Best meal delivery services to buy 2026 – COOK, Mindful Chef and more

We all have moments in life where we are short on time to cook but still want a hot, nutritious meal. This is where meal delivery services come in: simply order online. These are most likely cheaper and healthier than ordering a last-minute takeaway and can be stored in your freezer ready for busy nights.

Meal delivery services are also useful for specific moments in life. New parents, for example, whose last priority at the end of the day is feeding themselves, will find a bundle of meals to keep on standby in the freezer a lifesaver. Most meal delivery services offer meals for one, which is helpful for those living on their own stuck for inspiration or for elderly grandparents who aren’t always able to get out to do a food shop. Healthy meal delivery services can be great for getting your diet back on track if you have specific health aims or considerations, showing you the right level of nutrition or portion size to be aiming for.

We have tested a selection of the best meal delivery services to bring you our verdict of the ones really worth trying – whether you want to look after someone from afar by sending them some meals or load up your fridge ahead of an extra busy week at work.

For more, visit our reviews section & and find more than 400 practical buyer’s guides offering unbiased advice on what foodie products and services are worth spending money on, including the best recipe box subscriptions and the best veg boxes to order to your door. We also have thousands of simple recipes for everyday mealtime inspiration.

Best meal delivery services at a glance

• Best overall meal delivery service: COOK, prices vary
• Best sustainable meal delivery service: FieldGoods, prices vary
• Best for healthy meal plans: Field Doctor, from £7.29 per meal
• Best for pies: Great North Pie Co., from 4 pies for £24
• Best healthy meal delivery service: Mindful Chef, from £4.75
• Best for bold vegan flavours: Planty, prices vary
• Best for tailored fitness: Fresh Fitness Food, from £23/day
• Best for bundles: Breda Murphy, from £62.50 for 6 meals bundle
• Best meal delivery service for helping weight loss: Foodhak, from £60 for 10 meals
• Best for healthy meal prep: Prep Kitchen, prices vary

Best meal delivery services to order 2026

COOK

Best overall meal delivery service
Rating: 5/5

Pros:

• Huge variety of meals on offer
• Variety of serving sizes, from 1 to 8 people
• Easy to keep in the freezer

Cons:

• Have to remember to defrost some dishes before cooking

COOK is perhaps the most well-known meal delivery service, with over 100 high-street shops across the UK as well as the vast website to order from.

For sheer variety, COOK has the most to offer. You could easily lose yourself browsing the website – there’s a breadth of main meals serving from 1 to 8 people, a broad entertaining range, hot and cold puddings, meal box bundles, seasonal ranges, lunch pots and more. The website is also packed with useful tips and recommendations alongside dishes, such as serving suggestions and how to adapt dishes.

We tested a selection of meals from across the COOK offering. We started with the ‘lighter pots for one’ – ideal as quick and healthy lunches to take to work. The pots are all healthy meals with fewer than 400 calories, a great meal delivery for one. We tried the halloumi and roasted veg pasta, coming in at 317 calories, providing 2 of your 5 a day and low in sat fat – microwaved from frozen in just four minutes, it was an incredibly easy and filling healthy lunch that we’d happily eat again. At £5 (or 3 for £13), this is admittedly a little more than most high street sandwich shops. Next, we were also impressed by a tomato, basil and mozzarella risotto – again microwaving from frozen in just a few minutes, it was a great speedy supper after the gym, with a strong hit of lemon and plenty of creamy mozzarella. A family fish pie for dinner was also comforting, although with a slightly dry mash.

We also tested their frozen sauces and were impressed by them all. A creamy tomato mascarpone and basil sauce was a comforting classic, whilst the bolognese had impressive depth of flavour and the pesto, broccoli and spinach sauce was vibrant and well-seasoned. We enjoyed these just with pasta, but COOK also suggest different recipes the sauces could be added to, such as pasta bakes or using a Mediterranean veg sauce with fish. The generous 500ml pots can be microwaved from frozen for easy last-minute meals.

COOK meals all arrive frozen and use a variety of different cooking methods – our favourite were the speedy microwave ones, but dishes could also go in the oven or be defrosted overnight, such as a large chocolate roulade for a stress-free dinner party dessert. There’s lots more we want to try and would definitely buy again to explore more of the range.

A happy all-rounder, COOK would be great for new parents (who get 10% off!), those living on their own, for freezer standby meals for busy families or for emergency last minute entertaining. Order a delivery for a grandparent living alone and you’ll soon be the most popular grandchild.

Order from:
COOK, prices vary

FieldGoods

Best sustainable meal delivery service
Rating: 5/5

Pros:

• No need to defrost before cooking from frozen
• Sustainable ethos
• Compostable packaging

Cons:

• Meals have to be ordered in bundles
• More expensive than some

FieldGoods was established by brothers Sam and Elliot Day after three years of running a restaurant, with the aim of reinventing the ready meal and prioritising sustainability alongside ease.

There’s a range of 15 meals to choose from, including classics such as beef bourguignon, lasagne and shepherd’s pie, Spanish chorizo chicken and a Goan fish curry, with several of the meals being Great Taste Award-winning. There’s also six sides and a concise collection of comforting desserts. Meals have to be ordered in bundles, starting at £27 for three meals for one, so they’re admittedly not a cheap option.

Meals are all cooked from frozen (usually taking 40-50 minutes in the oven) so you can stash your order in the freezer – great for last minute meals as you don’t have to remember to defrost food overnight. Particularly handy for new parents or when you know a busy period is coming up. FieldGoods also delivers with free next day delivery, making ordering easy.

We tested a cauliflower butter masala which was mild and creamy with robust depth of flavour. Another night, our side dish pick of dauphinoise potatoes was a highlight: it tasted impressively homemade and was rich and creamy, with pleasant cheesy flavour. The portion isn’t huge, but it is a rich and hearty side. We liked the clever touch that our sticky toffee pudding, which served two, was made up of two mini cakes (and plenty of sauce) for easy portioning.

Sustainability is key to the FieldGoods mission: the trays and colourful sleeves of the packaging can be composted, the sleeve is made using renewable energy and the film is recyclable. After two orders, you can collect and return liners and cool blocks for FieldGoods to reuse, by scanning a QR code for a free shipping label. Produce is equally carefully considered, using 100% English free-range meat and less well-known sustainable fish (such as coley instead of haddock).

Overall, FieldGoods is a great pick for people looking for a meal delivery service with a heart – transforming the idea of a cheap ready meal into a sustainable choice for hearty comfort food that could even pass as homemade.

Available from:
FieldGoods (prices vary)

Field Doctor

Best for healthy meal plans
Rating: 4/5

Pros:

• Wide range of specific health requirements
• Meals can be microwaved straight from frozen
• Detailed health information on each meal

Cons:

• Some dishes were a little bland

Field Doctor has big goals. Believing in the principle of ‘food as medicine’, it aims to create delicious-tasting food that also boosts your health, with all meals assessed and designed by nutritional experts.

There are several different ways to use Field Doctor, depending on the health advice you’re looking for. There are a selection of meal plans to choose from, in which meals have been bundled into plans to help target a specific dietary need, such as low-FODMAP, weight loss or gluten-free meals. Alternatively, you can shop the meals individually (there’s a wide range of over 60 to choose from, some with Great Taste Awards) and build your own selection. When browsing all the meals, there’s a wide variety of health filters to choose from, including low-saturated fat, low-carb, heart-healthy or IBS-suitable meals (along with each meal detailing the specific nutrients and health benefits it provides), which goes into much more depth than many other recipe box or meal delivery services.

We tested a range of Field Doctor meals, from chicken tikka masala to teriyaki salmon. Meals can be microwaved straight from frozen, so no need to remember to defrost them the night before – this is handy when you need a quick, hot, healthy lunch or last-minute dinner. Meals are clearly labelled and colour-coded with their health properties to match when browsing online. Some meals felt a little bland and could have done with more seasoning, but this is likely due to their health restrictions. The beef ragu with wholemeal penne contains two of your five-a-day, seven of your 30 weekly plants and is low in saturated fat and sugar. Borlotti beans bulked out the mince, and it tasted hearty and nutritious.

Available from:
Field Doctor, from £7.29

Great North Pie Co.

Best meal delivery for pies
Rating: 4/5

Pros:

• Hearty comfort food
• Good for meals for one
• Can be frozen or enjoyed fresh

Cons:

• Pies only come in one size

If you’re just after one specific hit of comfort food, Great North Pie Co. (literally) delivers. Starting in a home kitchen just a few years ago, these award-winning pies now pop-up at farmers markets across the North East and in their Ambleside pie shop. For those living further afield, they can be delivered in boxes of 4 or 8 pies, between Tuesday and Friday.

The pie menu is short and focusing on classics (with slight seasonal changes), plus you can also buy gift vouchers for the true pie-fanatic in your life. The pies serve one and have straight sides like a traditional Scotch pie, baked in custom-made tins. First up, we tried the vegetarian cheese and onion pie. The firm pastry was a great balance to the rich filling and only a little dry on its own – it reminded us of a slightly thinner pork pie pastry. Inside was a very indulgent melting cheese filling and plenty of white onion that still had slight bite. The chicken pie was dense with shredded chicken. All pies were £4.75 each (or 4 for £19) which feels good value for independent, small-batch baked pies made to order – each serves one very generously.

We froze some of our pies and then defrosted fully before cooking and noticed no difference from trying them fresh: so stock up your freezer ready for cosy dinners on a cold winter’s night.

Available from:
Great North Pie Co., from 4 pies for £24

Mindful Chef

Best healthy meal delivery service
Rating: 5/5

Pros:

• Ingredients are sustainably sourced
• Diverse dietary requirements catered for

Cons:

• Smaller variety of meals than some services

Mindful Chef is best known for its recipe box subscription service, but its ‘Ready to Go’ range has a wide range of ready meals, snacks and smoothies that can be bought as bundles or one-off purchases. The central focus of all of their meals is to be healthy and sustainable, using no refined sugars and only ethically sourced proteins from UK farms – plus, Mindful Chef partners with the charity One Feeds Two so for every Mindful meal sold, a school meal is donated to a child living in poverty.

There is a smaller variety of meals to choose from than some services we tried but still plenty of choice to keep you going. The inclusion of smoothies, snacks, desserts and even vitamins in the offering means you are covered for food at all times of day. Different dietary requirements are all catered for and the option to order bulk bundles is handy if giving for a gift or sending to someone you want to look after. Meals arrive all still frozen in eco-conscious insulation (with next-day nationwide delivery if ordered before 7pm) and all meals serve one. We tried a selection of different dishes and found the meals were simple, light and satisfying. The portions were filling but not too big, which is just what you want for a healthy weekday dinner. Some of our favourites were the broccoli and butternut squash dhal, shepherd’s pie and lamb tagine.

We appreciated the transparency of Mindful Chef’s commitment to sourcing sustainable, healthy and responsible ingredients, and the high quality of ingredients was clear in the finished meals. While some meal delivery services can focus on being either cosy indulgence or specific dietary requirements, Mindful Chef is a simple middle ground that will appeal to anyone wanting to be healthy but with a shortcut.

Available from:
Mindful Chef, from £4.75

Planty

Best for bold vegan flavours
Rating: 4/5

Pros:

• Makes plant-based food convenient
• Good range of meals to choose from

Cons:

• Meals are on the hearty side – fewer light options

Planty is a meal delivery service providing 100 per cent plant-based, chef-prepared meals on a subscription model, so you sign up to regular deliveries. This is handy if you want to get into a routine of always having a back-up meal in your freezer for when you know you have busy periods, or if you’re consistently looking for easy evenings free of cooking.

Meals are ordered by creating your own Planty box bundle of meals, choosing up to 12 meals and 3 desserts. Each meal serves one person. There’s a wide range of meals to choose from (some of which are Great Taste Award winning), with the ability to filter easily by dietary requirements as well as handily by cooking method, if you’re specifically looking for meals you can quickly microwave or you want to use your oven. When we browsed, meals included dishes such as pumpkin ravioli, yaki miso udon noodles, mac ‘no’ cheese, tempeh lasagne and a buddha bowl. There was a noticeable amount of hearty, comforting dishes based around pasta and carbs. Meals are delivered frozen on your selected delivery date – all in eco-conscious recyclable insulated padding to keep them cool.

Overall, the meals we tried were simple, tasty and satisfying. We really appreciated the clear nutritional signposting on the meals to indicate whether a dish was gluten-free or contributed to your five-a-day. Quite a few of the meals were on the spicy side, which might not be to everyone’s taste, but for those who like that, their flavour profiles were great. The meals offered a good balance of seasoning, with herbs and spices remaining fresh and vibrant despite being pre-prepared. The clear best thing about Planty is the ability to make plant-based food convenient and varied, ready to pop a frozen meal in the microwave at a moment’s notice.

Available from:
Planty, prices vary

Fresh Fitness Food

Best for tailored fitness
Rating: 4/5

Pros:

• Helps you achieve specific health goals
• Covers all meals of the day

Cons:

If you’re looking to achieve a particular fitness or health goal, bespoke nutrition brand Fresh Fitness Food may be the delivery service best suited to you.

Using the brand’s nutrition calculator, you can find out exactly what meals you should be eating, whether your goal is to gain muscle, lose fat or for general health. You can then choose your nutrition preference: balanced, low-carb, flexitarian, pescatarian, veggie or vegan. Select your activity level (not very active, fairly active, very active), the hours you spend exercising, your height and weight. The calculator will then curate your very own personal meal plan – created by qualified nutritionists – and the rest is done for you.

A reusable cooler bag arrives at your door or office each morning, containing breakfast, lunch and dinner in biodegradable containers. You can also include extras such as juices, smoothies and snacks. These meals are ready to eat, although they can also be heated up in the microwave. Some of our favourites were the lemongrass turkey salad, dressed in a delicious miso sesame dressing alongside sugar snap peas, baby gem, carrots and rice noodles; oregano baked tofu with savoy cabbage, roasted peppers, slow-roasted sweet potato and red pepper relish; and lastly the Maldivian chicken curry, with cauliflower and broccoli, curry sauce, brown rice, yogurt dressing and coriander. We felt these were well-balanced, nutritious and full of flavour, and far better than your average ready meal.

On top of this, you’ll be assigned a nutritionist to ensure that your plan adapts to your changing requirements, and that you’re enjoying your meals. You can also follow your progress using the app, which allows you to count macros, sync calorie data, view meal plans and access fitness and wellness content.

We think Fresh Fitness Food provides a great service for the time-poor who want to stay on top of their health. This service does sit on the pricier side, with the upfront commit plan priced at £24.50/day and the flexi plan priced at £27/day, so it’s worth considering whether this is appropriate for your lifestyle.

Available from:
Fresh Fitness Food, £23/day

Breda Murphy

Best for bundles
Rating: 3.5/5

Pros:

• Meals available to serve one
• Bundles for different requirements

Cons:

• Meals have to be defrosted overnight
• Desserts were hit-and-miss

Breda Murphy is an Irish chef with a restaurant and bakery in Lancashire who began a meal delivery service in 2021 with the promise of delivering ‘restaurant quality at home’. The meals follow a unique format of being available in different bundles, such as a Singles Meal Box (with meals to serve 1), Mixed Meals Box or Doubles Meal Box (meals to serve 2). Within the bundles you can choose which meals you’d like to receive.

We tested out the Singles Meal Box which contains 3 single-portion meals, 3 single-portion desserts and a loaf cake for £55 (working out at approx. £7.80 per item). The meals all arrive frozen and we like the distinctive colourful packaging that makes the dishes easy to spot once you’ve stashed them in the freezer. Unlike some other meal delivery services we tried, these cannot be cooked from frozen and should be defrosted overnight, so a small element of planning ahead is still needed. Each meal had pleasing short ingredients lists with all natural, familiar ingredients. There are six main meals to choose from and four puddings. A chickpea curry was fresh and warming for a light lunch in winter. You could add extra protein or cheese if you wish or it’s just as good on its own. The fish pie had a pretty piped mash presentation and was packed with fish just coated in super creamy sauce. A fragrant Thai green chicken curry was another winner.

We liked the luxury of having puds included in the bundle (if you don’t have a sweet tooth, there are savoury-only bundles too) – although we weren’t big fans of the sticky toffee pudding and our slightly dry lemon drizzle cake, we were incredibly impressed by the fruit crumble, which proved to be an irresistible combination of apples, blackberries, raspberries and gooseberries. Definitely one we’d order again!

The bundle ordering functionality makes this a good idea for a gift for new parents or a student you want to ease into living alone, or as a quick way to stock the freezer ahead of a busy period. We’d recommend sticking to the savoury options and then adding a crumble!

Available from:
Breda Murphy, from £60 for 6 meals

Foodhak

Best meal delivery service for helping weight loss
Rating: 4/5

Pros:

• Variety of meals to choose from
• Meals tasted home-cooked

Cons:

Foodhak is the brainchild of West Londoner Sakshi Chhabra. After she was diagnosed with a rare liver disease during pregnancy, she switched to a plant-based diet that focused primarily on ayurvedic dishes. This is how she discovered the power of food as medicine, and so Foodhak was born.

What makes Foodhak different is the dishes are made with all-natural, wholesome ingredients to give you a nourishing boost with every bite. They include a plethora of vegetables, herbs and spices – including turmeric, ginseng and ashwagandha – carefully chosen to support your health and increase energy levels. You can feel confident knowing that every meal is backed by science, as nutrition research underpins all their work.

On the easy-to-use online menu there are 50 dishes for you to choose from. You can pick from mains, bowls, soups, and snacks – and you’re given the option to add a small side portion of grains. For your afternoon pick-me-up, there are several sweet (but healthy) treats to try.

Meals are delivered in plastic pouches, making it easy to reheat in the microwave and keep your meals fresh for a few days (just in case you have a change of plans). These can be washed out and recycled at most supermarkets.

Five meals for two people (that’s 10 servings in total) comes to £73, which works out at about £7.30 per serving. It gets cheaper if you add more days, or meals, to your plan. Alternatively, go for one of their curated plans for £60 – these include 10 meals for three or four days and there’s weight loss, ayurvedic and vegan options available. Delivery is free.

On tasting, we were really impressed with Foodhak. The dishes are less like ready-meals and more like home-cooked food that a skilled chef has lovingly made for you, and popped into your fridge for another day. Every vegetable is perfectly cooked with a slight al dente crunch, sauces are bursting with flavour, spices are fragrant without being overpowering and the choice on the menu is incredibly varied. Our favourites included soya mince in a Thai jasmine sauce, comforting Cantonese congee (a savoury rice porridge) and Szechuan-style mapo tofu with mushrooms. Between meals, we happily nibbled on spicy crackers, ashwaghandha choc chip cookies and a fudgy millet brownie. The only thing we would say is the vegan paella wasn’t as flavoursome as the other dishes – but everything else was good enough to make up for it.

We tried the weight loss plan which consisted of breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks and although we initially feared the portions were a bit small, we were satisfied after eating and continued to feel energised throughout the day.

We would happily order Foodhak again, especially during winter when a quick, healthy meal that requires no more than a buzz in the microwave is exactly what we’re after. There are several dishes on their menu that we look forward to trying, and we still can’t stop thinking about that millet brownie.

Available from:
Foodhak, from £60 for 10 meals

Prep Kitchen

Best for healthy meal prep

Pros:

• Helps achieve health goals
• Meals were filling

Cons:

• Some dishes were hit-and-miss

Prep Kitchen aims to make it easy for you to stick to your healthy eating and nutrition goals, no matter how busy you are. They create individually portioned meals with a balance of macronutrients to help you boost your strength and overall fitness.

They offer two plans – one for fat loss and one for muscle gain. Once you’ve picked your plan, you choose between balanced meals (£6.25 per meal for fat loss and £7.50 for muscle gain) and lower carb (£7 per meal for fat loss and £8.25 for muscle gain). Prices for a week’s worth of meals starts at £62.50. You also have the option to add breakfasts, snacks and treats, for an extra cost.

When our food arrived for the week, we had concerns the seemingly small meals wouldn’t leave us satisfied. However, after our first dinner of chicken massaman curry, we knew we needn’t have worried. All the meals were packed with protein, hearty and filling, despite the minimal use of carbs.

The menu is varied and includes curries, stir-fries, pies, risotto, burgers and more. The dishes we had were a bit hit and miss – the sweet and sour chicken and Korean bibimbap weren’t to our liking. But there were some tasty highlights, including a chicken and tomato risotto with nutty chickpea rice, beef lasagne with roasted vegetables instead of pasta and a comforting buffalo mac and cheese with vegan chicken strips. Overall, we found the quality of the meat was noticeably better than supermarket ready-meals and they include plenty of vegetables. We thoroughly enjoyed the spicy chorizo frittata with a green salad for lunch. Not to mention the fudgy healthy chocolate brownies – what a treat.

Prep Kitchen have a long list of pro athletes who regularly enjoy their meals, just take a look at their Instagram. This ethos of food as fuel was reflected in the meals which, although not always pretty to look at, provided a good balance of protein and carbs. We can’t deny, we were happy to tuck into a healthy, portioned meal which took no longer than a few minutes in the microwave to prepare. If you’re someone who squeezes in regular workouts, this is a definite plus and a reason to give Prep Kitchen a go.

Available from:
Prep Kitchen, from £62.50

Members of the Good Food digital and cookery teams each tested a week of each meal delivery service, ensuring we tried all the different aspects that were on offer. There were several key criteria that teams based their verdict on:

• Range of recipes: was there plenty to choose from, and did recipes rotate regularly if you were going to repeatedly buy? Were all dietary options covered? Were there a range of serving sizes to choose from?
• Ease of preparing: after testing several dishes from each service, we were looking for clear instructions (photos and obvious step-by-step methods were a bonus), accurate suggested cooking times and ease of preparing e.g. could meals be microwaved, did frozen meals have to be defrosted first etc.
• Quality of the ingredients: some of the services provided organic ingredients, but regardless we were looking for ethically sourced, fresh, high-quality ingredients.
• Packaging: with individual meals, packaging can quickly add up. We looked for packaging to be sustainable, with minimal plastic where possible.
• Quality of the finished meals: the all-important results! We wanted delicious meals that we would want to eat again. Portion size and balanced meals was also considered.
• Value for money: how does the service compare to cooking from scratch or buying ready meals from a supermarket? Would it be practical to regularly get a delivery, or would it be more of a one-off purchase?

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