One of the biggest things new moms often fail to plan for is what and how they will eat after giving birth. Thankfully, some excellent meal delivery services can nourish you in your postpartum recovery to help you feel your best.
Between changing diapers, feeding your baby, sneaking in some rest time, and learning how to parent, nourishing yourself can quickly fall down your priority list.
While you may have had every intention to batch-cook and freeze meals and snacks, the reality is that it often isn’t enough. Having a meal service deliver ready-to-eat, pre-made meals right to your door can be a life-saver for your sanity and stomach.
They’ll help you (ideally, your partner) pull together a nourishing, nutrient-dense, and satisfying meal in no time. Keep reading to find out which delivery services we love and how they stack up.
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Which meal delivery service is the best?
The word “best” is a pretty subjective term, so while reading through our round-up, it’s essential to consider you and your family’s needs.
- Allotted budget
- Number of people to feed
- Dietary restrictions
- Meal preferences
- Delivery area
- Customizable menu
- Duration of program
The above list isn’t exhaustive, but it will give you an excellent place to start to find the best meal delivery service for your postpartum recovery. Keep these points in mind as you read through our picks.
It’s also important to consider that some meal delivery services deliver only the ingredients plus recipes while others deliver the meals cooked and ready to eat. We’ve denoted which is which throughout the post.
1. Splendid Spoon
Average cost/meal: $9-$13 a meal
If ready-to-eat, healthy, mostly organic meals are your thing, check out Splendid Spoon. Their menu focuses primarily on smoothies and nourishing bowls of all kinds – soups, noodles, grains, and more – all designed to fuel you with delicious, high-quality ingredients.
Your food box will arrive chilled and ready for the fridge or freezer.
Splendid Spoon is great for postpartum recovery because minimal work is required from the fridge to your bowl. The most work you’ll have to do is toss it in the microwave or saucepan. The meals do well in the refrigerator or freezer if you’d like to save them for later.
Additional Splendid Spoon details
Plans: five different plans are available, ranging from breakfast only to breakfast, lunch, dinner, and reset
Menu selection: your menu is fully customizable with each delivery
Dietary options: customization of ingredients is not available at this time, but all meals are gluten-free and plant-based
Assembly required: smoothies are ready-to-eat; heating is only needed for bowls
2. Daily Harvest
Average cost/meal: $6.99-$7.75 a meal
If you’re digging the ease that Splendid Spoon provides, you’ll love what Daily Harvest offers because they have an even greater variety of meals.
While Splendid Spoon’s smoothies are ready-to-eat, the smoothie cups from Daily Harvest require you to dump the frozen ingredients and a liquid of your choice into a high-speed blender. Easy enough, though.
You’ll also find a large variety of meals – such as flatbreads, soups, forager bowls, oat bowls, chia bowls, and even superfood ice cream – ready for easy eating during your postpartum period. Everything is done for you other than heating or blending as far as prep work goes.
Additional Daily Harvest details
Plans: available in small (9 items), medium (14 items), or large (24 items)
Menu selection: your menu is fully customizable with each delivery
Dietary options: customization of ingredients is not available at this time, but all meals are gluten-free and dairy-free
Assembly required: almost ready-to-eat; only heating or blending required for most meals
3. Sakara
Average cost/meal: $19-$23 per meal
While Sakara is undoubtedly a more significant investment than Daily Harvest or Splendid Spoon, there’s no denying the quality of ingredients (locally sourced and organic) and creativity that goes into every meal. Check out this awesome Sakara review, and see what we mean.
With Sakara, it’s like having chef-created, nutritionist-approved meals sent to your door. From superfood waffles to beetroot veggie burgers to avocado cacao pudding, the meals from Sakara feel truly nourishing and divine.
Exclusive Sakara savings for our readers
Save 20% on your first Sakara meal delivery with code XOHELLOPP — check out next week’s menu.
Along with your meals, you’ll receive a menu for the week, a sample of their Detox Tea, five days of their Complete Probiotic, and concentrated Beauty and Detox Water Drops.
Due to the higher price point, a meal delivery from Sakara would make a great gift to add to your registry for friends or family to split.
Additional Sakara details
Plans: two, three, and five-day meal plans of a minimum of two meals per day
Menu selection: the menu is pre-set and cannot be changed
Dietary options: depending on your program, Sakara may accommodate severe allergies. All meals are gluten, and dairy-free.
Assembly required: ready-to-eat, only heating required on some meals
4. Gobble
Average cost/meal: $11.99 per meal
Unlike the meal delivery services listed above, Gobble does require some meal prep work on your end. Thankfully, all meals are designed to be ready within 15 minutes or less, so you won’t be dedicating too much time to the kitchen.
When you open your meal delivery box from Gobble, you’ll see that they do a lot of the prep work for you, including par-cooking (partially cooked) grains, sauces, and pasta, as well as slicing and dicing the required vegetables and meat.
If you check out their menu, you’ll find they offer plenty of dinner and lunch options and have soups, salads, breakfast, and even dessert options. Check out their upcoming weekly menus to get an idea of their offerings.
Additional Gobble details
Plans: select from three or four nights/meals per week
Menu selection: your menu is fully customizable with each delivery
Dietary options: your meals can be prepared dairy-free, nut-free, or gluten-free by withholding certain ingredients in your meals
Assembly required: meals are not ready-to-eat, but a large portion of the cooking (slicing, dicing, and par-cooking) has been done for you
5. Ritual Meals
Average cost/meal: about $30 per meal
Oct. 2021 update: we’ve heard that Ritual has paused its postpartum meal delivery services and will update the post with any updates.
Ritual Meals is explicitly designed for postpartum mothers and offers organic meals, snacks, and teas delivered to your door. All meals are fully cooked, ready to eat, and made with high-quality, nutrient-dense ingredients to encourage postpartum recovery.
The meals are nutritionally designed to encourage a healthy recovery, promote hormonal balance, encourage energy levels, and support a healthy milk supply if the mom is nursing.
Ritual Meals was founded by two moms who discovered the power of Chinese Medicine and healing herbs during their postpartum recovery. Many of these principles can be found in the Ritual Meals meal delivery programs.
Additional Ritual Meals details
Plans: available in two, three, and five-day programs
Menu selection: your menu is fully customizable with each delivery
Dietary options: customization of ingredients is not available at this time
Assembly required: ready-to-eat, only heating required on some meals
A side-by-side meal delivery program comparison
| Budget-friendly? | Custom menu? | Ready-to-eat? | Organic? | |
| Splendid Spoon | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓* |
| Daily Harvest | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Sakara | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Gobble | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Ritual Meals | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
*Note: While most of Splendid Spoon’s ingredients are organic, there are a few exceptions in some bowls and smoothies. Make sure to check each label for the most up-to-date ingredient list.
Our pick: the best postpartum meal delivery service
Winner: Daily Harvest
Budget, flexibility, menu options, ingredient quality, etc. – our postpartum meal delivery service pick is Daily Harvest.
We love the endless meal options, from flatbreads to chia and oat bowls to superfood bites, perfect for breastfeeding mamas. Plus, all ingredients are organic, and you can easily update, edit, and skip your delivery schedule through your phone.
Order Daily Harvest now and save up to $40 on your box.
Runner up: Sakara
While the average cost per meal is higher than almost all other meal delivery services on our list, we know it’s with good reason. The ingredients and care that go into every Sakara meal are unparalleled, and you can genuinely taste the difference.
Keep in mind that because the program is entirely plant-based, some moms might need to add additional animal protein sources and extra snacks throughout the day. Make sure to listen to your body and its needs.
Don’t forget; at checkout, you can save 20% on your meal delivery with our exclusive Sakara discount code XOHELLOPP.
Order Sakara now and save 20% on your order.
Local postpartum meal delivery services
While there are many national meal delivery services to help you recover during postpartum, there are plenty of local options in larger cities if you’d like to support your local community.
If you’d like to check out the local options in your area, a quick Google search for “postpartum meal delivery service + your city name” can help you get started. We’ve rounded up several major cities and their leading postpartum meal delivery services. Check them out below.
1. Seattle, Washington
Maven Meals
Westerly
2. New York City, New York
Nouri Kitchen
Modern Love
Chen Mommy
3. Los Angeles, California
Mama Glow
Milk + Seed
Motherbees
Additional postpartum nutrition resources
If you’re interested in learning more about the importance of postpartum nutrition, check out some expert-created nutrition resources below.
- Six Stress-Free Nutrition Tips
- What Nutrients Do Postpartum Women Need?
- The Five Pillars of a Nourishing Postpartum Recovery Diet
The prices of these are much higher than listed in the article.
Hey, Joanne –
Thanks for letting us know! We will update our article to reflect current pricing changes, but as our economy is rapidly changing, it’s always best to visit each website for the most up-to-date pricing. Thanks!