Meal prep costs $8 to $15 per meal from a delivery service, and $25 to $50 per hour or $200 to $400 per week from a local personal chef plus groceries. Doing it yourself runs roughly $4 to $8 per meal in ingredients plus your time. The number lands where it does based on who's cooking, how custom the menu is, and whether groceries are billed on top.
We run our own service companies, so we know how these services price their work. This is the honest version — the ranges, what pushes the cost, and when doing it yourself is the smarter call.
Ingredients only. The cheapest option by far, at the cost of a few hours of planning, shopping, and batch cooking each week. Best if your time is flexible and your diet is simple.
Heat-and-eat meals shipped to you. Convenient and predictable, with menus that rotate. Less personalized than a chef, and shipping and minimums can add up.
Fresh-cooked to your tastes and dietary needs, often a week of meals from one session in your kitchen. The most personalized, and the value can beat delivery for families or special diets despite the higher headline rate.
Pay for a service or chef when your time is worth more than the difference, or a special diet makes consistent DIY hard to sustain.
If you run a meal-prep company or work as a personal chef, this page is the question your customers ask first. People search "how much does meal prep cost" before they ever reach out. The business with a clear pricing page and an easy way to inquire wins the booking over the one that makes them call to ask.
That's what we build. A site with your menus, honest pricing, and AI lead capture that takes inquiries any hour, from $249/month with a free demo in 48 hours. See how to start a personal chef business, more cost guides, or restaurant marketing for adjacent food tactics.
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$8–$15 per meal from a delivery service, $25–$50/hour or $200–$400/week from a personal chef plus groceries, and $4–$8 per meal DIY.
Per meal, usually no — but a chef cooks fresh to your needs, and for families or special diets often delivers more value despite the higher rate.
Yes, at $4–$8 a meal in ingredients, plus a few hours a week. Pay for a service when your time is worth more than the difference.
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