Short answer: Parsley Box is the cheapest ready meal delivery we follow, at £4.25 a meal: its cupboard-stored mains start at £4.25 and standard delivery is free from £20, though the cheapest meals are smaller portions (270g). Wiltshire Farm Foods follows at £4.99 a frozen main meal with free delivery. Of the newer services, allplants is cheapest at £6.00 a meal, from four meals. All three take one-off orders.
Ready meal services quote prices in different ways: per meal, per box or per weekly plan, with delivery charged separately and a minimum order on top. Here we put them on one footing: the normal price per meal for the smallest order each service takes, with delivery included. No introductory offers, because those last a few weeks at most.
Every ready meal service ranked by price per meal
| Rank | Service | Per meal, with delivery | Smallest order | Delivery | Type | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Parsley Box | £4.25 | 5 meals at £4.25 (270g) to reach free delivery at £20, £21.25 | Free from £20 (standard) | Cupboard, one-off orders | Visit site at Parsley Box ↗ |
| 2 | Wiltshire Farm Foods | £4.99 | Main meals from £4.99; a minimum order may apply in your area, £4.99 | Free | Frozen, one-off orders | Visit site at Wiltshire Farm Foods ↗ |
| 3 | Oakhouse Foods | £5.35 plus delivery | Main meals from about £5.35, £5.35 | Not shown before checkout | Frozen, one-off orders | Visit site at Oakhouse Foods ↗ |
| 4 | allplants | £6.00 | 4 meals at £6, £24.00 | Free | Frozen, one-off orders | 10% off with newsletter sign-upGet offer at allplants ↗ |
| 5 | COOK | £6.71 | Meal Box For One, 14 meals for £90.03, £90.03 | £3.95 by shop or van; courier £6.95 or more, free over £95 | Frozen, one-off orders | 10% off your first online orderGet offer at COOK ↗ |
| 6 | Prep Kitchen | £6.95 | 6-meal plan for £41.70, £41.70 | Free | Chilled, subscription | 50% off your first boxGet offer at Prep Kitchen ↗ |
| 7 | Planty | £7.49 | 6 meals at £7.49, £44.94 | Free on weekdays | Frozen, subscription | 40% off your first boxGet offer at Planty ↗ |
| 8 | Frive | £8.16 | 6 meals at £7.99 (meat or vegan), £47.94 | Free over £40 on the 3-day plan, plus a temporary £1 surcharge | Chilled, subscription | 40% off your first weekGet offer at Frive ↗ |
| 9 | Field Doctor | £8.42 | 7 meals at £7.49 to reach the £50 minimum, £52.43 | From £6.50, free over £67.50 | Frozen, one-off orders | 20% off your first two ordersGet offer at Field Doctor ↗ |
| 10 | Simmer Eats | £8.82 | 6 meals at £7.49, £44.94 | £7.99 (an older help page says £6.99) | Chilled, subscription | 50% off your first orderGet offer at Simmer Eats ↗ |
| 11 | Chefly | £8.99 | 6-meal box for £47.94, £47.94 | £5.99 | Chilled, subscription | £10 off each of your first 6 ordersGet offer at Chefly ↗ |
| 12 | The Good Prep | £9.00 plus delivery | 6 meals at £9 one-off, £54.00 | Not published | Chilled, unclear | 25% off your first 3 weeksGet offer at The Good Prep ↗ |
| 13 | FuelHub | £9.39 | 5 meals at £8 on a weekly plan, £40.00 | £6.95 on every order | Chilled, one-off orders | 20% off your first 2 boxesGet offer at FuelHub ↗ |
Prices come from each service’s own website; the check date for each one is in our ready meal comparison. Keto Kitchen Lytham is not in the ranking because it prices plans rather than meals.
Frozen and cupboard meals are cheaper than chilled
The five cheapest services all sell meals that keep: Parsley Box in the cupboard, Wiltshire Farm Foods, Oakhouse Foods, allplants and COOK in the freezer. Chilled meal prep starts at £6.95 a meal at Prep Kitchen and runs to £9.39 at FuelHub. Chilled meals have to be eaten within days, so you order every week; frozen meals keep for months, so a bigger order that brings the delivery cost down is less of a risk. The catch is freezer space, which is exactly what Parsley Box avoids.
What you pay up front
The price per meal is not the whole story if you only want to try a service. Parsley Box and Wiltshire Farm Foods sell single meals, although Parsley Box only delivers free from £20 and Wiltshire Farm Foods may set a minimum order depending on your postcode. allplants lets you start with four meals for £24. Most of the meal prep services want at least five or six meals, and COOK and Field Doctor set a minimum order value of £45 and £50. Field Doctor’s delivery is free from £67.50 and COOK’s courier delivery from £95, so larger orders at those two cost less per meal than the ranking shows.
The cheapest ready meals for one person
All of these services sell single portions, so a one-person household pays the same per meal as everyone else. COOK’s Meal Box For One is built for it: 14 single meals in one frozen delivery. If you would rather cook, see our page on meal boxes for one person.
Ready meals or a recipe box: which is cheaper?
For two people it is close. The cheapest recipe box for three recipes for two, Gousto, comes to £6.04 a portion with delivery: more than Parsley Box or Wiltshire Farm Foods, about the same as allplants, and you still have to cook. For a family the recipe box wins clearly: Gousto’s four-person boxes cost £4.27 a portion or less. All the recipe box prices are in our cheapest recipe box ranking.
Introductory offers
Most of these services discount the first order, from 10% at allplants and COOK to 50% on the first Simmer Eats order. That changes the first week, not the price you pay after it. The current offers and their conditions are on our discount codes page.
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest ready meal delivery in the UK?
Of the services we follow, Parsley Box: mains from £4.25 that keep in the cupboard, with free standard delivery from £20, which works out at £4.25 a meal. The cheapest frozen option is Wiltshire Farm Foods at £4.99 a main meal with free delivery. If you want plant-based meals, allplants costs £6.00 a meal.
Can I order cheap ready meals without a subscription?
Yes. Parsley Box, Wiltshire Farm Foods, Oakhouse Foods, allplants, COOK and Field Doctor all take one-off orders. Planty, Frive, Simmer Eats, Chefly and Prep Kitchen work as subscriptions that you can pause or cancel.
Are cheap ready meals healthy?
Price says little about that. Look at the nutrition each service publishes per meal: Frive shows full macros and Chefly lists calories and protein for every dish, Field Doctor has calorie-controlled and low FODMAP ranges, and Oakhouse Foods lets you filter on under 400 kcal and low salt. Our ready meal comparison lists what each service publishes.
