We probably don’t have to sell you too hard on the perks of outsourcing your food needs to the best grocery delivery services around the country: If you’ve ever been bodied by a serious head cold, or just a case of the Mondays where a trek to the store feels like a journey to Mount Doom, some direct-to-doorstep shopping is an obvious perk. Beyond the time-saving aspect, getting some help in the grocery curation department can be especially helpful if you live in a food desert (and can afford delivery), or just want to give yourself a kick in the pants to cook more without schlepping everything back from a grocery store.
For your edification, we tried out a bunch of produce delivery services, from national to hyperlocal CSA-type services, to suss out which ones actually make your life easier, and what they offer that your average grocery store can’t provide. Some of them throw in some meal kit offerings, some get hyperspecific with deep cut food choices, a few ship directly from farms around the country, and others even offer surplus, would-be-landfill-items to help you feel better about the environmental impact of shipping out all of your ingredients. The one throughline? They’re all the fodder for some tasty home meals. We’ve also included a few well-recommended options that we haven’t had the pleasure of testing yet, but think you’ll enjoy regardless.
And trust us: Nothing makes you feel more like an adult than referencing your farm box in conversation. Here, several grocery delivery services that’ll put you on the fast track to home cook glory in no time.
The Best Produce Delivery Service Slash Meal Kit: Hungryroot
Grocery service Hungryroot landed on our list of the best meal kit delivery services since it offers meal plans and recipes that go hand-in-hand with the ingredients it ships out. But the truth is that the service delves into so much more, including a wealth of à la carte options. Its bread and butter, so to speak, is “health” food that’s free of preservatives, artificial sweeteners, and hydrogenated oils, among other things. That means familiar health-conscious staples like Banza, Impossible burgers, and Oatly are right at home here, but you won’t just find crunchy granola mixes and plant-based ingredients. There are also seafood options, plus meats like beef patties and sirloins (sustainably sourced, of course), drinks, baked goods, snacks, sauces, and more. All can be filtered according to your dietary preferences (from vegan to egg-free), and added to any of the service’s meal plans.
Hungryroot’s standard plan is its custom grocery box that builds itself around your preferences. As with many other subscription services, you and Hungryroot’s team first get acquainted by filling out a profile of your dietary preferences and goals. From there, the service will customize a grocery box that’s catered to your specific tastes (along with some recipes that’ll help you put your box to use), meaning less time wasted endlessly browsing. Prefer to swap out that tofu for some tempeh, or add a glut of snacks? You can always edit your delivery before it ships out.
For what it’s worth, Hungryoot also claims that its average customer saves at least $22 each week on groceries, which adds up if you’re scheduling regular deliveries. Your own mileage may vary of course, but we personally think that there are cheaper grocery services out there if you run the numbers on how many meals you’re getting per box (and compare that to what you’d normally pay for takeout). All that convenience and curation may be worth it, though: If you’re an undecided person who wants the shopping process to be a little more mindless, Hungryroot is a really attractive option, and it’ll give you some guardrails for meal prepping throughout the week without succumbing to one more sneaky Seamless order.
The Editors of GQ
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