If you’ve ever felt a pang of guilt for not spending hours in the kitchen preparing elaborate, fully balanced and beautifully presented meals for yourself and/or family, you’re not alone.  Social media and food influencers present meal preparation in an increasingly unrealistic manner, as though everyone can and should be able to dedicate a ridiculous amount of time, effort and money into daily meals.  The directive they help establish around how much time we should be spending in our kitchens is anxiety inducing, but there’s nothing wrong with convenience. There’s nothing wrong with taking advantage of services that make our life easier and less stressful.  Ordering take-out or delivery is not a sign of culinary incompetence.  And if you’re craving something a little bit closer to a home-cooked meal, meal delivery services are a great option.

Here are a few notable options for meal delivery in the Toronto area, and be sure to keep your eyes peeled for new options – they’re popping up all the time!

Hello Fresh

Hello Fresh is one of their more well-known meal kit delivery services, thanks to an extensive and aggressive advertising campaign.  Reviews however are divided.  Some people swear by it, while others complain of frequently missing ingredients or wrong deliveries among other issues. There’s also no specific vegan customization option, just a vegetarian one, and many of their vegetarian dishes contain a dairy component. You can also pick and choose your individual meal kits, so you can avoid the dairy ones, but that leaves you with limited options.  While HelloFresh is not the most expensive of these types of services, it’s not really a money saving tool either.  A three meal for two people plan costs around $80, a per serving cost of $11.49.

Sorry I’ve Got Plants

Sorry I’ve Got Plants is a Toronto based, low-waste meal kit service that is completely vegan.  You can order additional produce and pantry items through them as well which is super helpful.  The ordering process is simple and straightforward. Just create an account on their website, select what meals you’d like and checkout. They currently deliver all over Toronto and much of the G.T.A. and also have an in-store/curbside pick-up option if you’re in their neighbourhood (Dundas and Roncesvalles area).  The one caveat to be aware of is that each order is a one-off situation and are not reoccurring. This may not be an ideal solution for someone that knows they’ll need a consistent supply of meals, but I think it’s great. It provides extra flexibility and helps reduce waste.  A two-portion meal costs $23, a person serving cost of $11.50.

Chef’s Plate

Chef’s Plate is a bit of an oddity.  While they have vegetarian options, I can find no evidence that any of their meal kits are vegan, despite the liberal use of the term plant-based.  You can, of course, just exclude those ingredients (cheese, dairy, eggs etc.) when you are prepping the meal, but if you’re looking for strict vegan meals, Chef’s Plate is probably not the best option.  This is unfortunate because they are one of the more affordable meal kit options – starting at $8.99 per serving on some plans. Hopefully they’ll add vegan options soon!

Power Kitchen

Power Kitchen is a Toronto based meal kit services known for their fresh, high quality and healthy ingredients. They have a dedicated vegan plan or you can build your own custom meal kit of a protein, carb and veg of your choice.  Some of the vegan options include Jerk Tofu with Roasted Potatoes and Steamed Green Beans, and Spicy Black Bean Burger with Sweet Potato Wedges and Tahini Cauliflower. Power Kitchen is a good option if you’re looking for a consistent recurring subscription plan as it renews automatically every week until you cancel or pause it. The per serving cost is $11.88.

Savor Living

Savor Living is a plant-based meal service based out of Oakville that delivers throughout much of the G.T.A.  The meals are already prepared for you, so it’s just a super convenient, reheat and serve kind of situation. You can either order individual meals or buy a weekly plan. The prices vary depending on what you order, but generally they are a bit on the more expensive side. A weekly plan of five meals is $120, for a per serving cost of $24. They do however offer more diversity in the dishes than most other meal services, and also sell additional pantry items.

Healthy Alternative

Healthy Alternative provides fresh gourmet meal delivery to the G.T.A.  They offer a spectacular and delicious rotation of vegan meals that are fully prepared and just need to be reheated. Maple Garlic Vegan Meatballs with Rice Pilaf? Yes please! Beyond Sausage with Pasta & Rose Sauce? Double yes! A six-meal recurring weekly plan costs $85, for a per serving cost of just over $14, which is not bad for the quality of food. You can also upgrade your plan to 12 meals for $150, and add on dips and soups to your order for an additional cost.

Plant Prepped

Plant Prepped, as the name suggests, is a fully vegan meal kit delivery service serving most of Ontario and Quebec.  Deliveries are reoccurring each week, but can be skipped or paused as long as it’s done a week in advance.  Some examples of typical menu items are a Chorizo Burrito Bowl and Sweet Potato and Poblano Pepper Quesadillas. Ingredients are sourced from farms and other local, organic and artisanal food suppliers.  A 2-person, 3 meal per week plan costs $74.99 for a per serving cost of $12.50.

Green Zebra Kitchen

Green Zebra Kitchen is a plant-based meal service, that delivers healthy, organic prepared meals to much of the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area.  You can order one of their plans (either as a one-off or recurring) or individual meals.  Order have to be placed by 8pm on Sundays for Tuesday deliveries, and can also be cancelled at no charge if done by Sunday.  Their weekly menus provide a fair amount of diversity – more so than many of the other services – so you won’t have to worry about getting tired of the same three of four dishes.  Prices vary depending on the meals you order, but a 5 Meal weekly plan is $67, for a per serving cost of $13.40.

Honey Bee Meals

Honey Bee Meals delivers meals and snack to the Greater Toronto Area.  They have a “plant-based” option but also, strangely, note on their website that “Our Plant-Based meals are loaded with vegetarian ingredients and most are fit for a vegan diet” This is an oxymoron. If it is not vegan, then it is not plant based. Period. So just be aware that they may be using the trendy interpretation of plant-based, not the actual definition, and thoroughly read through the list of ingredients before consuming.  You can either choose your meals individually or get a weekly subscription plan.  A 6 meal plan costs $90, for a per serving cost of $15.

Delectable by Zarla Jane

Delectable is a plant-based meal delivery service that emphasis health conscious, whole foods-based meals curated by chef Zarla Jane and a certified nutritionist.  They do not use fake meats, textured vegetable soy protein, dairy, meat, fish, or refined sugars and all their meals are gluten free.  They deliver to the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area for a flat fee of $10. Meals can be ordered in packages or individually.  A four-week plan with 20 meals costs $315, a per serving cost of $15.75.