Best Senior Meal Delivery Services

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Why We Chose It: When you want to take the guesswork out of eating on a restricted diet, these ready-to-heat meals have you covered at an affordable price. They’re designed by dieticians and can accommodate perhaps the widest range of dietary needs.

Whatever you need, Mom’s Meals checks all the boxes. The dietician-designed meals are created to meet the nutrition requirements for seniors while also adhering to just about any dietary requirements. Besides common dietary needs like low-sodium meals for those with heart conditions or low-sugar meals for diabetics, there are meals for people battling cancer, recovering from surgery, on dialysis, or having difficulty swallowing.

Options range from breakfast to dinner, and a lot of the dinners include a little sweet treat for dessert, like an old-fashioned TV dinner. However, unlike processed frozen entrees from the grocery store, these meals are prepared with no added preservatives, delivered fresh. The company’s proprietary packaging will keep the meals fresh for up to 14 days in the refrigerator.

The menu options depend on the type of dietary requirements. But the sample menus reveal that adventurous eaters may be a bit disappointed. There’s a heavy emphasis on classic American foods—so much so that even ravioli and lasagna are considered “international flavors.”

Subscription services can be confusing for some seniors, who might not want the burden of remembering to cancel or update their order in time. Plus, subscription-based services are more complex to give as one-off gifts. Luckily, Mom’s Meal’s isn’t a subscription service, but it can be treated as one if you opt for the auto-ship. You’ll get 10 percent off your order, and you can change and cancel it anytime.

Mom’s meals deliver to any address in the U.S., even rural addresses. And the service frequently works with healthcare providers and insurance programs like Medicare and Medicaid, which may cover all or part of the cost. The price for self-pay meals starts at $6.99 per single-serving meal with flat-rate shipping at around $15.

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Why We Chose It: Although this subscription service isn’t aimed specifically at seniors, its boldly flavored meals are as interesting as they are vegetable-heavy and nutrient-dense, and the service makes it easy to see what’s low-sodium, low-carb, and low-fat. Everything is gluten-free, so if you’re trying to avoid bread and pasta, you’ll have a lot of options.

Freshly doesn't specifically target seniors, but the subscription-based meal delivery service works well for any older adult who loves interesting flavors, doesn't want to cook, is looking to eat more healthfully, and isn't on a super-strict medical diet.

The 30-plus dishes are all gluten-free, which means no bread or pasta—perfect for seniors who watch their intake of simple carbs, whether they are watching their weight or their daily sugars. The dishes average just 8 grams of sugar per meal, with no corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, or preservatives. Veggies are incorporated every which way, from being blended into sauces or spun into noodles. Even the mashed potatoes get a carb reduction and nutritional boost from the addition of cauliflower.

Customers can filter the menu to find low-sodium, low-carb, low-calorie, low-fat, and high-protein options. The single-serving meals provide an average of 500 calories and 30 grams of protein each, making portion control easy to track; they're delivered fresh, and they take just minutes to reheat in the microwave.

Freshly's minimum subscription of four meals per week is great for those who live alone or maybe like to cook or eat out occasionally. The cost per meal starts at $11.49 and gets cheaper the more meals ordered per week ($8.49 for orders of 12). Shipping is relatively inexpensive at about $5.99.

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Why We Chose It: Top Chef Meals adds an all-important element of freedom to meal plans for dietary restrictions. Customers can mix and match from dozens of side dishes to make meal combinations they actually want to eat, all while keeping within their health requirements.

Top Chef Meals is all about flexibility. Once you pick your entrée, you can choose from dozens of starch and vegetable side dish options. You can even opt to swap out the starch for the extra help of veggies or add extra protein or more sauce. The nutritional breakdown of each item is listed, so you can track the amounts as you customize your meal.

The frozen meals reheat quickly in the microwave, though the company recommends thawing the meals first and removing items that cook quicker, then adding them back toward the end of the cooking time, so they don’t get overdone.

There are hundreds of items on the menu, including side dishes, breakfast, and desserts, with accommodations for a range of special diets—renal health, easy digestion, low-sodium, and more. Seniors can even order kid-friendly meals for when the grandkids come over.

There’s no subscription required, and adults over 60 get 10 percent off their order. Depending on the delivery zone, shipping is free with a minimum order, ranging from 10 meals in the northeast to 18 meals in the mountain states. Shipping to several western states can cost as much as $32, depending on the number of meals ordered. Meals range between $8 and $11 each.

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Why We Chose It: When just having dinner delivered isn’t enough, Silver Cuisine offers healthful breakfast, lunch, and snack options too. Prices are reasonable, and free shipping plus senior discounts make it an affordable way to stock your pantry with good-for-you foods.

As the name implies, Silver Cuisine is specifically designed for seniors. Silver Cuisine's division of BistroMD specializes in doctor-designed weight-loss meal plans ensures each frozen meal has the appropriate macros for seniors, with 20–25 percent of calories from healthy fats, 30–35 percent from complex carbohydrates, and 40–45 percent from lean proteins.

There are over 50 entrees and over two dozen breakfast options, including frittatas and bagel sandwiches. Silver Cuisine also offers a range of snacks, including protein shakes, jerky, and cracker mixes. Symbols denote which items are gluten-free, diabetic-friendly, heart-healthy, and low in sodium. Although plant-based options are scarce, meat-eaters will love the wide selection that includes dishes like Pork and Hatch Green Chile Stew, Thai Coconut Chicken, and Sea Bass with Mango Coconut Salsa.

Entree prices range from $8 to $13, with free shipping on orders over $99 and discounts for AARP members. Those who don’t like ordering online are encouraged to place orders over the phone.

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Why We Chose It: Not only does Magic Kitchen accommodate a wide range of challenging dietary requirements, but it offers a wide array of menu items, which can make even the pickiest eaters happy.

After a lifetime of sharing meals, it might be a bit jarring for older couples to order separate meals, and the individual packaging is a bit wasteful. Magic Kitchen’s flash-frozen two- and four-serving a la carte options are ideal for those who enjoy eating the same dish together, with dozens of entrées, soup, side dishes, and desserts to choose from. On the flip side, people who don’t want to make compromises will love Magic Kitchen’s complete meal lineup, with single-portions of an entrée and side dishes all in one tray.

There are meal plans for a wide range of dietary needs, from dairy-free to kidney disease, and they’re all designed by dieticians. Each menu item includes a full ingredients list and nutrition information, plus symbols denoting which diets it accommodates.

There’s no required subscription to manage, making it easy to give meals as gifts, and Magic Kitchen works with healthcare providers and insurance companies to coordinate orders. Meals average around $11 per serving, with shipping an additional $18.95. Seniors get $10 off orders of $80 or more.