What Box: which meal delivery service is actually worth paying for?

If you still want to cook, the meal boxes worth paying for are Gousto and HelloFresh: six dinners for two cost about £36 delivered, or roughly £6 a portion. That is more than a careful supermarket shop and a great deal less than a takeaway.

The specialists earn their higher prices only if they fix a particular problem. Green Chef and Mindful Chef suit specific diets, Grubby and Planthood are fully plant-based, Riverford is the organic choice, and prepared-meal services are for people who do not want to cook at all.

Whatever you choose, ignore the first-box discount when deciding. The introductory-price theatre tells you nothing about what Tuesday's dinner will cost in week six.

The like-for-like price

Our benchmark is three recipes for two people: six main-meal portions. Prices were checked on 9 November 2026 and exclude introductory offers.

Gousto's own comparison, using menus collected on 27 October, prices the equivalent HelloFresh box at £37.93 delivered. HelloFresh's own two-person page gives a lower figure, so the honest conclusion is that the two are within a couple of pounds of each other and whichever is cheaper this week depends on the menu.12

Gousto and HelloFresh: the mainstream pair

Gousto has the widest choice, more than 175 recipes a week in the Guardian's April test, which named it the best budget box. The tester's main complaints were that so much choice was paralysing and that a halved cucumber came wrapped in two layers of plastic.3

It is also the healthier business of the two. Grocery Gazette reported in May that Gousto's sales rose 10% to £342m in 2025, its third profitable year in a row, and that it had held its own price rises to an average of 5% a year.12

HelloFresh has had a rougher year. The Guardian reported in March that its 2025 revenue fell by more than 11% and its orders by 12%, and the BBC reported in June that it planned to close its Banbury distribution centre and concentrate UK work in Derby. Neither changes what arrives on your doorstep.22

HelloFresh had the clearest instructions in the same test, with a photo for every step, and suits people who want quick, familiar dinners. It also used more plastic than its tester felt was necessary.3

Neither guarantees that every dish suits an allergy. Check the ingredients and cross-contamination notes on each recipe, not just the badge on the menu.

The cancellation small print

Both companies lead with big first-box discounts. Gousto currently advertises 50% off the first box, and HelloFresh promotes rolling introductory savings; "up to" is doing a great deal of overtime in this market.12

HelloFresh's deadline for changes is 11.59pm five days before delivery. Cancel through Settings, choose the subscription and keep the confirmation email; skipping one week is not cancelling.13

Gousto shows the deadline against each upcoming delivery in your account, and Green Chef also needs five days' notice. Deleting the app is an impressive way to remove an icon, but it does not cancel anything.7

For particular diets

Green Chef, owned by HelloFresh, lets you filter by high-protein, lower-carb, keto, calorie-conscious, vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian and flexitarian. Its 40% introductory offer is generous, but the regular price is what matters.7

Mindful Chef is ingredient-led and avoids refined white carbohydrates. It advertises 30% off the first four orders and free delivery on the first box; after that, recipes start at £4.50 a portion, and the Guardian's tester found its £5.99 delivery charge steep.63

Grubby is entirely plant-based and unusually clear about pricing: three two-person kits cost £13.33 each, two cost £14.99 each, and standard delivery is £4.99 after a free first box.4

Planthood goes further, sending prepared sauces and chopped vegetables, which makes it quicker than a raw-ingredients box and closer to a ready meal.8

Shortcuts, treats and freezer meals

SimplyCook sends only the flavourings, in letterbox-sized packs, and you buy the meat and vegetables. The first box is £5 including postage, then £12.98 a month for four kits. The Guardian named it the best letterbox kit.93

Riverford was the Guardian's best box overall, praised for its organic produce and low plastic, though it is at the pricier end. Free delivery needs a £20 order, which three £15 kits clear, and changes close at 11.45pm two days before delivery.53

Abel & Cole is an organic grocer first, with a £12 minimum order and £3.75 delivery; its new-customer offer applies to vegetable boxes, not recipe kits.14

Dishpatch and Pasta Evangelists are for an occasion rather than a weekly plan. Dishpatch sends restaurant menus that need only finishing, with no subscription required. Pasta Evangelists' recipe kits start at £6.50 a dish.1115

all plants and Field Doctor sell frozen prepared meals. Six all plants meals cost £30. Field Doctor meals cost £7.49 to £8.99 each with a £50 minimum order, so six of the cheapest will not get you to the checkout.1016

Wicked Kitchen's plant-based meals are sold through its UK partner Shicken, at £4.99 for a 350g pack, and Lean Kitchen delivers prepared low-calorie and high-protein plans on Saturdays.1718

Two names are missing for a reason. Marley Spoon and its budget brand Dinnerly do not trade in the UK; the group's latest annual report lists Australia, the US and four continental European countries.19

Is it cheaper than the supermarket?

Usually not, unless the box replaces a takeaway. The Guardian's tester concluded that boxes are "not a cheap way to cook" for a couple making one or two dinners a week, though they can cost no more than a weekly shop for a family.3

MoneySavingExpert's comparison in April found introductory boxes could compete with supermarket prices, but warned that discounts, box sizes and waste change the picture once the offers end. Which?'s February survey of more than 3,000 recipe-box users rated value for money alongside taste and ease of skipping a week, which is the right order of questions.2021

The fair test is simple. Price three dishes you would really cook at your usual supermarket, delivery included, and compare that with the ordinary box price. A whole jar of spice costs more this week but lasts for months; a bag of spinach left to wilt is not a saving because the receipt was small.

Packaging and privacy

HelloFresh says its outer boxes and paper bags are recyclable but some vacuum-packed meat is not. Grubby uses recycled boxes and biodegradable pods, and Field Doctor's trays and sleeves are recyclable but its stickers are not. Check the liners and ice packs of any box before they go in the recycling.23416

On privacy, HelloFresh's policy describes personalised marketing and pooling of shopping data with Epsilon Abacus, and the Information Commissioner fined it £140,000 in January 2024 over unlawful marketing texts and emails. Gousto uses order history to personalise its offers.24

Stopping deliveries does not close an account. If you are finished with a service, ask it to delete your data and unsubscribe from marketing, including post.

Ways to pay less

The headline deal is the first-box discount. The quieter savings sit in how you leave, how you come back, and how you pay.

Cancel properly, then wait for a welcome-back.

Cancel properly, then wait for a welcome-back. HelloFresh's own help pages cover cancelling through Settings and reactivating later; keep the confirmation email. Gousto has used personalised direct mail to win back lapsed customers: a Paperplanes case study for Gousto reported an 11% incremental uplift from that channel. Catch: offers are personalised and not a published tariff; pausing is not cancelling, and deleting the app cancels nothing.1325

Switch while you wait. New-customer intros are usually better than returning offers. If one box no longer suits, another brand's opening discount can bridge a few weeks. Catch: intros are for genuine new customers; reuse of the same email, card or address can block the code, and you still need to cancel before the next delivery deadline.20

Stack cashback on the sign-up, not on every dinner. On 9 November, TopCashback advertised £12 on a HelloFresh new-customer first box (then £2 on boxes two to six) and £9 on a Gousto new-customer first purchase (£0.50 for existing customers). Catch: tracking must fire, cashback stays pending, and the rate is for the portal purchase path, not a later in-app order.26

Order the size you will cook. Bigger boxes often cut the price per portion; leftovers only count as a saving if you eat them. Catch: waste and delivery minimums can erase the arithmetic.3

Use skip weeks instead of resignation theatre. Skipping through the account meets the same deadline as cancelling and keeps any returning offer for when you actually want to stop. Catch: skipped weeks are not a pause forever; the next box will still ship unless you keep skipping or cancel.

The verdict

In our view, start with what you want someone else to do, then look at the full repeat price. For ordinary home cooking, compare Gousto and HelloFresh on this week's menu; pay a specialist only if its menu solves something specific for you.

Prepared meals buy back cooking time and restaurant boxes buy an occasion. If the supermarket already works, there is no subscription-shaped hole in your life that urgently needs filling.

• Recipe box, £36.24 including delivery
• Three kits plus delivery, £44.98
• Selected dishes, £45
• Six meals, £30

HelloFresh is not on this chart. These are different service types, so the bars are not a ranking of matched baskets.

1. Introductory offer ends.
2. The ordinary price applies.
3. The order cut-off for the next box.
4. The next delivery.

Operators do not share one deadline. Read the account you actually have.

• Outer box
• Liner
• Trays
• Sachets
• Cooling material

Sources

1. Gousto, The UK's best value recipe box, menus collected 27 October 2026; Gousto homepage, checked 8 November 2026. Back
2. HelloFresh, meals for two, checked 8 November 2026. Back
3. The Guardian, "The best recipe boxes and meal kits for time-poor foodies, tested", 10 April 2026. Read the test Back
4. Grubby, how does your pricing work?, 6 October 2026; Grubby homepage. Back
5. Riverford recipe boxes; Riverford FAQs. Back
6. Mindful Chef, checked 8 November 2026. Back
7. Green Chef; how it works. Back
8. Planthood. Back
9. SimplyCook; SimplyCook FAQ. Back
10. all plants, build a box; all plants FAQs. Back
11. Dishpatch menu; Dishpatch homepage. Back
12. Grocery Gazette, "Gousto sales return to growth as healthy meal demand surges", 13 May 2026. Read the report Back
13. HelloFresh, how to cancel. Back
14. Abel & Cole. Back
15. Pasta Evangelists recipe kits. Back
16. Field Doctor FAQs. Back
17. Wicked Kitchen; Wicked Kitchen range at Shicken. Back
18. Lean Kitchen plans; Lean Kitchen FAQ. Back
19. Marley Spoon Group, Non-Financial Report 2025, April 2026, p5. Back
20. MoneySavingExpert, "Meal box comparison: HelloFresh vs Gousto vs Green Chef vs Mindful Chef vs Planthood", 21 April 2026. Read the comparison Back
21. Which?, "Hello Fresh vs Gousto vs Mindful Chef: tasty recipe boxes rated by you", 25 February 2026. Read the survey Back
22. The Guardian, "HelloFresh hit by sales slump as people lose appetite for meal kits", 18 March 2026, read the report; BBC News, "HelloFresh distribution centre set to close", 4 June 2026, read the report. Back
23. HelloFresh packaging. Back
24. HelloFresh privacy policy; ICO, ICO fines HelloFresh £140,000 for spam texts and emails, January 2024; Gousto privacy policy. Back
25. Paperplanes, Gousto reactivation case study, checked 9 November 2026; HelloFresh FAQ, reactivate / cancel, checked 9 November 2026. Back
26. TopCashback, HelloFresh; TopCashback, Gousto, both checked 9 November 2026. Back