Teaching Your Family to Cook

Meal delivery services offer a variety of great benefits. They can introduce you to foods you might not have otherwise considered cooking, and they can save you time at the grocery store and during meal prep. Before you choose a service and plan, use the following guide to help find the ideal option for your family. 

Meal Prep Complexity

Depending on your existing culinary skills, some meal service options may be too complex for you to feel comfortable preparing them. Fortunately, many of these companies show the level of complexity for each dish offered as well as the estimated cooking times. As you compare options, look to see if you can preview the cooking steps ahead of time. While some may only involve browning meat or giving veggies a quick sear, others may be more difficult for beginning cools to master. It's also a good idea to look for a few oven-ready options, as you might not feel like prepping a full meal from scratch each day of the week. Be sure to check each recipe to ensure you have any additional ingredients required for the meals, such as vegetable and olive oil, butter, or salt and pepper. 

Slicing And Measuring

The easiest meal prep options to prepare are those that come with ingredients that are ready to use. This includes veggies that come already sliced and diced, along with sauces and seasonings in pre-measured packets. These shortcuts can simplify more complicated dishes, making it easy to put a gourmet-quality meal together quickly. However, if you enjoy the mise en place portion of cooking, look for a service that sends fruits, veggies, and meats whole. 

Variety Of Options

You may find that some meal delivery services offer more of a variety than others, but remember you might find more options to love in one week than you might in the next. The best service will provide a host of options on a rotating menu, providing extra variety so you can try new meals every week. Summer menus may provide more grilling recipes, while winter menus tend to include heartier soup, stew, and roast recipes to try. Don't be afraid to order foods you've never tried before, as you may be surprised by how much you love a good quinoa bowl or kale salad. 

Delivery Plans

Typically, meal delivery services offer a variety of plans. You can choose the portion sizes based on how many people you need to feed each week, and you can also choose the number of meals you want to have delivered. Take your schedule into account when selecting your plan. For example, if your kids have sports practice two nights each week, you may want to opt for oven-ready or microwave-ready meals for those nights and full-prep options the rest of the week. It's a good idea to choose a service that lets you change the number of meals you want from week to week, as this provides a bit of flexibility while ensuring food doesn't go to waste. 

Add-On Items

When planning meals through your delivery service, take note of any add-on items. Perhaps you love a specific type of roll offered with a meal or you can't get enough of the house barbecue sauce. Meal delivery services often offer add-on items each week to complete your meal plans. You may also be able to buy additional cuts of meat or fruits and veggies you can use to create your own recipes without making an extra trip to the grocery store.