Dinnerly vs Home Chef 2023

Home Chef offers 2 plans: the Home Chef plan and the Fresh and Easy plan. The menu is not customized according to different diets, but you have full flexibility in choosing the meals you want to order. You can buy meals for 2, 4, or 6 people, and the minimum order is 2 meals per week. The recipes in the Fresh and Easy plan contain all the ingredients ready-portioned, you just have to heat the meals and enjoy them. The meal prices start at $6.99, but you will mainly find only salads at this price point. A lunch meal costs around $7.99 – $9.99 per serving and there are also smoothies and fruits at $4.95. 

Dinnerly offers 3 to 6 meals per week and the price depends on the number of meals you order. For three meals per week, the price is $5.89 per portion. If you order 6 recipes, you will pay $5.59 per portion. There are also extra meat options you can include in your menu, as well as sweets such as Chocolate Pudding Cups or White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookie Dough. 

In this first Dinnerly vs Home Chef round, we choose Dinnerly as the winner for its affordability.

Dinnerly’s menu currently contains more than 15 meals per week. These include dishes you can eat for lunch or dinner. Most of them contain meat, but there are also vegetarian and pescatarian recipes. You also get a few dessert options, and the possibility to add extra portions of meat. The company focuses on using high-quality, sustainable ingredients. 

One of their main goals is to provide healthy meat. For this reason, they are also involved in different animal welfare initiatives. Their meals are ready to eat in less than 30 minutes, some require as little as 15-20 minutes of preparation. The recipes are accompanied by labels such as low carb, nutritious, meat, fish, low-calorie, so you can pick them easier based on your diet goals. 

Home Chef’s recipes are based on quality, locally sourced ingredients the company purchases from trustworthy farmers. The meat they use is hormone-free and, as much as possible, the company also includes organic ingredients in their meals. The recipes’ preparation time can vary between 15 and 45 minutes.  

Home Chef focuses on classic recipes that can satisfy the needs of the whole family. Although the company only offers two plans, they include a variety of dishes from different cuisines including Italian, Asian, Mexican, and American. 

Both companies offer quality ingredients and a variety of meals. It’s a tie.

Dinnerly is a subscription-based service. It requires an account, but you are able to cancel and skip deliveries easily, with no obligations, by accessing the settings section in your account. The company also offers a user-friendly app where you can manage your account and orders. The meals are delivered in a specially designed box that keeps them fresh. The protein-based meals are placed at the bottom of the box and kept in ice packs. Most of the packaging is recyclable and you can find out more information about the recycling process on the company’s website. You will have to sort the ingredients by yourself once you receive the box as they are not packed separately.

Home Chef’s order process is straightforward. This company also offers an app. Once you create an account, you can place an order in a few minutes and cancel or skip deliveries within seconds. If you’re not sure what meals to order, Home Chef can pick the meals for you. You have to place an order by Friday at noon CST each week. This company also tries to offer eco-friendly and recyclable packaging. The meals come packed in partially recycled cardboard boxes and all the plastic containers are curbside recyclable.

Dinnerly’s boxes contain less packaging, which makes them more sustainable and helps them win in this round.

Dinnerly offers customer support over the phone and through a web form. The website is comprehensive and offers multiple information on the order and shipping process, however, to look for answers to your questions, you have to use search terms and access the help center, which might take some time. The company delivers to the contiguous US. Delivery days are flexible. The shipping fee is $8.99. 

Home Chef also delivers across the continental US. The company’s shipping fee depends on customers’ orders. Orders that exceed $49.99 have a shipping fee of only $7.99. Those below this threshold come with a shipping fee of $13.99. You can contact Home Chef via their web form or live chat.  

In this Dinnerly vs Home Chef battle, we choose Dinnerly for its standard shipping fee.

Our expert foodies have tried different recipes while doing their research for this Dinnerly vs Home Chef comparison. Their opinion is that Dinnerly offers easy to cook meals, which is a great advantage if you’re busy and you want to spend less than 30 minutes preparing your lunch or dinner. Although their recipes are simpler and only contain half a dozen ingredients, they are tasty. 

Home Chef offers a bit more elaboration and creativity in terms of recipes. However, this also means spending more time in the kitchen. They also allow you to customize your meals by switching the protein sources in your recipes, which is a great plus. When it comes to their taste, both services offer delicious meals. 

It’s a tie once again.