Dinnerly Review: A Fast and Affordable Meal Kit for Everyone

Dinnerly calls itself the most affordable meal delivery service on the market—with good reason. It offers quick and easy meals starting at $4.69 per person, with no more than five steps to prepare each dish. With fast cooking times and minimal effort required, Dinnerly is a fantastic choice for adults who love to cook but don’t have the time to meal plan, grocery shop, and prepare each meal from scratch. This company aims to keep you and your wallet full with fast, easy, and affordable meals delivered right to your doorstep.

When you first sign up for Dinnerly, you’ll have a choice between a two and four-person box, both allowing you to select three to six meals per week. The two-person box starts at $5.89 per serving and the four-person family box is $5.59. No matter which options you choose, shipping is a standard $8.99 on top of your meal purchase. Once you decide how many servings and meals you’d like, you’ll be able to choose either a traditional plan with meat options or a vegetarian plan. For your weekly deliveries, you’ll select one of five delivery dates based on your zip code with delivery times between 9am and 8pm.

Once you’re signed up, Dinnerly asks you what types of recipes and foods you prefer. Then, based on your preferences, it’ll recommend a few meal options each week that you can keep or swap out. If you’re happy with the recommended meals, your order is ready to go! However, if you’d like to swap them out for other options, you can replace them with other available recipes on the Dinnerly menu for that week. You’ll find about 28 meal options in each menu in addition to cookies, muffins, and protein packs like chicken breast, grass-fed ground beef, or pulled pork. However, if you want extra protein or desserts, they’ll count as part of your weekly meals. For example, if you choose the five meals per week plan, a protein pack would count as one of your five meals. As of now, Dinnerly doesn’t offer add-ons outside of your meal subscription.

Each week, Dinnerly offers a variety of easy, healthy, and creative meals to choose from. You’ll find kid-friendly, low carb, low calorie, no added gluten options, and more. Want to play it safe? Choose your favorite comfort foods like Skillet Beef Stew or Bacon Mac and Cheese. If you’re feeling adventurous, try out the Chipotle Chicken Burrito Bowl or Low Carb Seared Steak & Roasted Broccoli. Dinnerly even offers a referral program to spread the love without the price. If you invite someone to try Dinnerly for themselves, they’ll get a free box, plus 25% off their following three boxes. You have nothing to lose with a deal like that and a time-saving, belly-filling adventure to gain.

Dinnerly meal kits are incredibly affordable, but they don’t just stop at low costs. When you create your subscription, it’ll ask your preferences on recipe styles using a sliding toolbar. You’ll rate your preferences on quick or relaxed, traditional or adventurous, hearty or light, and mild or spicy. Based on those ratings, the website suggests meals that best fit your needs. If you love the choices, leave them as is! If you’d rather switch them out for other meals, click “Edit Recipes” at the bottom of the page to trade them out for something more your style. To make it even more convenient, a banner at the top of the page lets you know how many days you have left to edit your order before it gets processed. So, in addition to getting quick, easy, and affordable meals at your doorstep each week, you’ll also get some incredible convenience and customization when choosing your weekly meals. You’ll save money on takeout, save time on meal prep and shopping, and get delicious healthy meals designed to be hassle-free.

Dinnerly is incredibly environmentally focused. In fact, there’s even a page on its website dedicated to recycling delivery materials. The cardboard box contains recyclable insulated bubble wrap, recyclable plastic packages for food items, and a Fidelity Freeze ice pack—which gives instructions on emptying the contents and recycling the outer packaging. To cut down on waste, some vegetables like potatoes and zucchini have no outer packaging and are simply separated from the chilled proteins in each box. The company also uses digital recipe cards to make each order as eco-friendly as possible.

When it comes to scheduling your weekly boxes, the process is fantastically straightforward. Dinnerly ships across the entire United States and offers up to five delivery dates based on your location. Shipping is a standard $8.99 no matter what box you choose, and your package will arrive between 9am and 8pm on your selected day. While free shipping would definitely make this deal a little sweeter, we think the shipping cost is worth the low price of each meal.

Dinnerly switches the menu out weekly. At the top of the page, you’ll be able to sort between All, Healthy, Vegetarian, Family Friendly, Fast, and Special. If you use the Dinnerly app, you’ll be able to filter even further and sort by protein type, taste profiles, or even dietary restrictions like gluten-free, low carb, dairy-free, and spicy. While the company doesn’t guarantee meals to fit specific dietary needs (except vegetarian), it offers a wide variety of meals each week to help meet low carb, low calorie, no added gluten, and dairy-free preferences.

In our opinion, the most unique factor that Dinnerly offers is the ability to filter meals and get suggested recipes each week. You aren’t tied to the recipes it recommends, but it’s a great way to get ideas for new recipes to try or to narrow down each week’s menu options for easy selection with minimal effort. You can easily edit or swap any recipe by clicking “Edit Recipes.” and a banner at the top of the page reminds you how long you have to change your order before it gets processed. While the company’s primary goal is low-cost meals, it certainly offers some convenient features to give you the best experience.

Dinnerly also uses digital recipe cards to cut down on waste and prides itself on offering meals that involve five or fewer steps to prepare. However, if you’d like to spice it up, many recipes offer an optional sixth step like adding rice or making guacamole to make your dish even more delicious. With Dinnerly, you’ll cut down on takeout, save time on shopping, meal prep, and cleanup, and still feel good about doing your part to keep our planet clean and green.

If you need to make changes to your subscription, simply click on the Settings tab. You can pause your subscription, change your delivery date, edit your preferences, and swap meals up until five to seven days before your box ships. However, once your order is in processing, you won’t be able to edit it. If you choose to cancel your subscription, the process is straightforward. Dinnerly will ask you a few questions before officially ending your subscription and you’ll receive a follow-up email afterward if you want to give feedback.

Dinnerly is a meal kit delivery service geared towards busy adults who love to cook. Whether you’re an experienced chef or novice cook, Dinnerly keeps it easy to make the food you love. Each recipe can be prepared in five steps or less and offers a well-balanced meal for a great end to a busy day. As a result, you’ll cut down on takeout (saving money in the process), save time on shopping and meal prep, and even make cleanup a breeze with handy tips to cut down on dishes in the sink.

Overall, we think Dinnerly does a fantastic job at keeping meal time quick and simple, while still giving you healthy and tasty options to choose from. You’ll find delicious choices the whole family is sure to love, healthy ingredients, low prices, and convenience every step of the way. And with recyclable packaging and digital recipe cards to cut down on waste, this company does its part to keep things green. You’ll keep your wallet full, your body healthy, your belly happy, and the planet clean with a company that aims to do it all. If you’re looking for meal kits to give you a little bit of everything, Dinnerly is a great service to try.