Green Chef vs. Gobble 2024: Meal Kits Compared

Many meal kit delivery services have cropped up over the past several years to meet the growing demand for at-home food delivery. Sifting through them all and finding the one that fits your lifestyle, budget, and diet can be a challenge – so I did it for you!

Green Chef and Gobble are meal kit delivery services that primarily offer lunches and dinners, with breakfasts, sides, and desserts as extras. So what sets them apart? After researching the details of each company’s service, there stood a clear winner between these 2.

Green Chef wins this comparison for its lower price point, organic and higher quality ingredients, better shipping material recyclability, and the gold standard of customer support in the meal delivery service industry – readily available live chat agents and a mobile app!

Gobble is still a great meal kit delivery service and offers easy prep gourmet meals, but Green Chef’s overall service features and customer support make it the clear winner. Read on to find out more about how these services compare.

At a Glance: Who Won Each Category?

Menu Variety: Green Chef Offers a Wide Range of Meals

Green Chef wins because it offers more entree meals, extras, and cuisine variety each week. You’ll find 45+ entrees per week and a ton of extras like easy prep entree salads, 3 meal bundles and samplers, 5 microwave-ready eggs, 3 heat-and-eat oatmeals, 1 or 2 desserts, 3 fish filets, and 12 portions of meat.

Plus – Green Chef is CCOF-certified and USDA-certified organic! All produce and eggs are certified organic, and proteins are sourced from suppliers with the highest animal welfare standards. While ingredients aren’t 100% organic all the time, they are when price-point, seasonality, and recipe integrity allow. Green Chef will notify you if an ingredient in your order is not available as organic.

You’ll find plenty of cuisine variety within Green Chef’s 45+ meals each week. Main entree cuisines are primarily Mediterranean with classic American, Japanese, Korean, Indian, and Mexican-inspired dishes.

All meals come in a minimum portion of 2 servings each, and there’s no maximum limit on the number of portions you choose per recipe! This is an excellent feature if you’re feeding a family or hosting a party, and with the recipe variety on this menu, you’re sure to find crowd-pleasing recipes.

You’ll find several different diet plans, including Plant Based, Keto, Mediterranean, Gluten-Free, and Quick & Easy (meals ready in 25 minutes or less). There’s something for almost every diet on this menu.

Green Chef also offers premium recipes labeled “Chef Select” that use more ingredients and higher quality cuts of meat or fish. These are Green Chef’s more gourmet recipes and are great for a night in or for foodies who love a good culinary project. This Chef Select recipe includes wild-caught salmon filets, gluten-free teriyaki sauce, and ginger sriracha aioli. You’ll get that excellent tropical balance of umami, tang, and spice in this dish.

Green Chef extras include a few unique options like Keto Meal Bundles and Keto Kickoff Sampler bundle. The Sampler bundle comes with 2 breakfasts, 2 lunches, and 5 dinners of 2 servings each, and is a great way to try to Keto diet for a week to see how you like it. 

For easy prep options, you can add on oatmeals and egg bites that only require a few minutes in the microwave and a few entree salads that only require 10 minutes prep. You can add more protein to any meal with 12 meat options and 3 fish filets weekly. This is great for customizing salads or vegetarian meals on the menu that you’d like to beef up. Protein options include the same wild-caught sockeye filet pictured above in the Teriyaki Bowl, sustainably raised Atlantic salmon, and organic chicken and beef.

Gobble offers 15 to 17 entrees with a selection of 6 breakfasts, 3 breads, 2 soups, and 3 desserts each week. While this doesn’t quite compare to the size of Green Chef’s menu, you can still find a great variety of meals. Cuisine primarily includes Classic American and Mediterranean, with a sprinkling of Asian- and Indian-inspired dishes each week.

Gobble also offers specialty family-friendly meal kits for 4, complete with protein entrees and sides of veggies and carbs. The BBQ Ribs meal kit is a classic American meal with Pimiento Mac N’Cheese, Cajun Carrots, and Cornbread, all portioned to feed a family of 4.

Gobble offers 3 meal plans called Classic, Vegetarian, and Lean & Clean. Lean & Clean is like Green Chef’s Fast & Fit plan that incorporates lean meats and is designed for calorie-conscious eaters. Plans are only designed for recipe recommendations since you’re allowed to choose recipes from the whole menu as you’re customizing your order.

What’s great about Gobble’s menu is that proteins for many meals are swappable, and the service offers Impossible Burger options to make any meaty meal vegetarian. You’ll also find 2 premium recipes each week that are available at a higher price than other recipes on the menu, like the below New York Steaks with Three Peppercorn Sauce and Loaded Broccoli and Cauliflower Gratin.

Green Chef meal prep times vary from 10 to 45 minutes, while Gobble promises that each meal can be prepped in under 15. When we tested Green Chef, we found that the meal kit prep times took a little longer than expected, especially when cooking a new recipe. Premium recipes also usually take longer than usual since they typically include more ingredients and careful protein prep.

Overall, Green Chef is a great service if you’d like to order anywhere between 2 to 12+ servings per recipe, and are curious to try organic, well-balanced meals with plenty of cuisine options. Gobble is better for singles or couples who want easy prep, gourmet, Classic American meals.

Meal Customization: It’s a Tie 

Green Chef offers more meal plans and a higher number of portions per recipe, but Gobble lets you customize your proteins for specific recipes. Green Chef offers 8 meal plans including Keto, Plant Based, Mediterranean, Quick & Easy, Protein Packed, Delicious Discoveries, Calorie Smart, and Gluten Free. Gobble only offers vegetarian and calorie-conscious plans.

Both services allow you to choose your meals from any available plans at a minimum portion of 2 servings per recipe. Choosing your meals is great if you’d like to explore eating different diets like keto or vegan, try meals inspired by new cuisines, or stick to your desired diet. While you can’t filter the menu by diet plan on Green Chef’s menu, recipes are tagged with the diet plans they accommodate.

Gobble doesn’t label whether meals are Classic or Lean & Clean, but you see which meals have protein-swapping options. Meals with this option are tagged with Personalize this Meal on the recipe card, as seen below, and include the number of protein-swapping options available.

Protein swaps can be great for certain allergies and preferences. For example, if you’re allergic to shellfish, as pictured in the Thai Red Curry Shrimp with Pineapple and Jasmine, you’ll be able to swap the shrimp for a different protein like chicken or pork.

When you check out with the Classic Plan, you’ll also see an option to exclude certain proteins from your plan. When you select the protein you want to exclude, any meals containing that protein will be removed as an option for your order. However, this is only for the Classic Plan. The better way to customize your meal plan is by swapping proteins using the Personalize this Meal feature pictured above.

Green Chef imposes no maximum on the number of servings you can order for each recipe, while Gobble only offers recipes in 2 or 4 portions. This is excellent flexibility if you’ve found a favorite meal, are feeding a family, or are hosting a party. Gobble allows up to 20 meals per week or 4 servings of a recipe for 5 nights per week.

What’s important to note is that neither service caters to food allergies or offers extensive ingredient exclusions. The most allergen accommodation you’ll find between the 2 services is Green Chef’s Gluten-Free plan. However, both services send meal kits, so you can be free to exclude ingredients you don’t want to consume when prepping the kits at home.

Both services mark online recipe cards with the top 8 FDA allergens, so you can easily avoid ingredients you can’t eat. If you have a severe allergy in which contact with that food results in illness, you may want to consider different services. Physical recipe cards that you receive in your delivery will contain the same detailed allergen information.

Gobble takes allergen accommodation one step further than Green Chef by labeling which common allergen ingredients are optional, as seen on the Korean Barbecue Pork Rice Bowl above. Those ingredients are packed separately so you can easily leave them out of the meal.

Ordering, Delivery, Unboxing: Green Chef Is More Convenient

Green Chef wins because it offers the ultimate convenience for meal delivery service ordering – a mobile app, more available delivery days, and more recyclable packaging.

Ordering

Green Chef has an app through which you can change order contents, delivery day, frequency of deliveries, and more. Ordering is straightforward for both services, but managing subscription details is far easier with a few clicks on your mobile device. You can even live chat with customer service through the app.

Both services are subscription-based and will automate your delivery as soon as you confirm it.

Gobble is just a little behind Green Chef since it also offers live chat with customer service agents. However, you have to access the website to access the live chat, which is less convenient than chatting via a mobile phone app.

Meal plan options for both services are simple. Gobble's minimum order is 2 dinner kits for 2 people and offers 2 or 4-person plans for 2, 3, 4, or 5 nights per week. You can choose from the Classic, Vegetarian, or Lean & Clean menu or a mix of each menu. Once you've chosen your plan and recipes, you can customize your proteins.

Green Chef's order minimum is 2 servings per recipe for 3 meals (6 servings), and offers 2 or more servings for each recipe with no order maximum. You can choose from the Keto, Plant Based, Mediterranean, Quick & Easy, Protein Packed, Delicious Discoveries, Calorie Smart, and Gluten Free, or mix and match any variation of plans.

Both services allow you to choose your meals from the whole menu or stick to the recipes that are recommended per your chosen meal plan.

You need to make changes by the deadline. The change request cutoff for Gobble is Wednesday 11:59 pm for the following week's order, regardless of your usual delivery day. The change request cutoff for Green Chef is 7 days before your next scheduled delivery.

Canceling your subscription for both services can be done through your account login or customer service. You’ll receive a confirmation email from either service that your subscription is no longer active.

Delivery

Green Chef delivers to all 48 contiguous states, and all meals are delivered Monday through Saturday. Saturday delivery is a great option for busy people on the go during the week who would rather deal with meal prep and deliveries on the weekends. When you're filling out your address to complete your order, you'll see which days are available when you type in your zip code.

Gobble only delivers to 47 contiguous states, excluding Montana, and only has limited delivery to Nebraska, New Mexico, and Kansas. If you're ordering from Gobble – double-check whether delivery is available for your zip code.

Both services allow you to choose your delivery day, but Green Chef offers more available delivery days for each zip code. This is one of my favorite meal delivery service features because you can enjoy the extra level of convenience allowed by knowing when your food will arrive.

Again, Green Chef’s app makes managing delivery much easier than managing delivery details via the website. However, you can still manage some delivery details via Gobble’s live chat customer service agents. You might even be able to complete your delivery inquiry or request via the chatbot.

Unboxing

Both services organize ingredients very well so that you know exactly which food is for which recipe. Since both services offer meal kits, all ingredients arrive fresh, and most ingredients require refrigeration. Some sauces, spice mixes, and herbs are shelf-stable, while produce and meats need refrigeration as soon as possible.

Green Chef bundles dry ingredients into paper bags according to recipe, while Gobble bundles dry ingredients into clear plastic Ziploc bags according to recipe.

Both services include full-page recipe cards with pictures for each recipe! While recipe cards aren’t the most environmentally friendly item to include each week, I find that they’re more convenient than scrolling through my phone or my laptop with food-covered fingers. You can even view Green Chef’s recipe cards as PDFs online for every recipe on the menu.

Both separate dry ingredients from proteins with an insulated layer and keep foods properly refrigerated with insulated lining and ice packs. Green Chef uses plant-based 100% recyclable ClimaCell gel packs, while Gobble uses standard non-toxic ice packs with recyclable plastic liners. You can reuse ice packs from both services.

Green Chef’s packaging is 100% carbon and plastic offset, and all its packaging material is recyclable or compostable. Sometimes special non-recyclable materials are required to keep certain foods safe during transit but that’s the only exception to the recyclable packaging.

Gobble’s packaging material is still mostly recyclable, but not as much as Green Chef’s. It also uses a lot less upcycled materials and a lot more plastic. Composting packaging materials is one of the most eco-friendly ways to treat packaging materials, but there isn’t any mention of composting on Gobble’s website.

Meal Prep: Gobble’s Meals Are Easier to Make

Gobble promises that all meal kits can be completely prepared in 15 minutes or less. The service accomplishes this by preparing some ingredients before they arrive. You’ll receive pre-portioned and chopped veggies and premade sauces to keep prep time under that 15-minute mark. All ingredients arrive fresh and ready to be cooked or refrigerated for use within the week.

Green Chef provides some prepared sauces, but most other foods require complete prep. Foods arrive fresh and are portioned according to your chosen recipes, but you’ll need to chop, mince, dice, or slice in whatever way your recipes require. This means there will also be a bit more cleanup for Green Chef meal kits than for Gobble kits.

Green Chef meal prep times vary from microwavable to 45 minutes and average around 25 minutes per entree. For easier prep options, you can find microwavable egg and oatmeal breakfasts on the extras menu and 10-minute lunches on the main and extras menu.

Our testing showed that some meal kit recipes take 5 to 10 minutes more than the recipes indicate. If you’re a novice chef, meal prep might take a little longer than that. Prep time decreases as you get to know the recipes better!

Recipes for both services don’t teach cooking skills, so you’ll want to account for the extra time it might take to research the required techniques.

However, both services include very detailed recipe cards with images that show how your food should look at each step. This is great so that you easily know your meal is on the right track.

Customer Support: Green Chef Has Mobile Apps

Green Chef wins with its iOS- and Android-compatible mobile app and longer customer service hours. Having more available and responsive live chat customer support and an app through which to manage subscription details are the most convenient features a meal delivery service can offer. 

Green Chef's app allows you to manage your subscription at the click of a button instead of having to log in to your account through a web browser or desktop. You can change order recipes, delivery days, and how often you'd like to receive your recurring order. You can even contact customer support's live chat or phone line via the app during support hours.

Green Chef customer support is available 7 days per week via live chat and phone line. Live chat is available Monday to Sunday 6 am to 11 pm EST, and the phone line is available Monday to Friday 6 am to 11 pm EST and Saturday to Sunday 7 am to 7 pm EST.

Gobble doesn't have an app, and it has less customer support hours. However, its live chat is similarly responsive and as helpful as Green Chef's. Gobble's customer support hours are Monday to Friday from 5 am to 8 pm PT and Saturday to Sunday 5 am to 1 pm PT.

For the live chat for both services, I was connected to a live chat agent in 1 to 2 minutes and found that agents were equally friendly and helpful for both services every time I reached out! You’ll initially be connected to a chatbot that serves as an extended FAQ section for the site. This can be helpful if you have general questions or already have an account and are asking for details about a specific order.

Pro tip: For both services, if you want to speak to a live agent, simply type "human agent" or "talk to an agent" and the chatbots for both services will get you connected.

Pro tip: When chatting with Gobble’s live chat agents, the chat box will disappear if you navigate away to a different page on the website. You have to stay on the FAQ page to continue chatting with the agent.

Pricing: Green Chef Is More Affordable

Green Chef wins again with its lower per-serving price point. Green Chef’s per serving prices range from $9.99 – $13.49 per serving, while Gobble’s range from $11.99 – $16.99 per serving. Prices per serving even out around 12 – 16 servings per week, so price difference isn’t extreme.

However, this few-dollar difference can easily add up if you plan to subscribe each week. Plus, both services charge shipping for each order, and Green Chef charges $9.99 and Gobble charges $8.99.

For both services, per-serving prices decrease as you order more meals. As you select the number of meals you order, you’ll see the per serving and total price change.

Green Chef’s order minimum is 3 meals with 2 servings each week, and there’s no maximum per order, while Gobble’s order minimum is 2 meals for 2 people each week. 

Weekly prices for both services even out when you order 16 servings per week, and it’s around $200 (including shipping). That equates to about $800 per month. If this fits your budget, you’ll find that the convenience, ingredient quality, and cuisine variety are all well worth it!

Green Chef vs. Gobble — Quick Overview

And the Winner Is: Green Chef

Green Chef stands out in this comparison. The service edges ahead due to its organic ingredients, diverse food types, weekly recipes, varied meal prep options, superior recycling practices, and unmatched customer support. It also has an efficient mobile app and chat support agents ready to help.

Green Chef offers flexibility with its plans. You'll find accommodations for 8 different plans and recipes for complex and picky palates. A notable advantage is the absence of a maximum limit on servings, making it ideal for larger gatherings or families.

Gobble is tailored for a specific audience. While still a commendable service, it fits best for singles or couples who have a higher budget and prioritize reduced kitchen prep time.

Both services cater to different needs and budgets. It's essential for you to evaluate what matters most to you when selecting the right meal delivery service for you.

FAQ

What’s the healthiest meal kit delivery service?

If organic is your version of healthy, Green Chef is the healthiest meal kit delivery service. All produce is CCOF-certified and USDA-certified organic, and all proteins are sourced from farms with the highest quality animal welfare and sustainability standards.

Does Gobble deliver to my area?

Gobble delivers to 47 of the contiguous United States excluding Montana, with limited delivery to Nebraska, New Mexico, and Kansas. You can easily check Gobble delivers to your zip code before you choose a plan.

Are Gobble meals organic?

Gobble meals are not organic, but ingredients are restaurant quality and recipes are gourmet level, but you’ll only find a few scattered organic ingredients like tofu.

How much is Green Chef per month?

Green Chef amounts to about $805 per month (including shipping) when you order 16 servings per week. Serving, weekly, and monthly prices vary according to the number of meals you order. Once you order 16+ servings per week, per serving prices remain $11.99 regardless of the amount you order. Shipping is always $9.99 per order. That’s a big monthly price tag food, so don’t hesitate to use our coupon code to make your first order more affordable: Free Salads for Two Months + 50% Off Your 1st Box