Food delivery services have become very popular over the years, with Gousto and Hello Fresh leading the pack, but there are plenty of others to choose from.
All of these meal services - either the ready-to-cook ones or the ready-to-eat ones - can be a quick and convenient alternative to going to the local supermarket, shopping for supplies and then having to create a dish yourself. Plus, they can often save money in the long run - especially if you're someone who tends to waste a lot of fresh food.
A meal delivery service can save time and energy, and they're a great way to try new dishes. Plus, they can be a great option if you're  cooking for one or planning meals for your whole family.
Keep scrolling to see our pick of the best meal delivery kits and boxes...
QUICK GLANCE
Most popular family-friendly meal delivery services:Â hellofresh and gousto
Most popular plant-based meal delivery service: planty
Most popular healthy meal delivery service: balancebox and thegoodprep
Most popular dessert delivery service:Â lolascupcakes
If you're looking for a new year re-set, you might be after a roundup of the best juice cleanses to try.Â
If you're looking for gift hampers to send as a special gift to the foodie in your life, you might want to check out our edit of the best chocolate hampers, cocktail hampers or the most delicious afternoon tea hampers. Â
Family-friendly meal delivery services
HelloFresh
With a variety of different options for different needs, HelloFresh is one of the UK’s leading meal delivery services and is currently serving all of the UK. Try the Family Box to create fuss-free dinners, the Rapid Box for meals that take under 20 minutes, or the single person meal delivery.
Prices start from £3.25 per meal, visit hellofresh.co.uk.
2023 DEAL:Â New customers can get 60% off their first HelloFresh box and 25% off the next two orders, AND three free gifts in a special Black Friday promotion.
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Gousto
The Gousto menu offers over 50 recipes to choose from on a weekly basis, including some of Joe Wicks' Lean In 15 recipes. And it can cost as little as £2.98 per serving!
Prices start at £2.98 per meal, visit gousto.co.uk.Â
2023 DEAL: Join today and get 60% off your first box! Like your first box? Get 30% off all other boxes you order in your first month.
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Mindful Chef
This top-rated service uses only 100 per cent free-range, ethically sourced British meat and sustainably caught fish to deliver fresh, nutritionist-designed recipes to your doorstep wherever you're based in the UK. They bring out 40 new recipes every week so you won't be short of inspiration.
And if you're wanting to go vegan, they have a range of plant-based dishes to try, from West Indian curried dahl with quinoa, to red pesto jackfruit and chickpea stuffed peppers. There's also a veggie shepherd's pie made with chestnuts. Inventive, it certainly is.
For a post-summer health kick, Mindful Chef has partnered with the much-loved food chain LEON, to deliver four of the naturally fast-food brand's most iconic recipes to your doorsteps nationwide, exclusively from 17 - 30 September. Get creative in the kitchen with all the ingredients to make LEON favourites, like Aioli Chicken & Rainbow Slaw, Keralan Cod Curry with Coconut & Pickled Cucumber and more.
Prices start from £4.50 per meal. To order your LEON x Mindful Chef box, visit mindfulchef.com.
2023 DEAL: 25% off your first four boxes.
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Simply Cook
If you're looking to expand your culinary skills by trying global cuisines, then a Simply Cook box provides four recipe kits and step-by-step instructions to help you recreate some of your favourite dishes in 20 minutes. Add 4-6 items from your fridge or cupboard to the spices, herbs and sauces that come in the box to create everything from Thai red prawn curry to jambalaya and grilled halloumi salad. After a £3 trial, each box costs £9.99 with free delivery.
Prices start at £9.99 per box, visit simplycook.com.
2023 DEAL: Try for free, just pay £1 postage.Â
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Amazon Fresh
Prime members across the UK can enjoy Amazon Fresh, with the choice of thousands of grocery items for your weekly shop including meat, seafood, produce, snacks and household essentials from major brands such as Booths, Whole Foods Market, Pepsi, Danone, Arla, Warburtons and Britvic, as well as premium products from artisan and local producers.
The service comes with Amazon's fastest grocery delivery offer in the UK, usually as fast as same-day for orders placed before 9pm in most areas, with free delivery in two-hour windows on orders over £40.
For further information on Amazon Fresh, visit: Amazon.co.uk/groceriesÂ
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Abel and Cole
As well as offering weekly organic essentials such as milk and eggs and pantry must-haves, Abel and Cole also allow customers to order specific fruit and vegetable boxes. Simply pick what ratio of fruits to veggies you want and the fresh seasonal produce will be delivered to your door. To minimise carbon emissions, they only visit an area once a week so cannot offer delivery time slots.
Prices start from £12.50, visit abelandcole.co.uk.
2023 DEAL: Enjoy 50% off 1st and 4th box. Use code VEGBOX4 at checkout.
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Cook School
Nationwide not-for-profit people Cook School have teamed up with a number of brilliant restaurants and chefs to offer easy-to-make, completely immersive cookery kits for kids to create - including Vietnamese restaurant Pho. From Pho's famous rolls to Ravneet Gill's delectable cookies, there is something for every child's whim and taste. New recipe kits are released every fortnight as part of a subscription at £20 + pp per box, or you can buy a one-off box to try it out or send as a gift to friends and family for £22 + pp.
Kits are available to order via shop.cookschool.club.
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COOK
Avoid the stress of a Sunday roast by ordering your meat and all the extras straight to your door in one delivery box. COOK's frozen meals are a favourite because they use top quality ingredients that taste super fresh – you honestly can’t tell the difference from homecooked. In fact, the roast potatoes and the juicy meat were even (dare we say it) better…
Get your roast dinner at cookfood.net
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Vegan meal delivery services
Allplants
Vegan? This meal delivery service is for you. Allplants delivers plant-based, healthy frozen meals that are ready in minutes. Choose six meals from 22 different options such as a BBQ burrito bowl or spiced aubergine tagine, select your delivery day, and voila! Available nationwide.
Prices start from £4.99 per meal, visit allplants.com.Â
2023 DEAL: 40% off first orders with code LETSEAT40.Â
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Planty
Looking for plant-based meals? Planty customers simply build their own box with either 6, 8, or 10 plant-based meals which can be delivered to your door on your chosen delivery date. All meals are fresh-frozen, so all you need is an oven or microwave to reheat it and dinner is served! Choose from dishes such as Mac ‘no’ Cheese, BBQ Banana Blossom Burrito and Wild Mushroom & Truffle Rigatoni. For a one-off purchase, prices start from £43.20 for six meals.
For more information visit planty.uk.
2023 DEAL:Â Get 20% off your first box with code GOPLANTS at checkout.
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The Detox Kitchen
The Detox Kitchen offers a 3-day intermittent fasting plan to rest and reset your gut. Not only will the plan increase your metabolic efficiency and balance energy levels, but they will also help you to differentiate between true hunger and habitual hunger - plus all of the meals, juices and snacks are delicious.Â
The vegan package is £105, visit detoxkitchen.co.uk
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Spicy meal delivery services
Phomo
Possibly one of the most versatile pho delivery kits on the market, Phomo lets you pick exactly how you'd like your bowl of pho. Long gone are the days when you're worrying it'll be too spicy or garnished with too much coriander. Phomo gives you all the ingredients to make a healthy, beautiful Vietnamese bowl of goodness to your taste. The vegan pho is delicious and comes with vegan broth and tofu, although there are also beef, chicken and king prawn options. It takes about five minutes to assemble the vegan soup – simply heat up the ingredients and add as much or as little of the garnishing as you like. Prices start from £19.95 for two people. Order by 12pm on a Wednesday for a Friday delivery.
For more information visit phomouk.com
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Mooli
Fancy a curry but want one that's a little more sophisticated than your usual local? Introducing Mooli, a no-cook delivery service that promises authentic Indian food. They're known for their thalis or 'tasting plates' and even serve their dishes on recyclable food trays made from fallen palm leaves. The idea is to lay out the different dishes on your tray and feast your way through the different regions of India.
From £35 for two people, visit moolifood.com
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Healthy meal delivery services
Omni
Created by celebrity trainer Aimee Victoria Long, Omni delivers home-cooked, wholesome and nutritious food to your door, with breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks all sorted. The food is seriously tasty, with the menus dreamt up in collaboration with chefs, from all backgrounds and cuisines, who take your tastes into consideration when crafting your healthy and delicious meals.
Each menu is carefully curated by the team to incorporate all the proteins, complex carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals you need, whether you're are training or just need food to fuel your busy days.
When you sign up for the service, you have a call with one of the Omni team to ensure your needs are met; whether it be food allergies or intolerances, to a gut health cleanse, the team carefully create tailored and varied menus – it's like having a personal chef without needing the A list budget, with prices from £30 per day.Â
For more information visit Omni-wellnessgroup.com
Balance Box
Designed to refuel your body and mind, Balance Box offer six different five-day food plans based on your individual needs, activity level, and schedule. Keeping your meals fresh, the brand will split your order into two weekly, contactless deliveries nationwide using premium courier services.Â
For more information visit balancebox.com.
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The Good Prep
The Good Prep helps you to stay on track with your health and fitness goals. Choose from several plans including Trim & Slim, Maintain & Sustain and Grow & Gain. Meals are delivered weekly and also come with optional snacks and detox juices.
Prices start at £99 per weekly meal plan or you can try two days for £49, visit thegoodprep.com.Â
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Detox Kitchen
© Photo: InstagramProtein cleanse, vegan cleanse, green cleanse – Detox Kitchen has them all. Each box contains healthy, ready-to-eat meals that are free from refined sugar, wheat and dairy. The protein cleanse, for example, includes breakfast, lunch, dinner, pudding, plus one juice, one ginger shot, one snack and one teabag that total about 1500 calories – we're talking spiced Ceasar salad, king prawn ramen, goji granola and more.
Prices start at £31.45 per day, visit detoxkitchen.co.uk
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Green Chef
Green Chef has launched a keto recipe box, as well as its lower carb, vegan, vegetarian and balanced recipes. Choose from one of five diet plans and get chef-created, nutritionist-approved recipes that change every week, such as exotic mushroom couscous and sesame ginger steak. And what's particularly handy is the flexible subscriptions, which mean you can skip a delivery if you have other plans!
Prices start at £4.70 per serving. For more information visit greenchef.co.uk
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Diet Chef
On the hunt for quick and easy meals that aren't laden with calories? Diet Chef offers breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks that are all calorie and portion-controlled. Choose from 85 meals that are ready to eat in just three minutes, from chicken and tomato curry to paella and macaroni cheese.
A core plan costs £245 for four weeks. For more information visit dietchef.co.uk.
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Fresh Fitness Food
Particularly good for any gym bunnies who want to keep count of their macros or busy time-poor professionals looking for convenience, Fresh Fitness Food delivers personalised meals designed by nutritionists, prepared by chefs and tailored exactly to your unique nutritional requirements. It is available nationwide.
Prices start from £23 per day, visit freshfitnessfood.com.
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No. 1 Food Prep
The nationwide delivery service offers consumers, fresh, clean and consciously curated meals with convenience packed full of nutrients and probiotics to help support immunity. There are 3 size options to choose from: The Lite (small), The Balance (medium) and The Max (large). What's more, the brand currently has an amazing initiative - for each order placed they will be delivering a freshly cooked meal to an elderly person in the area, so you can feel good about your purchase.
Prices are approx. £16 per day, visit no1foodprep.com.
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Fit Kitchen
After entering your details, Fit Kitchen will suggest bespoke, healthy meals perfectly matched and balance to your profile and lifestyle - a great option for those with specific goals in mind.
Prices start at £4 per meal, visit fitkitchen.uk.com.
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MunchFit
Struggling with meal planning? Enter MunchFit, a tailored nutrition plan that offers customers over 180 recipes by Michelin-trained chefs and nutritionists. Choose from four different plans: Lean is designed to help you lose body fat with dishes high in protein such as Vietnamese Honey Chicken; Strong is higher in carbs, protein and calories to fuel the body for intensive training, including Lebanese Lamb Burgers; Green is 100 per cent plant-based and high protein meals such as Tofu Scramble with Roasted Veggies and Za’atar Burritos; and Balanced consists of the best Lean, Green and Strong meals to match a mixed schedule, including Spiced Apple Crumble Bircher. The extra-tasty dishes use whole food ingredients and are gluten-free, and they can be customised for food allergies and intolerances. Sign us up!
Meals start at £8.41 depending on your plan. For more information visit munchfit.co.uk
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Après Food  Co.
Health-conscious foodies looking to support their immune system, balance their sugar levels and get better sleep can turn to Après Food  Co. They allow shoppers to build their own peronalised ‘Better Box’, containing everything from American-style blueberry pancakes to 12-hour slow-cooked Sri Lankan lamb curry, as well as organic, gluten-free and vegan options.
Prices start from £8 per main, for more information visit apresfood.com
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No-cook meal delivery services
ByRuby
For delicious hand-cooked comfort food classics, look no further than ByRuby. From the award-winning British Grass-Fed Beef Lasagne to the Thai Red King Prawn Curry, each frozen dish is made with only the highest quality ingredients and can go straight in the oven or microwave for the ultimate convenience. Can also be found in selected Waistrose stores.
From £5.95 per portion, visit byruby.co.uk.
Balance Box
Pick your perfect portion size in one of four different menu plans - Classic, Vegetarian, Pescatarian and Free-From - designed by expert chefs and nutritionists. Your daily box will include breakfast, lunch, dinner and two snacks, making mealtimes a breeze.
From £22.99 per day, visit balancebox.com.
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Tastily
Unlike traditional ready meals, Tastily’s are free from artificial ingredients, preservatives or refined sugar and are never frozen. Instead, the brand uses cutting-edge packaging technology to keep each dish fresh for seven days so subscribers never have to compromise on great taste and good health. The ideal option for those looking for a rapid working-from-home lunch, or a delicious, nutritious evening meal that won't eat into your quality evening time.
Each week, customers can pick between 4-12 meals from a rotating menu of 16 dishes – all of which contain at least three servings of veggies. From Mexican Beef Barbacoa to Red Thai Fish Curry, the menu features cuisines from around the world, designed by a Michelin-starred trained chef.
For more information visit tastily.co.uk
JANUARY 2023 DEAL: Get £40 off with the code JAN.Â
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Restaurant meal delivery kits
Côte at Home
Côte is up there with our favourite high street restaurants and now you can enjoy the taste at home with their home delivery meal boxes. As well as a host of mains, you can pick and mix with starters and desserts.
For more information visit coteathome.co.uk
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Plateaway
Plateaway is an online meal delivery service that has a whole roster of restaurants to choose from, including Patty&Bun, The Little Pasta Company, Bancone and Dirty Bones. Or if you're just looking for a little sweet treat to finish your meal at home, they have dessert-focused options too. The concept is simple and stress-free. Choose your favourite meal kit from a restaurant, wait for it to be delivered to your door (some venues only deliver on certain days of the week), and then follow the few step-by-step instructions on how to prepare and plate up your food.
Prices start at £4.60 per meal, visit plateaway.com
Ceru
Whether you're a seasoned chef or a total novice, Ceru (Eastern Mediterranean in London's South Kensington and Soho) offers the most beautiful cookery boxes that can be prepared in under half an hour. You can choose from vegan, lamb, beef fillet, or chicken, and each option comes wrapped in stunning, sustainable, packaging (so it's like a gift to yourself!), as you can reuse the silk cloth as a tablecloth or scarf. The range focuses on local products and is a scrummy way to sample Levantine cuisine - it's just hard to decide which one!
From £40 for a box for two, visit cerurestaurants.com/cook-at-home-kits
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Arros QD
This delivery kit requires a little more time, effort and preparation, but you end up with a very special, authentic Spanish feast at home. The London-based restaurant is renowned for its traditional wood-fired paellas created by Michelin-starred chef Quiqui Dacosta. With their at-home paella kits, you can recreate Quiqui's masterpiece at home. The delivery comes with a 40cm premium paella pan, Arros QD paella spoon, 1kg traditional bomba rice and 2.5L of vegetarian stock, which is enough to produce three paellas, each of which will feed two people. You'll just need to buy your ingredients to recreate this month's vegetarian paella (listed in the instructions), or pick toppings of your own.
Kits are £76 and feed two to three people, visit arrosqd.com.
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Farmison & Co.
When you go to a restaurant, do you usually lick your lips over the steak menu? Now you can learn to cook your own steak dinner at home with the help of Farmison & Co. With plenty of boxes on offer, you're in for a treat - there's sausage roll kits, Kentucky fried chicken and more, and the saucepan ready sauces are divine!
Boxes start at £14.95, visit farmison.com
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Luxury meal delivery services
A Cook's Tour
Luxury London caterer Rocket has launched 'A Cook's Tour', offering you the chance to go around the world on a virtual culinary adventure. Tune in to live fortnightly cookalongs with top chefs, creating a restaurant-worthy meal for two with the ingredients delivered to your door for just £60. The Tour has so far been to countries including Norway, Italy and Vietnam, with chefs including Thomasina Miers and James French from Nonna Tonda – and Ottolenghi's Executive Chef, Calvin Von Niebel is coming up soon!Â
For more information, visit acookstour.co.uk. .
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The Cookaway
The flavoursome menus are a winner for winter celebrations, and perfect for ambitious cooks and foodies who want to cook a luxurious meal from scratch. The recipes offer the chance to slow down in the kitchen and share the enjoyable process of cooking with friends and family.Â
Prices start from £85 for two people and boxes are available to order now. Visit, thecookaway.com
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Rick Stein
Celebrated chef Rick Stein's meal kits, Stein's at Home, are a hit with fans. Each box serves two people and you choose between one, two or three course menus. All of the preparation is done for you, you simply cook and assemble the dishes at home. Each box comes with cooking and plating instructions. All the ingredients in the meal kits are packaged and well sealed in insulated bags with chill packs.
Stein's at Home kit for two, prices start from £40, visit rickstein.com
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Burger meal delivery services
Libertine
If you're a big fan of dirty burgers and haven't checked out Libertine yet, you need to do so stat. The National Burger Award winner delivers their make-your-own- kits nationwide, offering four delicious burgers for a very reasonable price of £25. The kits are extremely easy to use, with all ingredients individually packed and the streaky bacon already pre-cooked. The only amount of cooking you'll have to do is flipping the beef patties on your grill for four minutes on each side. Then stack each burger with American cheese, pickles, ketchup and mustard. The dirty burgers are some of the best you'll try at home, plus when they're served on a Libertine graffiti greaseproof sheet of paper, you really will feel like you're dining in a burger eatery.
For more information visit libertine-burger.
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Italian meal delivery services
La Tua Pasta
La Tua Pasta supplies many of the country’s best-known restaurants with delicious fresh pasta. Choose from filled pasta, fresh pasta sauces, antipasti, desserts (Chocolate Tortellini anyone?), and easy meal kits – including vegan-friendly options too – all delivered nationwide.
Prices start at just £3.00 for a 250g bag of fresh pasta and go up to £63.50 for 12-portion family meal kits. Find out more at Latuapasta.com
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Pasta Evangelists
Who doesn't love a good pasta dish? Pasta Evangelists offers a weekly menu of ten recipes to choose from, which take as little as five minutes to prepare. Choose from dishes such as gnocchi with lamb ragu or wild mushroom triangoli, with plenty of vegetarian and gluten-free options available. Homes across the UK can have the chilled recipes delivered not only to their door but even through the letterbox!
Prices start at £6.75, visit pastaevangelists.com.
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Delita
There's nothing like sitting down to a freshly made, warm plate of Italian food. Delita focuses on traditional flavours and regional gems. You'll find all sorts of classic favourites on their menu, including lasagna or aubergine and courgette parmigiana, as well as more unusual dishes like chestnut-stuffed guinea fowl and octopus in saffron potato cream. The food comes prepared in glass jars which you can simply pop in the microwave to heat up before plating up.
Prices start from £6.90, visit mydelita.com
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Dessert meal delivery services
Graze
Those who like to eat little and often should take a look at the dedicated snack delivery service, Graze. After you've told them your snack preferences, Graze will personalise your box and deliver it either twice a week, weekly or fortnightly. From cinnamon pretzels to lemon flapjacks, there are plenty of different options available. Boxes cost £4.49 but it's currently offering the first box for half price!
Prices start at £4.49 per box, visit graze.com.
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Bear's Brownies
For some of the gooiest brownies you'll ever try, place an order at Bear's Brownies. Their 'Fill Your Own' boxes offer three flavours for a box of 12, or six flavours for a box of 24. There's a plethora of flavours to choose from, including the company's signature salted caramel, billionaires, blondies, or for the more adventurous, blueberry cheesecake and even Guinness!
Available at bearsbrownies.co.uk
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Creme London
If you're looking to finish off your meal with something sweet, how about Creme London - one of the capital's highly sought after artisan cookie businesses. The cookie connoisseurs have launched a new nationwide 'deliver-to-your-door' service for the mouth-watering, gooey and chocolate-studded giant cookies the brand is famed for. The packaging has been specially designed to help the cookies retain their freshness and signature gooey texture, and there are four flavours to mix and match from to fill your bespoke box.
Available at creme.london.
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Mon Dessert
Fancy making the perfect Tarte au Citron? Mon Dessert is the perfect place to go for dessert making kits and with video tutorials on their website, you really can become a baking sensation! Alongside their stand-alone kits they offer gift subscriptions and personal subscriptions too! It’s sure to delight your tastebuds.
Prices start from £19.95 a month, visit mondessert.co.uk
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Lola's Cupcakes
Lola's is your go-to destination for all things sweet. From delicious cupcakes (including cute personalisation options) to beautifully decorated cakes and celebratory hampers, there's something for every occasion. The popular company, which delivers nationwide, also has a new range of afternoon teas including a 'Bake at Home' and delicious vegan option.
To find out more, visit lolascupcakes.co.uk
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Rachael's Kitchen
Rachael's Kitchen offers beautiful, personalised cupcakes via a next-day delivery service. The tasty treats come in over forty flavours. The bestselling cupcakes are the Fill Your Own, allowing you to hand-pick all 12 flavours, or why not try the Lucky Dip tasting selection - and there’s even a new ice cream sundae range! Planning a surprise for a loved one? The company offers edible personalised messages and photos on the cupcakes, as well as including message cards and other gift items like fizz or candles.
They deliver across the UK and the cut-off time for next day delivery is 4pm.
To check out all the yummy flavours, please visit rachaelskitchen.co.uk
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Jack & Beyond
You can't go wrong with Jack & Beyond if you love the sweeter things in life. The talented team of bakers aim to bring creativity and playfulness to all the cakes which are less sweet than many others on the market and include classics like Coffee & Walnut and Lemon Cake to the more play-ful and unusual Chai Layer Cake or Vegan Coconut Chocolate Cake. Red Velvet Cake is the bestselling cake with its distinctive red hue, it’s irresistibly light in texture with a subtle chocolate flavour. There are also tarts and pies including Cheesecake Crumble topped with seasonal fruit; Mango & Passionfruit Tart; and Peanut & Chocolate Pie.
For more information visit Jackandbeyond.com
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