Are delivery meal kits worth it?

I’ve been curious about meal-kit delivery services for a while now.

These businesses send their customers weekly boxes full of ingredients and instructions to make several meals at home. The kits make visits to the grocery store a thing of the past while encouraging cooks to try something outside of their repertoire.

Overall, I was happy with the four services I recently tried. The positive: They walked me through new ingredients and cooking methods.

The negative: They all cost more than I would spend at the grocery store.

Here are some more of my thoughts:

Blue Apron

One of the better known meal-kit services, Blue Apron tailors its dishes around seasonal ingredi--

ents.

The recipes were detailed and time-consuming. The listed pan temperatures weren’t clear. Cooking took me between 40-50 minutes — although I further honed my knife skills with all the prep work required.

The dishes had a global feel to them — spaghetti bolognese, za’atar-spiced chicken and my favorite, seared catfish with fresh udon noodles. I would recommend Blue Apron for an intermediate cook who doesn’t mind a detailed recipe after work (Read: Not me). Bonus: The portions were huge.

Three meals, each portioned for two people, are $59.94. Two meals, each portioned for four people, are $71.92. Sign up at blueapron.com.

HelloFresh

HelloFresh offers all-natural meat, sustainable seafood and vegetarian dishes.

The recipe cards included tips, an equipment list and easy-toread, simple instructions. Cook time was under 30 minutes for the most part — perfect for a busy weeknight.

I made turkey chiles rellenos and lemony pan-seared chicken. A recipe for sesame beef taco taught me a simple way to quick-pickle vegetables.

HelloFresh is ideal for a novice-intermediate chef who’s low on time but doesn’t want to skimp on taste.

Three meals, each portioned for two people, are $59.94. Three meals, each portioned for four people, are $119.88. Sign up at hellofresh.com.

Home Chef

Home Chef makes it easy to eschew certain ingredients for allergies or personal preferences via an online portal.

Recipe cards included cute (and helpful) tips from the chef, an equipment list and easy-to-read, simple instructions.

Ingredients for feta- and herb-crusted salmon with orzo and pecan-crusted chicken with barbecue-spiced carrots were in my box. The meals took about as long as expected — no more than 30 minutes.

The dishes weren’t complicated, but they weren’t interesting either. Home Chef would be ideal for a novice chef who simply needs a healthy meal on the table quickly.

Three meals, each portioned for two people, are $59.70. Three meals, each portioned for four people, are $119.40. Sign up at homechef.com.

Sunbasket

This meal-kit service uses only organic and non-GMO ingredients. There are gluten-free, paleo and vegetarian options.

The recipe cards included an equipment list and clear, detailed instructions. Recipes took a bit longer than the 20-30 minutes outlined.

On our menu: Sole in parchment with a date and apricot salad as well as chorizo and tomatillo chili. Despite the extensive prep work, I enjoyed making both recipes. Each gave me the opportunity to try something new: cooking fish in parchment paper and using tomatillos.

I would recommend Sunbasket to an intermediate cook who wants to try some new ingredients and methods.

Three meals, each portioned for two people are $77.93. Three meals, each portioned for four people are $149.87. Sign up at sunbasket.com.