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Let's talk about something that frustrates a lot of people trying to stick to keto in the UK.
You search for "keto meal delivery UK" and up pop the big names. HelloFresh. Gousto. GreenChef. They all promise low-carb or keto-friendly options.
But here's the thing: most of them aren't actually keto.
They're "low carb-ish." And if you're serious about staying in ketosis, "low carb-ish" doesn't cut it.
We're going to break down exactly what these big recipe box companies are serving up, compare it to proper keto standards, and show you why ready-made meals from a specialist keto kitchen make more sense.
Before we dive into the comparisons, let's get the basics straight.
A ketogenic diet typically means keeping your daily carbohydrate intake under 20g. Some people can stay in ketosis at 25-30g, but 20g is the gold standard.
If you're new to all this, our guide to keto for beginners explains how it works.
When you're eating three meals a day, that means each meal needs to be around 5-7g of carbs. Maybe you push one meal to 10g if you're having virtually zero carbs at breakfast.
This isn't flexible. It's not about "doing your best."
Your body either produces ketones or it doesn't. And carbs are what stop that process.
HelloFresh is massive in the UK. They deliver millions of recipe boxes every year.
They don't offer a dedicated keto plan. Instead, they have a "Calorie Smart" filter that sometimes includes lower-carb options.
But here's what the actual numbers look like.
Their "low carb" meals typically contain between 30g and 45g of carbohydrates per portion. Some go as high as 60g.
That's an entire day's worth of carbs in a single meal if you're doing strict keto. Sometimes it's three days' worth.
Even their best options, the ones they market as suitable for low-carb diets, rarely drop below 25g per serving.
Why so high?
Because HelloFresh uses pasta, rice, potatoes, and bread in most recipes. Their "low carb" versions might swap regular pasta for wholewheat pasta, or use sweet potato instead of white potato.
That's not keto. That's just slightly fewer carbs than their standard meals.
They also include sugar in sauces, use flour-based thickeners, and add breadcrumbs to coatings. All of these push the carb count way beyond keto limits.
Gousto is another big player in the UK recipe box market.
Like HelloFresh, they don't have a keto category. They offer "Balanced" and "Low Calorie" filters instead.
Their low-calorie meals focus on keeping calories under 600 per portion. That sounds great if you're counting calories, but it tells you nothing about carbs.
When you actually check the nutritional information, most of their lower-carb options sit between 35g and 50g of carbohydrates per serving.
Some of their "lighter" meals include quinoa, couscous, or bulgur wheat. These are whole grains, yes, but they're absolutely not keto-friendly.
A typical Gousto meal might feature chicken with a honey glaze, rice noodles, or a bread roll on the side. The protein is fine. Everything else kicks you straight out of ketosis.
They do occasionally feature cauliflower rice or courgette noodles in some recipes. But even then, the sauces and seasonings often contain hidden sugars that push carbs higher than you'd expect.
If you're tracking macros properly, Gousto's "low carb" label becomes meaningless.
GreenChef is the closest of the three to offering genuinely keto-friendly options.
They actually have a "Keto & Paleo" meal plan, which is more than HelloFresh or Gousto can claim.
But even GreenChef's keto meals often land around 18-22g of carbs per serving.
That's right at the upper limit. And it doesn't leave you much room for anything else during the day.
If you have a GreenChef keto dinner at 20g of carbs, you've essentially used up your entire carb allowance. You can't have milk in your coffee. You can't snack on nuts. You need to eat virtually zero-carb for breakfast and lunch.
That's incredibly restrictive.
GreenChef does get points for using proper keto ingredients like cauliflower rice, courgette noodles, and high-quality fats. Their recipes avoid grains and focus on whole foods.
But the recipe complexity mean you're still cooking for 30-40 minutes. And if you want to reduce the carbs further by leaving out a vegetable or adjusting a sauce, you're basically writing your own recipe anyway.
You can learn more about calculating carbs from UK food labels here.
Here's where the whole recipe box model falls apart for keto.
These companies send you ingredients and a recipe card. You still need to chop, prep, cook, and clean up. That's 30 to 45 minutes of your evening, minimum.
When you're tired after work, that's when mistakes happen. You estimate portion sizes. You forget to weigh the veg. You add an extra splash of sauce without checking the label.
Suddenly your 20g meal becomes 28g. And you don't stay in ketosis.
At Keto Kitchen Lytham, every meal is cooked fresh in our kitchen. We calculate the macros down to the gram. Every portion is weighed and sealed.
You get meals that are genuinely under 20g of carbs for the entire day. Often much lower per individual meal.
It's not magic. It's attention to detail.
We don't use any grains, rice, pasta, or potatoes. Ever. We make cauliflower mash, not potato mash. We use courgette ribbons, not wheat noodles.
Our sauces are thickened with cream or xanthan gum, never flour. We avoid honey, maple syrup, and added sugars completely.
Every vegetable is measured. Every sauce is tested. Every recipe is verified by someone who actually understands ketogenic nutrition.
And because we're cooking in bulk in a professional kitchen, we can do this at scale without charging premium prices.
Your meals arrive ready to eat. You heat them for three minutes in the microwave or eight minutes in the oven.
No prep. No guesswork. No stress.
When you can't be bothered to cook but still need proper keto food, this is the solution.
One advantage of recipe boxes is that you can pick and choose meals each week.
We offer that too. But without the subscription trap.
HelloFresh, Gousto, and GreenChef all operate on a subscription model. You're locked in. You need to remember to pause or skip weeks. If you forget, you're charged.
At Keto Kitchen Lytham, you order when you want. No contract. No subscription. Just proper keto meals delivered to your door across the UK.
We change our menu every week, so you're never eating the same thing twice unless you want to. And if there's something you don't like, you just request for it to be substituted it.
We hold a 5-star food hygiene rating. That's the highest standard in the UK.
Our kitchen in Lytham follows strict food safety protocols. Every meal is prepared fresh, labelled with full nutritional information, and delivered in insulated packaging to keep it chilled.
Recipe boxes send you raw ingredients. They're packaged safely, but you're responsible for food safety once they arrive. You need to store them correctly, cook them to the right temperature, and use them before they spoil.
With ready-made meals, that risk is eliminated. We handle the cooking. You handle the reheating.
Let's be honest. Keto meal delivery isn't for everyone.
If you love cooking and have time to experiment with recipes, you might enjoy a recipe box. As long as you're prepared to modify their "keto" meals to actually be keto.
But if you're busy, if you work long hours, if you travel for work, or if you just hate cooking, ready-made keto meals make far more sense.
You're not paying for ingredients and instructions. You're paying for time, accuracy, and consistency.
The best keto meal delivery services UK can offer aren't the ones with the fanciest marketing. They're the ones that actually understand keto and deliver meals that work.
HelloFresh, Gousto, and GreenChef are excellent companies. They've built huge businesses delivering recipe boxes to millions of homes.
But they're not keto specialists.
Their "low carb" and "keto" labels are marketing terms, not nutritional guarantees. The actual carb counts in their meals are too high for most people trying to stay in ketosis.
GreenChef comes closest, but even their keto meals leave no room for error. One meal at 20g means you're eating virtually zero carbs for the rest of the day.
If you want genuinely low-carb, macro-calculated, ready-to-eat keto meals that keep you under 20g per day, you need a specialist kitchen.
That's what we do at Keto Kitchen Lytham. Freshly cooked meals. Strict carb limits. No prep required.
You can browse our full menu and order for delivery anywhere in the UK at ketokitchenlytham.co.uk.
No subscription. No hidden carbs. Just proper keto food.