You want to eat better without spending hours cooking every day. You have options: do-it-yourself meal prep, meal kit subscriptions, or ready-to-eat prepared meals. Each solves the same problem differently.
This isn't about which is "best" - it's about which is best for your situation. Let's break down the honest pros and cons.
The Three Options Compared
| Factor | DIY Meal Prep | Meal Kits | Ready Meals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time per week | 2-3 hours | 3-5 hours | 5-10 minutes |
| Cost per meal | £2-4 | £5-8 | £6-10 |
| Cooking skill needed | Medium | Low-Medium | None |
| Variety | You decide | High | High |
| Food waste | Variable | Low | Very low |
| Control over ingredients | Complete | Limited | Limited |
💡 The Real Question
What's more scarce for you: time or money? If time is precious, lean toward ready meals. If budget is tight, DIY meal prep wins on cost.
Option 1: DIY Meal Prep
🍳 Do-It-Yourself Meal Prep
You plan, shop, cook, and portion everything yourself. Typically done as a weekly batch cooking session.
Pros:
- Cheapest per-meal cost (often under £3)
- Complete control over ingredients and portions
- Can accommodate any dietary requirement
- No subscription commitments
Cons:
- Requires 2-3 hours weekly
- Need cooking skills and equipment
- Planning and shopping adds mental load
- Can get repetitive without recipe rotation
Option 2: Meal Kits (HelloFresh, Gousto, etc.)
📦 Meal Kit Subscriptions
Pre-portioned ingredients delivered with recipes. You still cook, but planning and shopping are handled for you.
Pros:
- No meal planning or shopping required
- Learn new recipes and techniques
- Pre-portioned ingredients reduce waste
- High variety week to week
Cons:
- Still requires 30-45 minutes cooking per meal
- More expensive than DIY (£5-8 per serving)
- Excessive packaging can be frustrating
- Subscription models can be hard to pause/cancel
- Recipes often optimized for simplicity over nutrition
Option 3: Ready-to-Eat Prepared Meals
🍱 Ready-Made Meal Delivery
Fully prepared meals delivered to your door. Just heat and eat - no cooking, no prep, no cleanup.
Pros:
- Zero cooking time (2-3 minutes to heat)
- No shopping, planning, or dishes
- Consistent portions and nutrition
- Minimal food waste
- Good quality options now exist (beyond old-school "ready meals")
Cons:
- Higher cost per meal than DIY
- Less control over exact ingredients
- Need to trust the provider's quality
- Not the same as "home cooking" if that matters to you
The Hybrid Approach
Here's what actually works for most people: combining approaches based on your week.
- Prep lunches yourself (DIY is easy for work lunches)
- Get ready meals for busy weeknight dinners (when you're tired)
- Cook fresh on weekends (when you have time to enjoy it)
There's no rule saying you have to commit to one approach. Use what works for each situation in your life.
🎯 Bottom Line
The best option is whichever one you'll actually stick with. A perfect meal prep routine you abandon after two weeks is worse than a "lazy" ready meal habit you maintain for months.
What About Quality?
The old assumption was: homemade = healthy, ready meals = unhealthy. That's no longer reliably true.
Some meal kit recipes are loaded with cream and butter to make them taste good. Some DIY meal preppers live on the same five bland foods. And some chef-prepared meal services (like HomeCooks) make genuinely nutritious, quality food that's a world away from supermarket ready meals.
The quality question isn't about the method - it's about the specific food you're eating. Check the nutrition labels, look at the ingredients, and don't assume "homemade" automatically means better.
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