Dinnerly Meal Kits Start at $6 a Serving. We Tested the Budget-Friendly Service in 2026

When comparing the best meal delivery services for both meal kits and prepared meals, Dinnerly is tied with EveryPlate as the cheapest, at just $6 a serving. However, certain Dinnerly recipes now go up to $11, bringing it into the midrange meal kit category. With the price increase, have its recipes improved?

When our resident meal kit expert, David Watsky, tested Dinnerly, he found the recipes were mostly tasty, with fresh ingredients, though they were a bit basic. In our latest 2026 test, CNET’s Wellness Editor Anna Gragert, a vegetarian for 21 years who regularly cooks and eats vegan fare, gave Dinnerly a try. She was wholly impressed by its delicious, thoughtfully crafted (albeit sometimes salty) plant-based recipes.

Yes, Dinnerly recipes are still on the simpler side, with uncomplicated instructions and few ingredients, making them great for those new to cooking, yet rarely lacking in flavor or freshness.

Here’s everything you need to know about the affordable meal kit service in 2026.

How Dinnerly works

Dinnerly delivers throughout the contiguous United States. It starts by letting you choose between two, four and six people, along with how many meals you’d like (two to six) per week. Emphasis on “per week,” as Dinnerly is a subscription, but you can edit, pause or cancel at any time. At this point, it will show you how much your Dinnerly order will cost — the more servings and meals, the lower the price per serving.

You also get to select the type of meals you like, including gluten-free friendly, low calorie, low carb, quick and easy, picky-eater approved and vegetarian. More filters will be available once you start selecting your meals.

After entering your zip code and email, you’ll enter your address and select your delivery date, from Monday to Saturday. The day you pick will be the day your order arrives every week. The delivery time slot is between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. Next, enter your payment info, then select your meals.

Meal kits, prepared meals and market items

While your credit card information is required before you can select your meals, you can still see Dinnerly’s menu up to three weeks in advance.

When choosing your meals, you can select from additional dietary preferences, such as vegan, Mediterranean diet and high fiber. You can also choose the cook time, protein, meal type, price category, allergens, dish type and cuisine. Along with meal kits, Dinnerly offers prepared meals and market items, like appetizers, cookies, snacks, beverages, baking kits and Splendid Spoon soups.

For future deliveries, Dinnerly will suggest recipes based on your taste profile, but you can adjust and swap them in your account up to seven days before your next delivery.

If you prefer to use an app, Dinnerly also has one.

Your subscription is easy to edit, pause or cancel

Once you have a Dinnerly account, you can cancel, pause or edit your subscription on the Orders page. However, you will have to make these changes before the cutoff date, which is the day before your order is billed. The billing date is five to six days before your delivery date. You can also see how many days you have left to edit your box on the Orders page.

Each week, Dinnerly will send you an email reminder before that cutoff date so you know when to make any changes.

How much does Dinnerly cost?

Dinnerly costs between $6 and $11 a serving. Shipping is an extra $12. Market items cost extra and range from $2 to $22.

Dinnerly pricing as of April 2026

Recipes per week	2-person cost per serving	4-person cost per serving	6-person cost per serving
2	$11	$10	$9
3	$10	$9	$7
4	$10	$9	$7
5	$10	$9	$6
6	$10	$8	$6

Deals for new customers

Right now, Dinnerly is offering new subscribers 50% off plus free shipping on their first box, 13% off the second box and 10% off the third, fourth and fifth boxes. This brings the cost down to $3 to $6 a serving.

What Dinnerly meal kits are like

Dinnerly offers over 100 meal kits and prepared meals each week. You can choose from 11 dietary preferences, including vegan, vegetarian, keto-friendly, high-protein, low-calorie and kid-friendly. There are also seven cuisine options: Asian, Italian, Mediterranean, Mexican, Middle Eastern, regional American and other.

Seafood protein options are available along with beef, lamb, pork and poultry. For vegetarians and vegans, there is tofu and plant-based alternatives, such as Impossible meat and Daring chicken.

Vegans get up to five meal options per week, while vegetarians get significantly more: at least 22 meals weekly. Those who select the gluten-free friendly option get at least 40 meals each week.

Are Dinnerly meals healthy?

Depending on the meal, Dinnerly’s recipes can be healthy, but the company makes it hard to tell. On its recipe cards, a few nutrition facts are available, such as calories, fat, carbs and protein per serving. When you try to find more information on the Dinnerly website, you might find one or two more nutrition facts, such as sodium, but there is nothing about the percent daily value, which shows how much a dish’s nutrients contribute to an overall daily diet.

If you have specific health concerns, you’ll want to look at each individual recipe you order to see if the available nutrition facts align with your current diet.

How easy are Dinnerly meals to prepare?

Most Dinnerly meals take under 30 minutes to prepare, making them great for people short on time. While you can opt for digital recipe cards, your box comes with physical cards that have clear, easy-to-follow instructions.

Different from other meal delivery services, each Dinnerly meal kit doesn’t come in its own plastic or paper bag, reducing packaging and making it more eco-friendly. Fortunately, there aren’t a ton of ingredients per recipe, making it easy for you to sort through the ingredients that come in a paper box.

Some ingredients are required from your own kitchen, such as salt, pepper, olive oil, sugar, garlic and butter. If you’re new to cooking and don’t have these items on hand, then Dinnerly might not be the right service for you.

What we made and how we liked it

Hoisin and sesame chicken fajitas: This was a solid meal and tasty but simple. It was tough to see how much time and effort the meal kit really saved me versus doing it all from scratch.

Broiled Southwestern tilapia with broccoli: This simple, low-carb meal was another basic one. The Southwestern rub gave the fish good flavor, and it all tasted fresh.

French onion soup with cheesy croutons: This soup base for this light meal was made from a packet of beef stock and some sauteed onions. Overall, it had very little flavor. 

Brown butter asparagus-Gruyére ravioli: With added spinach, walnuts and crispy garlic, Anna loved this vegetarian recipe and especially appreciated the added spinach for extra iron and fiber. However, she would like the meal kit to include the side salad mentioned as a bonus idea on the recipe card.

Quinoa-veggie hummus bowl: Simple but flavorful, this vegan recipe was packed with 22 grams of protein. It’s also low in calories at 530kcal per serving. The fresh dill was a lovely added touch that took the dish to the next level.

Bean and cheese tamale pie: This vegetarian, kid-friendly recipe was delicious and filling — especially with the cornbread crust and melted cheese on top. However, it contains a whopping 2,220 milligrams of sodium per serving, which is almost 100% of the daily recommended value of 2,300mg.

Grilled Mediterranean Impossible sliders: This was one of Anna’s favorite vegan Dinnerly recipes, so much so that she plans to recreate it herself. Plus, it includes 34g of protein despite being plant-based. Even though she doesn’t have a grill pan, Anna was still able to get a lovely char on the zucchini and bell pepper in her stainless steel pan. The garam masala added to the Impossible sliders was also a tasty, thoughtful touch.

Sofrito tofu tacos: Sometimes vegan recipes that include tofu can be bland, but Anna found this one incredibly flavorful thanks to the taco seasoning. Yet it did taste quite salty, and upon looking at the nutrition facts online (the recipe card didn’t list it), Anna found that it contains 1,290mg of sodium per serving, which is over half the daily recommended amount.

Teriyaki broccoli and mushroom stir-fry: While this vegan, low-calorie recipe’s instruction card wasn’t included in her box, Anna was easily able to find it in her Dinnerly account. The addition of broccoli, mushrooms, scallions and fresh ginger turned what could have been a basic recipe into a dish packed with flavor and veggies.

Louisiana-style red beans and rice: Another easy but delicious meal, this vegan recipe was made with Impossible’s plant-based patties. It was also simple to prepare with only four instructions, but Anna did struggle with the rice because if she wasn’t keeping an eye on it, it would have burned before the 17-minute suggested time. Another factor to keep in mind is that this dish was also high in sodium at 1,900mg.

Who is Dinnerly good for?

Dinnerly is one of the best meal kit services if you’re looking for a cheap, easy way to get dinner on the table a few nights each week. With over 100 meals per week, this is a good meal kit service for families with kids or picky eaters. However, Dinnerly only offers up to six servings, making it best for families of up to six people.

While vegetarians will fare well with at least 22 weekly meals, vegans only get up to five meals per week. While Anna, our plant-based tester, found her vegan meals tasty, those looking for a more robust vegan meal delivery service may want to try one like Purple Carrot, which is dedicated solely to vegan recipes.

Who is Dinnerly not good for?

If you’re looking to advance your culinary skills from intermediate to a more advanced level, we don’t recommend this service. We found many of the recipes simple, basic and even boring at times.

Environmental friendliness and packaging

Because Dinnerly ships all its meal kit ingredients in one box without individual meal kit packaging, there is less single-use plastic than other services we’ve tried.

The box your ingredients arrive in can be recycled. Depending on your location and climate, you may receive one of two box liners: paper liners, which can be recycled, or foil pouch liners, which can only be recycled at centers that accept No. 4 plastics. The tray that contains your ingredients is made from sustainably sourced paper fiber, which is recyclable.

As for the ingredients themselves, they tend to come individually wrapped. Plastic jars, clamshells and bottles can typically be recycled curbside, while film and bags must be taken to a recycling center or supermarket that accepts No. 1 and No. 4 plastic. Overall, you’ll want to check what your recycling provider accepts.

During testing, Anna also noted that she ended up with extra ingredients, such as spices. She would have preferred it if they came in the exact amount required for the recipe, to negate any extra waste.

The final verdict on Dinnerly 

When comparing the two cheapest meal kit services side by side, EveryPlate still gets our nod with a higher hit rate of meal kits. That said, Dinnerly offers significantly more recipe options per week, including seafood and plant-based picks. 

If you have a crew of picky eaters or you yourself have particular tastes, you might find it easier to get suitable meals with Dinnerly than with other budget-friendly services. It’s also worth noting that with such a vast range of recipes per week, it may take some trial and error to find the Dinnerly meals that work for you or the hungry ones you’re cooking for. 

Our wellness editor, Anna Gragert, loved the selection of vegan and vegetarian meals she received — although there could be a greater selection of vegan meals per week. They were easy to prepare, fresh-tasting and included a thoughtful mix of veggies, greens, plant-based proteins and spices. However, some were on the salty side, and she wishes Dinnerly provided more nutrition facts to help customers better understand how each recipe contributes to their daily diet.

Ultimately, we think Dinnerly is a great meal delivery service for those new to cooking or anyone looking for affordable recipes.