Best Meal Delivery Deals for September

–>

A meal delivery service can save you time, help you eat better and even help trim your food budget. Oh, and did I mention they save you time? Meal kits and prepared meal subscriptions are slashing prices for fall, as busy parents consider ways to keep things calm and under control during the busy back-to-school season.

Generally speaking, meal delivery isn’t the splurge it used to be. There are now meal kits as cheap as $6 a serving — even cheaper if you take advantage of a new-subscriber meal subscription deal. Our favorite meal kit service is Blue Apron. You can bag several months of its tasty steak and seafood meal kits for a fraction of the normal cost.

Others, including EveryPlate, HelloFresh, Factor, Mosaic Foods and Daily Harvest, are down as much as 70% as we roll into September. There are also meat delivery services and grocery subscriptions with laughably low sign-up offers to power your family through the busy season.

Don’t even think about paying full price to try a new meal kit service.

Screenshot by David Watsky/CNET

The lowest price we found on meal kits right now is at EveryPlate. This budget-friendly service already offers some of the most affordable meal subscriptions. New customers will get their first box for just $3 per serving when you try its simple meal kits, most of which take less than 25 minutes to cook.

Best meal delivery deals for September

–> Good Chop –>

Good Chop has the chops — pork, specifically — along with excellent cuts of beef, organic chicken and a range of seafood options. Good Chop is a subscription meat delivery service with shipments starting at $149 per month for 36 portions of quality meat. You can try it for much cheaper than that.

The deal: Right now they’re offering two free Ribeye steaks per month for one year and $30 off your first box when you redeem the coupon code RFY523. This offer is valid until Sept. 30.

–> David Watsky/CNET –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –> –>

Make dinner in under 20 minutes with speedy meal kits.

David Watsky/CNET

If it’s the lowest possible cost, EveryPlate, HelloFresh, Purple Carrot and Gobble will send meal kits that are ready to cook, with some clocking in at under $2 per serving. Other popular prepared-meal services such as CookUnity are ready to send premade, ready-to-eat dinners to your doorstep, at per-serving prices that are far cheaper than takeout.

What’s the best meal delivery service?

Cook Unity has some of the best prepared meals of any service we tried.

David Watsky/CNET

I’ve tried most of them and they’re all solid, with differences to consider depending on your budget, diet, taste and kitchen skill level. You can check out CNET’s roundups of the best meal kit delivery services and thebest healthy food delivery services for a more detailed taste. Remember, nearly all of these meal kit companies let you pause or cancel anytime, so the risk and commitment when signing up for a meal kit service is minimal.

Whether you’re looking for ways to eat healthily, learn to cook new recipes or just make fewer trips to the grocery store this fall, a healthy, versatile and budget-friendly meal delivery deal can help you do it on the cheap.

–> –>