Many questions come within your college experience, such as: how will you make new friends or what major will set you up for success? But the question of, “How am I going to actually feed myself?” continuously arises within college students. When it comes to fulfilling and generally healthy options… the Panda Express in your student dining hall just won’t cut it. How will you successfully fuel your body for four years of learning, living and partying? Fear no more.
Read Below to find out College Magazine’s Top 10 Food Subscriptions for college students.
1. Hello Fresh
With the title of America’s #1 meal kit, HelloFresh provides an ample amount of tasty meals for college students. When you choose HelloFresh as your food provider, you get 14 free meals and free shipping for your initial meal subscription. From there, you pay for two weekly meals for only $53.94 a week. You also get offered the option to order two meals for four people too. This option allows you to serve not only yourself but you and a couple friends too.
“Hello Fresh is amazing. I used it for a while this year and I absolutely loved every single meal they gave me,” Auburn University senior Taylor Gosselin said.
When deciding which simple meal plan to select for your upcoming week, browse through 25 plus meal choices to make your decision. What makes this subscription so sweet? You can skip or cancel any time you want, no strings attached. If an upcoming trip marks your calendar, no need to fret. Then option to skip your meals for the week stands if you do not want to completely cancel your subscription.
2. Home Chef
Home Chef earned the title of #1 in customer satisfaction for its speedy service, easy meals and quick cleanup. When you sign up, HomeChef gives you $110 off of your first five orders along with the dietary options of calorie or carb conscious meal plans. Meals get as low as $6.99 per serving, and they charge on a weekly basis. Using customize it. HomeChef provides 30 meal choices ranging in flavor, components and sizes. This gives you the opportunity to customize your meals exactly to your liking.
“Auburn University offers Home Chef as an option on our grub hub accounts. One time last semester, I had some dining dollars left and ordered a week of Home chef. It gave it two amazing and flavorful meals that I was able to share with my roommates. Super easy to prepare and pretty cheap,” Auburn University senior Kate Shroyer said.
Customer satisfaction acts as a backbone to any successful food service. Evidently, HomeChef provides stellar service to its customers. They make home cooking simple, affordable and an enjoyable experience. Whether cooking for the fam falls into your hands, or a nice dinner alone suits your mood Home Chef provides a great option to at home cooking! Your turn to chef it up at home with Home Chef.
3. Factor
The meal subscription Factor makes healthy eating easy with its simple meal plan prepped and delivered to your door. When completing your first purchase, you receive $90 off with the code NATURAL90OFF, giving a great discount to college students. Every week, you get the opportunity to browse through 23+ dietician designed meals to choose what suits your fancy. Factor makes sure to personalize your experience as much as possible. They offer customers a range of breakfast, lunch and dinner options with fresh ingredients. The price of meals gets as low as $11, a nice number to hear when you can’t afford to break the bank.
4. Green Chef
Green Chef provides easy-to-follow recipes sourced from local organic farms, making it a certified organic company. This food subscription includes Keto, Paleo and plant-based meal plans for those with dietary restrictions. Their packaging contains eco-friendly materials that give off minimal waste. Upon signing up, Green Chef provides you with a code that gives you 22% off your first four boxes. This totals to a whopping $125 off. Green Chef takes on a no strings attached policy allowing its customers to cancel anytime.
5. Blue Apron
Blue Apron serves customers nationwide. Made with fresh, sustainable ingredients, the Blue Apron aims to provide its customers with a high-quality variety of dishes. Their perfect portioned packages make your meals easy to prepare, cook, and enjoy. When ordering your first box, Blue Apron gives you 14 meals free across four boxes. This adds up to a $110 value of free meals, what a bang for your buck.
“We use Blue Apron at my home. While my mom is the one that cooks it, it is still so easy to use. The meals are so filling and healthy. It definitely reminds me of a home cooked meal made from scratch, I wish I could eat it for dinner all of the time,” University of Tennessee junior Elizabeth Duncan said.
While bringing comfort to its customers, Blue Apron also makes their subscription process easy by offering the weekly opt out option and free cancelation. Continuing your purchasing experience, you can select your food from 23 meal options available every week. That means you have 23 different meals to anticipate and plan for. Blue Apron successfully serves customers across the United States. Time to put on your apron and get to cooking.
6. Every Plate
Every Plate fits every type of budget. With meals that average to $1.99 a meal and a first offer of $40 off throughout your first three boxes, this meal subscription truly gives a bang for your buck. For college students, this type of affordability must not get looked over. Every Plate provides customers with 11 new recipes a week, allowing you to pick and choose what options suit your taste palette that week. That means you get the opportunity to look through 11 different interesting meals to get excited about each week.
“I tried Every Plate freshman year of college. It was super quick and easy and really cheap for a food service,” University of Tennessee senior Charlee Joyce said.
In order to plan your upcoming meals, Every Plate uploads a weekly menu to their website. Every Plate uses less packaging and fewer ingredient than other meal subscriptions, therefore you pay less for shipping. The environment also loves this meal subscription. For high protein meals with no monetary commitments, this subscription rocks. Every college student needs Every Plate.
7. Freshly
Freshly offers fresh, fantastic and economically friendly food options. Freshly takes a spin on home cooked meals. Instead of just sending the prepared ingredients to you… they cook them too. Professional chefs design meal plans, cook and prepare the food and then send them to you ready to go. Wondering what you need to do to dive into your delicious meal? Place in the microwave or oven.
“I tried Freshly in my sophomore year at JMU. The meals looked really good, so I bought a subscription, and it was the best decision ever. I only did it for a couple months, but I loved it,” James Madison University senior Virginia Holladay said.
The microwave feature sets itself apart from other meal subscriptions due to its availability to students living in dorm rooms. Each Freshly meal, made for one person, adds to the 30 plus collection of dishes. This subscription gives you immense flexibility, allowing you to change your order up to a couple days in advance. In comparison to other meal subscriptions, this acts as an advantage to its customers. Stay fresh in college with Freshly.
8. SunBasket
Sun Basket offers two options for meal preparation: meal kits or heat up meals. This company combines both cooking and heating up into one service. For those who choose lazy nights over preparing a meal from scratch, this service calls your name. If you enjoy diving into creating a food masterpiece with their bare hands, this service matches you perfectly. When signing up, Sun Basket gives you $90 off and four free gifts along with your first four meals. Their meals go as low as $8.99 a serving and come with no binding contract. You can skip or cancel your membership when you want. This subscription can fit every vegan, paleo and gluten-free individual’s needs, along with those with no dietary restrictions. Talk about an inclusive meal plan. Time to bask in the sun and the glory of your meal with SunBasket.
9. Purple Carrot
For our Vegetarian readers Purple Carrot checks your box. Purple Carrot bases all of their meals on plants, bringing you flavorful vegetarian creations. Every week, Purple Carrot offers high protein, gluten free, calorie conscious meals chosen by professional chefs. They offer customers the ability to slice and dice their own dinners or pop them into a microwave to satisfyingly fast feasts. They also give you the option to customize your meal plan as well, ranging from two meals a week for two people or four meals a week for six people, it stays all up to you. If a week full of takeout and microwaved meals lays ahead of you, you can cancel or skip a weekly box with the push of a button. Get your veggie on and try Purple Carrot.
10. Fresh N Lean
With the slogan “Healthy is Easy,” Fresh N Lean lives up to those words. They pay a lot of attention to the fresh ingredients that come with the meals. At Fresh N Lean, one serving averages out to $7.93, giving you room to relax about spending too much on food. Fresh N Lean chefs prepare your entire meal before delivery. The only thing you need to do, microwave and munch. Fresh N Lean sold 21 million meals and donated 400,000 since its inception, making it not only easy to use, but also philanthropic. If subscribing to an affordable yet moral meal subscription holds importance to you, add Fresh N Lean to the top of your list.
College eating throws challenges at you left and right. Do you ever wonder about how to successfully fuel your body in college? Find the right foods. This list of food subscriptions makes it easy for college students like you to navigate the world of food and money… together. Happy eating!