We tested Hungryroot for three months to see how it compares to other meal delivery services. Spoiler: It's the hybrid meal kit of our dreams.
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There’s an easier way to meal prep dinner for the week. And no, it doesn’t involve cooking everything on Sunday evening and portioning it out into containers. While that’s a wonderful option for some households, it’s time-consuming, requires a lot of prep, and, let’s be honest, it’s tiring. We all know that a popular alternative to planning lunch or dinner for the week is choosing a meal kit service—and we found a hybrid option that delivers fresh ingredients while cutting out the prep work.
Enter Hungryroot, aka the hybrid meal delivery service that combines the ease of ordering groceries online with the joy of planning dinner recipes. And after testing Hungryroot for two years, we are impressed with the quality and convenience of the meals and foods it offers.
According to registered dietitian Hannah Holzum, “What sets Hungryroot apart from traditional meal kits is that Hungryroot functions more like an online grocery store that also offers recipe guidance. Not only can you order complete meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner, but you can also shop for individual items, snacks and staples to fit your household’s needs.”
Here’s what you need to know.
Hungryroot
An all-in-one meal delivery service that delivers recipes with pre-prepped ingredients and pantry staples
What is Hungryroot?
When shopping for meal delivery plans, you typically have a few different choices: a kit that sends pre-portioned ingredients to transform into a gourmet meal (e.g., HelloFresh), ready-to-eat meals (just heat and eat!), and with Hungryroot, a hybrid option that sends recipes with pre-prepped ingredients and pantry/fridge staples.
Hungryroot is part grocery delivery and part meal kit delivery service. Similar to Thrive Market or Misfits Market, Hungryroot sends a box full of groceries like fruit, veggies, chips, sweets and more. But it doesn’t stop there—they send recipes to ensure the ingredients you receive easily transform into delicious meals.
Bonus: they offer plenty of tasty options for gluten-free meals, vegetarian dishes and plant-based meals.
Hungryroot Features
- Nutritious grocery and meal kit hybrid sourced from trusted brands and suppliers
- Customizable for dietary needs and individual preferences, with plant-based options available
- Clean ingredients: No artificial sweeteners, partially hydrogenated oils, high-fructose corn syrup, artificial colors or preservatives
- Fast and convenient preparation that simplifies healthy eating with minimal cooking time
- Eco-friendly and 100% recyclable packaging materials
- Ships to 48 U.S. states (excluding Alaska and Hawaii)
- Delivery arrives within 3–5 days after ordering
- Recipe cards keep things simple, tell you how long each ingredient stays fresh and provide instructions for storage
How We Tested
I tested a variety of recipes and pantry offerings for three months. I’ve reviewed 10 other meal kit services before Hungryroot, so I was intrigued to see how this one compared. I evaluated and rated the service based on ordering experience, packaging and delivery, ingredient quality, taste and overall cooking experience.
Ordering
Hungryroot works by first asking about preferences. Upon ordering my first box, I was impressed with the thorough Hungryroot questionnaire required before signing up. While some may find this annoying, I appreciated the service getting to know the nitty gritty about my lifestyle, like dietary restrictions, preferred cooking methods, my palate and what I want to get out of the service. Out of all the meal kits I’ve tested, Hungryroot stands out for its in-depth questionnaire. There’s a lot more to know about a person’s cooking habits other than desired servings or ingredients to avoid. And for that, Hungryroot scored an A+ upon placing my order.
After the questionnaire, I landed on the recipe page to pick out my meals and fridge/pantry items for the week. Depending on the serving quantity you select during sign-up, Hungryroot grants you credits (or coins) so you know exactly what ingredients fit into one delivery. Meals require more credits than grocery items, and I was able to easily pack four dinners and roughly 10 grocery goodies in my box—all for about $140 at two servings for each meal.
Delivery
My Hungryroot box arrived on a Friday. The packaging showed zero signs of leakage—which is a total win-win if you’ve ever experienced a drippy, soggy mess when ordering meals online (speaking from experience here). The packaging is 100% recyclable and produces less waste than other meal delivery services I’ve tested. Inside, my pantry and grocery staples included pretzels, pre-sliced pineapple, black beans, broccoli florets, chips and hummus, 90-second rice, cinnamon twists, oat milk, white pomegranate peach tea and a few other items.
As for the meals included? I received four total, including ingredients and step-by-step instructions for spicy black bean and fajita veggie tacos, salmon with potatoes and broccoli, sesame ginger chicken and veggie stir fry, and garlicky hummus black bean burger bowl.
Cooking
Now for the impressive part with Hungryroot reviews: the meals require just four to five ingredients, meaning less prep, cooking time and cleaning overall. Even better, there’s just one simple recipe sheet included for all the meal instructions.
The first recipe I tried was the black bean burger bowl with broccoli and garlicky hummus. The broccoli was pre-prepped into florets. I added seasonings and popped them into the oven for 10 minutes. Then, I heated the black bean burgers in a pan for about five minutes. I kid you not, my meal was plated and ready to devour within 20 minutes thanks to the pre-prepped ingredients.
The next three dishes followed the same formula: cook the protein, season and bake the sides (like potatoes, rice or veggies), top with the included sauce (if applicable) and voila! Dinner is on the table in well under 30 minutes.
Overall, My Hungryroot meals were tasty, but the flavor profile and ingredients are more basic than some other meal kit services I’ve tested. Compared to HelloFresh or HomeChef, Hungryroot isn’t trying to teach you chef-level cooking techniques or introduce you to bold new flavors. It’s all about efficiency.
Don’t get me wrong, the meals are still high quality, they’re just a little more basic. And in my opinion, that’s a-okay because you’re not always going to be in the mood to cook a restaurant-quality meal. We all need something nutritious yet tasty and cooked in 30 minutes or less every few weeknights, and Hungryroot delivers.
One of the downsides that I found with this brand was that there were a lot of single-use plastics to get rid of. While some of these materials are recyclable, this may not be ideal for the eco-conscious consumer. Also, some users have reported that there are occasional missing or wrong items included. But, Hungryroot’s response to any customer issues is generally positive (despite sporadic issues with resolution times).
Pros
- All-in-one grocery delivery service offering recipes and pantry staples
- Easy to filter for allergies or special dietary needs
- High-quality ingredients
- Nutritious snack and pantry items
- Recipes are easy to follow and (actually) take less than 30 minutes
- Recipe card includes an organized gocery list with storage and cooking tips, freezing options and more
- Customizable
- Flexible delivery
- Prioritizes sustainability in packaging, delivery and ingredients
- Hungryroot app lets you edit your cart, swap ingredients, reschedule or skip a delivery and more
Cons
- Flavor profile and meal variety aren’t the most unique
- Packaging comes with some single-use plastics
- No granular control over ingredients; may be dangerous for those with allergies
Additional Testing in 2026
Shopping Editor Mary Henn retested Hungryroot in 2026 to confirm that the hybrid delivery service is just as good as when we first tried it in 2024. Mary has tested countless meal kit delivery services, including the best prepared meal delivery services and the best meal delivery services for families.
Mary sampled a few lunch and dinner options, as well as a breakfast with chicken sausage, eggs and potatoes. “Right off the bat, I was impressed with Hungryroot’s packaging,” she says. “The ingredients were loose in the box, but there was no mess or leaking, and no unnecessary extra packaging. The real star of the show (or box, rather) is the recipe card, which features simple, short, easy-to-follow instructions. Nearly every meal I tried took around 15 minutes to make.”
Some meal kit delivery services label a recipe with a 35-minute cook time, for instance, but once you factor in ingredient prep and other non-active steps, those meals can take over an hour. Mary appreciated that Hungryroot’s recipes deliver on their promise of quick, easy-to-make meals.
“I also love that on the back of the recipe card, there’s a grocery list divided by what goes in the fridge and what goes in the pantry,” Mary adds. “There’s also a ‘Use Within’ column that tells you how many days you have to use each ingredient. Genius! I wish every meal kit recipe card did this.”
The recipe cards also include cooking tips, freezing recommendations and other helpful guidance that further simplify the process.
“While I agree with the initial testing consensus that many of the recipes are a bit basic in terms of ingredients and flavor profiles, I think that’s part of the trade-off for super-fast prep and cook times. I also like that minimal ingredients mean I know exactly what’s in each dish and that I can easily recreate the recipes later on,” Mary says. “It also means dishes aren’t over-seasoned or unnecessarily complicated. And minimal prep is ideal for a working toddler mom like myself.”
Mary was also impressed by the precooked meat options. “Okay, precooked meats don’t always sound appealing—I get it. I’ve tried my fair share from various brands, and when they aren’t good… they really aren’t good,” she says. “But they’re undeniably a huge time-saver in the kitchen. After trying the smoked salmon and sous vide chicken breasts, I can confidently say that Hungryroot offers some of the best precooked proteins of any meal kit delivery service I’ve tested.”
Product Comparison: Hungryroot vs. Traditional Meal Kits
With plenty of meal delivery options, how does Hungryroot compare to popular options like Marley Spoon and Blue Apron? Part grocery delivery and part meal kit, you’ll notice from Hungryroot reviews that this doesn’t fit into just one category.
That’s why we call Hungryroot a hybrid meal service—it combines the convenience of ready-to-heat meal kits and the satisfaction of cooking your own recipes. Plus, you can stock up on grocery staples like milk, produce, snacks and dessert all in one click.
While popular meal kit services send pre-portioned ingredients for recipes (like one whole potato or three bell peppers that need to be chopped), Hungryroot takes care of the tedious slicing and dicing by sending veggies or protein ready to plop in a pan to sear or sauté. It’s this feature alone that makes me come back to Hungryroot. Less prep work and dishes to clean means more free time—who can say no to that?
Final Verdict
From all the Hungryroot reviews out there, if you take one thing from mine, let it be this. I’ve tested 10 popular meal kit services and Hungryroot is by far the least time-consuming when it comes down to cooking in the kitchen. The one-stop-shop model makes it a breeze to customize my recipes based on dietary needs or allergies and grab all the pantry goods I need for the upcoming week.
The meals aren’t the most wow-worthy, but they are great when you need under 30-minute meals that fill the whole family’s belly with nutritious ingredients. For this reason, I recommend this service to anyone who wants a healthy weeknight dinner on the table fast.
Where To Buy Hungryroot
Hungryroot
A meal kit service that delivers simple recipes and good-for-you groceries all in one place
Ready for the easiest meals ever? Customize your meal plan on Hungryoot’s website where boxes start at around $65.
Bonus: the price includes pantry essentials, so you can feel good about how far your money goes with this service. Wondering what’s for dinner is truly a thing of the past, thanks to Hungryroot.
FAQ
Is Hungryroot organic?
Not all of the brand’s food is certified organic and non-GMO, but they do try to source organic options whenever possible.
How much does Hungryroot cost per month?
Hungryroot meal plans start at $65 per box. Plans are customizable based on how many people you’re feeding, and the recipes and pantry goods you select, so the price varies. Per serving, prices start around $4 (for breakfast), $9 (for dinners), $6 (for lunches), $2 (for snacks and sweets), and $0.50 (for single-serve supplements).
My plan cost around $140, which included 8-10 pantry goods and four recipes (two servings each).
How do I cancel Hungryroot?
You can easily cancel your Hungryroot subscription by navigating to your account and clicking “cancel account” under “account details.”
Why You Should Trust Us
Here at Taste of Home, we’ve been testing meal kits since they first came on the market. Our expert reviewers and product testers have sampled dozens of meals from all the top players, including Green Chef and Dinnerly. With decades of culinary experience, our team then rates these kits on ease of ordering, delivery experience, freshness, and, of course, flavor.
Madi Koetting is a pioneer of Taste of Home‘s social media and editorial team with hands-on experience testing and reviewing top products for more brands including Reader’s Digest, The Everygirl, Stylecaster, Family Handyman and more. She has reviewed thousands of products in the home and lifestyle sphere, with specific experience with kitchen gadgets and appliances. Given her extensive experience, she is an excellent candidate to review Hungryroot.
Nancy Snyder is a shopping editor and professional dietitian with experience at Taste of Home, Family Handyman, Reader’s Digest, Women’s Health, The Pet Collective, MyFitnessPal, Prevention and Bustle. At these publications, she has effectively honed her skills in cooking and identifying the food industry’s top trends, recipes, subscriptions and products. Given all of her previous experience, she is an excellent candidate to review Hungryroot.
Mary Henn is a shopping editor for Taste of Home, Family Handyman and Reader’s Digest. She has tested virtually every major meal kit delivery service on the market and has led testing for top categories, including the best meal delivery services for families and the best prepared meal delivery services. As a mom of a toddler, she regularly evaluates products designed for kids and families, bringing real-life insight to every review. When testing meal kit delivery services, she assesses overall time commitment, recipe simplicity, ingredient quality and family appeal. Mary retested Hungryroot in 2026 to ensure the hybrid meal kit delivery service continues to deliver on its promises of fast, easy, nutritious and satisfying meals.
