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Alternatives to meal kits

Tired of
meal kits?

You're paying for someone else's recipes, someone else's picks, and a delivery you may not even need. There's a better way.

Updated August 2026

The problem

Convenience comes
with limitations.

Meal kits like HelloFresh and Linas Matkasse are convenient — that's the whole point. You get pre-set recipes, a selection someone else picked for you, and deliveries you have to work around.

And the flexibility? Limited. Want to swap a dish for something you already have at home, add an extra lunch, or plan the whole week's food — not just the dinners? That still takes your own plan. And you still shop for the rest of the week yourself.

Then there's the packaging. Every ingredient portioned individually — 100 grams of carrots in one bag, a single clove of garlic in another.

What we all really need isn't a kit — it's a plan.

Alternatives in Sweden

Which alternatives to meal kits
actually exist?

"Meal kit" is just one of several ways to get food on the table without wandering around the store. Here are the most common meal-kit alternatives in Sweden — what they cost, and who they're for.

Classic meal kit

~45–95 SEK/portion

HelloFresh, Linas Matkasse, ICA/Coop Matkasse

Fixed recipes and portioned ingredients delivered to your door every week. You pick from a weekly menu — the rest is decided for you. Supermarket kits (ICA, Coop) are cheaper than premium (HelloFresh, Linas).

Suits: Great if you like having someone else set the menu and think the convenience is worth the extra money.

Online grocery store

Store price + delivery fee

Mathem, Mat.se, ICA Handla, Coop Online

You shop for regular groceries in a webshop and get everything delivered. No pre-set menu — you pick what you buy.

Suits: Great if you want to skip the store visit but still choose the products yourself.

Ready-made meals

~50–90 SEK/portion

Chilled ready meals from ICA, Coop or Mathem

Finished meals you just heat up. Shortest path from fridge to plate — but no actual cooking.

Suits: Good when you have no time or energy to cook — rarely a long-term meal plan.

Meal prep services

~60–100 SEK/portion

Chargebar, Barebells Meals, your own batch cooking

Meals portioned for the whole week, often with calories and macros listed. Great for training and routine.

Suits: Great if you prioritise nutrition and routine over variety.

Plan it yourself with an app

Store price + 33–59 SEK/month for the app

Matminne

You pick the recipes, the app builds the shopping list automatically, and you shop wherever you want — in store or online.

Suits: Great if you want full freedom over menu, price and store — without spending time on the planning itself.

Price comparison

What does it really cost
per week?

The prices below cover all meals for the week — not just dinner. A premium kit typically covers 4 of the week's dinners, so you still need to shop for 3 dinners plus every breakfast, lunch and snack yourself.

Calculated for 2 adults + 2 kids (4 people) 4 dinners + the rest of the week's food
Option Dinners Other meals Total per week
Shop yourself + Matminne Cheapest Included Included ~1,800–2,300 SEK
Premium meal kit ~850–1,050 SEK ~1,400–1,600 SEK ~2,250–2,650 SEK

Matminne costs ~8–14 SEK/week. We tried adding it to the total — it wasn't even enough to round up.

Based on the Swedish Consumer Agency's household costs for 2026 — food cost for a family of 4: 8,440 SEK/month (~1,960 SEK/week) for breakfast, lunch, dinner and 2–3 snacks per day, all home-cooked. Meal-kit prices from HelloFresh Family Box (~800–925 SEK + 49–59 SEK delivery) and Linas Matkasse Family Box (~999 SEK) for 4 dinners for 4 people, regular 2026 prices. "The rest of the shopping" covers the 3 dinners the meal kit doesn't include plus breakfast, lunch and snacks. Supermarket meal kits from ICA and Coop are cheaper per dinner (~690–1,100 SEK/week for 4 dinners). Prices vary with promotions and introductory discounts.

Calculator

See how much
you'd save.

Adjust the numbers below to see how much you could save switching from a meal kit to shopping yourself with Matminne.

5
You pay for the kit — SEK/month
With Matminne + shopping yourself — SEK/month
You save with Matminne
— SEK/month — SEK/year

Rough estimate based on 2026 public prices and average grocery price (~45 SEK/portion). Actual results vary with promotions, store choice and recipes.

Grocery-chain meal kits (ICA, Coop and similar) are usually priced close to normal grocery shopping — with those, Matminne's win isn't money, it's freedom: you pick recipes from anywhere and shop wherever you like.

Who meal kits suit

Meal kits aren't wrong
— they're wrong for some people.

Meal kits solve a real problem: not having to think. But they cost more and limit your choices. Here's an honest list.

Suits A meal kit is good for you if…

  • You don't want to think about what to eat — and think the convenience is worth a 30–50% premium.
  • You live in a big city with good delivery windows and usually eat dinner at home.
  • You rarely cook and need recipes + ingredients in one package.
  • You're a couple who only eats dinner at home — a full week isn't needed.

Doesn't suit Skip the meal kit if…

  • You want to choose the recipes yourself — your favourites, not this week's menu.
  • You also need breakfast, lunch and snacks — meal kits only cover dinner.
  • You're price-conscious and know store prices are lower than meal-kit prices.
  • You're annoyed by plastic wrapping around every single ingredient.
  • You want to pause or change plans at the last minute without a deadline.

What you get instead

Freedom back
— without losing the flow.

01

Cook what you want

Pick recipes you actually want to eat — your own favourites or new discoveries. Plan the week in a couple of minutes with drag-and-drop. Nobody decides for you.

02

Shop smarter

The shopping list is generated automatically from your weekly menu. Shop at your usual store or order online. Shopping mode sorts the list by how you shop.

03

Pay your own price

You buy every item — not just the dinners — at store prices. No delivery fee, no food subscription. Just an app that helps you plan better.

04

The whole family, one plan

Share meal plans and shopping lists with the whole household in real time. Adjust for allergies and dietary preferences. One subscription covers everyone.

Comparison

Matminne
vs meal kit.

Feature Matminne Meal kit
Automatic shopping list
Home delivery
Shop yourself in-store
All groceries, not just dinner
Pantry management
Freely adjust portion sizes
Choose your own recipes
Nutrition tracking with goals

Side by side

Matminne vs the biggest
meal kits & online stores.

A quick overview of what you get, what you don't, and what you pay from the five biggest alternatives in Sweden.

  Matminne App HelloFresh Meal kit Linas Matkasse Meal kit Mathem Online store ICA Matkasse Supermarket kit
Price per portion ~45 SEK ~60 SEK ~62 SEK Store price ~43 SEK
Choose your own recipes n/a
All weekly meals dinners only dinners only dinners only
Home delivery optional
Shop in any store
Pantry & waste tracking
Nutrition tracking
Lock-in / subscription none subscription subscription none subscription
Best for Full freedom + planning Dinner recipes decided for you Curated weekly menu Online shopping without a menu Cheapest kits

Prices are averages per portion based on public 2026 pricing. Mathem charges store price + delivery fee and has no fixed portion cost. "Lock-in" refers to subscription commitment — most meal kits can be paused week by week but lack the free cancellation of an app.

FAQ

About meal kits
and the alternatives.

  • What is the best alternative to a meal kit?
    It depends on what you want to solve. If you just want to skip the store visit, online grocery stores like Mathem or ICA Handla are cheaper than a meal kit. If you want to plan the week without someone else setting the menu, a meal planning app like Matminne is the alternative — you pick the recipes, the app builds the shopping list and you shop wherever you like.
  • Are meal kits expensive compared to shopping yourself?
    Premium kits, yes — supermarket kits are closer to store prices. HelloFresh and Linas Matkasse land at ~60–62 SEK per portion for a family box (4 dinners, 4 people), compared to ~40–50 SEK if you buy the same ingredients yourself. That's a 30–50% premium for recipes, portioning and delivery. Supermarket meal kits from ICA (~43 SEK/portion) and Coop (~69 SEK/portion) sit closer to normal store prices.
  • What does HelloFresh cost compared to shopping yourself?
    HelloFresh Family Box (4 dinners for 4 people) costs ~800–925 SEK + 49–59 SEK delivery = ~850–980 SEK per week at regular 2026 price (~55–60 SEK/portion). Shopping the same 4 dinners yourself with a weekly plan usually runs 600–900 SEK. With introductory discounts HelloFresh can be cheaper for the first few weeks — after that the regular price kicks in.
  • Can I get home delivery without subscribing to a meal kit?
    Yes. All the major Swedish grocery stores — ICA, Coop, Willys, Mathem — offer home delivery of regular groceries without any commitment. You pick what you buy and skip the pre-set recipes. Matminne can send your weekly shopping list straight to several of them.
  • What's cheapest: meal kit, online grocery or shopping yourself?
    Shopping in-store yourself is the cheapest. Online groceries come close, but with a delivery fee. Meal kits are the most expensive per portion, often 30–50% above store prices. If price is what matters most and you don't mind going to the store — shop yourself with a weekly plan.
  • What's the difference between Matminne and Linas Matkasse?
    Linas ships recipes and ingredients once a week — you get a menu someone else picked for you. Matminne is an app where you choose the recipes yourself (your own or from the app's library), and the app builds the shopping list automatically. You buy the groceries wherever you want, at store prices, with no commitment or forced delivery.
  • Can you plan the week's meals without a meal kit?
    Yes, and it's usually both cheaper and more flexible. With a meal planning app you drop in the recipes you want to cook, the app works out the ingredients, subtracts what you already have at home and produces a shopping list. The whole planning session takes 5–10 minutes a week.
  • How much do you save by skipping the meal kit?
    For a family of four switching from a premium kit (HelloFresh, Linas) to shopping themselves with a weekly plan, typical savings are 500–800 SEK per week — around 25,000–40,000 SEK per year. Keep in mind that the meal kit only covers 4 of the week's dinners, so you're still shopping for the remaining meals yourself. If you're switching from a supermarket meal kit (ICA, Coop) the savings are smaller, ~100–300 SEK/week. On top of the savings, you get full freedom over the menu.
  • Is HelloFresh or Linas Matkasse cheaper?
    They land close to each other on price per portion. HelloFresh Family Box costs ~800–925 SEK + 49–59 SEK delivery for 4 dinners for 4 people (~55–60 SEK/portion). Linas Family Box costs ~999 SEK for 4 dinners for 4 people (~62 SEK/portion), with delivery often included. The difference is small in practice — choose based on menu, delivery area and current promotions. Both are premium and land 30–50% above store prices.
  • Are there meal kits for one person?
    Yes — both Linas and HelloFresh offer smaller kits for 1–2 people, but they get expensive per portion (often 90–110 SEK). For single-person households, shopping in-store with a meal planning app like Matminne is usually both cheaper and more flexible, since you can portion things yourself and avoid food waste from pre-set portion sizes.
  • Can you use Matminne without any commitment?
    Yes. Matminne is an app with a monthly price (~33–59 SEK/month) — no food delivery, no minimum order period, and no meal-kit subscription to pause. You use it as long as you want and cancel whenever you want.

Skip the kit

Skip the kit.
We'll handle the rest.

Try Matminne free for 60 days. Plan your week, shop smarter and enjoy dinner instead of stressing over it.

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