There are countless meal kits on the market, but what do they offer in terms of nutrition?
There are countless meal kits on the market, but what do they offer in terms of nutrition?
OPINION
Whether you’re a self-proclaimed foodie or don’t have time for elaborate meal planning and grocery shopping after a busy week, there’s a meal kit for every kind of home cook these days. But when you break down the contents, are you getting all the nutrients you need from your meal kit?
“Most of these kits now offer a variety of different menu options for different nutritional needs,” the Auckland-based founder of Mission Nutrition says.
“Historically, not a lot of them had nutritional information but now most of them do. The nutrition information is now much easier to access for most of them in advance, which then allows you to make an informed choice if you’ve got the time and inclination to do that, which is positive.”
However, Turnbull adds that when it comes to nutritional claims, it’s important to check them against current health guidelines.
A spokesperson for HelloFresh tells the Herald that nutritionists and dietitians have input into every recipe.
“Our recipe developers ensure that all meals contain a protein and carbohydrate source as well as plenty of veggies to help Kiwis meet their nutrition needs,” the spokesperson said.
“Within the HelloFresh app, online and on our recipe cards there is a nutrition information panel that displays the energy, fat, saturated fat, carbohydrates, sugars, protein and sodium for each meal.
“We want to ensure that meals are not only tasty, but deliver the right mix of ingredients that can contribute to a balanced diet.”
And a spokesperson for My Food Bag says that the original My Food Bag, Fresh Start and Bargain Box meals all include at least two servings of vegetables per person, though they vary in price.
“This is crucial given that very few people in New Zealand – 5 per cent of kids and 11 per cent of adults [according to a 2023 Ministry of Health survey] - meet the current recommendations for vegetable intake,” the spokesperson said.
The brand’s nutritionists’ pick recipes are “our healthiest recipes on offer approved by our New Zealand registered nutritionists which consider sodium, saturated fat, calories and veggie content”.
Meal kits are convenient, but how healthy are they? Photo / Getty Images
Are there enough vegetables in your meal kit?
When it comes to vegetable content, not all meal kits are created equal, Turnbull says.
“It’s the food group we need to be eating the most of each day, and we fall short. The evidence clearly shows that for good health and wellbeing, we need to be getting five or six handfuls of vegetables - not fruit, vegetables - a day. Those are the newer guidelines. The five plus a day is absolute bare minimum.”
Ideally, your dinner plate should be half full of vegetables, not including starches like potatoes or kūmara. Some meal kits do this “exceptionally well” and some don’t, the nutritionist adds.
“I’ve done all the food boxes and there’s a couple of them where I just feel like I’ve eaten takeaways all week - you know, the vegetables were light.”
Claire Turnbull is a registered nutritionist and the managing director of Mission Nutrition. Photo / Supplied
She acknowledges that with the high cost of groceries, fresh produce can be expensive - and when it comes to meal kits, you get what you pay for.
Turnbull points out that it’s not a legal requirement to include fibre content on food labelling, but that if it’s there, “that’s one way that you can tell whether it’s got enough vegetables or not”.
Is there too much salt in your meal kit?
What does concern Turnbull is the high salt content of many meal kit recipes, thanks to the prepackaged sauces and seasonings that come with them.
“Heart-related issues in New Zealand are chronic. We need to manage our salt intake as adults, and the recommendation is less than 2000mg a day,” she says, noting that children need even less.
Even recipes that look healthy, with a reasonable amount of calories, can contain too much salt - so when you’re picking recipes for your meal kit, she advises to check the sodium content.
It’s not just meal kits - “food in general” in New Zealand is too high in salt, she says.
“People do not realise that a tablespoon of soy sauce has got 2000mg of sodium in it. So it’s something to really manage.”
You can adjust the salt content by limiting the seasonings and sauces that you use - just because it’s there, you don’t have to use it all for one meal.
“While the pre-portioning is really helpful, you kind of get in that mindset of ‘well, I should eat all of this’,” she says. Instead, she advises stretching meals across two nights or keeping sachets and sauces in your pantry to use another time.
A lot of the meals we eat are too high in salt, according to registered nutritionist Claire Turnbull. Photo / 123rf
How to get more out of your meal kit
When it comes to choosing your meals each week, Turnbull recommends including one or two vegetarian meals to help ensure you’re getting enough vegetables each day.
Look for a few different coloured vegetables in each recipe. Picking recipes with vegetables you haven’t tried before can also help boost your confidence in the kitchen and add novelty to a family meal.
Once your box arrives, it’s easy to adapt meal kits to suit your needs, Turnbull says. Most meal kits offer generous-sized portions, meaning it’s easy to extend them.
“A lot of my friends do [meal kits] fortnightly and it’s enough to take the boredom out, but then it forces you to make those meals go further and do a little bit of cooking yourself in the middle,” she says.
“With rice, I often add frozen peas at the end. With any of the mince dishes, when it says one onion, I put two, when it says one grated carrot, I put two, when it says one can of tomatoes, I put two, because those are cheap.
“If you go for one of the lower-cost options, then you can just stretch it by adding pulses into any of the meat dishes - lentils, chickpeas, kidney beans. You can use frozen vegetables or whatever you’re growing so that you’re still getting your half plate.”
An added bonus is that including more vegetables reduces the salt and increases the fibre in each serving, Turnbull notes, adding that you can keep the recipe cards and spice packets on hand for future inspiration.
“The ingredients are often not that complicated. It’s just the spice mix that’s the juice of it.”
