Five Healthful Boston-Area Meal-Delivery Services
You have way better things to do than spend hours in the kitchen. Thankfully, these locally sourced, direct-to-door services will do the hard work for you.
Illustration by Jeannie Phan
Clover Food Lab
What started as a single plant-based food truck on the MIT campus in 2008 has blossomed into 15 fast-casual restaurants and a robust meal-kit delivery service. With themes for each day of the week (think “Taco Tuesday” and “Pizza Friday”), the locally sourced boxes promise to transform even the staunchest meat eater into a veggie aficionado. All it takes is a little light prep, and 15 minutes later, you’ll have dinner on the table.
Starting at $13 per serving, cloverfoodlab.com.
Ipsa
This gourmet meal-delivery service was founded on a somewhat revolutionary concept: Frozen dinners needn’t be mass-produced or low-quality. For years, the collab between founders Micah Fredman (Gramercy Tavern) and Joshua Brau (Chipotle and Blue Apron) has been touted as the best-kept secret in the Big Apple. This year it moved up north, partnering with Ana Sortun of Oleana to deliver a variety of frozen dishes such as braised short-rib kakuni and beef kimchi stew to hungry (and time-strapped) Bostonians—no subscription required.
Starting at $7 per serving, eatipsa.com.
EatFit
Keto, vegan, or just regular old healthy—whatever your diet, EatFit literally delivers, and fast (orders placed by Saturday night will be left on your doorstep Sunday evening). Launched by a personal trainer whose clients struggled in the kitchen, the meal service offers zero-prep dishes—think General Tso tacos and whole wheat penne alfredo with chicken—made from scratch.
Starting at $12 per serving, eatfitfood247.com.
Al FreshCo
Unlike other, bigger meal-kit delivery services, all of the veggies come prepped, chopped, and ready to cook for Al FreshCo’s plant-based recipes. Making the shiitake-and-sweet-potato ramen and butternut-mole soup even more irresistible? The produce is sourced hyper-locally from outfits such as the Neighborhood Farm in Wayland and packaged in cute brown paper tied with rustic twine, with full nutritional info on the label as well as the light cooking instructions. Kits are delivered on Tuesdays by bike and last all week long—and if you’re not in the delivery zone, you can pick them up at Natick Community Organic Farm or Cambridge Naturals.
Starting at $10.80 per serving, al-freshco.com.
Feast & Fettle
No time for dinner prep? No problem—Feast & Fettle has you covered. Created by a personal chef who pivoted to meal delivery to help busy families enjoy nourishing meals together, the service excels at producing fully prepared food with flexible delivery days and kid-friendly choices (think dumplings from Dumpling Daughter and Eastern Standard Provisions waffles). Bonus for eco-conscious eaters: Feast & Fettle collects delivery bags, ice packs, and containers back from members each week.
Starting at $16.25 per serving, feastandfettle.com.
First published in the print edition of the May 2023 issue with the headline “Doorbell Dining.”
