You know what’s the easiest thing ever? Having a bunch of food delivered to your door so you don’t have to think about cooking, shopping or ordering dinner.
But you know what’s the worst? Trying to choose between the 5 million meal delivery services that have suddenly popped up in the city.
Here are the 12 best meal delivery options in NYC. Hurry up--we’re starving.
Best for: Breakfast skippers
The gist: We’re not gonna lie--smoothies are a huge pain in the butt. Sorry, but we’re not waking up at 5 a.m. to chop a bunch of kale. Daily Harvest provides all of the ingredients you need to make a fresh smoothie chopped and ready to go, so all you have to do is dump 'em into the blender and go.
Cost: $48 per box of six smoothies
Best for: High-maintenance eaters
The gist: Tell Portable Chef all about your allergies, food likes, dislikes, preferences, fear of commitment--well, save some things for your therapist. But Portable Chef is a great listener. It caters meals specifically for you, using ingredients sourced from family farms. Mmm, Filipino chicken adobo, grain-free sweet potato dumplings with sage and grilled salmon with ginger-scallion sauce…
Cost: $525 for five days of meals, including breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks
Best for: Time-strapped paleos
The gist: The meals from Eat Easy NYC are vetted by a nutritionist before they reach your door, and are handmade from scratch by a culinary team of chefs from Michelin-star restaurants. Tons of paleo-friendly options are available, including pan-roasted Atlantic salmon rubbed with fennel, coriander and tangerine zest.
Cost: $10 for one main and one side
Best for: Extremely hungry people
The gist: Sure, the meals are healthy, with a lot of vegetarian and gluten-free options, but the best part about Goodmeal is that anything you order will be delivered within 20 minutes. Take that, Dominos.
Cost: About $12 per meal, depending on specific dish ordered
Best for: The entire office
The gist: Quick, you have to provide lunch for your boss and 20 colleagues from the Los Angeles office on Friday. Don’t choke and order soggy sandwiches--get the French green lentil salad, blue cheese cavatelli and sweet potato salad from Savory instead.
Cost: Varies by dish
Best for: Yo-yo dieters
The gist: Inspired by the principles of the Mediterranean diet (oh hey, hummus), Fresh Diet pre-portions your meals so you don’t have to worry about overeating or counting calories. The subscription also includes a consultation with a nutritionist to keep you on track.
Cost: Seven days of meals for $279
Best for: Stressed nine-to-fivers
The gist: When you’re behind on your TPS reports, the last thing you want to do is wait in line for a $15 mediocre salad. Check out Maple’s daily meals instead, like General Tso’s tofu, the BBQ Berkshire pork sandwich and the Greek grilled chicken bowl, and sneak in some extra work until it’s delivered to your office door.
Cost: $12 for lunch, $15 for dinner
Best for: Beyoncé fans (aka everyone)
The gist: If you’ve always wanted to try a vegan diet but were too nervous to actually cook the tofu yourself, check out 22 Days Nutrition, a meal delivery plan created by …Beyoncé. We’re so “Crazy in Love” (#sorrynotsorry) with the shiitake mushroom yellow curry and smoky rosemary white beans.
Cost: $610 for breakfast, lunch and dinner for 22 days
Best for: Hard-core detoxers
The gist: OK, you went a little crazy at Doughnut Plant this week. It’s time to get serious--no meat, no gluten, no refined sugar. Go cold turkey with Sakara, a service that delivers organic, plant-based, GMO- and gluten-free meals like Sakara Earth Broth with Beet Smash Toast to your door.
Cost: $69 a day for breakfast, lunch and dinner
Best for: On-the-go foodies
The gist: During those weeks when you barely have enough time to order on Seamless, get your meals in advance on Munchery. Best of all, the dishes, like shitake and pea fried rice, Mongolian BBQ beef and broccoli and smoked Gouda creamed spinach, are created by notable NYC chefs.
Cost: Varies by meal
Best for: Health-conscious free spirits
The gist: Take a holistic approach to your health with Nourish Kitchen + Table’s curated cleanse and meal delivery service. One healing breakfast, for example, includes turmeric and Earl Grey-soaked hard-boiled eggs, then a winter fruit salad to reduce water retention and aid digestion.
Cost: $725 for five days of meals, including breakfast, lunch, dinner and two snacks
Best for: Ingredient snobs
The gist: You can actually pronounce every single ingredient in a Provenance meal--meat and poultry is grass-fed, and it’s all cooked with olive oil and organic coconut oil. Millet, chickpea, greens and eggplant caponata with romesco sauce, anyone?
Cost: $9 to $28 per meal
