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By Jamey Powell

As you’ll notice from the website, BistroMD is catered heavily toward weight loss. However they do have an extensive menu that’s designed specifically for folks with diabetes, too. All of the meals on BistroMD’s Diabetic Friendly Program contain 25 grams or less of net carbohydrates, which is designed to help manage blood glucose levels. They’re single serving meals, but a lot of reviewers praise the generous portion sizes. 

BistroMD offers a 5- or 7-day diabetic meal plan that includes lunches and dinners with the option to tag on breakfast. Once you’ve selected, you can further customize your plan to meet your schedule and choose from 150 dietician-designed entrées each week. 

And if you want to take a break or cancel, you can at any time. However, the biggest negative for this service is the shipping costs; you’ll likely get the shipping fee waived on your first order thanks to promos, but it’ll cost you around $20 per shipment after that. 

Example Meal:

-Pork tenderloin with whole grain mustard sauce

-Roasted tofu and ancient grain salad bowl

Sustainability & Quality: While they don’t have a focus on organic ingredients, BistroMD partners with local, family-owned farms whenever they can, and sources environmentally-responsible seafood and hormone-free chicken and beef. They also provide a full list of banned ingredients, which are mostly artificial ingredients and preservatives. Almost all of BistroMD’s packaging is curbside recyclable) and they offer suggestions about how to repurpose anything that isn’t). 

Cost: From $10 per serving with 7-day subscription

Sunbasket is a great option for folks who want to prioritize sustainably-sourced, organic ingredients. Both its fresh, pre-made meals and meal kits are available in a wide range of dietary preferences, including a diabetic-friendly filter for maximum ease. 

If you’re someone who enjoys spending some time in the kitchen, the meal kits will take you anywhere from 15 to 40 minutes to prepare (all of the ingredients come pre-portioned). One of the best parts about Sunbasket is that you can mix and match meal kits and pre-made meals under one subscription, just not in the same box. They even have a few pantry items that you can pop in your box each week, so you can take one less trip to the grocery store. 

Example Meal:

-Indian fish curry with tamarind and onions over cauliflower rice

-Sichuan glass noodle bowl with pork, cabbage, and carrots

Sustainability & Quality: Sunbasket uses organic produce, eggs, yogurt, and tofu, as well as responsibly sourced, hormone-free meat and seafood. Plus, all of Sunbasket’s packaging is made from recycled materials like paper and denim, so it’s easy to recycle or compost. Like BistroMD, Sunbasket has a how-to page dedicated to recycling their packaging. 

Cost: Dinners start at $10 per serving

Meal kits are an excellent way for anyone looking to hone their culinary skills to gain some easy experience. Cooking a Green Chef meal can take anywhere between 15 to 40 minutes, but all of the portioning (and most of the chopping) is already handled for you.

The meals are creative but accessible, so there’s bound to be several items on the menu that call to you each week. Green Chef doesn’t have a specific filter on its menu for diabetics (or a filter to weed out potential allergens), but they do call out paleo and keto recipes. Plus, all ingredients are clearly marked on the recipe cards, so you can always leave out something that’s not a fit for your diet. 

Example Meal:

-Thai coconut chicken soup with carrots, red bell pepper, shiitakes, and black sesame seeds

-Roasted curry pork chops with cauliflower rice, kale, mango chutney, and almonds 

Sustainability & Quality: As the name suggests, Green Chef puts an emphasis on using sustainably-sourced ingredients and partnering with smaller farms. They are a certified business by the California Certified Organic Farmers Foundation (CCOF), and Green Chef’s kits are both carbon and plastic offset. 

Cost: $13 per serving

Mosaic Foods is a plant-based meal delivery service that offers smoothies, plant-crust pizzas, veggie bowls, and family-style vegetarian and vegan meals. The menu isn’t catered to low-carb diets, but it does clearly list the nutrition facts on each item. Plus, the system uses tags on each meal to highlight high-protein recipes, as well as meals without added sugar. 

Mosaic Foods’ subscription model is based on items (you can mix-and-match smoothies, pizzas, full meals, etc), so the total cost varies by what you choose to pop in your box each week. But shipping is free for boxes with 12 and 18 items, which helps make them a more affordable option than a lot of other delivery services. Another great perk: For every box sold, Mosaic donates two pounds of food to City Harvest, a New York City non-profit that helps feed families in need. 

Example Meal:

-Curried lentil shepherd’s pie

-Pepper, feta, & olive ragout 

Sustainability & Quality: All of Mosaic Foods’ meals are frozen to extend shelf life and reduce food waste—both during manufacturing and at customers’ homes. Its recipes are always free of preservatives and artificial ingredients, and the company sources fruit, veggies, and grains from small, local farms. What’s more, all of Mosaic Foods’ packaging is curbside recyclable, from the foil tins and paper cups to the box your meals arrive in. 

Cost: From $5 per serving for family meals

Snap Kitchen offers breakfast, lunch, and dinner meals designed by a registered dietician. All meals are free of gluten, soy, artificial preservatives and artificial sweeteners. While it’s not an extensive menu, it does have paleo, keto, and low-carb specific recipes that suit diabetics. Plus, meals rotate often, so you can try new things each month.  

We picked Snap Kitchen as a budget-friendly option because the 12-meal subscription comes to $11 per serving, which is significantly more affordable than other pre-made meal delivery services. On the downside, it only has two subscription plans available (6 or 12 meals) and doesn’t ship everywhere (yet!). 

Example Meal:

-Buffalo ranch burger with loaded roasted cauliflower

-Baja shrimp taco salad with pickled slaw and mango salsa

Sustainability & Quality: 

Snap Kitchen uses organic ingredients where possible, and sources meat and produce from farmers that practice mindful, sustainable farming. It also uses curbside recyclable materials for the packaging.

Cost: From $11 per serving