Personal chef vs. meal kits and meal delivery

Who does the work

	Meal kit	Prepared meal delivery	Personal chef
Menu planning	The company	The company	The chef, with you
Shopping	The company	The company	The chef
Cooking	You	The company	The chef, in your kitchen
Cleanup	You	Little	The chef
Menu fits your household	Somewhat	Somewhat	Yes

Meal kits

A box of measured ingredients and recipes arrives, and you cook. You skip the planning and shopping but not the cooking or the dishes. Kits suit people who like to cook and want fewer decisions.

Prepared meal delivery

Cooked meals arrive ready to reheat. It is the least effort. You choose from a set menu, so it works best if you have no allergies and few strong preferences.

A personal chef

A personal chef writes a menu for your household, shops, cooks in your kitchen, packages the meals and cleans up. You get the most choice and the least work. It generally costs more per meal than a kit or a delivery service.

A reasonable estimate is $250 to $500 per cook day for the chef’s fee, plus groceries. One cook day usually covers several dinners for a household. See what a personal chef costs.

When a chef is worth it

• Someone in the house has an allergy or a restricted diet, and set menus do not work.
• You want food cooked the way your family likes it.
• You have tried kits and the cooking still does not get done.
• You are feeding several people and want real variety.

When it is not

• You enjoy cooking and only want help with planning.
• You need the lowest cost per meal.
• You are away too often for a regular schedule.

Some households mix them: a chef every two weeks, with a delivery service covering the gaps.