We test and review fitness products based on an independent, multi-point methodology. If you use our links to purchase something, we may earn a commission. Read our disclosures.
Life is busy, but that’s probably an understatement, right? In a world that seems to spin faster every day, many of us are searching for ways to streamline our schedules. Ahhh, the American dream. That’s where the best meal delivery services come into play. A nutritious, pre-prepared meal waiting for you at the end of the day keeps you on track without monopolizing a huge chunk of your day. Still, not all meal services live up to their hype.
The Good Kitchen review we’ve cooked up for you here breaks down our experience with the meal delivery service and compares it to other companies in the industry. If you’re considering a TGK subscription, you’ll want to check this out.
Medical disclaimer: This article is intended for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for medical advice. For health advice, contact a licensed healthcare provider.
We’ve Tested Dozens of Meal Delivery Services
Here at GGR, we love maximizing health as conveniently as possible. What’s more convenient than healthy food delivered right to your front door? We’ve tried dozens of meal delivery services over the years, leaning in to our professional and personal experiences. We’re a team of registered dietitians, nutritionists, certified personal trainers, coaches, and professional athletes.
Caine Wilkes, GGR senior staff writer, OLY, USAW-L1, was tasked with taste-testing The Good Kitchen meals. Using our in-depth testing methodology to score various categories on a scale of 1 to 5, he gives us a comprehensive look at The Good Kitchen and how it compares to other meal delivery services. Some of the categories we scored include:
- Price per meal
- Taste
- Portion size
- Ingredient quality
- Meal options and customization
- Ordering experience
- Customer service
- Customer reviews
- Ease of preparation
The Good Kitchen
The Good Kitchen
Product Highlights
- Meal delivery service
- Uses grass-fed beef, hormone-free poultry, and pastured pork in meals
- Ingredients are sourced as locally as possible
- Up to 90 items available to choose from weekly
- GMO-free ingredients used
- Can do a one-time order, or weekly, bi-weekly or monthly subscription options
- Gluten-free, dairy-free, and no refined sugars
Pros & Cons
Pros
- No refined sugars
- Gluten-free
- GMO-free
- High-quality meats used
Cons
- Pricier meals
- No plant-based meals
Bottom Line
The Good Kitchen is a meal delivery service, delivering prepared meals with quality ingredients. The meats used are grass-fed beef, pastured pork, and hormone-free poultry and eggs. With as many as 90 items to pick from each week, you’ll be able to choose a one-time purchase, or subscribe to weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly deliveries.
A Quick Look at The Good Kitchen
The Good Kitchen was born from the idea that nutritious meals should be accessible and convenient. As a company, they honor the busy human, offering fully prepared meals ready to heat and eat. Their food is ethically and sustainably sourced and prepared by professional chefs in the area.
As the customer, you determine how many meals you want to be delivered weekly and choose from a menu of options available in your area. All of The Good Kitchen’s meals are dairy-, refined sugar-, and gluten-free, and you can choose from a list of diet-friendly options, including paleo, keto, low-carb, Mediterranean, and performance meals.
Before You Buy
- You pick your meals from a menu of about 90 options.
- Prices vary between meals but range from $12.99 to $19.99.
- TGK meals are fresh, never frozen.
Is The Good Kitchen Worth It?
Meal delivery services are appealing to more and more people with their flair for convenience and variety of meals. Unfortunately, convenience doesn’t come cheap, and you’ll pay a pretty hefty price for most meal services, including The Good Kitchen. We think TGK could be a good fit for certain groups, but some people may not find it worth the cost.
RELATED: Cheapest Meal Delivery Service
Great for:
- Busy adults with no time to cook
- Those who need convenient gluten- or dairy-free meals
- Individuals who need flexibility in their delivery options
Not recommended for:
- Vegans and vegetarians looking for variety in their meals
- Families eating on a budget
- Athletes looking to bulk up
The Good Kitchen Specs
| Price per meal | $12.99-$19.99 |
| Meals per week | 6, 8, 10, 12 |
| Meal kit or prepared | Prepared meals |
| Diet options | Plant-based, Paleo, Keto, Low-Carb, Mediterranean, Performance Meals |
| Fresh or frozen | Fresh |
| Delivery area | Varies based on zip code |
Experience Using The Good Kitchen
You know we don’t like to review anything for our readers without experiencing it firsthand. Caine Wilkes, GGR senior staff writer, OLY, USAW-L1, gave us the full rundown of his experience with The Good Kitchen, sharing details about everything from ordering to eating. It was on the pricey side, so we wanted to see if it met our expectations, and in some cases, it did. In others, it did not.
Price Per Meal
The Good Kitchen isn’t the cheapest meal delivery option, and while you can save 20% on your first order, recurring subscriptions only save 5%. Caine ordered eight meals, totaling $149.59 or $18.70 per meal—ouch. Based on our scoring methodology, that price tag earns a 1 out of 5. Of course, TGK gives you full control of the meals you order, so you can work down the cost by choosing more cost-effective options on the Good Kitchen website.
Still, when this article was written, the cheapest meal available was $12.99. Depending on where you live, you might be able to go to a sit-down restaurant for the same cost.
Taste, Ingredient Quality, and Portion Size
The Good Kitchen fared pretty well in this category. It offers gourmet meals, such as Greek chicken with green beans and tarragon rice or Mongolian-style beef with broccoli and cauliflower rice. TGK also offers add-ons like sweet potato wedges, bone broth, and paleo fudge brownies.
Caine gave TGK meals a 3.5 out of 5 for taste, stating that the meat was some of the best-seasoned meat he’s tried from a delivery service. The veggies, on the other hand? Caine wasn’t a huge fan, calling them some of the blandest he’s tried.
Portion sizes also earned a 3.5 out of 5, as Caine found the portions to be a little small. Of course, that depends on your nutrition needs and the meals you choose. “Some meals filled me up, while other times, I had to have a second meal,” said Caine. While meals will vary, many contain fewer than 400 calories—not always ideal for athletes looking to bulk up.
The Good Kitchen really hypes up the quality of its ingredients, and delivered on that hype, earning a 4.5 out of 5 score. The Good Kitchen meals are made with non-GMO foods sourced locally when possible. Caine was impressed with the premium-quality ingredients used in his meals, stating they looked and tasted high-quality.
RELATED: Best Organic Meal Delivery
Meal Plans and Customization
The Good Kitchen earns a perfect 5 out of 5 for variety. Its menu features 90—yep, NINETY—meals that are rotated weekly, and you can choose up to 12 meals per delivery. TGK gives you access to each meal’s nutrition facts so you can order meals that fit your dietary needs and preferences. We’re big fans of companies that provide their customers access to nutritional information, and TGK puts nutrition facts on the website and the food packaging—5 out of 5 from us!
Still, since the meals are premade, you cannot customize them. Anyone with allergies or intolerances won’t be able to adjust their heat-and-eat meals. We also noticed there’s no way to filter the menu to only include plant-based options, making it tough for those who need vegan options. Overall, we gave the meal plan a 4 out of 5 for customization.
RELATED: Best Plant-Based Meal Delivery
Ordering, Packaging, and Shipping
The Good Kitchen earned a 3 out of 5 for its ordering experience. You have to create an account to check out the menu, so if you’re on the fence and want to peruse the meal options, get ready for some emails. However, we like that you get to pick from a rotating menu and have control over the number of meals per delivery. You can place a one-time order or step up to a delivery subscription delivered weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly.
Caine didn’t experience any major shipping issues, but he received one meal that had been pierced open. He just didn’t eat that meal. But he made note of the color stickers that come with each meal to help determine freshness—a nice touch after your meals have made their way through the mail. We gave TGK a 4 out of 5 for packaging and shipping.
Sustainability is where The Good Kitchen really shines, earning a 4.5 out of 5 for its efforts. TGK chefs source their ingredients locally when possible, and everything is packaged in compostable green cell foam.
The Good Kitchen vs Fresh N Lean
Fresh N Lean
Fresh N Lean
Product Highlights
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Free shipping in the Contiguous U.S.
- Low minimum of meals
- Over 100 meals to choose from
Cons
- Very little customization when choosing meal plans
- Meals can be pricey
Bottom Line
Fresh N Lean is a prepared meal delivery service that has a variety of meal plans to choose from. From those plans, you can choose how many meals you’d like weekly, and notify anyone of food preferences. In addition, you can select exact meals from their A la carte section.
There are dozens of meal delivery services out there and we’ve tried 40 of them and counting! In our list of the best meal delivery services, we considered Fresh N Lean to be the best for prepared meals. The price is lower than The Good Kitchen although you’re required to get more meals per week unless you do the a la carte menu. Fresh N Lean also has a larger delivery area than the Good Kitchen, which varies depending on your zip code.
Check out our full Fresh N Lean Meal Delivery Service review to learn more.
| The Good Kitchen | Fresh N Lean | |
| Price per meal | $12.99-$19.99 | $8.49-$11 |
| Meals per week | 6, 8, 10, 12 | 21 or a la carte |
| Meal kit or prepared | Prepared meals | Prepared meals |
| Diet options | Plant-based, Paleo, Keto, Low-Carb, Mediterranean, Performance Meals | Protein-plus, keto, paleo, vegan, Whole30, Mediterranean, low-carb vegan |
| Fresh or frozen | Fresh | Fresh |
| Delivery area | Varies based on zip code | All 50 U.S. states |
Customer Experience
The Good Kitchen earned a 3 out of 5 for its overall customer experience, as we gave them high marks for their sustainability efforts. However, Caine pointed out that while the company’s contact information can be found in the FAQ section, you have to do some digging to find it—and even still, it’s only an email address. Plenty of companies are hard to reach, but The Good Kitchen’s values highlight good customer service, so it’s surprising that their info isn’t super accessible.
Customer Reviews
The Good Kitchen has a rating of 5 out of 5 stars on its website, with 85 reviews at the time of writing. All of the reviews are 4 or 5 stars and people seem to be very happy with the service overall.
Final Verdict of Our The Good Kitchen Review
The bottom line is that The Good Kitchen has some great features that make it stand out from the rest. Unfortunately, you’ll have to pay a pretty penny for those features. Yes, The Good Kitchen allows you to choose meals based on nutrition needs and dietary preferences, but you’ll pay at least $12.99 per meal. The portion sizes may not be enough for those trying to bulk, as most meals are conservative in calories, but it could be a good option for those looking for meal delivery for weight loss.
- The Good Kitchen meals are fresh, never frozen.
- TGK chefs source ingredients from local vendors when possible.
- Vegan options are limited on the TGK menu.
- Order 6, 8, 10, or 12 meals weekly.
- The Good Kitchen offers meals that fit various diets, including plant-based, paleo, keto, low-carb, and Mediterranean.
Full Rating
The Good Kitchen
The Good Kitchen is a meal delivery service, delivering prepared meals with quality ingredients. The meats used are grass-fed beef, pastured pork, and hormone-free poultry and eggs. With as many as 90 items to pick from each week, you’ll be able to choose a one-time purchase, or subscribe to weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly deliveries.
Product Currency: $
Product Price: 12.99
Product In-Stock: InStock
3.9
The Good Kitchen: FAQs
Is The Good Kitchen organic?
Some of The Good Kitchen’s meals use organic ingredients, but not all of them. It depends on the chef preparing the meal and where they source their ingredients.
Is The Good Kitchen a meal kit?
The Good Kitchen is not a meal kit service. They offer prepared meals, some of which need reheating, and some can be eaten cold.
How much does The Good Kitchen cost?
The Good Kitchen meals aren’t cheap, but costs vary based on the week’s available menu. Our tester ordered eight meals, totaling $149.59 or $18.70 per meal.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any diseases.
Further reading
Should you be mixing pre-workout and alcohol? A registered dietitian weighs in. Read more
Ski jumps build muscle in your lower body and improve your cardio fitness. A personal trainer explains how to do them with proper form and mistakes to avoid. Read more
When it comes to blending strength and conditioning, the kettlebell might be the most versatile piece of equipment there is. Read on to find the different kettlebells I like and why. Read more
Life is busy, but that’s probably an understatement, right? In a world that seems to spin faster every day, many of us are searching for ways to streamline our schedules. Ahhh, the American dream. That’s where the best meal delivery services come into play. A nutritious, pre-prepared meal waiting for you at the end of the day keeps you on track without monopolizing a huge chunk of your day. Still, not all meal services live up to their hype. » Read more about: The Good Kitchen Review (2024): Is This Popular Service Worth Its High Price? » Read more