Tori Martinet is a licensed registered dietitian based in Indiana who works with corporate clients, individuals, and athletes.
Dr. Danielle Weiss is the founder of the Center for Hormonal Health and Well-Being, a personalized, proactive, patient-centered medical practice with a unique focus on integrative endocrinology. She enjoys giving lectures and writing articles for both the lay public and medical audiences.
Sean is a fact-checker and researcher with experience in sociology and field research.
Managing conditions like diabetes with important nutritional components can be stressful and daunting. Luckily, the meal kit delivery industry is here to make life a little easier. We’ve asked food and nutrition experts to review the most popular services, and present to you our list of the best diabetic meal delivery services in the market.
Sunbasket
Compared with other meal kits we’ve tried, Sunbasket does the best job of prioritizing health alongside flavor and variety, which makes it a meal kit we want to order over and over.
Large menu with add-ons
Dieticians involved in menu development
Diabetic-friendly search filter
Smaller portions
Higher cost per serving
Most meal kit companies offer either kits, groceries, or prepared meals, but our top pick Sunbasket has it all. There’s so much to choose from, and we especially feel good about the dietitian oversight of the diabetes-friendly meal kits. Combined with sustainable sourcing and diverse menus, we feel this service does the best job of supporting a diabetes-specific diet without feeling overly restrictive.
Meal Kits
Fresh & Ready Meals
Shipping: $9.99 per shipment
Meal Kits
Prepared Meals
Mom's Meals
For comfort meals that can accommodate many medically-necessary diets, Mom’s Meals is our tester’s pick.
Meals delivered fresh
Appropriate for medical diets
Affordable price point
Smaller portions
Limited packaging disposal information
Mom’s Meals provides breakfast, lunch, and dinner options tailored to support conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and renal disease. The meals arrive fresh and provide a comfort food fix at a very accessible price point. As an added benefit, these meals can either be covered by self pay, or can be completely free for folks who are on a health plan like Medicare or Medicaid, depending on how you qualify.
If you’re needing puréed, gluten-free, or renal meals, there may be an additional cost for these.
Hungryroot
Our testers love Hungryroot’s healthy-by-default ingredients that come together quickly to make convenient, nourishing meals.
Affordable pricing
Huge library of recipes
Offers both meals kits and groceries
Meals can be basic
Credit system for ordering can be confusing
Although Hungryroot may not have a diabetic-specific meal search filter, the service boasts the largest database of recipes we’ve seen, and each meal has a full nutrition breakdown, making it a great option for folks with diabetes who want more variety. Choose from grain bowls, tacos, stir fries, salads, pastas, and more, all made with fiber-rich ingredients like chickpea pasta, sprouted grain breads, and plenty of fresh vegetables. Meals are often flavored with Hungryroot’s own brand of sauces and dressings, and many come together in less than 20 minutes.
BistroMD
Simple and straightforward, bistroMD offers meals that are convenient, designed by healthcare professionals, and offered in a more structured way than other companies.
Meals designed for medical diets
Convenient, ready in minutes meals
Several support options
Can’t select meals
Not always the most flavorful
BistroMD focuses on providing a structured, no-effort meal program designed by medical professionals and chefs. Simply select a health condition or concern, pick a plan based on how much food you want, and the rest is all set. We also love that there are approachable support options for people who may want guidance for how to eat outside of the program.
Pricing varies by which plan you purchase; standard continental U.S. shipping is $19.95 per shipment.
Freshly
Freshly’s selection of vibrant and diverse menu options makes it a great choice for those who want no-fuss, single-serve, prepared meals.
Good menu variety
Meals ready in minutes
Carb-conscious menu filters
No customization or add-ons
While Freshly is known for offering gluten-free meals, the service also provides tasty options for folks with diabetes who want zero cooking but plenty of choice. Freshly’s large menu may seem like a lot to sort through, but with the ease of both a “carb conscious” filter, as well as a “sort by carbohydrates” option, Freshly makes it easy to find what you’re looking for. Dishes like Cuban mojo shrimp and grilled lemon tahini chicken arrive fresh and are ready to eat after just a few minutes in the microwave.
Entrées
Breakfast items are individually priced at about $8 and do not impact shipping costs but do count towards your 12-meal maximum.
Green Chef
Green Chef has you covered for organic eating, bringing plant-focused meals with sustainable sourcing practices no matter which plan you choose.
Certified organic
Plenty of plants
Carb-conscious menus
Lots of packaging
Eating to manage diabetes doesn’t mean you have to deprioritize eating organic, and with companies like Green Chef, you can truly do both. The service is certified organic and offers plenty of fiber-rich and carb-conscious options, all wrapped up in a tasty cook-it-yourself meal kit. Menus from Green Chef offer global inspiration and are flavored with house-made seasonings and sauces for maximum flavor.
Two-Person Menu
Four-Person Menu
Six-Person Menu
Splendid Spoon
Our testers loved the quick and easy nature of these fully-prepared plant-based meals.
Plant-based menus
No cooking required
Hearty options
Higher price point
Splendid Spoon is all about the sippable and slurpable. With totally plant-based smoothies, soup and grain bowls, noodle bowls, and juices, there’s a lot to keep you full of plant-based nutrients. Plans are based around how many meals you want each week and for which meal periods. If you’re looking to balance carbs, try out the “lower carb” search filter to easily locate items under 20g of carbohydrates, and you can get sipping!
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner + Reset: $195/week
Breakfast + Lunch + Reset: $140/week
Breakfast + Lunch: $100/week
Breakfast: $70/week
Lunch: $70/week
Smoothies
Soups
Epicured
In testing, we found that Epicured made eating gluten-free a delicious and diverse experience.
All meals are gluten-free and low-FODMAP
Varied menu
Bundles for discount
Higher price point
Epicured is a fully gluten-free, low-FODMAP meal delivery service. Meals are ordered à la carte or as a bundle, and you can easily build your box using the many different filters and search options for nutritional needs including foods with less than 50 grams of carbs, allergens, and other diet preferences. Your order will arrive fresh, flavorful, and always backed by dietitians and health professionals.
Meals are priced individually, with an average cost of $15. Bundles can also be purchased, which include a 5% discount. Shipping costs range from free up to $45 depending on delivery location and order total.
À la carte pricing
A sampling of Epicured’s bundles
Magic Kitchen
Magic Kitchen serves a whole spectrum of medically-necessary diet needs along with options for all mealtimes.
Accommodates many medical diets
Large and varied menu
Meals may be covered by Medicaid/Medicare
Packaging not always recyclable
Can’t choose delivery date
Magic Kitchen has a plethora of entrée options, plus "complete meals" that come with side dishes; you can choose from breakfast options, soups, breads, side dishes, and desserts. Customers can select their own meals, or to sign up for an auto-ship program that sends meals on a regular basis. The service even has senior-specific meals, and individuals on Medicare or Medicaid should look into the MKMeals program as costs may be covered if eligible.
Pricing varies by item type and quantity, with the option to buy à la carte, in bundles, or “complete meals” which are mains and sides packaged together. Entrées start at $12 per serving and shipping cost varies by location and size of purchase but begin at $18.95.
Just because you’re eating for a health condition doesn’t mean you should sacrifice variety and flavor. Sunbasket serves up tasty, globally-inspired options that can be diabetes-friendly too. We feel good about the dietitian-driven nutrition transparency on Sunbaket’s diabetes menu requirements, and we also love that the customization and add-ons make it feel like there’s a ton to choose from.
Diabetic-friendly meals typically take into account specific nutrients that are relevant to individuals who have diabetes. These may include but are not limited to, total carbohydrates, sugars, fiber, protein, and fat. Meals created for diabetics may look to keep some of these nutrients below or above certain thresholds, but each person’s needs vary, and guidance should come from an individual’s medical team.
While you may assume that diabetic-friendly meal delivery services are more expensive than non-diabetic options, we’ve found that the price range to be similar. Depending on your additional needs and other dietary restrictions, meals that made our favorites’ list can be purchased for between eight and 12 dollars on average. In addition, folks who are on Medicare or Medicaid may be able to have meals partially or completely covered when purchasing through some services.
There are plenty of meal kit delivery services for diabetes that can also accommodate other dietary restrictions, whether you have allergen or ingredient concerns or multiple health conditions to manage. Many prepared meal services like Mom’s Meals and Magic Kitchen can help with health conditions, but you may have more options if you’re looking to manage diabetes and an allergen concern with services like Hungryroot or Freshly, which are less medically oriented.
Weight loss may occur with the use of meal delivery services, but it also may not. Diabetic meal delivery services are geared towards regulating the carbohydrate load of a meal, and while some do include other nutrients like calories in their established standards, not all do. However, even without weight loss, these services are worth considering as they may be able to provide support and ease the burden of diet management for people with diabetes.
We rounded up a team of experts to order, cook and taste test meals from 40 of the top meal delivery services. We sought to get a feel for each company’s flavors, approach to nutrition, sustainability, customer experience, and information transparency. We collected over 50 individual data points on each company, analyzed the information, and arrived at each company’s star rating.
A licensed registered dietitian and culinary nutritionist, Tori Martinet works with individuals and brands on all things food and nutrition. She holds a bachelor’s degree in cellular and molecular neuroscience and a master’s in nutrition and exercise physiology.Favorite service: “Tovala was definitely my favorite. It was super tasty, quick to prepare, and who doesn’t love a little extra tech? Dinner via barcode scanner is not something you see every day and the specialized countertop oven component was really fun to use.”Favorite dish: “I loved the chickpea shawarma pita from Tovala. I’m not vegetarian, but I do love to see how companies approach plant-forward dishes. This one was super satisfying, very flavorful, and visually appealing.”
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