Dinnerly Meal Kits Review
How Dinnerly Works
Dinnerly is a meal kit that sends fresh ingredients and easy-to-follow recipes to your door. The menu rotates and offers an impressive 100-plus options to choose from each week. There are picks for carnivores and vegetarians alike, so you’re sure to find something you’ll like.
A new offering since I last tried Dinnerly is its Marketplace, which is an added service that allows you to shop for a la carte groceries and household staples that serve as a supplement to your weekly meals. This service is a great one for families, as many of the recipes, if not all of them, are family-friendly and take no more than an hour to cook – and those are typically casseroles or other set-it-and-forget-it-type meals.
Dinnerly Price
The thing that sets this meal kit apart is the affordability! Portions start at just $4.99, with options for a two-person box or a family-sized box of four portions. You can choose between two and six meals per week; the more you order per week, the less expensive each portion is. The most expensive plan starts at $8.49 per portion, which is still less than many other kits. Shipping costs $11.99 unless you use an introductory coupon.
Dinnerly Meals
Dinnerly meals are what I personally remember wanting for after-school family dinners, with comfort classics at the forefront. I can bet my parents would have liked these too, as the recipes are easy to cook and have some good nutrients with a balance of veggies, carbs, and proteins. When signing up for the service, you can choose from a mix of everything, or opt for gluten-free, low-calorie, low-carb, vegetarian, quick and easy meals, and even those dubbed "picky eater approved" with more kid-friendly (aka simple ingredients).
Our Review of Dinnerly
Pros:
- Dinnerly is one of the most affordable meal kits out there, perfect for families and new chefs.
- Vegetarians will rejoice at their meat-free offerings.
- Portion sizes are generous, and most meals preserve well for leftovers or second helpings.
- Family-friendly and filling meal choices.
- Options for ready-made microwave meals in addition to traditional cooking.
- More sustainable, with less packaging around the ingredients and recyclable boxes and ice packs.
Cons:
- Make sure to check your zip code for delivery, as some areas in the Midwest and others are not eligible as of the time of publication.
The Final Verdict
Dinnerly is the comfort classic meal kit I would have wanted as a kid and the one I love to eat as an adult. The recipes are family-friendly but also filling and delicious for adults who like to cook, but may want simpler meals during the work week. The kit is on the more affordable side of the meal kit spectrum, so this is a great option for those on a budget who want to check out what meal kits can offer. It is also one of the more simple meal kits, easy to understand and cook for beginners. Plus, the recyclable trays make for great cat homes.
How We Tested
- Ease of ordering: When looking at the menu, Dinnerly is simple to set up and order for each week, and I also noted its inclusion of a Marketplace. I always take into consideration how to customize the order, make changes, and pause a membership when testing.
- Prep, cook, and cleanup time: A major selling point of meal kits is that they save time. Dinnerly takes roughly 15 to 45 minutes per meal, sticking very closely to what the recipe estimates. I still noted how long it took me to have a complete meal from unpacking to cooking, eating, and recycling afterward.
- Flavor and fullness: Meal kits are meant to remove all the guesswork from cooking, including seasoning. When testing Dinnerly, I took into account if any of the dishes I ordered needed to be seasoned or altered to become more palatable. I also considered how satisfied they left me and for how long.
- Sustainability: Not all meal kits are eco-friendly or use sustainable practices. To determine where Dinnerly stood on the eco-conscious scale, I reviewed its production policy and looked into how it sourced its ingredients. Other things I took into account were its packaging and whether it could be recycled.
- Price: Meal kits typically run between $7 and $15 per serving, and so Dinnerly sits on the affordable end of the spectrum, starting at $4.99 to $8.49 per serving.
FAQ: What to Look for When Choosing a Meal Kit
- Diet: Pay attention to the dietary options each service caters to, from vegetarian and vegan to Keto and paleo.
- Household Size: Count the number of people in your family and then account for how much they eat to best calculate how many servings you need to feed everyone. Some kits detailed above have larger portions, while others are single-serve only.
- Budget: Meal kits and services have a wide range of prices. Some offer free shipping, while others have a minimum spend. Specialty or health-related plans may cost more.
- Time: Think about how long you want to be cooking for each night. Some meals require 30 or more minutes to cook, not including cleaning up. Others are microwavable and thus don’t require clean-up time, either.
