Over the past few years, meal kits have become increasingly popular with apartment dwellers. According to one study, millennials are the top generation buying these meal delivery and preparation services (and using the Internet for cooking advice). Here’s what meal kits are and why they’re so popular with apartment dwellers.
What are meal kits?
Meal kits are subscription-based services that send you a box containing pre-portioned ingredients for an easy-to-make recipe. After you receive a meal kit, you’ll combine the ingredients, cook them, and serve yourself a delicious meal. Some meal kits require some meal preparation techniques such as chopping, slicing, and peeling, but even people who consider themselves bad chefs often find this all super easy with meal kits to help.
What do meal kits include?
Usually, meal kits have simple and straightforward recipes so you don’t have to worry about complicated directions or eyeballing measurements for recipes with vague instructions. With meal kits, you can simply read through the directions, open the packages, prepare your ingredients using your kitchenware, and cook it all up into something delicious.
Why do people use meal kits?
Easier cooking
In a survey of 750 people, many millennials said they consider themselves bad at cooking, and only five percent said they were good at cooking. For people who aren’t good cooks (or just don’t like cooking), a meal delivery kit saves time and provides not just easy-to-follow recipes, but all the required ingredients.
With meal kits, you can easily make a home-cooked meal without having to look for ingredients in your apartment’s kitchen or a nearby grocery store. They give you delicious meals without scouring the internet for easy, highly-rated recipes.
Healthier, more flavorful meals
Many meal delivery companies offer healthy and organic ingredients to make your meals more nutritious. Meal kit subscription companies often have vegetarian, carnivore, omnivore, paleo-friendly, and gluten-free meals, making cooking easier for people who have a particular diet. When you find a meal kit service you might like, you can usually apply diet filters while searching for recipes to see just how well this service will work for you.
Saves waste
Subscribing to a meal kit service can help you reduce the amount of food waste you generate, which is important – the United States is a global leader in food waste. When cooking with meal kits, you get only the exact amount of ingredients you need to cook for a meal – no more, no less. That means you won’t cook too much and have leftovers that spoil. That means less food waste in a dumpster or landfill (and composting helps divert food waste from landfills too).
Saves time
Meal kit services label everything you need and ship it all to your apartment’s doorstep, and their simple instructions and direct delivery mean quicker meal prep. You won’t have to spend time traveling to the grocery store, looking for grocery items, carrying grocery bags, and searching for recipes online. Additionally, many meal delivery recipes have short prep times.
Cheaper than takeout or delivery
Meal kits can be cheaper than restaurant-delivered food. Some meal kits offer free shipping, and you won’t need to tip the delivery person like you should when you order food. Additionally, as more meal kit delivery services launch, the competition may reduce meal kits’ prices while leading to higher-quality ingredients and recipes.
If you already subscribe to a meal kit, why do you like your meal delivery service? Sound off in the comments!
