Ready meal delivery in the UK: services compared

Prepared meal delivery in the UK

Updated 17 September 2026. Research-based comparison, not a hands-on test. How we review

Which prepared meal service suits you?

It depends on how you want to eat. To stock the freezer and order when you need to, look at COOK and allplants, which both take one-off orders. If you track protein or calories, Frive and The Good Prep run chilled, macro-led meal plans. Chefly and Simmer Eats are the chilled everyday options, Keto Kitchen Lytham cooks strict keto meals, and Field Doctor suits people who need coeliac-certified gluten-free or low FODMAP meals.

Prepared meals or a recipe box?

A prepared meal arrives cooked: you heat it in the microwave or oven and eat. A recipe box sends ingredients and a recipe card, and you do the cooking. Prepared meals save the most time but cost more per portion. The services below charge roughly £4.50 to £9 a meal at normal prices, while the big recipe boxes start at about £3.20 to £4 a portion for their largest boxes. If you enjoy cooking, compare the UK recipe boxes as well.

Compare prepared meal services

Prepared meal delivery in the UK: comparison
Service	Chilled or frozen	Normal price per meal	Minimum order	Delivery	Subscription	Menu and nutrition	Good to know
Frozen, delivered to stock up These arrive frozen and keep in the freezer, so you order less often and decide what to eat on the day.
COOK Frozen ready meals Traditional frozen meals, also sold in COOK shops.	Frozen Best before 2 to 9 months	£5.25 to £7.50 for single-portion mains Meal Box for One: 14 meals for £90.22	£45	£3.95 by shop or van; courier £6.95 or £8.95, free over £95; free on subscriptions	One-off orders possible One-off orders, or Subscribe & Save (the saving is free delivery); click and collect	About 110 single-portion dishes Vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free and high-protein sections; nutrition on each product page	Wide traditional range with single portions £45 minimum and courier fees under £95 Research-based, not tested by us, checked 17 Sep 2026 Read our COOK guide
allplants Frozen plant-based meals Frozen, entirely plant-based.	Frozen Keep frozen; do not refreeze once thawed (freezer life not published)	£6 a meal in a box of 4, £4.50 in a box of 8 £24 for 4 meals, £36 for 8	4 meals (maximum 8)	Free	One-off orders possible One-off orders or optional subscription	10 meals 100% plant-based; most meals have 15 to 20g protein; nutrition shown per meal	Small frozen boxes, free delivery, no subscription Monday delivery only and a small menu Research-based, not tested by us, checked 17 Sep 2026 Read our allplants guide
Planty Frozen plant-based meals Frozen vegan meals with protein and calorie bundles.	Frozen 6 months in the freezer, 3 days in the fridge	£7.25 to £7.49 a meal £7.49 a meal for 6 to 8 meals, £7.25 for 16	6 meals	Free on weekdays, Saturday costs extra	Subscription only Subscription without commitment: skip, pause or cancel	44 ready meals Always plant-based; high-protein (30 to 40g), high-fibre and under-500 kcal bundles	Vegan menu with protein, fibre and calorie bundles Subscription only, 6-meal minimum Research-based, not tested by us, checked 17 Sep 2026 Read our Planty guide
Field Doctor Frozen health-led meals Frozen meals with detailed health and allergen filters.	Frozen Best before within a year of production	£7.49 to £8.99 a single meal (the help centre still says from £7.29) Single meals £7.49 to £8.99	£50	From £6.50, free over £67.50; Tuesday to Saturday	One-off orders possible One-off orders or subscription, no lock-in	60+ meals Coeliac-certified gluten-free and low FODMAP ranges; calorie, protein and low-carb filters	Detailed health and allergen filtering £50 minimum plus delivery under £67.50 Research-based, not tested by us, checked 17 Sep 2026 Read our Field Doctor guide
Built around protein and macros Chilled meal plans aimed at training and calorie tracking, for one person rather than the household.
Frive High-protein meal prep Formerly Lions Prep, macros on every meal.	Chilled Up to 6 days in the fridge; can be frozen for up to 28 days	£7.99 a meal (meat and vegan), £8.99 (fish) Plans from £35 a week (3 days)	6 meals a week	3-day plan: free over £40, otherwise £6. Longer plans come in two boxes a week, charged per box. A temporary £1 surcharge has applied since July 2026	Subscription only Subscription, skip up to 3 weeks, cancel any time	About 40 to 50 dishes Full macros on every meal; high-protein, low-carb and vegan plans	Fresh, macro-labelled meals delivered twice a week Subscription only with a 6-meal minimum Research-based, not tested by us, checked 17 Sep 2026 Read our Frive guide
The Good Prep High-protein meal prep Macro-led plans, including a Halal plan.	Chilled Not published	£8.50 to £9 a meal Meals £8.50 to £9	6 meals (3 days, 2 meals a day)	Fee not published; deliveries on Sunday and Wednesday	One-off ordering unclear Subscription, pause, skip or cancel any time	47 meals plus 14 breakfasts Macro-led plans, including a Halal-certified plan	Macro-led plans with twice-weekly delivery and a Halal plan Delivery fee and fridge life not published Research-based, not tested by us, checked 17 Sep 2026 Read our The Good Prep guide
Everyday chilled meals
Chefly Chilled prepared meals Chef-cooked chilled meals with nutrition per dish.	Chilled 7 to 10 days in the fridge; can be frozen	£7.49 to £7.99 a meal; fish dishes cost extra £47.94 for 6 meals	6 meals	£5.99	Subscription only Subscription only, pause up to 4 weeks or cancel any time	Over 50 dishes Calories and protein listed for every dish; vegan, vegetarian and low-carb tags	Large chilled menu with full nutrition data Subscription only, 6-meal minimum, one delivery day Research-based, not tested by us, checked 17 Sep 2026 Read our Chefly guide
Simmer Eats Chilled prepared meals Chilled meals in three portion sizes, with macros.	Chilled Up to 5 days in the fridge; can be frozen on arrival	From £7.49 a meal; price depends on plan and portion size From £7.49 a meal, 6 meals minimum	6 meals	£7.99 on the current FAQ page (an older help article says £6.99)	Subscription only Weekly subscription; skip, pause or cancel before Tuesday 1pm	12 rotating meals a week Calories, protein, carbs and fat on every meal; lean, standard and large portions; all meals halal	Three portion sizes and full macros, and meals freeze well Small weekly menu, subscription only, delivery fee on every order Research-based, not tested by us, checked 18 Sep 2026 Read our Simmer Eats guide
Built around one diet
Keto Kitchen Lytham Fresh keto meal plans Fresh keto meal plans, no subscription.	Chilled Fridge life not published; the kitchen says meals freeze and reheat well	Not published per meal 5-day plan £82.50, 7-day plan £105, frozen box £70	One plan	Fee not published; nationwide by DPD in chilled packaging	One-off orders possible No subscription: order a plan whenever you want one	Menu rotates weekly Calorie-counted with macros per meal; plans under 20g carbs a day; nutrition and ingredients PDF	Cooked keto meals with a daily carb limit and no subscription Delivery fee, delivery days and fridge life are not published Research-based, not tested by us, checked 18 Sep 2026 Read our Keto Kitchen Lytham guide

Prices, delivery and terms checked on the providers' own websites in September 2026; each row shows its own check date. Normal prices only: introductory offers are on the discount pages. We have not tried these services ourselves, so this is a research-based comparison. How we review

Best options by use case

Stocking the freezer without a subscription: COOK, allplants and Field Doctor.
Tracking protein or calories: Frive and The Good Prep, both chilled and macro-led.
Plant-based: allplants and Planty are fully plant-based.
Strict keto: Keto Kitchen Lytham, with plans under 20g of carbs a day and no subscription.
Coeliac disease or low FODMAP: Field Doctor, the only service here with a coeliac-certified gluten-free range.
One person eating several meals at home: every service here sells single portions; see also our meal boxes for one person.

Chilled or frozen?

Chilled meals (Frive, The Good Prep, Chefly, Simmer Eats and Keto Kitchen Lytham) arrive ready for the fridge and have to be eaten within days, so you order for the week ahead. Frozen meals (COOK, allplants, Planty and Field Doctor) keep for months, so you can order less often and choose on the day. The trade-off is freezer space: a box of 6 to 16 meals needs room.

Normal price per meal

These are the ongoing prices, without introductory offers and before delivery.

COOK: £5.25 to £7.50 for single-portion mains
allplants: £6 a meal in a box of 4, £4.50 in a box of 8
Planty: £7.25 to £7.49 a meal
Field Doctor: £7.49 to £8.99 a single meal (the help centre still says from £7.29)
Frive: £7.99 a meal (meat and vegan), £8.99 (fish)
The Good Prep: £8.50 to £9 a meal
Chefly: £7.49 to £7.99 a meal; fish dishes cost extra
Simmer Eats: From £7.49 a meal; price depends on plan and portion size
Keto Kitchen Lytham: Not published per meal

Minimum order and delivery cost

COOK: minimum £45. Delivery: £3.95 by shop or van; courier £6.95 or £8.95, free over £95; free on subscriptions.
allplants: minimum 4 meals (maximum 8). Delivery: free.
Planty: minimum 6 meals. Delivery: free on weekdays, Saturday costs extra.
Field Doctor: minimum £50. Delivery: from £6.50, free over £67.50; Tuesday to Saturday.
Frive: minimum 6 meals a week. Delivery: 3-day plan: free over £40, otherwise £6. Longer plans come in two boxes a week, charged per box. A temporary £1 surcharge has applied since July 2026.
The Good Prep: minimum 6 meals (3 days, 2 meals a day). Delivery: fee not published; deliveries on Sunday and Wednesday.
Chefly: minimum 6 meals. Delivery: £5.99.
Simmer Eats: minimum 6 meals. Delivery: £7.99 on the current FAQ page (an older help article says £6.99).
Keto Kitchen Lytham: minimum one plan. Delivery: fee not published; nationwide by DPD in chilled packaging.

Subscription or one-off ordering

One-off orders are possible with COOK, allplants, Field Doctor and Keto Kitchen Lytham. Planty, Frive, Chefly and Simmer Eats work as a subscription, which you can usually skip or pause. For The Good Prep we could not confirm whether one-off orders are possible.

Storage and freezer suitability

COOK: Best before 2 to 9 months
allplants: Keep frozen; do not refreeze once thawed (freezer life not published)
Planty: 6 months in the freezer, 3 days in the fridge
Field Doctor: Best before within a year of production
Frive: Up to 6 days in the fridge; can be frozen for up to 28 days
The Good Prep: Not published
Chefly: 7 to 10 days in the fridge; can be frozen
Simmer Eats: Up to 5 days in the fridge; can be frozen on arrival
Keto Kitchen Lytham: Fridge life not published; the kitchen says meals freeze and reheat well

The services at a glance

COOK

Frozen ready meals

COOK makes traditional frozen ready meals, puddings and kids' meals, sold in its own shops and delivered at home. There is a big range of meals for one and no subscription is needed, but home delivery has a £45 minimum.

Normal price: From £5.25 a meal

New-customer offer: 10% off your first online order (checked 17 September 2026)

Read our COOK guide

allplants

Frozen plant-based meals

allplants sells frozen, fully plant-based meals in boxes of four to eight, with free delivery and no subscription required. It went into administration in 2024 and was bought by Deliciously Ella founder Ella Mills in 2025, and it now trades as all plants. The menu is small and delivery is on Mondays only.

Normal price: From £4.50 a meal

New-customer offer: 10% off with newsletter sign-up (checked 17 September 2026)

Read our allplants guide

Planty

Frozen plant-based meals

Planty delivers frozen vegan meals in boxes of 6 to 16, with high-protein, high-fibre and lower-calorie bundles and free weekday delivery. Meals cost £7.25 to £7.49 each, and it is a subscription.

Normal price: From £7.25 a meal

New-customer offer: 25% off your first box through a referral (checked 17 September 2026)

Read our Planty guide Offer details

Field Doctor

Frozen health-led meals

Field Doctor makes frozen meals with the most detailed health filtering in this group, including coeliac-certified gluten-free and low FODMAP ranges. One-off orders are possible, but the £50 minimum works out at about seven meals.

Normal price: From £7.49 a meal

New-customer offer: 20% off your first two orders (checked 17 September 2026)

Read our Field Doctor guide

Frive

High-protein meal prep

Frive, formerly Lions Prep, delivers chilled, macro-labelled meals on three, five or six day plans. Meals keep four days in the fridge and arrive twice a week. It is built around training and calorie tracking, on a subscription with at least six meals a week.

Normal price: Plans from £35 a week

New-customer offer: 40% off your first week (checked 17 September 2026)

Read our Frive guide Offer details

The Good Prep

High-protein meal prep

The Good Prep runs chilled, macro-led meal plans over three, five or six days, including a Halal-certified plan. Prices and delivery costs only appear in the plan builder, and there are no one-off orders.

Normal price: £8.50 to £9 a meal

Read our The Good Prep guide

Chefly

Chilled prepared meals

Chefly delivers chef-cooked, chilled meals that only need reheating, with calories and protein listed for every dish. It now trades at eatchefly.com. Orders start at six meals a week on a subscription, which suits one person eating several meals at home, less so an occasional dinner.

Normal price: £47.94 for 6 meals

New-customer offer: £10 off your first order of 6 or more meals (checked 17 September 2026)

Read our Chefly guide

Simmer Eats

Chilled prepared meals

Simmer Eats delivers chilled, ready-to-heat meals in three portion sizes, with calories and macros on every meal. It is a weekly subscription with a six-meal minimum, but you can skip weeks, and the meals can go straight into the freezer. The weekly menu is small at around a dozen dishes.

Normal price: From £7.49 a meal

New-customer offer: 25% off your first 4 orders (checked 18 September 2026)

Read our Simmer Eats guide

Keto Kitchen Lytham

Fresh keto meal plans

Keto Kitchen Lytham is a small Lancashire kitchen that cooks fresh keto meals and sends them nationwide by DPD. Its plans are built to stay under 20g of carbs a day, everything is gluten-free, and there is no subscription. It does not publish its delivery fee or how long the meals keep, so check both before you order.

Normal price: 5-day plan £82.50

Read our Keto Kitchen Lytham guide

How we compare these services

We checked every service on its own website: prices, minimum order, delivery, subscription terms, storage advice and the nutrition information published per meal. We only list services that currently deliver in the UK, and we removed Tastily, Fresh Fitness Food, Natural Ketosis and Balance Box after they stopped trading. We have not ordered these meals ourselves, so this page does not judge taste. Each row in the table shows when its facts were checked. How we review

Frequently asked questions

Are delivered ready meals healthy?

That depends on the meal, not the label on the service. Look at what is published per meal: Chefly lists calories and protein for every dish, Frive shows full macros, Field Doctor has calorie-controlled, low-carb and low FODMAP ranges, and Planty sells under-500 kcal bundles. Salt and sugar vary per dish, so check the label if they matter to you.

Can you freeze chilled ready meals?

Chefly says its meals can be frozen, Frive says up to 28 days, and Simmer Eats says its meals can go into the freezer on arrival. Check the pack before you freeze anything.

Where do these services deliver?

COOK: national, by postcode; allplants: uK mainland, not Northern Ireland or the Scottish Highlands and Islands; Monday delivery; Planty: uK by DPD; exclusions not published; Field Doctor: uK, not Northern Ireland, the Scottish Highlands and islands or other islands; Frive: uK mainland, some Highland areas excluded; The Good Prep: uK; exclusions not published; Chefly: uK except Northern Ireland; delivery on Wednesdays; Simmer Eats: uK by DPD, delivered on Sunday or Monday; exclusions not published; Keto Kitchen Lytham: nationwide by DPD; exclusions not published.

Do I need a subscription?

Not always. COOK, allplants, Field Doctor and Keto Kitchen Lytham take one-off orders; the others are subscriptions.

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