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Dinnerly’s guide to affordable meal prep...

Weekly meal prep budgeting infographic showing meal prepping types from $20 to $60+

The art of affordable meal prep, for those of you who are not in the know, is all about planning the week ahead, with food and recipes ready to go.* A meal prep plan involves looking at the coming week and deciding what you’ll eat on any given day, then heading out and purchasing all the necessary ingredients ahead of time, so when each evening arrives you’re ready to whip up a tasty meal.

*That rhymed. It wasn’t intentional, but it did. It was also in iambic pentameter, now that you mention it. Weird.

Now, at the outset, most people tend to think of meal prep as a nice idea, but not something they can necessarily afford – in terms of budget or free time. We at Dinnerly are here to tell you, however, that not only can meal prep be affordable, but it can also be quick, healthy and – would you believe it? – fun.

Affordable meal prep: the options

Okay, so ‘affordable’ is a pretty subjective term, right? Right. So to make things easy, we’ll lay out the possibilities for each budget below…

$1-20 per person, per week

Millions of Americans get by trying to eat as cheaply as possible – though many make the mistake of assuming ready meals and junk food are better value for money. We’ll say it loud and clear: nope. To make your money go further, your best option is to stock up on rice, pasta, and simple fruit and veg, while swerving the fancy stuff. Broccoli, watermelon, legumes – yes! Blueberries, artichoke, asparagus – nooo.

Thankfully, cheap fruit and veg have all the nutrients you need – if you have the know-how to cook ‘em. Meal planning in this bracket would certainly count as affordable meal prep. It just might be a little repetitive, is all. If you have the budget for it, then, we heartily recommend…

$20-40 per person, per week

The sweet spot! If this is your budget, you are in luck – because this is the price range in which Dinnerly sits happily. We deliver weekly meal prep kits straight to your door, full of ingredients for meals you’ve pre-selected from our delectable menu, plus we include detailed recipes on our website, allowing you to cook beautiful meals yourself, from scratch. It’s healthy, it’s fun, it’s delicious, and you might even learn a thing or two about the fine art of cooking, while you’re at it.

Our meal prep kits start at just $4.99 per adult-sized* serving, which fits easily within the $20-$40 per week bracket. It costs a little bit more than purchasing simple veg from the supermarket, sure – but you get way more, in the form of the freshest ingredients, detailed online recipes, and that wholesome fuzzy feeling that only home cooking can give.

*adult-sized as in ‘fit for an adult’, not ‘as large as a human adult’. That would be just… absurd.

$40-60 per person, per week

Most so-called affordable meal plans advocated by Instagram influencers fall into this bracket. You’ll usually find they’re unnecessarily complex and use a lot of pricey ingredients. Besides, it’s usually best not to take life advice from strangers on the internet. Except us, obviously. We don’t count.

$60+ per person, per week

We’re not… really sure what sort of dining lifestyle would fall into this bracket. Lobster and champagne?

So there you have it: a completely non-biased guide to affordable meal prep, courtesy of meal prep kit company, Dinnerly. Good luck planning those tasty meals – and happy eating!

HOW IT WORKS

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YOU CHOOSE

Use our app or website and choose from 100+ weekly recipes.

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WE DELIVER

We deliver fresh  ingredients directly to you. Recipes available online.

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YOU COOK

Enjoy home cooking with tasty recipes that are easy to make.
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