The Best Meal Delivery Service In The Chicago Area

Thanks to Chef Inside the Box for sponsoring this post.

As a busy mom, dinner is one of my least favorite tasks. I am lucky because Sinisa enjoys cooking and is really good at it so he often used to make dinner when he’d come home from work. It was perfect because it was one last thing I had to do but, nowadays, that arrival home time has become later and later and I just can’t justify having the boys eat at 9pm every day so it’s back on my to-do list.

When I think about it, I really dislike having to make dinner mainly because it comes right during one of the craziest times of day for us. I often find myself trying to finish up my work day and trying to help the kids get ready to leave for sports while trying to get dinner on the table. Sure I can make meals in the slow cooker but that requires that I think about dinner in the morning and that doesn’t really happen. I don’t usually think about what’s for dinner until it’s actually time to eat and by then using the slow cooker is no longer an option.

Another thing I need? Something easy. As much as I love the thought of making a fancy meal for my family, complicated meals with a lot of steps to follow just aren’t for me. This is sadly why I’m not a huge fan of traditional meal delivery services. Yes, the ingredients are portioned out and ready to go but I still have to spend thirty minutes or so in the kitchen following a recipe.

Then I discovered Chef Inside the Box, a Chicagoland meal delivery service that not only takes the hassle out of planning and grocery shopping, but also handles the tough prep and cook so you can just heat and enjoy! Most Chef Inside meals contain a few extra servings you can eat for lunch the next day so you are saving time there as well. Even better though? All this extra prep they do doesn’t mean it costs extra. In fact, from what I’ve seen, their cost per serving ($6.95) is less than the other services and shipping is free!

Let’s talk meal options. They currently have a small selection but they just started less than a month ago so I’m sure more will be available soon. Right now they only have seven meal options but they don’t require a subscription or commitment so you could just use them during your busiest weeks until the menu grows. They have 10-minute express meals which you only have to heat up in the microwave and then combine (no fresh meal could be simpler!) or regular meals which are ready in about 20 minutes.

Each time you order you are required to pick four meals so I chose two regular meals (Braised Beef Fettuccini & Slow Cooked Turkey Risotto) and two express meals (Seared Bourbon and Sweet Onion Chicken & Seared Prime Rib Stroganoff). All of the meals were delicious! The risotto dish was my favorite and the boys loved the stroganoff the best. I felt the portions were large and each meal fed two adults and two kids along with providing at least three or four more servings for lunches or leftover night.

Overall, I love this service because it’s cheap and makes meal time so easy. With Chef Inside the Box, I no longer dread making dinner! You can learn more about this Chicagoland meal delivery service here.