Weight loss can be a challenge. But what many find even more challenging is finding a diet that works long-term.
There are countless “fad” diets out there that all seem to come and go as the years pass by. However, one that has stood the test of time is Weight Watchers (also called WW).
Weight Watchers originally started out in 1963 by Jean Nidetch. Like many who try dieting, she tried various methods to lose weight, such as hypnosis and pills, but was unsuccessful and, ultimately, returned to her original weight.
It wasn’t until she decided to seek medically-backed guidance where she was able to lose 20lbs in a 10-week program. However, her motivation to stick with the diet eventually waned. That’s when it clicked… If she could combine a medically-backed diet program with the support of a community of people to aid each other, it could help people see long-term results. Thus, Weight Watchers was born.
Rated year-over-year as one of the best diets for weight loss, Weight Watchers has helped countless people achieve their weight loss goals.
One obstacle that many people face when trying to follow the Weight Watchers program is finding meals that fit within their points system. While there are cookbooks available, it can be difficult to stick to a diet if the meals are not convenient and, more importantly, tasty.
The easier it is for you to have a delicious meal that is Weight Watchers friendly, the more likely it is for you to stick with Weight Watchers long-term and achieve your weight goals. That’s where meal delivery services come in.
If you’re following Weight Watchers, a meal delivery service can be a convenient way to get delicious meals that fit within your points system without having to do all the counting yourself. However, not all meal delivery services offer Weight Watchers-friendly options, and it can be tough to find one that’s even worth considering.
Here at Food Box HQ we’ve spent years testing hundreds of different food boxes and meal delivery services to help people just like you find the one that’s best for them. Today I’m going to share our favorite Weight Watchers (WW) meal delivery services. Not only will I give you my personal experience using these meal delivery services (the good and the bad) but I’ll also share insights from others who have used these meal delivery services while on Weight Watchers.
Food Box HQ Note: Please note that the information provided in this article is for informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Weight loss and dietary changes can have significant effects on your health, and it is important to consult with a medical professional before making any changes to your diet or exercise routine. The meal delivery services discussed in this article are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Individual results may vary, and it is very important to carefully consider your personal needs and goals before making a decision about which meal delivery service is right for you.
Best WW Meal Delivery Service
Blue Apron (Wellness Plan)
Chances are you’re well aware of Blue Apron. They’re one of the longest running and most popular meal delivery services around.
Based on our tests and research, Blue Apron is the clear frontrunner when it comes to meal delivery services that are Weight Watchers compliant. This mainly comes down to the fact that Blue Apron has had a partnership with Weight Watchers since 2018.
However, it is very important to note that you can only receive WW approved meals on Blue Apron’s Wellness plan. Even then, you will have to look for the “WW” logo on the meal before selecting it as not every single meal on the Wellness plan will be Weight Watchers approved.
Types Of Meals Offered: Lunch and Dinner
Lowest Price Per Meal: $7.99
My Favorite Blue Apron WW-Approved Meals:
- Mediterranean Chicken Salad With Roasted Chickpeas And Marinated Beets (5 points)
- Chicken and Quinoa Burrito Bowl With Roasted Carrots and Spicy Radishes (7 points)
- Indian-Style Baked Chicken With Cabbage, Poblano Pepper, And Ferro (8 points)
What I Like About Blue Apron:
- I really appreciate how convenient Blue Apron’s Weight Watchers approved meals are to make. They offer a range of recipes that vary in how long they take to prepare, but I’ve never had one take longer than 35-40 minutes. Some options are even oven-ready.
- Blue Apron is the only meal delivery service that is approved by Weight Watchers. I’ve noticed there are some other meal delivery services out there that allude to being Weight Watchers approved. However, as of publishing this article, there are none other than Blue Apron.
- Blue Apron makes it very easy to see the points of each meal on the recipe card. I’ve noticed that they generally range from 5 to 10 points per serving. Here’s a picture of the recipe card and points.
- I found Blue Apron to be a great way to learn and collect new WW friendly recipes. My wife and I keep a binder with all of the recipe cards from Blue Apron meals that we like and make them in the future.
What I Dislike About Blue Apron:
- Blue Apron does not give you enough options to cover every meal for the week. The most WW approved meals I’ve seen on their Wellness plan has been 4. This means Blue Apron will only be able to supplement some of your meals.
- While the recipes are easy to understand and follow, I found that many of the more involved ones do require multiple pots and pans. This ends up leading to more time needed to clean things up afterwards.
Best For Tasty WW Meals
HelloFresh (Calorie Smart Meals)
HelloFresh, like Blue Apron, is another behemoth in the meal kit industry. However, unlike Blue Apron, HelloFresh does not have a Weight Watchers approved meal plan. That being said, many people out there use HelloFresh as a meal kit while on Weight Watchers. The key to success is to be mindful of the meals you select and understand you’ll have to track the ingredients to make sure the points fit into your daily budget.
The only HelloFresh meal plan that you should consider if you’re following Weight Watchers is their Fit & Wholesome plan, which will give you their Calorie Smart recipes. These are recipes that hit around the 650 calorie mark per serving.
Regardless though, as I mentioned above, you will need to make sure that you check the points of the meals before adding them to your box each week. You don’t want to add meals, receive your box, and realize that one serving will put you over or close to your total daily points budget.
Additionally, you will likely have to make some adjustments to the recipes. This means cutting out certain high points ingredients like white rice and other carb-heavy foods.
This reddit user does a great job of explaining how to make HelloFresh work on WW:
“I track each ingredient individually. Lots of recipes include some of my zero point foods (chicken, potatoes, etc) and there is some discrepancy there when you take those into consideration. Some of the recipes are really high in points so you need to be careful about what you choose. I tend to avoid anything with ground pork, creamy sauces, etc. Try the calorie/carb smart options!”
Types Of Meals Offered: Lunch and Dinner
Lowest Price Per Meal: $8.99
My Favorite HelloFresh Meals:
- Pork Souvlaki-Style Salad with Creamy Lemon Dressing
- One-Pot Black Bean & Pepper Soup
- Pork Chops & Apple Rosemary Pan Sauce with Roasted Brussels Sprouts
What I Like About HelloFresh:
- Out of all the meal delivery services I’ve tried, HelloFresh seems to be the most consistent in terms of taste and flavor. This also makes them a great meal kit for those who are “foodies” but want to stick to the Weight Watchers program.
- HelloFresh has around 15 Calorie Smart recipe options to choose from each week, which is much more than what Blue Apron’s WW approved plan offers.
- HelloFresh has a marketplace where you can also add-on other foods to receive in your box each week. Of course, like with the meals, you’ll need to double check that they adhere to your points budget.
What I Dislike About HelloFresh:
- Like Blue Apron, they don’t give you the ability to have meals for the entire week.
- I found that the prep and cooking times listed on the recipe cards can sometimes be a bit misleading. For example, some 30-minute recipes we’ve made ended up taking 45+ minutes.
- HelloFresh does have a habit of using certain ingredients that are high in points (such as white rice and sour cream). You’ll need to find substitutions for these ingredients (such as brown rice and Greek yoghurt).
Best For Customizing Your Meals
Home Chef
Home Chef may not be as popular as HelloFresh and Blue Apron but, in my opinion, they’re one of the best meal kits out there and that includes for those following Weight Watchers.
Like HelloFresh, Home Chef does not have a Weight Watchers approved plan so you will need to be mindful of the meals you add to your box each week and make sure that they adhere to your points budget.
If you’re on Weight Watchers, you’ll want to make sure that you only choose Home Chef meals that are marked Calorie-Conscious or Carb-Conscious. These recipes are going to be the most likely to hit lower points. Even then, though, you’ll need to make ingredient substitutions in some meals.
This reddit user does a great job explaining how to best track WW points when using Home Chef:
“I use Home Chef, and create a recipe using the ingredients listed on the recipe card. Prefer to do this vs just using the nutritional information because it takes advantage of zero point foods. Some meals are heavier on points so input the recipes, track my dinners the plan lunches around that.”
Types Of Meals Offered: Lunch and Dinner
Lowest Price Per Meal: $8.99
My Favorite Home Chef Meals:
- Arrabbiata Crusted Chicken And Roasted Vegetables With Crème Fraiche
- Chicken With Mushroom-Shallot Sauce And Wild Rice
- Alfredo Chicken With Sweet And Smoky Arugula Salad
What I Like About Home Chef:
- Home Chef allows you to customize your recipes before receiving them. This means you can swap out certain ingredients for others. Not only is this good for those looking to reduce WW points by switching to other ingredients, it also makes it easier for picky eaters to find meals they’ll enjoy.
- Home Chef does a great job of keeping their ingredients organized in the box. This may seem like a little thing to point out but I personally like being able to just grab a bag, with the name of the recipe on it, that has all of the ingredients needed.
- Home Chef has some of the quickest recipes out of any meal delivery services that I’ve tried. They have “express” meals that take around 15 minutes to make, one-pan recipes, and oven-ready recipes. This makes cooking super convenient, especially considering they even give you an aluminum pan for their oven-ready meals, making cleanup a breeze.
What I Dislike About Home Chef:
- Home Chef uses a lot of plastic in their packaging. While convenient to have everything bagged together, it creates plastic bags inside of more plastic bags. I wish that they would switch to brown paper bags like HelloFresh uses.
- I found Home Chef’s meals aren’t as creative as the other options on this list. They aren’t by any means bad but I’ve had more sub-par meals with Home Chef than others listed here.
Best For Meals & Marketplace
Sunbasket
Sunbasket is a meal delivery service that often flies under many people’s radars, which is a shame because it’s another great option to consider (especially for those following Weight Watchers).
Like the other meal delivery services mentioned above, Sunbasket offers meal kit meals but they also offer pre-made meals under their Fresh & Ready plan. The good news is that both Sunbasket’s meal kit meals and pre-made meals have options for those following Weight Watchers. Again, though, you’ll have to be mindful of points.
Another big differentiator between Sunbasket and the other meal delivery services listed above is the fact that Sunbasket has a massive marketplace. This allows you to add other items to your box every week such as coffee, pre-cooked meats, nuts, soups, and more. While not every option is low in points, I’ve found some of their marketplace options to be zero points (such as their smoked salmon and tofu).
While Sunbasket doesn’t have dedicated Weight Watchers approved meals like Blue Apron, some people tend to prefer Sunbasket’s meal delivery service over Blue Apron’s simply due to the fact that there are more options available.
The key to success with using Sunbasket while following Weight Watchers is to use the Weight Watchers recipe builder to account for zero point foods. As this reddit commenter says, it can make a 20+ point meal come out 10 points lower
Types Of Meals Offered: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Snacks, Drinks
Lowest Price Per Meal: $9.99
My Favorite Sunbasket Meals:
- Grilled Pork Chop With Curry Sauce Over Roasted Apples And Cauliflower (Fresh & Ready pre-made meal)
- Orange-Glazed Salmon With Root Vegetables And Cashew-Beet Smear
- Hearty Beef Soup With Sweet Potato And Cabbage
What I Like About Sunbasket:
- Sunbasket’s meals are some of the most creative and adventurous that I’ve had from a meal kit. This makes them a great option for those following Weight Watchers who are looking for more interesting, flavorful meals.
- Since Sunbasket has such a massive marketplace, it gives you the ability to add-on snacks, drinks, and additional meals that are, most importantly, low in WW points.
- Sunbasket is one of the few meal delivery services out there that offers pre-made meals that fit into the Weight Watchers program.
- Sunbasket’s meals use some of the highest quality ingredients that I’ve seen from a meal delivery service. For example, the produce is certified organic and the meats are antibiotic- and hormone-free.
- Sunbasket allows you to exclude specific ingredients from your meals upon signing up. This makes them ideal for those with food allergies.
What I Dislike About Sunbasket:
- Sunbasket is not cheap. Compared to other options on this list, like Blue Apron and HelloFresh, Sunbasket comes in a few dollars more per meal. While the Fresh & Ready pre-made meals are around $10 per serving, their meal kit meals are around $11.50 per serving (depending on the plan you go with).
- Sunbasket meals are not great for super picky eaters. Their meals are adventurous, meaning you’re going to see meals and ingredients on the menu that you’ve likely never seen before.
What To Keep In Mind Before Ordering
While all of the meal delivery services above can be used in one way or another to follow the Weight Watchers program, there are a few things you should keep in mind before making your final decision…
- Check The Menu: Every site listed above has a menu page where you can see what meals are coming up. Make sure that these meals look appetizing to you. Last thing you want is to get stuck with meals you don’t actually enjoy eating.
- Consider Your Budget: Meal delivery services can be expensive, especially ones that cater to specific diets, so make sure the cost fits within your budget.
- Consider Your Cooking Proficiency: Some of the meal kits mentioned above do take time and effort to prepare. This will require some level of comfort in the kitchen. If you’re trying to limit your time cooking, consider quick prep meals such as Home Chef’s one-pot and over-ready meals or Sunbasket’s “Fresh & Ready” pre-made meals.
- Check For Special Deals: Many meal delivery services offer discounts or promotions for first-time customers or for those who sign up for a subscription. This can be a great way to test out a meal delivery service before fully committing. We collect all of the best coupons and discounts available on this page on our site.
- Check For Customization Options: Some meal delivery services, like Home Chef and Sunbasket, allow you to customize your meals or choose from a variety of menu options. This can be helpful if you have specific dietary needs or preferences.
How We Chose These Meal Delivery Services
Here at Food Box HQ we’ve spent years trying hundreds of different boxes from many different meal delivery services.
In order to find the best options out there, we put in a lot of time and effort researching, testing, and reviewing different meal delivery services.
Our evaluation process includes purchasing and trying the meals, conducting taste tests, comparing the service to similar ones, and identifying all of the pros and cons associated with the service.
Here’s how we narrowed down this list to select the best Weight Watchers meal delivery services out there…
- The meal delivery service must offer meals that come in under 20 points. This makes sure that people can have meals that won’t take up their entire day’s worth of points.
- The meal delivery service must be able to ship to the majority of the United States. We made a point to exclude meal delivery services that can only ship to certain regions or states.
- The meal delivery service must offer a range of different options. This ensures that you don’t get bored eating the same thing over and over again.
- The meal delivery service must take the quality of their meals seriously. This means using organic ingredients when possible, antibiotic and hormone-free meats, etc.
- The meal delivery service must make it easy to skip weeks, pause, and cancel the subscription. No one should feel locked into a meal delivery service because they make it hard to stop.
Have a question about any of the Weight Watchers meal delivery services listed above? Let me know in the comments below!
THANK YOU