How To Choose The Best Meal Delivery Service For Seniors
When choosing a meal delivery service, its important for older adults to consider the type of service that works best for them.
Individuals who dont have a lot of energy or who live with a disability that makes cooking difficult may prefer services offering fully prepared meals.
For those who enjoy cooking, a meal kit delivery service can provide ingredients to make nutritious meals without the need for shopping.
Older adults with dietary restrictions should find a meal delivery company that caters to their diet. For example, Magic Kitchen offers low sodium and dialysis- and renal-friendly meals.
Additionally, those who live alone may prefer a meal service that offers fully prepared, one-person meals that can be frozen for future use.
Note that some older adults may qualify for a home-delivered meals benefit through their health insurance plans. Contact your health insurance company for more information.
Summary
When choosing a meal plan, consider your dietary restrictions and ability to cook. Plenty of meal delivery services offer recipe kits or fully prepared meals.
The Homemade Feel Meal
While most of us enjoy eating out from time to time, it can get expensive. Plus, those delicious gourmet meals are often high in calories, and it’s harder to keep track of the ingredients and nutrients you’re getting. That’s where grocery delivery and meal kit services come in!
If you still enjoy cooking, these delivery services make it simple and easy. There are three main types of homemade meal delivery services:
Let’s take a look at some of our favorite homemade meal delivery services that we’ve reviewed from each of the above categories.
Best Variety: Magic Kitchen
- Starting Price: $10 per serving
- Delivery Area: 50 states
- Products Arrive: Frozen
With plenty of meals for different health concerns, Magic Kitchen lets you build a meal with full entrées and à la carte options.
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Accommodates a variety of dietary restrictions
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Option to order complete meals or à la carte options
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Meals without gluten are not made in a certified gluten-free facility
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Many meals are listed as out of stock
Magic Kitchen offers easy-to-reheat meals for people with heart disease, diabetes, high cholesterol, kidney disease, and other health conditions. It makes ordering easy with complete meal bundles, as well as the option to order à la carte entrées, soups, sides, and desserts. With the ability to place single orders or sign up for a three-, six-, or nine- month subscription, Magic Kitchen provides a convenient option for homestyle food delivery.
- 7 days : $82$90
- 7 days : $164$180
- 7 days : $246$275
- Vegetable caponata with orzo and spinach
- Beef and broccoli over noodles and vegetable blend
- Balsamic glazed chicken with roasted potatoes and green beans
- Chili with beans with carrots and broccoli florets
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How Can I Get Food Delivered To The Elderly
Home delivery services for seniors are a convenient and hassle-free way to get nutritious meals delivered right to your door. If youre a senior citizen whos looking for a meal delivery service, there are a few things you should keep in mind.
First, its important to find a home delivery service that offers healthy food options. There are many meal delivery services out there that use processed foods, so its important to do your research and find one that offers healthy meals.
Second, youll want to make sure the home delivery service you choose can accommodate any special dietary needs, medical conditions, or dietary restrictions you may have.
Many meal delivery services offer gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegetarian options, but not all of them do. So if you have specific dietary needs, make sure the service you choose can accommodate them.
Third, youll want to make sure the food delivery services you choose are affordable. There are many meal delivery services out there that charge an exorbitant delivery fee, so be sure to find one that fits within your budget.
There are multiple ways that elders or their caregivers can get meal delivery for seniors right to their front door . And, if you are worried about not being internet-proficient, family members can always lend a hand.
In the next section, well explore each delivery company a little more in-depth.
Things To Keep In Mind About Instacart
- Some items in your order may be out of stock
If you love to cook meals from scratch but don’t want to deal with the hassle of going to the store, Instacart is our go-to grocery delivery service. You can order on their mobile app or website from grocery stores, liquor stores, pharmacies, and even makeup stores like Sephora. An Instacart shopper will do the shopping for you and deliver them to your home within a few hours.
Choose your preferred store and search by item name, popular items, or department. The app also features a coupon section, so you can get the best deal on your groceries and see what’s on sale.
Searching through Target coupons and groceries on Instacart
We appreciate the flexibility that Instacart offers when it comes to picking your items if an item is out of stock, you can decide if you’re okay with substitutions or not. Your shopper will send you a text letting you know if certain items are unavailable and what other similar options there are. That way, you’ll know exactly what to expect when the groceries are delivered.
Instacart has another unique feature that makes reordering your favorite foods a breeze. If you have an item at your house that you’re looking for on Instacart, simply scan the item’s barcode using your phone’s camera and the Instacart app. Instacart will pull up the item’s name and where it’s sold so you can easily add it to your cart.
Scanning a barcode in the Instacart app
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How Do Senior Meal Delivery Services Work
Senior meal delivery services cook and package meals to be quickly reheated. These meal delivery services often cater to specific health concerns common in the senior population, such as diabetes, heart health, low sodium and more. Many senior meal delivery services are covered by health insurance plans and offer resources for customers to help determine coverage.
Home Cooked Meals Delivered
MagicKitchen.com offers delicious, nutritious convenience. Order home cooked meals online and have the meals delivered to your house. We deliver nationwide!
MagicKitchen.com is a way for busy families and seniors to have delicious, wholesome meals without shopping, cooking, or clean up. We offer preservative-free cuisine, meal bundles, a la carte ordering, complete meals, special diet menus and meal plans. Best of all, there are no contracts, just order what you want on your own schedule, or let us do it for you. There arespecial incentives for customers who order meals often.
Do you get tired of making the same old boring sandwich every day? MagicKitchen.com is answering the call for home cooked meals delivered in all price ranges. Our highly trained chefs make it easy for you by providing home cooked meal delivery services that will meet all your needs when it comes to high quality fresh frozen food. Just let us know-we are able to cater to your diet whether you are lactose intolerant, vegetarian or a senior who requires a strict healthy diet. We also offer special complete meals for people withdiabetes, who needrenal meals, or who require dialysis-friendly meals. Our on-site dietitian ensures that the meals are healthy and within the ranges needed for each diet.
It’s an easy 3-step process:
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Grocery Delivery Options For Seniors
For seniors who are still confident making meals in the kitchen but dont feel comfortable going to the store, or for family members who want to help out with a loved ones grocery shopping but are too far away to drop off food themselves, a grocery delivery service can be a nice middle ground. Just remember, though, while mom or dad may have favorite meals they want to keep in their rotation, the older people get, the more important certain vitamins and nutrients become so make sure their virtual grocery has a wide range of produce.
Generally speaking, older adults should follow a diverse diet rich in fruits and vegetables, notes Devine. A condition known as sarcopenia, or an increased tendency for muscle to atrophy and shrink, affects many older adults. It is important older adults consume enough protein in their diet to maintain adequate muscle tone and strength.
Healthy Senior Meals Delivered Prepackaged
Imagine having a personal chef and nutritionist prepare and deliver your meals – that would be great, but it would be expensive. We’ve got a better idea. Home cooked prepackaged senior meals delivered straight to your door with MealPro. All meals are easy to heat, have a soft texture and are cut in bite-sized pieces. Our senior meals have a soft and tender palette with lots of flavor from healthy ingredients seasoned with anti-inflammatory spices like turmeric. When it comes to having prepackaged senior meals delivered here is how it works:.
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Are Senior Meal Delivery Services Worth The Cost
Senior meal delivery services can be well worth the cost. Many services provide meals that meet medical or health-specific needs, thus eliminating the need for grocery shopping or cooking. In addition, premade heat-and-eat meals can be helpful for seniors with mobility limitations, especially if they live alone.
Best Low Prep Meal Kit
- Price: starts at $8.99 per serving
- Shipping: varies depending on order size
- Availability: most of the United States
- Meals per week: 26 meals per week, with 2, 4, or 6 servings each
- Menus: Fresh & Easy, Calorie-Conscious, Carb-Conscious
Home Chef provides prepped and portioned ingredients, and many of the meals are ready to eat in less than 30 minutes.
The company also makes full salads, grill-ready meals, and oven-ready meals that come in oven-safe tins and require no prep work, so its a good option for older adults who want to save time in the kitchen.
If you only want to browse recipes that require little or no prep, you can select Fresh & Easy during the sign-up process.
Home Chef offers a variety of recipes each week and provides low carb, low calorie, and vegetarian options. Recipes vary in skill level, but most are appropriate for beginners.
Some of the recipes you can choose from are:
- Steak with Herb Butter Shrimp
- Goat Cheese and Herb Stuffed Chicken
- Honey Walnut Crusted Salmon
What our tester says
I tried the Chicken Lorraine and Turkey Burrito Skillet from Home Chef, and both meals took about 30 minutes to prepare. Once the vegetables were chopped, the meals came together pretty quickly. I also appreciated that the Chicken Lorraine recipe called for some flavor-boosting ingredients like fresh lemon and almonds.
To read more about my experience trying Home Chef, you can check out our comparison of Home Chef and HelloFresh.
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Things To Keep In Mind About Silver Cuisine By Bistromd
- Expensive shipping for small orders
- Not as gourmet or fresh as cooking it yourself
For seniors who love home-cooked meals but don’t enjoy cooking or don’t have the time, Silver Cuisine is for you! Silver Cuisine offers a rotating menu of around 150 meals, with everything from breakfast to dinner to snacks and smoothies. Every meal is chef-prepared, so when it shows up at your door, all you have to do is throw it in the microwave for a few minutes! Silver Cuisine meals are easy to freeze so that you can plan out your meals for a week or two in advance.
Picking out meals on Silver Cuisines website
One of our favorite things about Silver Cuisine is that their meals are designed by doctors, specifically for seniors’ nutritional needs. Plus, they have a wide range of dietary options, including gluten-free, low sodium, heart-healthy, diabetes-friendly, vegetarian, and menopause-friendly meals.
Taylor Shuman, one of our editors, sent her Grandma Judy a Silver Cuisine delivery to test out the company’s offerings and give us the inside scoop. Because visiting each other in person is difficult with COVID, she and her grandma have meals together over Zoom from time to time to catch up. Thank goodness for the Internet! Silver Cuisine made it easy to enjoy a tasty meal together, even though they couldn’t be in the same place. Judy was excited to try out Silver Cuisine, as she typically cooks her own meals, but wanted to try something new for days when she’s crunched for time.
Silver Cuisine By Bistromd
| Read reviews |
Silver Cuisine by BistroMD offers a wide variety of precooked meals for seniors. Meals are chef-prepared with fresh, high-quality ingredients. Theyre frozen, individually wrapped, packed with dry ice and shipped through FedEx. Select from more than 150 meals each week, including breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. All meals can be heated in the microwave or the oven.
Silver Cuisine is priced per meal and has meals starting as low as $5.49 each. Shipping costs $19.95 per order with no minimum order amount, and customers get free shipping for orders over $99.
Silver Cuisine also offers a variety of specialty diet options, including heart healthy, gluten free, diabetic friendly, low sodium, low carb, menopausal support, dairy free, Mediterranean and vegetarian.
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Other Home Delivery Services
There are also some other unique home delivery services for other products and services. Here are three that I found that I thought would be useful for homebound seniors.
There is no doubt that home delivery services are going to be a larger part of our daily lives for a good length of time as the world moves through this current pandemic so I do encourage you to look at these and others that may be in your specific area.
I use home delivery services quite often and have for many years and it does make life easier and these days, it can also make life safer.
About the Author: Esther C. Kane, C.D.S.
Prepared Meal Delivery Options For Seniors
For seniors who are no longer grocery shopping or cooking and simply need fully prepared sustenance, stick to meals that are already ready-to-eat or just need to be heated up in the microwave. Dr. Daniel Devine, a dual-board certified internist and geriatrician and co-founder of Devine Concierge Medicine, explains, If a loved one gets lost driving home or consistently misplaces personal items, you need to worry about them potentially forgetting they turned on the oven. That said, there needs to be a balance between preserving independence and dignity and preventing unintentional self-harm. Thats when these senior meal delivery services can be beneficial as well as a big timesaver for families or loved ones.
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Blair County Pa Home Delivered Meals Eligibility Guidelines
To be eligible for Home Delivered Meals, a consumer must be 60 years of age or older, and must be assessed by a Blair Senior Services Care Manager and be unable to access and/or prepare food for themselves. If you are interested in receiving meals for yourself or a loved one, please contact the Intake Office at Blair Senior Services, Inc. at 946-1235.
The Problem Of Senior Hunger
“Hunger and malnourishment among seniors in America is no joke. The American Academy of Family Physicians has reported that nearly 4 million seniors suffer from malnourishment, and the National Foundation to End Senior Hunger says that 1 senior in 7 is at risk to the threats of hunger. In many cases, this is caused not by poverty, but by seniors not being able to feed themselves either because they live alone and have trouble cooking or going out to shop, or don’t have the close support of family and caregivers.” Learn more.
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Reduces Loneliness Due To Regular Human Interaction
Not many realize how lonely things can get for older adults living alone. It’s not unusual for these seniors to go monthsor even yearswithout talking to any of their loved ones. Apart from the sheer loneliness, older people who live alone are more at risk given the fact that no one’s there to save them if they have an accident or go through a medical emergency.
Fortunately, studies show that seniors who opt for meal delivery and grocery delivery were reportedly less likely to experience prolonged symptoms of loneliness or depression. The short exchange of greetings and small talk with delivery people is something many seniors look forward to.
Another study at Brown University shows that seniors who got daily meal kit delivery services were less prone to accidents and hospitalizations. Delivery people would often take a proactive role in cases where clients don’t answer the door.