10 Best Meal Delivery Services in Los Angeles of 2021

In a big city like Los Angeles, deciding on a meal can be a real chore simply because of the vast number of restaurants available to you. Even when you manage to pick something, dining at restaurants regularly can become very expensive. 

One solution is to cook your own meals, but not everyone has the time to grocery shop, find a recipe, and prep so many ingredients. This leaves you with a dilemma: how can you enjoy tasty meals every day without breaking the bank or spending loads of time in the kitchen? Luckily, that’s exactly the question we’re here to answer.

Meal delivery services provide delicious food to anyone who needs a little help putting their meals together. Many of these services provide fresh or frozen meals that are ready to heat and eat, while others provide clear recipe cards together with all the ingredients you need to cook your own meals. What’s more, you’ll save time, and possibly even money, by subscribing to a meal delivery service.

Our experts have compiled a list of the ten best meal delivery services for Los Angeles residents. Many of these are national brands, while several others are headquartered in California. They all represent amazing value and offer delicious meals to suit any diet.

Short on time? Here Are the Best Meal Delivery Services in Los Angeles of 2021

• Home Chef – Perfect for Protein Lovers

• HelloFresh – Big Flavor and No Food Waste 

• Sunbasket – Healthy for Both Body and Soul

• Comparison table
  

• FAQ

What’s the Difference Between Meal Delivery and Food Delivery?

When we refer to meal delivery services, we’re talking about companies like Home Chef, Blue Apron, and Freshly. Many of these companies provide meal kits, which include all the ingredients necessary to prep and cook your own delicious dinners. Some of them, like Freshly, do most of the work for you, providing prepared meals that can simply be reheated in the microwave or oven. 

Food delivery services, on the other hand, deliver hot and ready meals freshly prepared at your favorite local restaurants. This is the ultimate in luxury, allowing you to order your meal, then wait and enjoy: no prep or cooking required. Some food delivery services, like Postmates, even deliver drinks and other goodies as well.

Our Best Meal Delivery Services in LA Reviewed

1. Home Chef – Perfect for Protein Lovers

Home Chef Best Features 

• A meat eater’s dream – Easily swap out or add protein to any dish

• Lots of options – 14 recipes to choose from each week

• Eco-friendly packaging – Much of the packaging is recyclable or reusable

• Available at Kroger and Ralph’s – Buy extra meals from the grocery store

Home Chef in a Nutshell 

Home Chef’s claim to fame is its easily customizable dishes and high-quality proteins. For any given dish on your menu, you can swap out, change, or add extra meat or seafood. For example, sirloin steak can be swapped for chicken breasts (including an option for organic chicken), or replaced with a USDA Choice ribeye steak. With options like this, you’re guaranteed to find dishes you’ll enjoy on every menu. 

You can get the full scoop on how this works in my colleague’s dedicated Home Chef review.

Home Chef is a Kroger-affiliated brand, meaning you can pick up its products in-store if you can’t wait for your next shipment. Every Ralph’s in the LA area carries a selection of Home Chef’s fresh and frozen prepared meals as well as some of its most popular meal kits.

2. HelloFresh – Big Flavor and No Food Waste

HelloFresh Best Features 

• Sustainable packaging – Dedicated to reducing packaging without compromising on quality

• Plans for every palate – Choose from a range of menus including Family Friendly and Calorie Smart

• Eliminates food waste – Only receive the ingredients and quantities you need so you don’t have to throw anything away

HelloFresh in a Nutshell 

HelloFresh has skyrocketed to become the biggest meal kit delivery service in the business. It has maintained this position by offering consistently delicious meals at hard-to-beat prices, often as low as $7.49 per meal. You can learn more about how this meal kit service works in our expert HelloFresh review.

HelloFresh’s goal is to reduce food waste and minimize its carbon footprint. It accomplishes these goals with responsible ingredient sourcing, sustainable packaging, and pre-portioning its ingredients. These steps not only help the environment but also streamline the food-prep process, making it even easier for you to prepare your dishes.

When you first sign up for HelloFresh, you can choose from a small list of plans, including Vegetarian, Pescatarian, and Calorie Smart menus. At this stage, you also get to choose how many meals you want to receive per week and you can easily make adjustments or skip a week as needed.

3. Sunbasket – Healthy for Both Body and Soul

Sunbasket Best Features 

• Options for every schedule – Choose from meal kits as well as prepared dishes 

• Good for the body – 100% organic produce, plus antibiotic- and hormone-free meat

• Good for the soul – Dedicated to minimizing the impact on wildlife and the environment 

• Multiple menu options – Plans to suit many diets like paleo, gluten-free, and more

Sunbasket in a Nutshell 

Sunbasket is a meal delivery service based on the idea that all food should be delicious and healthy. The company is dedicated to providing a diverse array of menus inspired by cuisines from around the world while also catering to the needs of specific diets. 

All of its dietitian-approved recipes contain between 500-800 calories per serving and include options for Paleo, Gluten-Free, Carb-Conscious, and Diabetes-Friendly plans (among many others). 

Another plus is Sunbasket’s mission to do good in the world. All of its ingredients are responsibly sourced, from wild-caught seafood to pasture-raised eggs, and its packaging is fully recyclable and compostable. You can learn more in our in-depth Sunbasket review.

Los Angeles is one of America’s epicenters with some of the fittest and most health-conscious people in the country. With Sunbasket, you can maintain a healthy diet, and stick to your wellness goals, while minimizing your ecological footprint.

4. Blue Apron – Diverse Dishes With Premium Ingredients

Blue Apron Best Features 

• Premium meal kits – All the ingredients you need to cook delicious meals

• Diverse ingredients – Enjoy unique flavors like saffron, togarashi, and za’atar 

• Drink pairings – Optional plan includes exclusive wines with pairing instructions

• Plans for families – Choose two to four recipes a week for up to four people

Blue Apron in a Nutshell 

Blue Apron is one of the biggest names in meal kit delivery, and for a good reason. Its ever-changing menu options contain an array of exotic flavors, including Shawarma-Spiced Lamb & Couscous, Cajun-Spiced Shrimp Bake, and Peanut Lentil Curry. You can learn more about how Blue Apron works in this expert Blue Apron review.

In addition to its main menu, Blue Apron offers a Vegetarian plan as well as a Wellness meal plan in conjunction with WW (formerly Weight Watchers). The service mainly shines, however, as a source for delicious meals. 

Los Angeles has no shortage of gourmet grocery stores, but also no shortage of traffic. Is it really worth sitting in the car for hours just to try a new recipe? Blue Apron solves that problem by providing all the ingredients you need in just the right quantities so you can prepare great-tasting meals without waste and without having to step foot into a grocery store.

5. Purple Carrot – Better Living with Plant-Based Meals

Purple Carrot Best Features 

• Flexible vegan options – Several meal plans, all of which are 100% plant-based

• Optional additions – Add on snacks, breakfast, and lunch items to your regular shipments

• Easy shipping – Shipping is always free, and most packaging is recyclable

Purple Carrot in a Nutshell 

Purple Carrot is a totally vegan meal kit servicing the contiguous United States. If you’re among the thousands of vegans and vegetarians in Los Angeles, you’ll be pleased to hear that Purple Carrot is one of the least expensive plant-based meal delivery services on the market.

We go into more detail on how Purple Carrot works in our in-depth review/prodcutReviewLink.

One of our favorite features of Purple Carrot is its breakfast, lunch, and snack offerings. Every week, you can choose from some lighter options to infuse plant-based deliciousness into your day, like the Loaded Avocado Toasts (pictured above). The ability to add these to the usual weekly lineup of dinners is surprisingly uncommon, making Purple Carrot a great choice for folks who want more daily options.

6. Veestro – Vegan Dishes to Suit Any Diet

Veestro Best Features 

• Completely plant-based – Every dish is vegan, and most are suitable for other diets as well

• Buy a la carte or subscribe – Get a discount and free shipping with auto-delivery

• Special weight loss plan – For those who want to shed some pounds on a vegan diet

Veestro in a Nutshell 

If Purple Carrot is the leading plant-based meal kit, then Veestro is the leader in providing prepared plant-based meals. The company has flexible subscription options, letting you choose both the size and frequency of your meal deliveries. In addition to the basic plan, Veestro also offers a diet menu, helping you lose weight with low-calorie options like Carrot Osso Bucco, (pictured above).

My colleague’s detailed review of Veestro goes into more detail about this convenient service.

Veestro’s model is relatively unique: rather than a rotating selection of a few weekly meals, this service has an expansive menu of more than 40 dishes. It includes options to suit many dietary preferences and needs, including high-protein, nut-free, gluten-free, and even kosher. This is a great option for people who like to stick to dishes they enjoy, as your favorites will always be available.

7. Freshly – Gluten-Free and Health-Optimized Meals

Freshly Best Features 

• Naturally gluten-free – Produced in a facility with no gluten or peanuts

• Huge menu – 30+ recipes to choose from each week

• Emphasis on nutrition – Meals are designed to be delicious as well as healthy

Freshly in a Nutshell 

Freshly provides premade, single-serving dishes that cater to a variety of dietary needs, making it a perfect choice for busy LA residents who don’t always have time to prepare their own meals. The expansive menu of 30+ recipes each week is entirely gluten-free, including options like the Carb Smart Mojo Chicken, pictured above.

Though Freshly’s core plan isn’t exactly a diet service, its dedication to minimally processed and low-sugar dishes makes it a great choice for folks who want to eat clean. Our dedicated Freshly review goes into more detail about these plans here.

Besides its core menu, Freshly also offers a FreshlyFit service, which provides meals streamlined to serve the needs of healthy and active lifestyles. The FreshlyFit plan makes it easy to keep up your healthy Los Angeles lifestyle with dishes that are low in carbs but high in protein and macronutrients.

8. Green Chef – Organic Meals for Any Lifestyle

Green Chef Best Features 

• Fresh, high-quality veggies – Farmers market-quality produce

• Solid diet options – Delicious menus for keto, paleo, and plant-based diets

• Certified organic – One of the only USDA organic meal kits out there

Green Chef in a Nutshell 

Green Chef’s meal kits make it possible to enjoy high-quality, organic meals without having to leave your home. The quality of the ingredients parallels what you might find at a nice farmers market, making Green Chef the perfect option for LA residents who want to use the finest ingredients, but who don’t have time to scour those markets and butcher shops.

Green Chef offers three menus: Keto + Paleo, Plant-Powered, and Balanced Living. As you’d expect, the Keto + Paleo menu includes high-protein, low-carb dishes, like the Shrimp & Veggie Hash pictured above. We talk more about what this makes specific plan unique in our dedicated Green Chef review

The Plant-Powered menu provides a mix of vegan and vegetarian options, and the Balanced Living menu offers a happy medium.

9. Grubhub – Low-Cost, High-Speed Food Delivery

Grubhub Best Features 

• Easy sorting system – Organize restaurants by rating, cost, and other factors

• Huge variety – More than 1,000 eateries to choose from

• Supports local restaurants – Get delivery from your favorite LA food stops

Grubhub in a Nutshell 

Los Angeles is rich with hundreds if not thousands of amazing eateries, but sometimes a night in is far more preferable to braving LA traffic just to pick up takeout. Luckily, food delivery services like Grubhub can bring freshly made restaurant meals right to your door.

Grubhub lets you browse the best-rated restaurants in your area, like Sage Vegan Bistro in Echo Park (check out their Papaya Salad in the picture above), and order meals through a simple online interface. Delivery is rarely more than a couple of bucks, and most restaurants can deliver to you in under an hour, depending on your location.

10. Postmates – More Than Just Food Delivery

Postmates Best Features 

• Order food and more – Get snacks, drinks, and convenience items delivered

• Exclusive eateries – Some restaurants only offer delivery through Postmates

• Super clear interface – One of the best website designs for hassle-free food delivery 

• National and local options – Order from chains like Taco Bell or great local spots

Postmates in a Nutshell 

Compared to Grubhub, Postmates usually charges slightly more for delivery. But the service’s selling point is the fact that it doesn’t just deliver fresh, hot meals. Through Postmates, you can also have groceries, convenience items, and even alcohol delivered from participating markets and wine stores.

Another advantage of Postmates is its website, which is super clear and easy to navigate. This makes it fun to browse the menus of all your favorite Los Angeles eateries, like Jinya Ramen (pictured above). As a bonus, Postmates also has 100+ daily deals for little discounts on loads of restaurants. 

Best Meal Delivery Services for Los Angeles: Comparison Table

Bottom Line: Why Choose a Meal Delivery Service?

Los Angeles is an expensive and, at times, inconvenient place to live. Sometimes, you may find yourself too busy enjoying the cultural amenities of the city to find time to shop and cook your own meals. 

Whether you’re struggling to stick to a specific diet regimen or you simply want to enjoy tasty meals without having to brave LA traffic, meal delivery services are an ideal solution for healthy, delicious eating with minimum hassle.

FAQs

What is the best meal delivery service in Los Angeles?

Los Angeles is a major metropolitan hub with more meal delivery options than most other regions. National options like Home Chef, HelloFresh, and Sunbasket are some of the best values for flavor and cost.

What is the most affordable meal delivery service in Los Angeles?

The cost of meal delivery services can vary greatly depending on your specific dietary needs and how many meals you order. Typically, the more meals you purchase in a given week, the cheaper the price per meal. Home Chef has one of the least expensive starting costs per serving, but HelloFresh and Blue Apron are also quite affordable. 

Is Grubhub in Los Angeles?

Grubhub services the entirety of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, but the cost of ordering from restaurants for every meal can add up, especially with the added delivery and service fees. 

Meal delivery services are almost always a more affordable option, and many require scarcely more effort than ordering takeout. Home Chef, for example, starts at just $6.99 per serving, and you can get healthy meal kits or prepared meals delivered every week. 

Is there DoorDash in Los Angeles?

Like Grubhub, DoorDash services all of Los Angeles. DoorDash, however, shares the same drawbacks as Grubhub: the cost of restaurant delivery can quickly add up and eat into your budget. It’s also much more difficult to follow a diet plan if you order from restaurants for every meal. Meal delivery services like Home Chef and Blue Apron allow you to cater your meal plan specifically to any special dietary needs you have.