Meatless Meal Kits: Flexitarian & Green Eating

Short answer: If you want to eat less meat through a meal kit, EveryPlate is the strongest budget pick — meals start at just $5.99 per serving, and its menu regularly includes vegetarian options. If you'd rather have vegetarian and vegan meals built in for you, Green Chef runs dedicated Vegan and Vegetarian plans, and Sunbasket offers vegetarian and pescatarian recipes every week. Prefer to cut back gradually within a familiar, affordable kit? HelloFresh has a dedicated Veggie plan among its menus, starting at $10.99 per serving.

You don't have to go vegan to eat greener. Most Americans who cut back on meat do it as flexitarians: less meat, more plants, without hard rules. A meal kit can make that easy — if you pick the right one. In this guide, we look at what "meatless" actually means in the subscription world, what U.S. dietary guidelines recommend, and which kits make a greener everyday routine the simplest. We lean on each provider's actual menu structure — dedicated veggie/vegan plans versus occasional vegetarian recipes — so you can choose based on what's really on the menu, not on marketing.

"Meatless" covers a spectrum, and it's worth knowing the difference before you order. Vegan means completely free of animal products — no meat, fish, eggs, or dairy; whether that's realistic with a meal kit is something we dig into in is a vegan meal kit possible?. Vegetarian skips meat and fish but typically still allows eggs and dairy — there are more real options here, which we round up under vegetarian meal kits. Then there's flexitarian, the most common approach for American households: you still eat meat, just less of it and less often.

Most of the major meal kits aren't built meat-free from the ground up. Instead, they give you tools to dial it back: a dedicated veggie meal plan, a handful of plant-forward recipes in the regular menu, or a kit with noticeably less meat per serving overall. That means you can cut back on meat without switching to a dedicated specialty kit — but it also means some kits make it far easier than others. The key is looking at how much meat a serving actually contains, and how much room is left for vegetables alongside it.

USDA dietary guidelines are clear on this: fill at least half your plate with fruits and vegetables, and choose a variety of protein sources — including seafood, beans, peas, and lentils — rather than leaning on red and processed meat. The guidelines also call for regularly working more legumes into the week, since they're a source of both protein and fiber that many people fall short on. The overall direction from major nutrition bodies is consistent: a more plant-forward plate, with meat as one part of the mix rather than the default.

The reality, though, is that most people eat more meat and fewer vegetables and legumes than recommended. A meal kit with a built-in veggie plan or an easy way to swap in plant-forward recipes can be a simple lever for closing that gap, without requiring a full diet overhaul. Curious how healthy meal kits are more broadly? We cover that in are meal kits healthy?

Looking across the major providers, the clearest pattern is that budget and value-focused kits tend to lean more plant-forward, while classic culinary kits and premium prepared meals skew heavier on meat and seafood by default. Here's how the six kits in this guide compare on their approach to meatless and plant-forward eating:

The difference in approach is meaningful. Green Chef and Sunbasket stand out for building vegetarian, vegan, or pescatarian choices directly into their weekly menus, so you don't have to hunt for them. Want to understand our full testing approach? It's laid out on our how we test page.

If the goal is a greener everyday routine without having to rebuild your own recipes, EveryPlate is the obvious pick. It's the most budget-friendly of the major meal kits, with prices starting at just $5.99 per serving, and its rotating menu regularly features vegetarian recipes alongside the meat-based options. Owned by HelloFresh, it uses the same supply chain and recipe testing but strips out the extras to keep costs down.

Because EveryPlate is priced so far below the rest of the market, it's an easy way to build a few plant-forward dinners into your week without paying a premium for it. Customers on Trustpilot (around 4.0/5) tend to praise the value and simplicity, with some complaints about occasional ingredient substitutions. There's no long-term commitment, and new customers typically get meals from as little as $2.99 on their first box. If you want to go greener without overthinking it, this is where you get the most for the least effort — just know the menu leans convenience over premium ingredients, unlike pricier organic options such as Green Chef.

You don't necessarily need to switch to the greenest kit on the market. Several major providers let you dial back meat from within their regular menu. HelloFresh runs a dedicated Veggie meal plan alongside its other menus, so you can pick plant-forward recipes week after week — handy if the rest of the household still wants meat some nights. Pricing starts at $10.99 per serving, and there's no subscription commitment, so you can experiment freely.

Prefer something already done for you? Sunbasket offers vegetarian and pescatarian recipes every week, starting around $11.49 per serving, plus a mix of kits and prepared meals you just heat up. One simple tactic works regardless of provider: deliberately order a couple of meatless recipes each week and let the vegetable- and legume-forward dishes fill in the rest. Because none of these kits require a long-term commitment, you can adjust up or down as it suits you — more on that in meal kits with no commitment. Use a few meatless weeks to test whether flexitarian eating works for your household before settling on a regular kit.

If you don't want to give up animal protein entirely but want to move away from red meat, seafood is an obvious middle ground — and it's directly in line with USDA guidance to work more seafood into your weekly protein rotation. Blue Apron leans into classic culinary recipes with a strong rotation of seafood dishes, and following its 2025 relaunch as a no-subscription, à-la-carte service, pricing starts at $7.49 per serving. Keep in mind that Blue Apron's portions run meat- and fish-forward by design, so it's more a path to less red meat than to less meat overall. You'll find the full lineup under our seafood meal kits roundup.

On the premium and organic side, Green Chef is worth knowing: it's USDA-certified organic with dedicated Vegan, Vegetarian, Keto, and gluten-free plans built into the menu, so pescatarian and plant-forward eating is genuinely easy here rather than occasional. It's also the priciest option in this guide, starting at around $13.99 per serving, which is the tradeoff for organic ingredients and diet-specific menu planning. The takeaway: convenience and a green profile don't always line up — a prepared or premium option can be light on meat while still costing more than a value kit with a similar plant-forward focus.

There's no single right answer — it depends on how green you want to go and what your budget allows. Want the most budget-friendly plant-forward option with the least effort? EveryPlate is the clear choice: lowest price per serving ($5.99), with vegetarian recipes in regular rotation. Want to cut back on meat gradually within a flexible, familiar kit? HelloFresh's Veggie meal plan gives you that control starting at $10.99.

Want it easy and mostly done for you? Sunbasket offers vegetarian and pescatarian recipes with a mix of kits and prepared options, while Green Chef delivers dedicated Vegan and Vegetarian plans if you prioritize certified-organic ingredients over price. And if you just want to move away from red meat specifically, Blue Apron's seafood-forward menu is a well-reviewed middle ground. Whichever you pick, none of these providers lock you into a long-term commitment — so you can start green, test it for a few weeks, and adjust as you go. Still not sure? Walk through how to choose a meal kit or check our overall rankings on best meal kits. Use each provider's actual meatless options as your guide, not the marketing copy.