Two truths: I like to make most of my meals at home; I travel a lot of and have inconsistent work hours. These competing realities often leave me with crisper drawers full of produce that decomposes a little more each night I’m too tired to put energy into preparing dinner. To fix the problem, I’ve tried multiple meal delivery services and kits over the years, but haven’t found one I reliable turn to.
CookUnity caught my attention with its lineup of fully prepared meals created by chefs, many with some serious street cred. James Beard Award winners like Marcus Samuelsson, Jose Garces, Marc Forgione, and Esther Choi have all dreamed up recipes for the service, to name a few. Add to that price tags that are equally impressive—on average, $11 per meal for what purports to be restaurant-quality food—and I knew I had to give it a try.
Spoiler: I’m officially putting CookUnity at the top of my roster. The service provides tasty, satisfying meals with no meal-prep labor required beyond deciding which dishes to try each week. Keep reading for my full review of CookUnity.
CookUnity
Meal Delivery Subscription
What’s it like to order from CookUnity?
When you hit CookUnity’s homepage, you have the option to click to see a sample menu for your region. For each dish, you can see the chef’s name and brief bio, as well as all ingredients and nutrition facts. The service very much has a “get to know the people behind your meal” ethos. Photos of the chefs are right there on the packaging, and the service correctly assumes that their reputations will draw you in.
Like what you see? Add your zip code, answer three questions about your preferred proteins, allergens to avoid, and the amount of meals you would like to receive each week, and enter your payment info to create an account and order your first delivery.
Choosing my meals felt like ordering from a restaurant menu. There was a ton of cuisine and dietary variety to browse; beyond the usual vegan, pescatarian, and gluten-free options, there were dishes that claim to offer GLP-1 balance or fit the profile for the Mediterranean diet.
After looking through the 350-plus options for my region (including at least 30 kid-friendly meals and 37 breakfasts), I decided on veggie and quinoa enchiladas, a Sri Lankan lobster curry, vegan pasta alla vodka, red wine short ribs, a Mexican pork bowl, and a gochujang tofu rice bowl.
