Looking for gluten-free meal delivery? Start here

Meal kit delivery services have plenty of benefits: They can be a great way to prepare fun and flavorful meals without having to sprint to the grocery store each week. But when it comes to specific dietary restrictions like a gluten-free diet — which limits the intake of wheat, barley and several other grains — it can be hard to pinpoint ones that fit your needs. Fortunately, many meal kits and pre-made meal delivery services offer gluten-free menu items and plans for tasty, creative and easy-to-prepare meals when you’re in a rush. To determine the best meal delivery services with gluten-free options or entirely gluten-free menus, I spoke to nutritionists and dietitians about the best services to try out and highlighted each individual service’s pricing, delivery frequency and meal options. Want more from NBC Selected? Sign up for our newsletter, The Selection, and shop smarter. Best gluten-free meal delivery services I spoke to experts about their favorite meal delivery services that either provide gluten-free options or have an entirely gluten-free menu. I highlighted their specific recommendations below — all of which offer pre-made meals or a combination of meal kits and ready-made items — and noted their costs, serving sizes, and the number of meals they deliver per week. Best overall Sunbasket offers both ingredient-based meal kits and pre-made meals, all of which the brand says consist of high-quality ingredients and organic produce. One of Sunbasket’s 10 available meal plans is the Gluten-Free Friendly meal plan, which has five to eight gluten-free options each week. NBC Selected reporter Zoe Malin, who follows a pescatarian and gluten-free diet, tried Sunbasket for a week and loved the service’s variety of meals and delicious pre-made options. “The particular recipes I chose forced me to use ingredients that aren’t in my regular rotation, like turmeric and artichoke dip, and make foods that aren’t typically top of mind for me, like potato salad,” says Malin. Both Ariane Resnick, a special diet chef and certified nutritionist, and Lisa Moskovitz, CEO of NY Nutrition Group, say Sunbasket is their top choice for healthy meal kit deliveries. “It has a variety of options that can be modified for carnivores and strictly plant-based eaters alike,” says Moskovitz. The Fresh & Ready option, which comes with single-serve meals you can heat in the oven or microwave in just a few minutes, also has several gluten-free options to choose from. If you don’t feel like committing to a single plan, the service lets you mix and match with over a dozen meals from its weekly rotating menu. Best health-conscious Splendid Spoon has over 50 healthy, ready-made meals and snacks that include smoothies, soups, noodle bowls and larger dishes— and everything is gluten-free. You can select a box size of seven, 14 or 21 meals and choose your meals for the week. Your cart will automatically fill with Splendid Spoon’s bestsellers, or you can manually swap in your favorites. Resnick recommends the service for anyone who wants healthy meals in a flash. “They taste as healthy as they are, which is a downside for some and a bonus for others.” she says. The large selection of juices and smoothies and the convenience of thawing one at a time is also a big plus, says Resnick. Best budget-friendly Purple Carrot offers both prepared meals and meal kits, so you can choose the level of effort that you want to put into your meals. The meals are all fully plant-based, and Purple Carrot provides several gluten-free recipes to choose from, as well as gluten-free pre-prepared meals. “The meal kits are a wonderful blend of familiar and innovative — think kimchi grilled cheese and Baklava overnight oats,” says Resnick. And because the meals are fully plant-based, Purple Carrot can be an easy way for people to “add more plant foods into their diets without having to fully convert to veganism,” she says. You can customize the number of dinners you get per week, which range from two to four meal kits and six to 10 pre-made meals. Deliveries take place on Mondays, Tuesdays or Wednesdays depending on your shipping location, and you can choose to skip a delivery on any given week. Best for beginners Epicured allows you to choose from a rotating menu of over 50 pre-made meals spanning breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and desserts. All Epicured meals are entirely gluten-free and low-FODMAP, which means they don’t feature certain carbohydrates and food additives that can be hard for some people to digest. “They’re a great option for those with SIBO, IBS or a generally sensitive tummy,” says Moskovitz. If you don’t want to choose individual meals, Epicured also offers several pre-selected programs, including an omnivore, pescetarian and vegetarian program, that helps you ease into a low-FODMAP diet, according to the brand. Once you select your meals and register, each weekly order is automatically renewed — if you don’t manually pick your meals, orders are locked in on Friday afternoons with the same meals you previously selected. Best chef-prepared Having a gluten-free diet doesn’t mean you need to sacrifice the joys of dining out. Cookunity offers chef-prepared meals with a wide range of gluten-free options for you to enjoy at home, with subscriptions ranging from four to 16 meals per week, Resnick says this service is one of her favorites: “I appreciate that they provide full ingredient lists, down to the individual ingredients in cheeses.” Former NBC Selected social commerce editor Sadhana Daruvuri also enjoys it because she can get a variety of delicious meals while still spending about the same amount she’d spent on groceries, she says. You can also filter meals by other dietary restrictions, like dairy-free, high protein, vegan, vegetarian and more. Best for multiple dietary restrictions BistroMD offers a specialized gluten-free plan that lets you choose from over 100 gluten-free meals each week, according to the service. The Gluten-Free program provides breakfast, lunch and dinner for your choice of five days or seven days. The service also offers an EATS (Essential and Tasty Snacks) program that provides healthy snacking options for an additional charge. “ BistroMD prides itself on being ‘doctor-designed’ and therefore is more medically therapeutic than most other companies,” says Moskovitz. Best splurge-worthy Although Sakara is on the pricier side for a meal delivery service, it offers a large selection of ready-to-eat meals, all of which are gluten-free, organic, dairy-free and plant-based, according to the service. You can choose to do a one-week trial program if you’re just getting started, or you can select a recurring subscription program that automatically renews each week with a set menu of meals that rotates weekly and seasonally. Sakara Life also lets you choose the number of days you want to receive meals (three or five days) as well as which type of meals you would like to receive (breakfast, lunch and/or dinner). The full five-day gluten-free meal plan is a great way to jumpstart your wellness journey, according to Moskovitz. “Sakara is very popular among my clients because of [its] varied menu, top-quality ingredients and delicious taste,” she says. Programs include the Signature Nutrition Program — which comes with up to three meals per day (breakfast, lunch, and/or dinner, depending on your location) and your choice of two, three or five days. Best grocery delivery Hungryroot, which is more of a grocery delivery service with a lot of the same benefits and customizations as other meal kits on this list, offers several gluten-free items to choose from. When you take the initial quiz about your preferences and dietary needs, Hungryroot creates a personalized grocery plan to meet those needs. In addition to delivering fresh food for the week, it also sends you specific recipes based on the groceries in your order, and you can edit your delivery every week in case you want a specific ingredient or food item. With the ability to choose the type of meal you want and customize the groceries you get, Hungryroot “allows you to be a bit more adventurous and cook from the hip, or also follow the recipes exactly,” says Ben Leonard, chef and culinary manager for GreenPan cookware. How I picked the best gluten-free meal delivery services I spoke to experts about important features to consider when shopping for gluten-free meal delivery services. Here are the most important ones they suggest keeping in mind: - Dietary restrictions: If you’re gluten-free or follow any other restrictions, such as a vegan or vegetarian diet, look for meal services that offer a variety of options to fit your dietary needs. - Serving size: How many people are you looking to feed that follow a gluten-free diet? If you’re only feeding yourself, it’s likely best to select a single-serve prepared meal. But if you’re also feeding a gluten-free family or partner, browse customizable plans with multiple serving sizes (typically ranging from two to eight servings). - Customizability: Having a sensitivity or intolerance to gluten, or choosing to follow a gluten-free diet for other personal or health-related reasons, doesn’t mean you have to constantly eat the same meals. Look for services that provide a weekly rotating menu with several gluten-free options that serve you and your needs. - Pricing: The price of gluten-free meal delivery services are based on the quality of meals and ingredients, the frequency of your deliveries, how many people you’re cooking for and the specific meal plan. However, seeking gluten-free meals shouldn’t mean paying more for your meal plan. While not all services on the market cater to every dietary restriction or need, I’ve selected services that don’t increase the price for gluten-free restrictions. - Delivery dates and times: Most services will offer customizable plans to choose which days (and sometimes times) you want to receive your kit, so consider when you’re available to receive your meals to ensure they don’t go to waste. Most will also let you pause plans or skip weeks as needed, which allows you to be more flexible with these services. Meet our culinary experts At NBC Selected, we work with experts who have specialized knowledge and authority based on relevant training and/or experience. We also take steps to ensure all expert advice and recommendations are made independently and without undisclosed financial conflicts of interest. - Ariane Resnick is a special diet chef and certified nutritionist. She’s also a recipe developer and has written about nutrition, health, wellness and identity for a variety of platforms, including The Kitchn, Livestrong and Simply Recipes. - Lisa Moskovitz is a registered dietitian and the CEO of NY Nutrition Group. She is the author of “The Core 3 Healthy Eating Plan,” a program that focuses on simple and sustainable ways to lose weight. - Ben Leonard is a professional chef and culinary manager for GreenPan cookware. Why trust NBC Selected? I’m an updates editor at NBC Selected who has extensive experience covering meal delivery services, including prepared and vegetarian meal services. For this article, I spoke to three experts about what to consider when shopping for a meal delivery service and how to determine the best one for you. Experts also shared their favorite meal delivery services to try out. [Image text:] splendid spoon Smoothie mond butter empprotein 1W7.16fz splendid spoon Banana Flax Smoothie splendid spoon Dragon Fruit pineapple juice dragon fruit raspberries avocado pea protein vanilla powder 16 foz473mL YPURPLE ICARROT. Shawarma-Spiced Broc n'Cauli with Harissa Tahini Chickpeas MAY262024 EAT MOREPLANT