6 Best Low-Sodium Meal Delivery Services
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Meal delivery services can offer a welcome break from the effort of managing mealtimes, whether you’re cooking for one or a whole household. Additionally, these services can take away some of the challenges of managing medically necessary diets, like eating low sodium and taking some of the guesswork out of making food choices.
Following a low-sodium diet can be especially challenging as sodium levels can vary so widely across different types of food, and this diet is commonly paired with other nutrients that need to be limited, like saturated fats. While not all low-sodium meal delivery services will offer the ability to limit other nutrients, we do recommend these services for anyone looking to limit sodium intake with a bit of support in the food decision-making department.
Our Low Sodium Meal Delivery Services Recommendations
Who Should Eat a Low-Sodium Diet and Are Low-Sodium Meal Delivery Services Right for You?
If you’ve been told by your doctor or dietitian to limit sodium intake, you may want to consider a low-sodium meal delivery service. This diet may be recommended for certain diagnoses like high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes and others. While a low-sodium meal delivery service could prove useful, it’s important to note that sodium is not the only nutrient of concern for managing some of these conditions. You may also need to limit saturated fats, total carbohydrates and other nutrients for these conditions, so be sure to consider everything involved for your specific dietary needs.
Best Meal Kits: Sunbasket
Starting Price: $11.49 per serving | Delivery Area: 46 states | Products Arrive: Fresh
What we like: Use the site’s search to filter for low-sodium meal kits and choose from various options with less than 700 mg sodium.
What to know: Not all of the meals meet EatingWell’s low-sodium criteria. Also, depending on your zip code, you might not be able to customize the day you receive deliveries.
Offering both meal kits and ready-to-heat prepared (fresh) meals, Sunbasket’s recipes are made with mostly organic ingredients and are suitable for individuals, couples and families alike. Sunbasket makes its health, nutrition, and allergen information easy to access by simply clicking on the photos of each meal on its online menu.
While the sodium criteria from Sunbasket is a bit more generous than EatingWell‘s low-sodium guidelines, meals are often well below the 700 mg threshold of Sunbasket’s “low-sodium” or “diabetes-friendly” meal kits. If you’re looking to limit other nutrients besides sodium, be sure to check the full nutrition criteria and saturated fat content, which can get as high as 15 g per serving in an average week. We do love that Sunbasket’s meals can be customized somewhat, both at the point of ordering, as well as in your own kitchen.
During our tests, one of our favorite recipes was the salmon panzanella salad; not only did the dish come together quickly, but it had a wonderful combination of textures and flavors. The crunch from the lettuce contrasted nicely with the toasted bread and the savory notes from the salmon and dressing. While Sunbasket isn’t as cost-effective as sourcing ingredients yourself (many of the ingredients in its recipes are readily available at your local grocery store) the convenience and customization it offered made it a game-changer. These meals often bridged the gap between cooking at home and yet another takeout night, and for us, that made Sunbasket a clear winner.
Meals We Tried
- Salmon panzanella salad with crisp lettuce, salsa verde and Parmesan
- Harissa sweet potatoes and your choice of protein with chimichurri
- Blueberry BBQ chicken with warm Dijon-horseradish potato salad
- Salmon with balsamic strawberries and farro–sweet pea salad
- Baharat chicken over wilted kale with tzatziki salad
- Fajita lettuce wraps with New Mexican chile salsa and guacamole
- Fettuccine bolognese with garlic-sautéed baby broccoli
- Seared steaks with green goddess mashed potatoes and porcini pan sauce
- Sea scallops over fresh fettuccine with sun-dried tomatoes and spinach
- Snapper with romesco, vegetables and almonds
- Burmese chicken and sweet potato curry
- Sirloin strip tacos with zucchini scallion salsa
Best Prepared Meals: CookUnity
Starting Price: $11.19 per serving | Delivery Area: 46 states | Products Arrive: Fresh
What we like: You can filter the menu for meals under 500 mg sodium. Also, the meals are ready-made and created by award-winning chefs.
What to know: The meals are meant for individuals (not families) and the saturated fat can be on the higher side.
CookUnity gives us the feeling of ordering from our favorite takeout spots but modified with the ability to filter for low-sodium options. The service makes it easy to search by dietary preference or nutrition criteria. Some of these features are only available once you create an account. Also, be sure to check on other nutrients you may need to limit, such as saturated fats, which have a broad range from 1.5 grams to 38 g per serving.
When preparing CookUnity meals for ourselves, we were struck by how complete they felt. Premade meals can often leave you wanting more, but the portions and balance of proteins and vegetables made these feel more like a treat than an afterthought. The garlic-herb grilled chicken with carrot thyme purée and sautéed mushrooms was a surprise hit; one would normally expect bland, rubbery chicken, and this was neither. The chicken was grilled perfectly, and the purée was a delight, surprisingly soft and lovely. It was a theme we encountered regularly with CookUnity’s meals: Each chef’s individual touches were allowed to shine through, making each feel like a substantial, cohesive meal.
Meals We Tried
- Pork al pastor tacos
- Udon noodle soup with shrimp with vegetables and puffed tofu
- Korean flank steak rice bowl (steak doep bap) with asparagus
- Chicken pad krapow with steamed jasmine rice
- Garlic-herb grilled chicken with carrot time purée and sautéed mushrooms
- Birria enchiladas with jalisco red rice and refried beans
- Sweet and spicy pineapple salmon with coconut rice and bok choy
- Coconut lime hanger steak
- Carnitas street tacos
- Butternut squash ravioli
- Chili roasted shrimp
Best Value: Eat Clean
Starting Price: $9.60 per serving | Delivery Area: 48 states | Products Arrive: Fresh
What we like: Eat Clean’s meals are filling, with plentiful breakfast, lunch and dinner options, and the menu makes it easy to view each meal’s nutritional content.
What to know: The vegan and vegetarian options are more limited compared to other services we tested.
Navigating your macros while keeping an eye on your sodium intake isn’t easy, but Eat Clean provides an easy way to do both, with convenient ready-to-heat meals with 300-500 mg of sodium per dish. You can choose between plant-based, paleo, keto and traditional plans, which range from six meals to up to 20 meals per week. When selecting each meal, a popup clearly displays each meal’s ingredients and nutritional values, making it easier to work Eat Clean’s meals into your meal plan of choice. The company also provides a wealth of breakfast, lunch and dinner options, ensuring enough variety to stave off redundancy, though we did find its vegan and vegetarian options more limited than those of other companies we tried.
When we prepared Eat Clean meals for ourselves, we found them pleasantly filling, with touches like savory sauces that elevated the meals from your average heat-and-eat offerings. The garlic parmesan chicken breast bowl in particular had a lot of flavor, with tender chunks of chicken that did not dry out despite its trip through the microwave.
Meals We Tried
- Almond crusted chicken tenders with homestyle mustard
- Garlic parmesan chicken breast bowl
- Sweet and sour cauliflower with white rice
Best for Weight Loss: bistroMD
Starting Price: $10.99 per serving | Delivery Area: 48 states | Products Arrive: Frozen
What we like: Multiple plans offer low-sodium meals and low-sodium options exist for all mealtimes. Consult with a registered dietitian if desired.
What to know: There’s little-to-no customization and portions may be small.
Combining a low-sodium diet with other health goals isn’t easy, but bistroMD simplifies it for you! They offer low-sodium options for all mealtimes, including breakfast, and go from freezer to table in minutes.
Among the many plans available from bistroMD, the Heart-Healthy and Diabetes-Friendly programs both offer low-sodium meals worth looking at. The Heart Healthy plan keeps sodium below 600 mg and saturated fats below 3.5 g per meal. The Diabetes-Friendly plan goes a bit farther and regulates sodium to under 500 mg, saturated fats to below 3 g, calories to between 1,200-1,400 per day, net carbohydrates (AKA total carbs minus grams of fiber) to less than 25 g per meal.
BistroMD’s lunches and dinners were our favorites, especially those that utilized sauces to maximum advantage. The chicken with smoked gouda gravy and tilapia with white wine cream sauce both had good flavor, and the sauces went a long way towards minimizing any dryness the proteins might have experienced in the microwave. We definitely recommend plating your meal after heating; we found leaving the meals in the trays gave them an institutional feel that did not do them justice.
Meals We Tried
- Cheese omelet with turkey sausage
- Steak and egg scramble
- Canadian bacon and Swiss cheese omelet
- Uncured ham and cheese frittata
- Chicken with smoked gouda gravy
- Tilapia with wine cream sauce
- Parmesan chicken patty with honey-glazed carrots and corn salad
- Chicken, rice and cheddar casserole
- Salmon with dill mustard sauce
- Turkey breast with cranberry apple chutney
- Oven-fried catfish with spicy tomato leek sauce
- Baked pasta marinara with chicken sausage
- Meatloaf with honey bourbon glaze
- Mojo pork with black beans and rice
- Chicken pad Thai
- Grilled salmon with creamy pesto
- Lasagna with garden marinara
Best Plant-Based: Splendid Spoon
Starting Price: $9.99 per serving | Delivery Area: 48 states | Products Arrive: Frozen
What we like: The menu is fully plant-based and has a “lower sodium” filter. With higher volume purchases, shipping is free.
What to know: The portions can be small.
While Splendid Spoon defines its “lower sodium” filter as “12% or less of daily sodium value per serving,” what that amounts to in the nutrition facts is a selection of noodle bowls, soups and grain bowls that all have less than 600 mg of sodium each. In addition, the majority of these also have less than 5 g of saturated fats (25% Daily Value), with only a couple of exceptions. We love Splendid Spoon’s dedication to all things slurpable and plant-based, making it an easy way to get more of the nutrients you need and less of those you may want to keep in check.
While we occasionally found ourselves wishing for more seasoning, Splendid Spoon’s meals did a nice job of playing off of the vegetables’ natural textures to create varied plant-based meals. The korma was creamy, with peas adding nice pops of vegetal sweetness throughout, and the roasted tomato risotto used the chewy intensity of sundried tomatoes to make the dish stand out. We also liked the addition of beans to the tomato rosemary soup for a much-needed hit of protein. Overall, this is a great option if you need a quick, plant-based meal with a minimum of preparation.
Meals We Tried
Smoothies:
- Carrot ginger chia
- Mango guava
- Pumpkin spice
- Cacao almond
- Blackberry basil
- Green matcha
- Power greens
- Raspberry cacao
Soups:
- Red lentil dal
- Tomato rosemary
- Pozole verde
- Green tomatillo chili
- Lentil and kale
- Kimchi fried quinoa
- Cauliflower tikka
- Cauliflower potato
- Butternut turmeric
- Garden minestrone
Dishes:
- Creamy butternut squash noodles
- Meatball marinara noodles
- Brussels bolognese pasta
- Creamy korma
- Coconut curry rice
- Roasted tomato risotto
- Hearty vegetable bolognese
- Naked burrito bowl
Best Gourmet: Epicured
Starting Price: $10.39 per serving | Delivery Area: 48 States | Products Arrive: Fresh
What we like: Many meals are under 500 mg sodium per serving, and they’re all low-FODMAP and gluten-free. Filtering by dietary preference is easy.
What to know: The low-sodium filter caps your meal choices to <140 mg per serving, which leaves you with a limited menu and a sodium level that might be unnecessarily low.
Epicured may be designed for a low-FODMAP and gluten-free diet, but it’s clear the menus are overseen by chefs as well as dietitians. With meals like sea bass with French Polynesian pineapple green sauce or a harvest salad with kabocha squash and mint vinaigrette included among the low-sodium options, we think these meals are fit for a foodie. You can easily filter the menu by nutritional needs, and you’ll be shown only items that meet your criteria. When we first tested this meal plan, you could select the box for “low sodium,” and it filtered meals by <500 mg; now, the low-sodium cap is <140 mg per serving, which may be unnecessarily low. You won’t necessarily be able to take advantage of Epicured’s discounted bundles when ordering low-sodium, but you can still select your own meals and order à la carte to stock your fridge with fresh and ready meals.
During our at-home testing, the pulled BBQ chicken and the energy bites were standouts. The chicken was filling, with a robust flavor that heated well. The energy bites, especially the peanut butter and chocolate flavor, had a great balance of flavors and were easy for snacking on the go. We think Epicured’s balanced mix of meals and snacks would be an excellent choice for folks with specific dietary needs who might otherwise struggle to find suitable options.
Meals We Tried
Meals:
- Pulled BBQ chicken
- Vietnamese rice noodles (vegetarian)
- Pad Thai with chicken
- Sesame-crusted grilled salmon
- Chicken wrap
- Arepas
Smoothies:
Snacks:
- Chocolate chip cookies
- Peanut butter and chocolate energy bites
- Almond and cranberry cherry bites
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