Thinking About a Meal Subscription Service? These Companies Have the Best Sign-Up Offers

There are a lot of great reasons to try a meal subscription service -- but your finances aren't generally one of them. Sure, they can be a delicious excuse to try new flavors, or a less intimidating way to learn new cooking skills. But economical, they're not.

However, there is one way to explore a new meal subscription service without sacrificing your bank account balance: promo codes. Most meal kit delivery services will offer new account discounts that can be worth $90 or more across your first few boxes.

We looked at some of the most popular meal kits for their best promos. While a couple companies offer promotions on their sites, most require an internet search (the name and the word "promo"). Here are some of the best deals we found.

Blue Apron

Blue Apron offers a wide variety of recipes that change every Monday, and includes vegetarian options. You can order meals that serve two people or four people each. Plans have between two and five meals per week. Regular cost starts at $7.99 per serving at the max servings per week, and $12.29 per serving for the lowest. Shipping is $10.99 per box.

Promo: Blue Apron has a tiered promo that gives you a discount on your first six orders, and free shipping on your first order.

• Box 1: $35 off + free shipping
• Box 2: $35 off
• Boxes 3-6: $20 off

Green Chef

Green Chef has a range of recipes that change each Saturday, including gluten-free and vegetarian options. Plans can be chosen that include two, three, or four meals a week, with two, four, or six servings per meal. The cost per serving goes from $11.99 to $13.49, and shipping is $9.99 a pop.

Promo: Green Chef's promo gives you a big discount on the first box, then a lower discount after that.

• Box 1: 60% off
• Boxes 2-9: 20% off

HelloFresh

HelloFresh has a diverse menu that includes vegetarian recipes, and selections change every Saturday. Plans provide options for two to six meals a week, and will feed two or four people per meal. At the low end, expect to pay $8.99 per serving, and $12.49 per serving at the high end.

Promo: New HelloFresh customers can get a big discount on the first box, and a much lower discount on the following eight boxes. You also get one free breakfast item per box with an active subscription.

• Box 1: 49% off
• Boxes 2-8: 13% off

Home Chef

Home Chef has a good array of recipes, including vegetarian and Gluten Smart, that refresh each Monday. You can choose a plan for between two and six meals a week, with two, four, or six servings per meal. The per-serving price varies from $9.99 for the six serving, six meal plan, up to $11.99 for the two serving, two meal plan.

Promo: Home Chef's sign-up offer gives you the same 50% off discount on all of your first four boxes.

Tips for making the most of meal delivery kits

If you're tempted by one (or more) of these promos, keep these tips in mind.

• Make sure to skip or cancel to avoid unwanted deliveries. The default setting for a meal subscription is "on," so you'll need to actively skip weeks you don't want a delivery. If you don't want any more deliveries at all, be sure to cancel your subscription entirely to avoid unexpected meal kits. (Experience talking here, friends.)
• Watch out for "premium" or "craft" recipes with higher costs. Some meal kits offer recipes with extra or more expensive ingredients. These costs get passed on to you, in the form of an extra per-serving charge. These tend to range from $6.99 to $11.99 per serving on top of the regular per-serving cost of the meal. (I'm not saying it's never worth it; I've paid the fee for a couple of particularly interesting recipes before and don't regret it.)
• Pay with a grocery rewards card. A lot of meal kit delivery services will code as groceries on your rewards card. There are a lot of great grocery rewards cards, some that earn up to 6% back on grocery purchases. This can be a nice savings that stacks with any other deals.
• Look for issuer deals. Check your credit card issuer's discounts portal before you order to see if you can get even more cash back or points on your purchase. (I see these very frequently offered on my Chase cards. I've also seen them crop up for my Amex cards. And they've appeared with my Citi cards on occasion.)
• Let your discounts ride. Several (but not all) of these services don't have expiration dates on the discounts. They will let you skip as many weeks as you want, and your discounts will wait for you. You can bide your time until you're excited about multiple recipes and still use your discount (just stay on top of the weeks you skip!).

A meal kit subscription can be a good way to try out new flavors that won't require you to throw out unused spices or ingredients. It's also a fun way to try out new kitchen skills (or practice old ones). But it's never going to be cheaper than buying groceries, especially once you build up your collection of seasonings. So use these promos sparingly to try great recipes, then recreate them on your own for way less. A happy medium.