love it at the same time. There are tons of meals and cuisines like Caribbean-inspired Fast! Creamy Jerk Chicken Rasta Pasta, Fast! Brazilian Tomato-Coconut Shrimp Stew, Cajun Shrimp Salad, Fast! Pork Banh Mi Tacos, and so much more. You won’t get bored easily, that’s for sure.
Speaking of meals, there are also a ton of extras you can choose from as well. Options include desserts like cookies and cakes, waffles, shrimp platters, smoked salmon everything bagel gougères, and even ready-made mac and cheese and rigatoni alfredo.
The minimum order will have to be 2 meals for 2 people, up to a maximum of 6 meals for 4 people per week. Prices start at around $2.99 per serving for the max order.
Select from different meal types like breakfast, lunch, dinner, and “plantry” items
Choose from a large menu of eight prepared meals and 15+ meal kits
Take advantage of diets like vegan, high protein, low-calorie, and more
Purple Carrot is different from all of the other competitors on this list since it's a plant-based, vegan-only service. With it, you're getting access to some of the best quality vegan-prepared meals and meal kits on the market. Options for meal types include breakfast, lunch, dinner, and items from what it calls the “Plantry”.
The Plantry includes items for breakfast, lunch, and dessert. For instance, you can get pancakes, chocolate, wraps, vegan cheeses, vegan power balls, bagels with vegan cream cheese, donuts, lumache, black bean burgers, and a ton more.
The best thing, though, is the fact that it really makes the vegetables shine. Instead of using fake meats like textured vegetable proteins, our reviewer noted that it really makes the veggies the staple of the dish. I personally love any menu that doesn’t try to convince me that lab-grown meat is actually good for me.
I'm pretty surprised that it offers a fairly diverse selection of dietary preferences as well. Options include soy-free, nut-free, gluten-free, <600 calories, and high protein. Again, for a plant-based service, that’s impressive. However, aside from gluten-free, Purple Carrot can’t promise that it omits specific allergens from the meals. As such, cross-contamination is possible.
Purple Carrot has recently introduced what it calls Less Prep meal kits. These come in addition to the standard meal kits or prepared meals. Expect pre-made sauces, and vegetables that have been washed, pre-chopped, sliced, and/or diced.
Purple Carrot loves paying respect to international food. For instance, you can get things like Middle Eastern-inspired Cauliflower Shawarma, Mexican Mojo Rojo Black Bean Tacos, Palestinian Spiced Peppers (yummy!), and even Indian Butternut Chickpea Curry.
Keep in mind, though, that Purple Carrot may not be ideal for kids since it does rely heavily on international recipes with lots of spices and exotic ingredients. I’m not sure I know any kids who would eat Tofu Marsala – but I could be wrong!
Purple Carrot’s minimum order requirement comes in 2 forms – prepared meals or meal kits. For prepared meals, it’s 6 single-serving meals per week (up to 10), or 3 2-serving meal kits per week. If you decide to buy the maximum order (4 meal kits of 4 servings each per week), your price will be around $8.50 per serving. Prepared meals are the same price per meal no matter how many you order.
Easy-to-cook, fast meal kits
Choose from 45 recipes per week
Diet options like vegetarian, low-calorie, dairy-free, veggie
I had to put Dinnerly on this list since it’s the cheapest service, hands down. You’re getting meal kits here, many of which are categorized as No Chop! as well, for added convenience. But just because it’s cheap doesn’t mean it’s low quality.
It offers a boatload of snacks, sides, add-ons, and a diverse collection of cuisines like Asian, classic American, Italian, French, Latin American-influenced, and even Greek. You can read more about the menu options in our review. For such a cheap service, that’s pretty good in my opinion.
Specific meals include lasagna, cheese steak, chicken tacos, meatloaf, chowder, skillet rice, and smash cheeseburgers. If you’re looking for a specific dietary consideration, keep an eye out on the menu as everything is labeled. For example, there’s Veggie, Dairy Free, No Gluten Added, Low-Calorie, and lots more.
In terms of add-ons, you can expect items like Charred Sweet Potatoes, rice pudding, biscuit sandwiches, mac and cheese, stuffed breakfast buns, cupcakes, and lots more. I found that most main meals, snacks, and add-ons are very kid-friendly, too.
Lastly, each meal can be prepared in as few as 5 simple steps and only takes up to a maximum of around 30-40 minutes. These are not the fastest meal kits around, but you’re saving so much money over a service like Home Chef, for instance.
The minimum order here is 3 meals for 2 people per week, up to a max of 6 meals for 4 people. Pricing starts at around $2.12 per serving for the max order which is great if you need to feed a fairly large family.
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Our Rating | ||||||||||
Our Rating | 9.7 | 9.6 | 9.5 | 9.6 | 9.4 | 9.3 | 9.2 | 8.8 | 9.1 | 8.8 |
Starting Price | ||||||||||
Starting Price | $5.74 Per Serving | $6.19 Per Serving | $3.32 Per Serving | $5.99 Per Serving | $7.99 Per Serving | $7.99 Per Serving | $8.24 Per Serving | $2.99 Per Serving | $8.50 Per Serving | $2.12 Per Serving |
Minimum Order | ||||||||||
Minimum Order | 2 meals for 2 people | 6 prepared meals | 2 meals for 2 people | 3 meals for 2 people | 2 meals for 2 people | 2 meals for 2 people | 10 prepared meals | 2 meals for 2 people | 3 meal kits for 2 people/6 prepared meals | 3 meals for 2 people |
Meal Types | ||||||||||
Meal Types | 20 - 60 min. meal kits | Prepared meals | 20 - 30 min. meal kits | 30-minute meal kits | Kits, speedy kits, oven-ready, prepared | Oven- & grill-ready, kits, prepared | Prepared meals | 30 min. meal kits | Meal kits, prepared meals | 30-minute meal kits |
Prep Time | ||||||||||
Prep Time | 5-45 min | 2-3 min | 15-40 min | 25-40 min | 5-50 min | 15-30 min | 2-3 min | 20-40 min | 3-40 min | 20-45 min |
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Here’s what I took into consideration when choosing the best meal delivery services in Fort Wayne in 2023. I highly recommend keeping the following in mind when making your selection:
Affordability: Go for a meal delivery service that fits your budget, whether it be large or small. There are options for everyone on this list. It doesn’t matter if you’re on your own, have a partner, or have a larger family to feed.
Menu options: Select a service that has a large number of menu options. That way, you'll be less likely to get bored over time and we'll always have the option to try something new.
Convenience: Opt for a service that has what you want – meal kits or prepared meals. Meal kits allow you a bit more flexibility in terms of ingredients, and prepared meals allow you to eat high-quality meals without spending tons of time in the kitchen.
Dietary needs: Choose a meal delivery that offers the dietary and ingredient preferences that work best for you. Whether that be gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, vegetarian, vegan, diet, or even omnivore or pescatarian, you'll find anything you need on this list.
My top recommendation for 2023 is Blue Apron. It offers prepared meals and meal kits that are both fast to make and feature whole foods-based ingredients. You can also get an abundance of market items like wines, seasonal holiday boxes, desserts, and even kitchen tools, utensils, and small appliances.
That has to be Dinnerly. Its pricing is significantly lower than that of any other meal delivery service in the US, and at the same time, provides high-quality meals. Each meal is family- and kid-friendly and takes less than 45 minutes to prepare.
I’ve found the best meal delivery services to be Blue Apron, Factor, and HelloFresh. Each one offers unique benefits like prepared meals, quick-to-prepare meal kits, a ton of add-ons like wines and extras, and even certified organic produce and eggs.