Nurture Life vs Yumble Review: Which is the Best Kids Meal Delivery Subscription? (2024)

When we first become mothers we imagine feeding our children only fresh, nutritious meals made lovingly from scratch.

Then real life happens and we realize that cooking fresh meals twice a day on top of keeping up with the house cleaning, chores and maybe work as well, is a challenge.

We often end up cooking for the family when we’re feeling exhausted and overwhelmed.

If you have a picky eater at home, this can add to the stress of mealtimes.

Fresh kids meal delivery services aim to help take this load off of parents, and they have been rising in popularity in recent years.

Nurture Life and Yumble are 2 of the best kids meal subscription services around.

They deliver pre-portioned kids’ meals to your door every week. Meals are made with fresh, quality ingredients, with a variety of flavors and always with veggies.

Find out more about them in this review, including my own taste-test of their meals that I did together with my son.

What are Kids Meal Delivery Subscriptions?

Kids meal delivery subscriptions send freshly cooked meals for kids straight to your door in pre-portioned trays.

They can be stored in the fridge or freezer so that they’re ready to serve when you need them.

The ingredients are often organic, high quality foods and they include at least 1 portion of vegetables in each meal.

They aim to offer a healthy alternative to making meals from scratch.

Comparison Table: Nurture Life vs Yumble

Nurture Life and Yumble are two fresh meal subscriptions that have a great reputation for providing balanced, healthy meals for kids which are delivered to you each week.

The table below goes into some of the key differences between what each service offers, so that you can weigh up which is best for you.

50% off your first week: Nurture Life

Nurture Life Review

Nurture Life was started by co-founders Steve Minisini and Jennifer Chow who believe that kids meals could be better.

After spending many late nights preparing meals for their families, they wanted to offer a more convenient option to other parents without sacrificing on nutrition and taste.

What’s Great About Nurture Life Meals?

Nutritionally balanced meals

One of the biggest concerns I have for my son is that he is not getting the proper nutrition he needs which I’ll admit, he doesn’t.

Nurture Life takes care of this for parents with their team dietitians who design each meal to include a nutritional macronutrient balance.

From your 10-month-old to an adult, each stage of development is portioned to provide the proper nutrients.

Includes a Variety of Ingredients

Nurture Life gives palates the opportunity to explore a variety of organic produce, antibiotic-free proteins and whole grains.

I personally have zero creativity when it comes to feeding my toddler. I might go for a hot dog (I know, horrible) and, fingers crossed, broccoli for lunch and call it a day.

With Nurture Life picky eaters can be pleasantly surprised with dishes like chicken biryani and mac and cheese with cauliflower.

Tasty Veggies in Every Meal

With veggies being my biggest nemesis with my son, Nurture Life craftily incorporates a variety of them on every plate. Some of their meals have up to 9 different veggies in them!

It is comforting to know that Nurture Life operates from these five nutritional standards of:

1. Balance and variety at all ages.
2. Veggies on every plate.
3. Nutrient Dense – no empty calories.
4. Clean, clear and understandable ingredients.
5. Variety to help expand kids’ palates.

What’s even more impressive about Nurture Life is that they have recently joined the Partnership for Healthier America, which is championed by Michelle Obama.

It has begun the ‘Shaping Early Palates Initiative’ which has the goal of encouraging more affordable, healthy meal options for kids.

To be part of such a health-focused drive says a lot about Nurture Life’s priorities as a company.

Finger Food Meals for Babies 10 Months+

Nurture Life are one of the few fresh meal subscriptions to offer adult food and kids food as well as finger food for older babies.

50% off your first week: Nurture Life

Did Nurture Life Pass the Kids’ Taste Test?

I was able to nourish my toddler with five different Nurture Life meal options:

• Chicken Meatballs with Pasta and Vegetables.
• Veggie Ragout Pasta with Fresh Mozzarella.
• BBQ Pulled Pork with Cornbread Muffin and Carrots.
• Pesto and Cheese Ravioli.
• Teriyaki Salmon with Rainbow Veggie Rice.

See more Nurture Life meals: Nurture Life Menus

50% off your first week: Nurture Life

What Did My Son Think of the Meals?

My son enjoyed all of the meals. He was a bit hesitant with the Teriyaki Salmon which is a new taste for him.

I was pleasantly surprised to see him go for the food with his fork without me having to encourage him.

While the portions are big (so they are a lot to finish for him), he ate enough to my satisfaction, plus leftovers! The difficulty was who would win those leftovers, mommy, daddy or baby.

50% off your first week: Nurture Life

What I thought of the meals

Being a first time meal service customer, I tasted with trepidation. But I have to say I was very impressed with the flavor and texture of Nurture Life’s meals.

The first meal we tried was the pulled pork and I was actually surprised at how delicious it was! I mean I knew it would be good enough, but the pork literally tasted like it would taste at a restaurant.

Thinking we just got lucky with the first dish, we tried the rest but they were all just as delicious.

50% off your first week: Nurture Life

What Did Parents Have to Say About Nurture Life?

Nurture Life has an average of 4.3 stars from 417 reviews across 2 sites.Many parents described it as “a luxury” and “healthy and delicious.”

Here’s what a few parents had to say:

Our boys loved the food, and we loved the fact we knew they were getting the highest quality meals available. There was no guilt about this not being a homemade meal—because it was. And the portion sizes would satisfy most adults! Steve – Parent of a Toddler & Kid from nurturelife.com

Life Changing!

I’ve been getting these meals now for a little over a year, started when my son was almost a year and a half old, and I can’t imagine life without this service! My son has these meals for every lunch and dinner and he loves them! It seems like he eats better than I do and he is developing such a broad palate, I love that he eats so well. Life gets so busy but it has been such a relief knowing I don’t need to ever compromise my son’s nutrition, no matter how busy I get. I always know, he is eating clean, organic, nutritious food with plenty of vegetables and protein. It is just such a big weight that is lifted off my shoulders since this is something that is so important to me but I don’t know how I would ever be able to give him this kind of delicious and nutritious food if I had to cook it every day. I am so thankful for finding this service!! Julie from Trust Pilot

Ordering Process

You begin by entering your email and choosing the meals that you would like for the week.

You can either choose these yourself or you can fill in a quick questionnaire and allow Nurture Life to select the meals for you.

Meals for every week can be adjusted by you or chosen by Nurture Life according to the requirements you entered, whichever you prefer.

Meals start from $6.89 each and they ask for a minimum spend of $39 per weekly delivery. They also have some tiered discounts:

Spend $59= free shipping (less than this and shipping is $8)

Spend $79= 5% off entire order and free shipping.

Spend $99= 10% off entire order and free shipping.

Nurture Life offers a flexible subscription allowing you to skip weeks, pause or cancel at any time.

50% off your first week: Nurture Life

Packaging & Serving

Nurture Life meals are shipped in insulated packaging designed to keep meals cold at refrigerated temperatures, but not frozen.

Everything from the food trays to the insulated box can be recycled, with the exception of the gel packs.

Meal Storage

All meals can be stored in the freezer for 3 months or in the fridge for 7 days.

The meal trays themselves are BPA free and made from quality food grade plastics. They can all be microwaved except for the baby finger food jars which cannot be heated.

Are Nurture Life Meals Allergen Free?

Yes, it’s one of the few kids meal providers to offer a nut-free facility.

This means that all food is guaranteed to be peanut and tree nut free with the exception of coconuts. Some recipes contain coconuts but you can filter these out when choosing your meals.

In total you can filter the meals for 8 different ‘free from’ options such as dairy, gluten, soy or pork. They offer a range of vegetarian meals as well for each age group.

Up to 25% off: Yumble Kids

Yumble Review

Co-founder Joanna Parker started Yumble to help save parents time planning and cooking meals.

Her hope was that it would take off the added stress that preparing meals caused parents at the end of the day, so that they could enjoy other things like having quality time with their kids.

Like Nurture Life, they make fresh, balanced meals developed for kids which are delivered pre-portioned in a refrigerated box.

Up to 25% off: Yumble Kids

Did Yumble Pass the Kids’ Taste Test?

The six different meal options Yumble sent to nourish my son were:

• Sweet Sticky Rice with Chicken.
• Snack Poppers.
• Classic Cheese Ravioli.
• Pizza Pocket and Broccoli Parm.
• Mac N’ Cheese and Nuggets Please.
• Chick N Casserole.

See more Yumble Meals: Yumble Kids Menu

Up to 25% off: Yumble Kids

What Did My Son Think of the Meals?

My son thoroughly enjoyed the meals. He didn’t go for the greens but this is not new. The fact that veggies were offered with every meal I believe would help him to explore them more going forward.

His favourite meals were the Classic Cheese Ravioli, Snack Poppers, the Pizza Pocket and the Chicken Nuggets.

Up to 25% off: Yumble Kids

What I Thought of the Meals

I tried the meals myself and my favourites were the Chick N Casserole and the Snack Poppers. The Snack Poppers especially were amazing! I wish they sold them in stores as well.

The meals did taste like a meal delivery service would taste – rather than a restaurant grade meal but they were still very good.

One or two meals like the Pizza Pocket came a little soft and mooshy but that was my only comment and it didn’t affect the taste.

I also like how they incorporate quinoa in some of their meals, I would never think to offer that to my son.

In terms of the delivery, the air pack had unfortunately melted in the box. This meant that some of the kids activities that they send with their meals, got wet. But this could have been a case of bad luck with our particular delivery.

Up to 25% off: Yumble Kids

What Did Other Kids and Parents Have to Say About Yumble?

The general consensus seems to be that Yumble passed the kids’ taste test in other families too. Many parents reported that it even got picky eaters finishing their meals.

They got an average of 4.6 stars from 90 reviews across 2 websites.

Of course, some reviewers reported that certain meals were more popular than others. And I found a few recurring favorites were the Nuggets and Veggies and Creamy Mac and Trees (with broccoli and cauliflower)

Parents who tried some of the meals said that they liked how fresh the ingredients tasted.

They also liked how the cheese sauces didn’t taste artificial and that meats were always soft and juicy.

Here’s what a few parents had to say:

Yumble is a life saverand hascompletely changed mealtime for us. We’re saving time by no longer cooking two separate menus every night, and my 3- and 5-year-old eat healthy meals with veggies . . . everyday. I definitely recommend this to any family, but especially a busy one like ours. Jasmine from yumblekids.com

I’ve been a loyal Yumble customer for years! My son evolved from a picky eater into a big 6 year old who eats everything. Not only is Yumble super convenient, they’re healthy and yummy meals that the entire fam will love. Thank you Yumble team! Katelyn from Trustpilot

Ordering Process

The ordering process was pretty simple, and here are the steps:

1. Choose from three different meal plans that consist of six, eight or twelve meals a week. In addition to a core menu, you can also choose from four rotating menu options every few weeks.
2. They are then delivered to you weekly for free.
3. Heat and enjoy their fully cooked and ready to eat meals.

Flexible Subscription

Yumble offers a flexible subscription allowing you to skip a week, snooze your subscription or cancel at anytime as long as orders have not yet been processed at 11:59 PM on your weekly cutoff day.

Meal Selections

There are 27 meals to choose from across the age groups.

Yumble caters to children ages 1-13 years old primarily to kids aged 3-8 years old.

Many meals are from different cuisines so that you can enjoy a wide variety.

They do offer a breakfast option of Turkey sausage and eggs which Nurture Life does not do yet.

Up to 25% off: Yumble Kids

Packaging & Serving

Yumble meals are shipped in an insulated box containing frozen gel packs that keep your meals at a safe temperature.

The box is made entirely of recycled paper fibers, an alternative to the traditional foam. This helps ensure sustainable delivery of perishable products. Also included:

• Meal trays made from recyclable PP #5 plastic (microwave only).
• Paper sleeves.
• Gel packs.

Meals should be enjoyed within seven days of receipt and can be put in the fridge when they arrive. They don’t recommend freezing their meals.

Are Yumble Meals Allergen Free?

You can filter their meals for 4 ‘free from’ options: gluten, milk, egg or soy free. They also offer 10 vegetarian meal options.

Although all meals are nut free, it’s worth noting that they don’t operate a nut-free kitchen facility and there is a risk of cross-contamination. This could be a concern if you’re dealing with severe allergies.

Would I Recommend Nurture Life or Yumble?

Both Yumble and Nurture Life take a big daily stress away from parents by providing a freshly cooked meals for children.

This is especially useful for parents who work and who want to get home and enjoy some time with their kids, rather than spending an hour cooking for them.

The meals themselves have been checked by nutritionists to ensure that they are well balanced and provide the right nutritional content for young children.

As my son enjoyed both meals it’s difficult to choose between the two. If I had to pick one it would be Nurture Life as the food tasted more like restaurant standard food, which surprised me.

It also offers some additional options which could be helpful to some families. For example they have more ‘free from’ filters when choosing meals. Their meals can also be frozen for up to 3 months which gives parents more flexibility.

Nurture Life have meals for babies (finger foods) and adults, as well as kids, so they cater to a wider age group. And they operate a nut free kitchen facility.

Yumble on the other hand offers great tasting meals with a greater variety of recipes – they have 27 in total. They source quality ingredients as well and include vegetables in every meal.

They also send activities and stickers in the delivery box to help make family mealtimes more fun, which is a unique feature of theirs.

Whichever you choose, both services can offer your family a healthy alternative to making dinners from scratch, with balanced meals ready to serve. So that you can hopefully enjoy more quality time together instead.