5 Best Meal Delivery Services in Portland – Easy & Affordable!

Meal delivery in Portland doesn't have to be difficult: whether you're after a satisfying home-cooked meal or a takeout from your favorite restaurant, meal and food delivery services in Portland come in a variety of shapes and sizes, for every customer’s satisfaction. 

Looking for vegan delivery in Portland? I’ve got a solution for you. How about paleo meal delivery in Portland? I’ve got you covered. How about diet meal delivery in Portland? Yep - that too! 

Here are my top 5 recommended options you need to know for the best meal delivery in Portland. 

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

1. Sun Basket – Best for healthy meal delivery in Portland

2. Postmates – Best for all-types of prepared meal delivery in Portland

3. Home Chef –  Bets for varied, healthy email delivery options in Portland

4. Freshology – Best for diet meal delivery in Portland

5. Purple Carrot – Best for vegan delivery in Portland

Meal Delivery vs Food Delivery: The Key Difference

So, here’s the big decision – meal delivery or food delivery, and is there a difference anyway? 

Well, yes, there is, and it’s all down to the preparation: when you order from a meal delivery service, you’ll get to choose from a variety of delicious recipes (some with special dietary plans too). You’ll then receive pre-portioned ingredients to minimize waste and a recipe card so you can follow the steps and cook it yourself. If you want to eliminate all the work, food delivery means you’ll receive a cooked meal straight from a restaurant.

Food delivery is the more convenient option, and no doubt what you’re more familiar with, but meal delivery in Portland is, you may be surprised to learn, cheaper per portion. Plus it’s more exciting and likely healthier too – for one thing, you know exactly what's going into your meal, as you're the one preparing it!. 

Of course, there are huge differences between the types of meal delivery on offer in Portland – vegan, keto, paleo, organic, and diet-friendly meal plans, and you could even opt for prepared meals that you store in the fridge and reheat when you want them. It's always a good idea to look around for the best meal delivery in Portland, to find a meal delivery company that suits your budget, tastebuds and lifestyle too.  

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

Meal delivery services come in several different packages so it’s important you know what to look out for:

• Meal delivery with a purpose – Prepared meal deliveries in Portland can mean anything, from takeout to a full-on planned recipe that you’ll be cooking. You’ll receive all of the (pre-portioned) ingredients – and guidance on how to cook them!

• Weight-loss and dietary-specific – Yes, diet meal delivery in Portland, Oregon really is a ‘thing’ and you can actually get a diet meal delivery, because who said you couldn’t emerge from the quarantine sleeker and fitter than you went in? 

• Cheaper per portion than takeout – It's true. Meal delivery in Portland actually works out as cheaper per portion than a restaurant delivery. But then again, sometimes you just need food delivered right away, without the hassle and effort of having to cook it. Money or time – it’s up to you!

1. Sun Basket – Best for Healthy Meal Delivery in Portland

Sun Basket is hands down the meal delivery to order if you're looking for paleo meal delivery in Portland, or even vegan delivery in the Portland area. It has loads of options for all kinds of customers in need of dietary-specific plans and uses only the freshest, 100% organic ingredients too. 

• Paleo meal delivery in Portland – If you're a diehard paleo fan, Sun Basket is where your search stops. In fact, if you have any kind dietary requirement, for vegan food delivery in Portland, diabetic or you even if you follow a Mediterranean diet, then Sun Basket has everything you need to be happy, healthy, and well-fed. 

• 18+ meals on each plan – There's lots of variety to choose from here – something that all vegan and paleo eaters might not be used to! Enjoy a weekly rotation of all-new recipes to try out too. I got to try it out for myself and was pleasantly surprised by the results, which you can learn more about in my Sun Basket review.

• Healthy, interesting family menu – Maybe you're entire family is vegan, or you're looking to introduce some healthier eating practices, but Sun Basket is all about family goodness – from its family plan to its kid-friendly instructions for the cooking process (which can also be a fun and consuming activity for kids, especially during the lockdown period!). 

2. Postmates – Best for All-Types of Prepared Meal Delivery in Portland

Postmates put the delivery power back into the hands of the restaurants themselves and also slashes your delivery times. Unlike other Portland competitors like Grubhub, Postmates drivers look for a delivery option close to where they are… so you might even get that delivery you just ordered quicker than you thought!  

• Get your food quicker – Postmates drivers might be waiting or close to the restaurant you've just ordered takeout from, and if that’s the case, all it takes is for your driver to accept your request and bring it on over. Who said meal delivery in Portland had to be tricky? 

• A greater range of takeout options – Postmates drivers are contracted to themselves, not to any individual restaurant, so if you want a delivery from a restaurant further afield, you might just find a willing Postmates driver to fulfill it for you.  

• Cheap, or even free deliveries – Postmates sometimes offer free or discounted delivery for some of their partnered restaurants, or for certain promotions, it's worth keeping an eye out for this, because then you'll have even cheaper meal delivery service in the Portland area! 

3. Home Chef – Best for Varied, Healthy Meal Delivery Options in Portland

Home Chef is hands down one of my all-time favorites, and not just for meal delivery in Portland. Yes, really. And you can see what I’m raving about in more detail in my Home Chef review. It offers an almost dizzying array of straight-up delicious meal options, complete with epic substitution and protein upgrade options. 

• 26-30 meal options on offer, for each plan – Lockdown or not, Home Chef’s plans keep things interesting, with new dishes to try out every week. Of course, some of these are rotated back, because how else are you going to get through all 30ish meals in just a few weeks? 

• Protein substitutes available – One of the best things about Home Chef is its unique protein substitution/upgrade options. Swap out one protein for another, or double-up if you really love something (as I do shrimp). 

• The awesome premium meals available – Who said that you couldn't get festive during a lockdown? If you do find yourself in need of a way to celebrate, Home Chef’s gourmet meal delivery brings Portland's finest meal options to your table. And, starting from just $15 per portion, it's a lot cheaper than high-end restaurant takeout! 

4. Freshology – Best for Diet Meal Delivery in Portland

Hate cooking, but want nutritious and delicious prepared meal delivery in Portland? Freshology could be just what you're looking for. Just order your meals for the week, receive them via a non-contact dropoff to your front door, heat up each meal, et voila. 

• 500+ meal options, rotating over 5 weeks – There’s no need to eat the same boring food day in, day out, or even whatever you can get your hands on at the (severely depleted) supermarkets! Freshology keeps things, well, fresh, by offering you a massive selection to choose from. 

• Just heat up your meal – No cooking, whatsoever. Because some people just aren't meant to cook (and I’m one of them!). Order your meals, heat them up in the microwave at mealtimes, and within a few minutes, you have a delicious prepared meal ready to be eaten - you’ll see what I mean in my fully tested review of Freshology. 

• Diet-friendly plans – all of Freshology’s plans - keto, paleo, low carb and diabetic-friendly - are approved by dietitians, are portion controlled, and nutritionally balanced… meaning you probably won't be coming out of lockdown with the ‘quarantine 15’ we’ve all come to dread. 

5. Purple Carrot – Best for Vegan Delivery in Portland

The only all-vegan delivery in Portland: maybe you're a card-carrying vegan, or just want to experiment. Either way, Purple Carrot has everything you need to enjoy a healthy, vegan alternative – some of their meal options are even no-cook! 

• 8 meal options per week – No need to make do with whatever the supermarket has left over, or whichever vegan restaurants are still delivering. With these 8 options weekly, you have more than enough yummy vegan delivery in Portland to keep you well-fed, while not compromising any vegan principles. 

• Breakfast and lunch options available – Enjoy vegan breakfast and lunch options, all of which can be served up in just 5 minutes flat. It’s all in a day’s work for Purple Carrot.  

• Cooked meals and non-cooked meals available – Maybe you just prefer not to cook but half of Purple Carrot’s offerings are non-cook. All you have to do is assemble the ingredients, heat them up and you're good to go! 

The Best Prepared Meals Delivered in Portland in a Nutshell

Portland has some of the best meal delivery options in the Pacific Northwest – you just need to know where to look, and what you want! 

If, for whatever reason, I've only left you more confused with the dazzling array of meal delivery options, I’ll cut to the chase and tell you what type of meal delivery in Portland you need, right here: 

• If you love home cooking (or want to learn how to cook with a lot of guidance): choose  Home Chef. From the variety to the clearly-worded instructions, there's no way you can mess this up.  

• If you're looking for the best vegan delivery in Portland, try Sun Basket or Purple Carrot. 

• For the best paleo meal delivery in Portland, go for Sun Basket. Sun Basket has that bigger range of meal options per week, while Purple Carrot is all-vegan. 

• If you just want takeout, go for Postmates. You’ll get a hassle-free, quick contact-free meal delivery in the Portland area before you even know it. 

Remember, ordering prepared meal delivery keeps Portland alive! Do your bit by eating local to keep Portland open and thriving!