Note:This post on resident life is not a peer-reviewed article.

Those that know me know I do a lot of cooking. It was actually one of the careers I was choosing between when I decided to leave engineering and go into medicine. So for me it is especially important to my well being and happiness. As residents, we often underestimate the importance of eating well – many of us don’t even make the time to eat on shift – and I think this is something that needs to change. For years, I scorned meal kits. I’m a park slope food co-op member and as a medical student I started a CSA and farm fresh food box for our hospitals. But, residency changed things for me. While on my MICU rotation I realized I was spending way too much time shopping and thinking about what I was going to cook next. Now meal kits don’t take away a need to go shopping but rather reduce the burden quite a bit (I shop 2+ times a week) and reduce the cognitive load. So armed with this idea, I decided to try it out, and because I’m crazy like most other EM Residents, I decided to try a bunch and compare. In total, I have tried five different companies: Blue Apron, Hello Fresh, Plated, Sun Basket, and EveryPlate.

The Aim

To compare and contrast the different kits. For the vast majority of the services, I never used them beyond their initial discount time period. Every service I used for at least three meals, and I rated every service on cost, variety, quality, and packaging (because you end up with so much annoying garbage every week). I’m not the first one to realize that meal kits can be useful to residents, as I’m sure that many of you are already using them. Stanford’s EM Residency provides residents “ROAR” credits, which can be used for meal kits. Stanford also provides a similar system to attendings, where they get credits doing extra work to get meal kits and other home services. For me, each 2-serving meal either is good for you and one other person, or the extra serving can become lunch. With the exception of Sun Basket, prep time generally ranges from 40 minutes to an hour, but experience level is important. I can make one much more quickly than other people, so you need to understand your ability to cook and prep quickly. Sun Basket is an exception because, as will be discussed below, they offer specific “Quick” meals, which are designed to be faster to prepare.

Blue Apron

Probably the biggest of all of the companies I tried. They are the Kleenex of meal kits, premium, and the standard against which all other meal kits are judged. Blue Apron’s discount is almost always divided over three deliveries, so they will give you, for example, $60, but only $20 for each order. This is clearly meant to capture you, but it is the same over time, so you’re not losing any money relatively, but you do have to buy more to realize all the potential free money. They have four types of plans at present. I only tried their standard, but they also have weight watchers, vegetarian, and family. Most people will probably choose a 2-serving, 3-meal plan, and that will get you free shipping at a price of $9.99 per serving. So about $60 a week, price-wise they are pretty middle pack, not the most expensive and not the cheapest, $$$/$$$$. They generally have about 8 recipes a week to pick from, and you can also order wine, so variety is 5/10. I’d say their recipes are easy, straight forward with good flavor, and generally well thought out with good ingredients, so 8/10 for their quality. They don’t use all recyclable packaging, using bubble wrap insulation bags, non-recyclable ice bricks, and lots of bags. They also don’t separate out the meals, so less organized, and takes away from efficiency – they get a 3/10 for packaging. Their site works great. I never had any problems so can’t comment on customer service other than that they don’t make it super easy to cancel.

Za’atar Spice Chicken Thighs

HelloFresh

They are probably the second biggest of the meal prep companies. Think in the old days, Pepsi to Coke. They are definitely that younger brother that is trying to catch up in their parents eyes. But people love Hello Fresh, so don’t get me wrong, they are successful. They are a little cheaper than Blue Apron, coming in at $8.99 a serving for a three meal two serving plan, so about $54 a week, $$$/$$$$, and they have more selection, so 7/10 for selection. They have insulated cardboard boxes so more recyclable, and each meal, other than proteins which are right on top of the ice, is in individual bags, so I’d give them 5/10 for packaging. Honestly, their recipes were poorly written, often not that great, quantity was often wanting, and flavor and ingredients were questionable – only about 5/10 for quality. And the thing that really soured me on them was that when I left they literally called me almost every day trying to get me to come back. It was super annoying, literally every day in the ED I’d get a call begging me to come back.

Lemony Cheese Torteloni

Plated

To me, Plated was kind of the first premium kid on the block. They seem to have explicitly said we are going to try to do something different than Blue Apron. Although they aren’t big, they definitely seem to focus more on sustainable high quality ingredients and recipes, and I think they for the most part do a good job at this. But such decisions come at a price. When I was using them, they were more expensive, but presently they are priced pretty much the same as Blue Apron ($9.95 instead of $9.99), so $$$/$$$$$. They have more variety than Blue Apron, more like Hello Fresh, and now they even have some dessert options, so 8/10. There recipes and ingredients are better than both Hello Fresh and Blue Apron, and really do taste good, so 9/10. Packing is pretty sustainable and sorted, so 8/10. Never had a problem whatsoever, and their system always worked, never had to make a call.

Seared Steak, with Rosemary Jus and Sweet Potato Gratin

EveryPlate

EveryPlate is aimed at being the cheap option. Really that’s it. Their aim is to bring the meal kit to anyone, and I’d also say they are also very quick and easy recipes. Price-wise they are $5 a serving, so with the same standard two serving and three meals you get $30. That’s pretty much half the cost of the closest competition, $/$$$$$, which is great, but this isn’t without sacrifices. The quality of ingredients was definitely the lowest, 2/10. They have the worst selection 2/10. Their packaging is good, but not organized, 6/10.

Skillet Apple Pork Chops

Sun Basket

This is the ultra premium option. It is the most expensive, and gives you the most control. They are the most obsessed with sourcing and quality, and most of their produce is organic. Their proteins are also all sustainably sourced, and you can often further customize your protein choice for dishes choosing either more sustainable options or just entirely different ones, say trading sea bass for scallops. They are the most expensive option at $12 a serving – with standard 2/3 plan you are paying $72 a week, so $$$$$/$$$$$. Their variety is the absolute best around. You have multiple choices in every protein category – gluten-free, paleo options, vegetarian options, and more. Sun Basket has Speedy meals and Super Quick options, which can be very useful for us residents, when time is of the essence. You even get the option to add salads, snacks, and dips. They get a 10/10 for variety. In terms of recipes, taste, and quality they get a 10/10. There stuff is so good I sometimes just use their ingredients for other things that I want to make. Their packaging is the most sustainable and well organized at 10/10. I also actually like that they give you a recipe catalog instead of the cards. It is probably more wasteful in a sense, but you can also check out other recipes and they do have some interesting stuff. Also I’m a huge seafood fan and they have hands down the best seafood of any of the brands. If you have a dietary preference, this is probably the meal plan for you. Especially if your partner doesn’t share your preferences.

Quick chicken and white bean chili with avocado and cheese

Results

Conclusion:

You have to choose for yourself. For me, there is a clear winner, and I continue to get SunBasket. However, my priorities are for more complex recipes, higher quality products that are organic and sustainably sourced. I also really appreciated their customizability and the fact that I have quicker recipe options. I’m less concerned about the price, because I don’t eat out that much, so the higher cost compared to grocery shopping is balanced out by decreased effort and decreased food waste. (It is often hard to buy the correct amount of an ingredient. Just think about how much extra of a spice you have to buy.) Even at $12 a serving, that’s cheaper than buying the same meal at a restaurant. Because of the price, EveryPlate may be a good choice for a lot of people and better than not cooking at all. However, if you have any dietary requirements, then their lack of variety can make it extra tough. I’m not actively using the other plans, but if you do decide to try Sun Basket, here is my discount code (for you and me both)… https://sunbasket.com/invite/Noah1984283

Whatever you can do to cook more and eat more healthily!

P.S. I will possibly update this post, or write a V2 if I try some additional kits. Additional kits that were left out: Home Chef, Amazon, Purple Carrot, Fresh Direct, and I’m sure there are even more that I don’t know about.

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Noah Berland

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