This month, I reviewed boxes from the top four meal subscription companies: one box each from Plated, Hello Fresh, and Blue Apron, and two boxes from Home Chef To get a sense of how the boxes compare, I’ve outlined all of the meals I received below. I’ve assigned each dish a score out of 5, and I’ve averaged the scores from each box together to get a total box score. Read on to see which box came out on top for me this month!

Check out all of our reviews of Meal Delivery Services to see every meal kit subscription box option!

Plated – Recipes begin at $12 per plate. 2 recipes (4 plates)= $48 per week (+ $6 shipping). 3 recipes (6 plates)= $72 per week (with free shipping). 4 recipes (8 total plates)= $96 per week (with free shipping).

NEW DEAL: Get your first Plated Night free with any subscription plan (up to $48 value), just use this link.

Check out the full Plated review here!

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Meal #1- Peking Duck Pizza with Caramelized Red Onions

Calories Per Serving: 730

Cook Time: 40-50 minutes

Score: 5/5 This pizza was amazingly good! Seriously, I think it has to be one of the tastiest meals I’ve ever received from Plated! The shredded duck was sweet and rich, and it was delicious with the caramelized onion, scallions, cucumber, and melty cheese.

Meal #2- Shepherd’s Pie with Beef, Carrot, and Chives

Calories per Serving: 580

Cook Time: 40-50 minutes

Score: 4.5/5 This was my second time ordering Plated’s Shepherd’s Pie, and it was just as good as I remembered! It was rich and meaty, and I love the flavor the parsnips added to the stew.

Meal #3- Thai Fish Curry with Kaffir Lime and Jasmine Rice

Calories: 690

Cook Time: 30-40 minutes

Score: 4.5/5 This dish was another winner! It was extremely flavorful, and it definitely tasted like the kind of dish that would take an entire day to prepare. The curry was spicy, rich, and bright— yum! I would absolutely order this meal again.

Overall Score: 4.67/5

Cost per Plate: Meals start at $12 per serving. Dessert is $4 per serving.

Number of meals available to choose from each week: 11 meals + 2 desserts

Hello Fresh – The Classic Food Box (for omnivores) starts at $9.99 per person per meal. The Veggie Box (for herbivores) starts at $9.99 per person per meal. The Family Box (for families) costs $8.74 per person per meal. Hello Fresh announced that starting in March, they will offer two plans: Unlimited Meal Choice ($11.50 a meal) or Basic Plan ($9.99 per meal). Learn more here!

COUPON: Save $40 off your first box – no coupon code necessary, just click this link!

Check out the full Hello Fresh review here!

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Meal #1- Prosciutto-Wrapped Chicken over Risotto Primavera

Cooking Time: 45 minutes

Calories per Serving: 730

Score: 4.5/5 Isn’t this dish beautiful? The taste was great, too. The risotto was creamy and fresh, and the prosciutto-wrapped chicken was rich and delicious. The fresh sage leaves were a nice touch, but I think If I make this dish again I’ll fry them so they’re nice and crispy.

Meal #2- Tacos with Sole featuring an Avocado Crema and Crispy Cabbage Slaw

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Calories per Serving: 770

Score: 3/5 I found these tacos to be a little lacking in the flavor department. I wasn’t able to use the provided avocado (it was rock hard!), so I’m sure that didn’t help matters, but I also thought the dish could have used some more acid. There was a little bit of lime juice in both the slaw and the crema, but I still thought the dish could have used some more.

Meal #3- Butter-basted Sirloin Stead with Parsnip Wedges and Creamed Spinach

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Calories per Serving: 520

Score: 4/5 This dish was pretty tasty. I enjoyed the steak and the spinach, but the photo of this dish on the recipe card shows the plate heaping with roasted parsnip wedges, and I only received a teeny tiny little one in my kit. I added some carrots I had on hand to help pad things out, but I’m disappointed that I didn’t receive as many parsnips as was shown on the card.

Overall Score: 3.83/5

Cost per Plate: Hello Fresh starts at $9.90 per serving (for The Classic Box).

Number of meals available to choose from each week: 6 meals

Blue Apron – $59.94 for 3 recipes on the 2-Person Plan, $69.92 for 2 recipes on the Family Plan, $139.84 for 4 recipes on the Family Plan.

COUPON: Get 3 Meals Free in Your First Order, no coupon required, just use this link.

Check out the full Blue Apron review here!

Keep Track of Your Subscriptions: Add this box to your subscription list or wishlist!

Meal #1- Green Garlic Pesto Pasta with Butter Lettuce Salad & Creamy Lemon Dressing

Calories: 780 per serving

Cook Time: 20-30 minutes

Score: 4/5 I enjoyed this dish, but the garlic chives were VERY garlicky. I think if I cook with garlic chives again I’ll make sure to use them a bit more sparingly.

Meal #2- Spice-Rubbed Pork with Sweet Red Onion & Black Beans

Calories: 730 per serving

Cook Time: 35-45 minutes

Score: 3.5/5 This dish was adapted from one of the winning dishes from this season’s finale of Top Chef. Because of that, I had really high expectations, and I’m sad to say that this dish fell short for me. It felt like just another Blue Apron recipe, not a special offering. Blue Apron substituted pork loin for pork belly (as well as some other significant changes), and I really wish that they had tried to stay truer to the original dish. I understand that pork belly might be too expensive to include in a meal offered at the regular Blue Apron meal price, but I would have been happy to pay a premium for a Top Chef-inspired dish that featured higher end ingredients!

Meal #3- Chicken Meatballs & Fregola Sarda with Kale & Scallion Tomato Sauce

Calories: 710 per serving

Cook Time: 35-45 minutes

Score: 0/5 Unfortunately, I was unable to prepare this dish because I didn’t receive the accompanying bag of knick knacks. I reached out to Blue Apron’s customer service and received a full credit for the cost of the meal. I’m disappointed that I wasn’t able to try out this recipe, but I’m happy with the way customer service handled the issue. Still, since I wasn’t able to make this meal, I feel I have to give it a 0/5.

Overall Score: 2.5/5

Cost per Plate: Blue Apron costs $9.99 per serving.

Number of meals available to choose from each week: 6 meals (Note: meal choice is limited by the fact that not all combinations of meals are available.)

Home Chef – Meals start at $9.95 per serving, and delivery is free for orders over $40.

COUPON: Save $30 off your first box! with coupon code DM30

I reviewed two boxes from Home Chef this month. You can check out the first review here, and the second one here!

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Here’s what I received in my first box from Home Chef:

Meal #1- Bangkok Lemongrass-Basil Shrimp Fried Rice with Sugar Snap Peas and Carrots

Calories: 488 per serving

Prep Time: 30-40 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Score: 5/5 This dish was full of flavor and really easy to make! (It even tasted a bit like actual take out!) I loved the layers of salty, spicy flavor, and I appreciated the addition of the sugar snap peas— they added a much-needed freshness that kept this dish from being too heavy.

Meal #2- Korean Pork Medallions with Sriracha Marinade and Crunchy Rice Vinegar Slaw

Calories: 614 per serving

Prep Time: 30-40 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Score: 4/5 The pork medallions were delicious, but I didn’t love the slaw. (I never really love slaw, though, so I can’t really blame the recipe.) I also found that I was hungry again pretty soon after dinner. I think a little bit of rice with this dish would have been a nice addition.

Meal #3- Pulled Ranch Chicken Sandwich with Loaded Potato Wedges

Calories: 817 per serving

Prep Time: 30-40 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Score: 4/5 These sandwiches were really tasty. My only complaint is that, while the ranch flavor of the chicken was great, the meat was a little messy. (I think pulled meats benefit from a little bit of sauce to help bind everything together. I had a hard time keeping the shredded chicken in my sandwich and not scattered all over the plate.) Still, that’s a minor complaint— the sandwiches were tasty! I liked the wedges, too, and the sour cream and scallions were a nice change from my usual ketchup.

Overall Score: 4.3/5

And here are the dishes I received in my second Home Chef box:

Meal #1- Chicken Chili Verde with Lime Crema and Fresh Cilantro

Calories: 591 per serving

Prep Time: 35-45 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Score: 4.5/5 This dish was extremely easy to make, and it turned out really tasty! It was hearty and filling, and I like that the flavor was brighter and more vibrant than the traditional red chili that I typically make. I think I’m definitely going to try recreating this recipe at home!

Meal #2- Classic French Green Peppercorn Pork Tenderloin with Mashed Carrots and Roasted Asparagus

Calories: 625 per serving

Prep Time: 25-35 minutes

Difficulty: Intermediate

Score: 5/5 This dish was incredible! The peppercorn sauce was extremely easy to make, but it tasted like something I’d expect to receive in a French steakhouse. The carrots were buttery and rich, and I loved the asparagus.

Meal #3- Avocado and Tofu Sushi Bowl with Carrots, Cucumber, and Spicy Mayo

Calories: 686 per serving

Prep Time: 35-45 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Score: 4/5 These bowls were such a delight. First of all, they were so pretty! I also loved the combination of ingredients. Altogether, this was a fresh and tasty meal.

Overall Score: 4.5/5

Cost per Plate: Meals start at $12 per serving.

Number of meals available to choose from each week: 10 meals + 1 breakfast + 1 dessert + 1 smoothie

The Verdict: It’s so much fun looking back at the meals I received this month from Plated, Home Chef, Blue Apron, and Hello Fresh, and it’s very interesting to stack them up against each other to see how they compare! There were a lot of really great meals this month, but I think my favorite has to be Plated’s Duck Pizza— I loved it! Looking at the scores, Plated also wins best overall box this month! Way to go, Plated!

Favorite box: Plated

Yummiest dish: Plated‘s Peking Duck Pizza with Caramelized Red Onions

Do you subscribe to Plated, Home Chef, Hello Fresh, or Blue Apron? What were your favorite March dishes?