The best luxury meal delivery kits in London
Sometimes cooking from scratch is just too much effort
Sometimes you just can’t be bothered to cook for more than 10 minutes. And sure, deliveries are great – whether you reach for Deliveroo, Uber Eats or others, there’s never been a better time to be a lazy person. But, but, once that delivery arrives, between the odd mix of soggy yet lukewarm fare, all the added service fees, and amount of time you had to wait (I swear food delivery took a leaf out of washing machines to devise their timings) it doesn’t quite hit the same.
It’s that desire for a home cooked meal that doesn't require you to actually make said home cooked meal. We've all felt it. Luckily, living a big beautiful city means we’re greeted with a bounty of brilliant alternatives.
Apart from the sheer quantity of banana bread, at home meal kits were one of the few good things to come from the Covid pandemic, with a lot of seriously gourmet London restaurants turning some of their most ordered dishes into easy-to-make at home kits. With them, you can have all the joy of having made a seriously impressive and tasty meal without any of the lingering in the aisles of Tesco having a minor breakdown on where to find Ketjap Manis or shelling out £78 on some obscure flavoured vinegar which you only use a teaspoon of.
Think handmade pasta made from Croydon, fresh buttery pastries, and Michelin starred fare, all being made in local London kitchens and just a careful bike courier away from being dropped at your door. The big smoke is packed with local companies offering up a cheat code: home cooked, pre-prepared foodie goods which basically deliver an almost-made meal to your door. We’ve rounded up a few of the best ones, for when you don’t feel like cooking but still feel like being cooked for.
1. Nonna Tonda
You may have seen the pretty blue bikes parked up around affluent areas of London doling out leaflets that will make your mouth water. Husband and wife duo James and Rebecca French started it back in 2020, and it delivers fresh pasta and homemade sauces straight to your door, giving you the feels of having gone out to a nice Italian restaurant whilst being able to eat it in your towel / pyjamas / in the nude (but be careful of hot sauce).
It’s not your average spag bol either, but a range of different options from Devon crab ravioli to a creamy Bucatini. You pick your different dishes every week from the listed options which update frequently, making the best of the seasonal produce. There are also pizza options and desserts to add on if you fancy it.
Each dish is fully pre-prepared, and you only need one pan to boil the pasta in (for three mins) before reusing it to heat the sauce and mix. It costs around £6.75 per head for two different dishes a week.
- Prices start at £8.25. Find out more here.
2. Butter & Crust
If you thought bougie foodie deliveries were reserved for dinner, think again. Butter and Crust are the patron saint of people who want to lie in on a Sunday, but also want to be the early bird who gets the bougie, 24-hour leavened pastries.
From signature sourdough, to pain au chocolats and artisan juices and coffee, you can build a bundle of your favourites, and wake up with it dropped at your door. It’s sort of like Father Christmas, but better: solely for breakfast goods and more than just once a year (should you please).
Each delivery will arrive before 9am, and similar to Nonna Tonda, the delivery day depends on your postcode to maximise efficiency. Prices depend on whether you’re doing a one time purchase or subscribe and save (AKA a weekly drop). The range is fairly simple but broad enough to make you feel like you’ve got lots to choose from without being overwhelmed – the Goldilocks of size. The simplicity of Butter & Crust makes it a great (and creative) new home / new baby gift for friends who need anything but yet another mug or babygro.
- Prices start at £25. Find out more here.
3. Modern Milkman
Remember the days of getting a lovely glass bottle of whole dairy milk being delivered to your door? And, if you listen carefully, that’s the sound of a hundred thousand Gen Z’s fainting in shock at the thought of both dairy milk, and unsolicited strangers with whom they have to make eye contact / small talk with.
But they’ll likely get back up off the floor when they hear about the cute and sustainable glass bottles. Modern Milkman does what it says on the condensed milk tin, bringing back that old-school breakfast delivery system, but with a suitably hipster upgrade, delivering oat, soya, almond milk and premade non dairy iced coffees too.
Since starting up in 2018, they’ve expanded their range, dropping off everything from homemade milkshakes, fresh coffee beans, and even small batch jams and spreads. Basically, imagine everything cutely organic, fairtrade, and villagey that you’d find in a garden centre or farmshop in the Cotswolds and that’s basically the range on offer at Modern Milkman.
Rather than a direct delivery kit, it’s more like a bespoke Deliveroo, perfect for bougie brunches and curated foodie collections without having to move from bed.
- Prices start from £5. Find out more here.
4. Aktar
Imagine Michelin starred Indian food that you actually made yourself. At home. Sort of.
Like many beautiful creative projects, Aktar was born out of lockdown, after chef Aktar Islam was awarded his first Michelin star for his restaurant Opheem. Seeing all the bland, overpriced takeaways on offer, Aktar at Home was created, and it will ruin your weekly at-home microwaved curries for good (in a good way).
From curry boxes for the family to tandoori boxes for your next big barbecue, Aktar At Home has it all and for the quality and quantity, the prices are staggeringly good.
- Prices from £9.45, minimum spend £35. Find out more here.
5. Riverford Organic
The OG crunchy-almond-family crew have been bringing their meal delivery kits to front doors for years now, but they remain some of the best.
Rather than just dumping a whole load of earthy veggies on your doorstep in a recyclable box, Riverford has a surprisingly large range of different ready-to-cook meal kits, with different accolades like “quick” “super quick” and “seasonal star” to help signpost you to what will be best for you.
There are plant based, veggie, and meaty options which all sound suitably indulgent yet healthy. Most of their recipe boxes are £15 for two, so roughly £7.50 per person.
- Prices from £15, minimum spend £25. Find out more here
6. Koya
Koya made a name (and queue) for themselves thanks to their delicious bouncy udon noodles which have reached pretty cult status in Soho. The wait times for a seat at the restaurant speaks for itself.
Luckily, you can bypass the queues and also have the inbuilt smugness of feeling like you’ve cooked for yourself by opting for Koya’s at-home udon kits, which come with noodles for two as well as all the ingredients for some of Koya’s most popular broths.
- Find out more here.
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