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If you want to spend less time over a hot stove but still eat this well the summerthere are modern dining shortcuts to take advantage of. Pickup and delivery is one way to lighten your load, but this whole order can cost you dearly. Dining sets and meal services are another dinner hack, but are they cheaper?
To find out, I calculated the average price of various popular takeout and delivery dishes in my neighborhood and compared them to the price per serving of a mid-range plan from several of our highest ratedbudget meal kits like EveryPlate and Blue Apron and meal delivery services including Daily Harvest and Factor.
this is how I did the math and a snapshot of how much cheaper a prepared meal or kit meal subscription is than takeout or delivery in 2024.
Export is added. We’ve found out how much you can save with food delivery.
Here’s how much the average takeout costs
This is not the simplest answer, as there is no one-size-fits-all takeaway price. Instead, we’ll have to use some rough numbers and averages to come up with a number to compare to meal kits and ready meal services.
Restaurant takeout costs vary by region, but this report shows that the average restaurant takeout costs about $13. To check, I calculated the cost of takeout in my neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York for a variety of popular dishes at mid-range restaurants.
Takeout costs
| Chicken tenders with fries | Cheeseburger and fries | Pepperoni Pizza | Chicken burrito | Chicken fried rice | Chicken Pad Thai | Macaroni and cheese | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portion | 1 order | 1 order | 1 small pizza | 1 burrito | 1 liter | 1 order | 2 cups |
| Take home price | $10.99 | $13.69 | $15.09 | $14.25 | $11.75 | $11.50 | $13.29 |
| Shipping fee | $18.86 | $23.79 | $24.25 | $24.40 | $16.88 | $19.45 | $24.98 |
From there, I averaged those meals to come up with an approximate cost per takeout portion at the restaurant. Average all these meals and you get $12.90 for the average takeout meal. Pretty spot on with the other data I found on average dining costs. If you want to include a few bucks to tip the front desk person, it will be more like $15.
Shipping is significantly more expensive as it usually includes app service fees, delivery fees and a larger tip. For delivery, the average cost of a meal with fees is huge $21.80.
Eating out is tempting, but it can ruin both your budget and your diet in a hurry.
While these are technically “single serving” dishes, it could certainly be argued that a typical order of pad thai, lamb curry or chicken fried rice is good for more than one serving. However, most of the meal kits I’ve made are good for more servings than advertised. A set meal for two is often more like three meals in my house, and I’m a pretty good eater (just ask my mom). So let’s just call this a wash.
Are meal kits cheaper than takeout?
In a previous breakdown, we outlined how much cheaper the takeaway classic is for home cooking. In another, meal kits are priced at vs buying all the groceries to make yourself. Here we estimate how much cheaper per serving it is to use a meal kit compared to ordering out. Since meal plan plans vary depending on how many meals and portions you order, I used both the average, middle plan price, and the cheapest plan for each meal service to see how they compare.
Cost of takeout vs meal kits (average)
| Service | Price per serving |
|---|---|
| EveryPlate | $7 |
| Dinner | $7 |
| Blue apron | $8.49 |
| HelloFresh | $10 |
| Home cook | $10 |
| Solar basket | $14 |
| Snacking | $14 |
| Green Chef | $13.49 |
| Take out | $15 |
| Delivery | $21.80 |
As shown below, budget meal kits such as EveryPlate and Dinner it costs roughly half of a typical takeout meal. If you order delivery with all these additional fees, your typical meal will cost about three times as much as the cheapest meal kit service. Even the most expensive meal kits cost less than the average takeout.
Cost of takeout vs meal kits (cheapest plan)
| Service | Price per serving |
|---|---|
| EveryPlate | $5 |
| Dinner | $6 |
| Blue apron | $8 |
| HelloFresh | $9 |
| Home cook | $9 |
| Solar basket | $10 |
| Purple carrot | $12 |
| Snacking | $12 |
| Green Chef | $12 |
| Take out | $15 |
| Delivery | $21.80 |
If you choose the cheapest plans – usually available when you buy more meals per week – from the various services, the savings are greater. The cheapest dining sets are around a third of the price of takeout on average and more than 75% cheaper than delivery.”
How much cheaper is takeaway food delivery than takeout?
Mosaic Foods family meals are only $6 per serving.
Ready meal services such as Fresh N Lean, CookUnity and Factor are closer to take-out and delivery as no preparation or cooking is required, just heating and eating. Although the difference between meal delivery and takeout is smaller than with meal kits, most services are still cheaper than most takeout orders and cheaper than delivery, which is close to $22 per feeding.
If you choose a service such as Mosaic Foods (one of my favorites), which has larger meals for the whole family, you’ll save a lot more on takeout with portions that come in at $6, much less than the average takeout price.
Cost of takeout versus delivery of ready meals
| Service | Price per serving (cheapest plan) |
|---|---|
| Mosaic Foods | $6 |
| Fresh N Lean | $9 |
| Daily harvest | $9 |
| CookUnity | $11 |
| Factor | $11 |
| Pete’s Real Food | $14 |
| Take out | $15 |
| Delivery | $21.80 |
Is food delivery healthier than takeout?
You’re probably more likely to make bad eating decisions in the moment when you order takeout than if you plan your meals in advance with a food delivery service.
There is no easy way to measure the overall health of food delivery versus meal kits or ready meal delivery. I’ll say this from my own experience: if you’re picking out bulk food for the week or weeks ahead on a website full of information, you’re probably more likely to choose some healthy, protein-packed meals than you would be if you were hungry. while perusing a takeout menu with all its tantalizing options.
Meal kit services show you all the ingredients and nutritional information so you can make informed decisions about your upcoming diet.
Meal kits and meal delivery services show you all the ingredients and nutritional information as you choose them, including calories, protein, carbs, sugar and salt, so you can make an informed decision about what you want on your dinner table in the days ahead and weeks.
What’s the catch? With meal kits, you’ll have to do a little cooking, but most do all the measuring for you ahead of time, and some even do the prep, so dinner can take as little as 20 minutes from start to finish. Services like Blue apron and Home cook you also have ready-to-cook meals that only take five minutes to prepare, plus cooking time. Ready meal delivery is more like the convenience of a takeaway.
The bottom line: meal kits or meal delivery may be the answer to your restaurant takeout budget woes. Choose the right one, like any of this CNET-tested list of the best healthy food delivery services and it might just trigger your healthy eating habits.
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