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Average Cost of Pre-Made Meal Delivery Services Per Meal: 2026 Data & Averages
Average Cost of Pre-Made Meal Delivery Services Per Meal: 2026 Data & Averages Pre-made meal delivery services average $9 to $13 per meal in 2026 for mainstream brands — fully-prepared heat-and-eat plans (Factor, CookUnity, Freshly, Home Chef) typically run $11 to $15 per meal, versus about $4 to $7 to cook the same dinner from groceries and $20 to $40 for takeout. You can estimate your exact per-meal cost with the Meal Prep Service Cost Calculator(/food/meal-prep-service-cost-calculator) by service type, meals per week, and serving size. I spent one month last winter logging the true per-meal cost of everything I ate at home, because the checkout pages never print the number that actually matters. A 12-meal week from a fully-prepared service came to $155.88, which is exactly $12.99 a meal. The cook-at-home kit I ran alongside it looked $2 cheaper per serving on the website, but once I added the $10.99...