There are few things better than a home cooked meal. One of the biggest drawbacks, though, is the time involved to cook it!
There are many times where I'll finish up a long workday, ready to eat a delicious dinner, only to find that I don't have much time to actually cook it. So, I pull out a frozen or pre-made meal and chow down.
Is there a way to combine the ease of "heat and eat" style meals with the deliciousness of a home cooked meal? There is, with oven-ready meal delivery services.
There are dozens of meal delivery services that have oven-ready meals. These range from pan sheet meals where you set the oven and throw in the meal all the way to pre-made meal delivery services that use the oven to "cook" their meals. There are even some innovative smart ovens on the market with their own meal subscription services.
We've spent years unboxing, taste testing and reviewing literally hundreds of different meal and food delivery services. Today I'm going to share with you our favorite oven-ready meal delivery services.
Food Box HQ Note: We've included a mix of meal kit services and pre-made meal delivery services. The meal kits included all have oven-ready recipes or meals that can be heated in the oven. The pre-made meal delivery services send you fully-prepared meals that can be heated in the oven.
Best Oven-Ready Meal Kit
Home Chef
What It Is: Home Chef is one of the better known meal kits, up there with HelloFresh and Blue Apron. Where Home Chef really excels is when it comes to homestyle meals. Rather than trying to be super adventurous with their menu, Home Chef sticks to more traditional classics that are beloved by all (think classic chicken and veggie recipes). They have a full line of oven-ready meals that are pre-portioned and come in oven-safe trays. This means you just set the oven to the time and temperature needed, take off the outer plastic on the meal tray, and pop it into the oven when ready.
Our Experience: Home Chef's oven-ready meals are very easy to make. They prep the majority of the meal inside of the aluminum, oven-safe tray. In most of the oven-ready Home Chef meals we cooked, there are only 2 to 3 steps involved in the recipe process (example). For most recipes, we bake the vegetables first using the meal tray provided. Then, after they've cooked a bit, take out the tray to put in the meat and let it finish cooking. That being said, we've cooked some Home Chef oven-ready meals that cooked entirely in the oven, without any second or third steps involved. The biggest downside to Home Chef is I've found that they only include about 3 or 4 oven-ready meals on their menu per week. This makes them a good option for days where I know I'm going to be working late and don't have the energy to prep and cook a big meal. However, if someone only wanted to eat oven-ready meals, they would need to have duplicate meals each week. Do be aware though that Home Chef does have a full line of pre-made meals called "Fresh & Ready", which can be heated/cooked in the oven, rather than the microwave.
Lowest Price Per Meal: $8.99
Our Favorite Home Chef Oven-Ready Meals:
- Chipotle Cheddar Turkey Meatloaf with Cowboy Caviar
- Chile-Lime Mexican-Style Steak Wraps with Chipotle Slaw and Queso Fresco
- Green Chili Fiesta Chicken with Butternut Squash and Peppers
Why It Made The List:
- Home Chef's oven-ready meals are crowd pleasers. They're not too adventurous and they appeal to a wide audience, making them a good option for even the pickiest eaters.
- There are two different Home Chef plans you can order from to get oven-ready meals. On their original meal kit plan, you can order around 3 to 4 oven-ready meals per week (along with other meal kit meals). Or, if you opt to go with their Fresh & Ready plan, you can select from upwards of 6 different meals per week.
- My personal favorite aspect of Home Chef is that they craft all of their recipes to be very simple to make. This is especially so for their oven-ready meals.
- Home Chef has a great selection of add ons such as sides, desserts, and more.
Best For Occasional Oven-Ready Meals
HelloFresh
What It Is: HelloFresh is one of the most popular meal kits around. They offer over 25 different meals every week, ranging from meat and veggie classics to more daring meals. They have meal options for nearly everyone's taste preferences. Occasionally, HelloFresh will rotate in some oven-ready meals onto their menu. Like Home Chef, HelloFresh does not offer enough oven-ready meals to have one for every single dinner.
Our Experience: I've found HelloFresh's oven ready meals to be flavorful but do be aware that most involve a bit more steps than simply throwing it in the oven (as you would with Home Chef's). There was some prep work to many of the oven-ready meals we made, including mixing in sauces and seasonings, adding in some water, etc. When it comes to taste though, HelloFresh consistently knocks it out of the park with their recipes. Nearly all of their meals that we've tried, from their meal kit meals to their oven-ready meals have been mouthwateringly good.
Lowest Price Per Meal: $7.99
Our Favorite HelloFresh Oven-Ready Meals:
- Oven-Ready Chili Coconut Curry Chicken with Carrot-Speckled Rice
- Oven-Ready Chicken & Gnocchi Bake with Marinara Sauce & Italian Herbs
- Oven-Ready Bubbly Tortelloni Bake with Marinara & Herbed Ciabatta (trays included)
Why It Made The List:
- If there's one thing HelloFresh is good at, it's creating delicious recipes. They may not be the easiest to make, they may not be the cheapest, but they're some of the best tasting that I've had out of any meal kit.
- They have a full marketplace where you can add-on additional meals, sides, snacks, and more.
- They're the most widely known and most widely available meal kit with availability in the United States and many European countries.
Best For Adventurous Oven-Ready Meals
Sunbasket
What It Is: Sunbasket is one of the more versatile meal delivery services on this list. They're not only a full meal kit service but they also offer a separate pre-made meal delivery service (which they call their Fresh & Ready Meal Plan). Both their meal kit and pre-made meal delivery service plans offer meals that can be made in an oven.
Our Experience: As I've mentioned in multiple other articles on Food Box HQ, Sunbasket is one of my favorite meal delivery services. They've delivered consistency among every aspect of their meal delivery service, from cuisines and diets offered to ease of cooking and overall flavor. Where I believe they really shine is in the diversity of the meals they offer, including their oven-ready meals. Like Home Chef, they offer pre-made meals that can be heated in the oven as well as meal kit meals that can be cooked in the oven. However, Sunbasket calls their meal kit oven-ready meals, "Sheet Pan Meals" (example). While I found their meal kit oven-ready meals to involve a bit more prep work than Home Chef, they are still relatively simple to make with around 3 to 4 steps involved in most recipes.
Lowest Price Per Meal: Sunbasket meal kit meals start at $11.49 and their Fresh & Ready pre-made meals start at $9.99.
Our Favorite Sunbasket Oven-Ready Meals:
- Sheet Pan Chicken and Sweet Potato with Dates and Pistachios
- Sheet Pan Pork Sausages with Roasted Apple and Delicata Squash
- Moroccan Sheet Pan Chicken and Roasted Sweet Potato with Kale Salad
Why It Made The List:
- Out of all of the meal delivery options listed here, Sunbasket has the most diverse selections of meals. They range from Indian and Asian cuisines all the way to Scandinavian and Ethiopian cuisines.
- Sunbasket's oven-ready and sheet pan meals often times include side salads. This is something that many other meal delivery services on this list do not offer.
- They have one of the most extensive marketplaces out of any meal delivery service I've tested and reviewed. For example, you can add items to your box every week like cheese, crackers, nuts, chocolates, eggs, oatmeal, breads, juices, and even pre-made breakfasts.
Best For Classic Oven-Ready Meals
Blue Apron
What It Is: Chances are you've heard of Blue Apron. Like HelloFresh, they're one of the most popular meal delivery services in the world and one of the first brands to really kick off the meal kit industry in the United States. They occasionally rotate in oven-ready and sheet pan meals into their menu, although not as often as Home Chef does.
Our Experience: One of the things I love most about Blue Apron is the fact that they do an exceptional job at designing and writing their recipe cards. The pictures give you a great indication as to where you should be in the prep/cooking process (which is super helpful for visually seeing where you should be). The step-by-step instructions are written clear and concise. And, they even go as far as bolding important aspects within the recipe steps so you don't miss it. This has saved me a few times! When it comes to their oven-ready meals, Blue Apron doesn't have a huge selection within their meal kit. I usually see one or two listed on their menu each week, usually under "Easy Prep & Cleanup". That being said, like Sunbasket and some other meal kits, Blue Apron has introduced their own version of pre-made meals that can be heated in the oven. They're an add on to whatever Blue Apron meal plan you go with but I have to say they are delicious and they provide a good range of selection for picky eaters.
Lowest Price Per Meal: $7.49
Our Favorite Blue Apron Oven-Ready Meals:
- Oven-Baked Chicken Marbella with Potatoes & Arugula Salad
- Sheet Pan Panko-Crusted Chicken with Vegetables & Maple-Mustard Sauce
- Sheet Pan Harissa-Honey Chicken with Vegetables & Roasted Lemon Labneh
Why It Made The List:
- Blue Apron is one of the most popular meal delivery services out there for a reason; they get the entire meal kit experience right. From selecting your meals and the organization in the packaging to the recipe cards and meal flavors, Blue Apron gets a lot right.
- In addition to sheet pan oven-ready meals, Blue Apron offers pre-made meals as add ons to any of their meal plans.
- Blue Apron is a weight-watcher approved meal kit. They partner with Weight Watchers to craft meals that stick to the diet (examples).
Best Smart Oven + Meal Delivery Option
Tovala
What It Is: Tovala is a smart oven and meal delivery service. After purchasing the Tovala oven, they give you the option to subscribe to their oven-ready meals. They have a large selection of meals ranging from breakfasts, lunches, and dinners.
Our Experience: We've owned both the Gen 1 and Gen 2 Tovala ovens. I have to say that when I first used the oven in conjunction with their meal delivery service, I was amazed. The meals come in little pre-packaged tin containers, along with the seasonings and sauces needed. You simply open the tin, add any of the seasonings, and pop it in the oven. Then you scan the code that comes on the meal packaging and the Tovala oven cooks the meal to the exact specifications needed. What I found even more interesting is the oven syncs with your phone via an app. This means you can not only control the oven from anywhere but also see when your meal will be done and get notifications when your meal is ready to eat.
Lowest Price Per Meal: $11.99
Our Favorite Tovala Oven-Ready Meals:
- Smoky Southwestern Chicken Breast with Lime Buttered Corn & Carrots
- Shrimp & Truffle Mushroom Risotto with Parmesan & Parsley Caper Sauce
- Sausage Pizza Meatballs with Freshly Baked Biscuits
Why It Made The List:
- Tovala is a hybrid between a meal kit and a pre-made meal delivery service. Since all of their meals come pre-portioned in an oven-ready tin tray, they're very simple to make. All it requires is putting the meal in the oven and scanning the code that came with it.
- The oven-ready meals we've had using the Tovala meal subscription have been delicious. Often times they partner with big chefs to craft their recipes. For example, in a past video we reviewed their partnership with popular chef, Graham Elliot.
- Tovala gives you the ability to customize some of your meals. For example, you can swap out certain vegetables for others.
Best Oven-Ready Family Meals
Mosaic Foods
What It Is: Mosaic Foods is a frozen pre-made meal delivery service best known for their convenient plant-based meals. They're one of our favorite vegetarian meal delivery services for this reason. Because all of their meals come frozen, you have the choice of heating them in the microwave or oven. I always prefer the oven and recommend it as a way to heat the meals since it does a much more thorough job of heating the meal. Mosaic has a pretty large selection of oven-ready meals too, including veggie bowls, family meals, and even "premium" meals (called Mosaic+). To craft these premium meals, they work with top-tier chefs and food bloggers across the nations such as Pierce Abernathy and Ereka Vetrini.
Our Experience: Mosaic is one of the few frozen meal delivery services that I've truly enjoyed. Many other frozen meal subscriptions that we've reviewed in the past have sub-par meals, loaded with sodium and other additives to keep meals from spoiling. What I enjoy most about Mosaic's meals is that they're all natural. They don't load in any extra salt, sugar, etc. On top of all that, they're tasty and convenient to make. We usually pop their family meals in the oven to bake on days where my wife and I don't have the energy to cook. The best part? It tastes like a homemade meal and I don't have to feel guilty because their meals are packed with vegetables (4 or more per serving).
Lowest Price Per Meal: The veggie bowls (single serving) start at $8.99 and the family meals (4 servings) start at $19.95.
Our Favorite Mosaic Foods Oven-Ready Meals:
- Thai Peanut Curry (Family Meal)
- Sweet Potato Chili Bake (Family Meal)
- Black-Eyed Pea & Sweet Potato Ndambe (Mosaic+ Meal)
- Spicy Dan Dan Noodles (Veggie Bowl)
Why It Made The List:
- Mosaic Foods offers the most variety out of any other meal delivery service listed here with over 40 oven-ready meals to choose from. Plus, they offer soups and oat bowls.
- Since all of their meals are frozen, they last much longer without spoiling than most of the other options on this list.
- Their meals are high-quality for being frozen. They use zero additives and flash-freeze their meals.
Best For Single Orders
Rastelli's
What It Is: Rastelli's is best known for their meat delivery service (they're one of our favorites). However, they offer a large selection of oven-ready meals and sides too. What makes Rastelli's a standout pick is that they do not require you to subscribe to receive their meals like most of the other services listed here.
Our Experience: Rastelli's is one of my personal favorite meat delivery services because I believe, when compared to others, they present the best value. They have a wide variety of meats to select from, including including beef (grass-fed and pasture raised), seafood, poultry, pork, lamb, veal, and even plant-based meats. But that is really just the tip of the iceberg. Their oven-ready meals vary from crab cakes and meatballs to beef wellington and pork roast. We've ordered Rastelli's oven-ready meals and sides in the past specifically for when we needed meals and finger foods for a party we were having. They were a huge hit and because 99% of their oven-ready meals are already prepped, we just needed to throw them in the oven to bake.
Lowest Price Per Meal: Rastelli's meals are going to range based on what you order. To give you an example, they charge $19.00 for their Faroe Island Salmon Burgers.
Our Favorite Rastelli's Oven-Ready Meals:
- Bubba Q's Precooked Bone-In Pork Ribs
- Oven-Ready Garlic & Herb Prime Rib Roast
- Oven-Ready Beef Tenderloin Roast
Why It Made The List:
- Rastelli's is the only option on this list to offer oven-ready meat dishes (for example, Oven-Ready Turkey Breast Roast).
- With their selection of meals and sides, it makes them a great option for those who are looking to entertain. They have finger foods and appetizers such as bacon wrapped shrimp and potstickers as well as main dinners such as chicken breasts and turkey roasts.
- Their meats are vacuum sealed and blast frozen (which helps protect against bacteria growth).
Best For Budget Oven-Ready Meals
EveryPlate
What It Is: EveryPlate is one of the least expensive meal kits available, coming in at under $5 per serving. They offer 4 different plans (ClassicPlate, VeggiePlate, FamilyPlate, and EasyPlate) and each of them have oven-ready meal options.
Our Experience: Initially, I thought a meal kit as cheap as EveryPlate would be a gimmick. Turns out I was wrong. EveryPlate does a great job of crafting recipes that are super simple, use a handful of ingredients, and yet still taste delicious. These aren't 5-star restaurant quality meals by any means but they're way better than heating up frozen TV dinners. When it comes to their oven-ready meals, I've noticed that they usually offer a few every week to add to your box. The only downside is that while these are sheet pan meals you make in the oven, I found that most of them do involve more prep work than any of the other meal kits mentioned in this article. Here's an example of one of their sheet-pan dinners, which is 6 steps and is estimated to take 45 minutes to cook.
Lowest Price Per Meal: $4.99
Our Favorite EveryPlate Oven-Ready Meals:
- Chicken Legs & Veggie Sheet Pan Bake with Roasted Apple & Honey Dijon Sauce
- Garlic-Rosemary Chicken with Roasted Root Veggies
- Sausage and Apple Sheet-Pan Bake with Roasted Root Veggies and Honey Dijon Sauce
Why It Made The List:
- EveryPlate is the least expensive oven-ready meal kit option on this list.
- For being as inexpensive as they are, I found their portion sizes to still be on par with more expensive meal kits (sometimes even bigger).
- Since their meals are less expensive, they pare back the ingredients needed and complexity of the recipes. This makes EveryPlate one of the more beginner friendly oven-ready meal kits out there.
Best For Oven-Ready Meals & Groceries
Hungryroot
What It Is: Hungryroot is a hybrid between a grocery delivery service and meal kit. You can use them to simply order groceries or you can browse their 3000+ recipes and have those ingredients sent directly to your door. They currently have over 700 sheet pan recipes that can be made in your oven.
Our Experience: I first tried Hungryroot back when they were purely a plant-based meal kit. Since then, they have completely changed how they work. What I love about their service is that they bridge the gap between grocery shopping and meal kits. While meal kits are great for making lunches and dinners throughout the week, there are other things you need from the grocery store (for example, snacks, fruits, and vegetables). From my experience, I found that Hungryroot combines the convenience of meal kits with the flexibility of grocery shopping. I've made about a dozen different sheet pan and oven-ready recipes in total. One thing I noticed is that the majority of these meals are very quick to make. For example, I made this oven roasted cod and herbed potatoes and it only took about 20 minutes total. It came out delicious, by the way, and this is coming from someone who isn't a fan of fish! Do be aware that by using their recipes, you have to order full sizes of all the ingredients. Compare this to traditional meal kits such as HelloFresh, which only send you the amount of ingredients needed to make that single meal. Because of this, I've had instances where I had leftover ingredients from Hungryroot that had to be thrown away because I never ended up using them in other recipes that week.
Lowest Price Per Meal: Since they act as a grocery delivery service that offers oven-ready meal kit meals, Hungryroot meals are priced based on the cost of the ingredients of the meal kit recipes you choose. They can range in price but be as little as $5.50, depending on the recipe.
Our Favorite Hungryroot Oven-Ready Meals:
- Sheet Pan Sausage & Brussels over Polenta
- Herby Roast Veggies & Sausage Sheet Pan Dinner
- Oven Baked Cod with Root Veggies & Broccoli
Why It Made The List:
- Hungryroot is a great option for those who still want the flexibility of being able to pick out individual grocery items while still having the convenience of a meal kit.
- Their shopping experience makes it very simple to filter recipes based on your specific tastes. For example, you can filter by serving size, prefered meat, spice level, cooking time, as well as allergens such as gluten, dairy, egg, and more.
- They offer a huge selection of oven-ready and sheet pan recipes to choose from.
What To Consider Before Making Your Decision
Before you go out and order from any of these meal delivery services, it's important to know which is most likely to fit your lifestyle. Here are the main things to consider:
- Budget: Many people assume meal delivery services are more of a luxury and that shopping at the grocery store is much cheaper. It all depends on what you actually order but sometimes meal kits can be on par with what you end up spending at the grocery store. Make sure to find an oven-ready meal delivery service that best fits what you normally spend at the grocery store so you aren't going over your budget.
- Ease Of Use: These days there are meal delivery services that fit a wide range of cooking skills, from beginner to more advanced. If you enjoy cooking and prepping meals, opt for a meal kit. They'll give you the recipe and ingredients, you'll just need to follow the steps to get your meal in the oven. On the flip side, if you're looking for an oven-ready meal delivery service because you want to save time, opt for a pre-made meal delivery service. These meals come already cooked and you simply need to pop them in the oven to reheat and eat.
- Quantity Of Meals: Think about how many meals you need for the week. Are you ordering oven-ready meals because you want to have easy dinners to make every night or just once and awhile? Some meal delivery services can handle sending you recipes for every meal, while others cannot.
- Variety Of Cuisines: Are you a picky eater or do you prefer to try new and adventurous meals? Be sure to view the selection of our favorite meals to get a sense of what type of cuisines each meal delivery service listed above offers before you make your final decision.
Our Methodology Of Selecting The Oven-Ready Meal Delivery Services On This List
All of the oven-ready meal delivery services listed in this article have been vetted by me personally, as well as my team. This process includes, but is not limited to, purchasing the meal delivery service and reviewing it in its entirety (cooking, taste testing, and more). You can read more about the full review process here.
Below are the specific guidelines we used to evaluate every oven-ready meal delivery service we researched prior to writing this article…
- The meal delivery service has to offer a variety of oven-ready and sheet pan meals to choose from.
- The ingredients used in all of the meals have to be as high-quality as possible (organic, seasonal produce, grass-fed beef, no antibiotics used, and no hormones used).
- The meal delivery service must be able to ship to every location within the United States.
- The meal delivery service must offer flexible plans and delivery to fit into a variety of different lifestyles.
Have a questions about any of the oven-ready meal delivery services listed? Have you tried any of them? Let us know in the comments below!
Which one of these is the quickest option? I would actually prefer if the meals were mostly made already.
Being oven-ready, they're all pretty quick to prepare. All of the pre-made options listed are going to be the quickest though, since you don't have to prep them. Mosaic's family meals and Freshly's meals are good options to consider.