Over the last year or so, more and more people have been getting their groceries delivered with services like Instacart, even now that things are going back to normal, people are sticking with it for sheer convenience.
The meal kit industry has been heavily growing over the past 18 months for the same reason. More and more people are realizing how convenient it is to have pre-portioned ingredients, along with recipe cards, delivered straight to your door. One that we keep seeing popping up everywhere is Green Chef.
Our editors compared Green Chef to Instacart to see which service comes out on top. Here's what we found:
Key Similarities
- Both deliver ingredients to your doorstep
Key Differences
- Green Chef delivers ingredients for recipes of your choice
- Green Chefs ingredients are pre-portioned to the exact amount needed
- Green Chef is a subscription-based service. You do not need a subscription for Instacart
- Green Chef has plans for Keto, Paleo, and Plant-based diets
Green Chef Overview
The first thing we noticed when going onto the Green Chefsite was that it caters to many different dietary needs - they have a Paleo and Keto plan, a Plant-based (veggie and vegan) plan, and a Balanced living plan. You can choose 3 or 4 meals a week for 2, 4, or 6 people.
We went with the Balanced plan, 4 days a week. There are 8 customizable recipes featuring meat, seafood & vegetarian meals. Their meals are crafted by expert chefs with cuisines from all around the world like Italian, Thai, Cuban, Caribbean, Peruvian, Japanese, and more.
Our favorite of the week was Honey-Citrus Glazed Salmon and Roasted Broccoli & Jerk-Spiced Carrot Fries.
Green Chef is a USDA-certified organic company and its ingredients are GMO-free. All the produce is fresh and sourced directly from local farms. Their ingredients are perfectly portioned so there's zero food waste, and their recipes are easy to follow with little prep. Dinner is on the table in about 30 minutes!
Before applying any new user discount, Green Chef starts at just $11.49 per serving.
Green Chef
Pre-Portioned Fresh Ingredients
Delivered To Your Door
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Instacart Overview
Instacart is basically the Uber for grocery delivery. You can shop from your local grocery stores online. All you have to do is make an order of everything you want through Instacart, and they'll send a personal shopper to go to the store and pick up everything that's on your list.
You do not need to be a member to shop with Instacart. They do have a premium option which is $9.99 per month and gets you free delivery over $35. Same-day delivery for non-Express members starts at $3.99 for orders more than $35.
The only downside about using Instacart is that you don't get to pick out the items with the best "use by" date yourself, so sometimes you might get items that aren't as fresh as you would like.
Final Thoughts
These services are both great and serve their own purpose, but if we had to choose one to keep using it would definitely be Green Chef.
For starters, the ingredients they deliver are top-quality and the produce is so fresh, organic, and sustainably sourced. The fact you get to choose your own meals from their varied menu is great, and then everything you need is delivered to your doorstep.
Getting ingredients from a store means that you've had to find the recipes yourself and if it's a new recipe you might end up wasting a jar of Teriyaki sauce that you'll only ever use for once. With Green Chef, everything is perfectly portioned, so there's no food waste and less prep time.
Green Chef really has an extra layer of convenience - you can have dinner on the table in just 30 minutes with no planning or prep needed. Green Chef does it for you, you just have to follow the easy cooking instructions! Not to mention how delicious the meals are - they're really restaurant quality.
If you're looking for a way to make grocery shopping and dinner time more convenient, we're recommending Green Chef.