Consuming too much salt has been conclusively linked with high blood pressure and increased risk of heart disease, stroke and chronic kidney diseases (Source: HealthDirect).
In fact, Australians are consuming twice the recommended 2,000mg of sodium per day.
So, it’s no surprise many Australians are moving towards a reduced salt diet, especially when managing chronic conditions.
To help you with that, we’re recommending the best meal delivery services for reducing your sodium intake. These have been curated based on our extensive testing, analysis and reviews of meal kits, prepared meals, and discovery boxes
Best Low Sodium Meal Delivery Services of 2023
- Type: Meal Kit
- Price: $8.49 – $12.59 / Serving
- Delivers To: Australia-wide
- TopFeature: Low sodium meals controlled by you
- Type: Prepared Meals
- Price: $10.00 - $13.95 / Serving
- Delivers To: Australia-wide (exc. NT)
- TopFeature: Less than 250mg of sodium per portion
- Type: Discovery Box
- Price: $25 - $30 / Box
- Delivers To: Australia-wide
- TopFeature: Ethically-sourced food discovery.
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Best Overall – Marley Spoon
Whilst Marley Spoon meals can have ~800mg of sodium per serving, they have the lowest base sodium content of any meal kit. You can then make minor adjustments to meals and cut your sodium intake significantly.
- Service Type: Meal Kit
- Price Range: $8.49 – $12.59 / Serving
- Delivery Areas: Australia-Wide
- Sodium / Serving: 779mg
Learn More: Read Our Marley Spoon Review.
Why I Recommend Marley Spoon for Low Sodium Diets
Marley Spoon may not advertise themselves as a low-sodium meal delivery service, but UoS research indicates their meals have the lowest average sodium intake for a meal kit subscription in Australia.
That’s useful because you’re starting from a relatively low base of sodium content.
Meal kits are particularly useful because you have full control of what goes into your meal. This means you can then adjust recipes to reduce the sodium content even further.
To find yourself with less than 500mg of sodium per portion, simply use low-sodium sauces and reduce the amount of salt used for seasoning.
There are plenty of other reasons to like Marley Spoon. They serve premium meals with fresh, seasonal ingredients and have an amazing delivery network. Most importantly, they offer the most variety of meals each week.
With more variety, comes more meals that are naturally low in sodium. Perfect.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- 50+ meals to choose from each week.
- Low average sodium content for meals.
- Delivers across Australia.
Cons
- Sodium content not listed on recipes.
- You may choose not to use some ingredients.
- Marley Spoon is a premium meal kit service.
Best Prepared Meals – Be Fit Food
Be Fit Food provide a range of meals that are significantly lower in sodium than many other meal delivery services. Our research revealed that Be Fit Food meals often have just 200mg of sodium. That’s just 10% of your daily recommended intake.
- Service Type: Prepared Meals
- Price Range: $10.00 – $13.95 per meal.
- Delivery Areas: Australia-wide (exc. NT)
- Sodium / Serving: 250mg
Learn More: We tested Be Fit Food.
Why I Recommend Be Fit Food for Low Sodium Diets
We were amazed to find that Be Fit Food meals contain around 250mg of sodium on average. That’s incredibly low compared to many of their competition who sometimes have 800mg or more per portion.
It’s even more surprising when we found that Be Fit Food meals taste really flavourful. They’re clearly using good ingredients rather than relying on salt for seasoning.
With a Be Fit Food subscription, you even get access to a free dietitian consultation making them perfect for hitting your weight loss/maintenance goals.
It’s not all perfect though, we found the meals can sometimes get quite watery from the way the vegetables are cooked and stored. There’s also a fairly limited selection of meals which is likely to get boring quickly.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- <250mg sodium per portion.
- Free dietitian consultation with your subscription.
- Delivery across most of Australia.
Cons
- Texture of some meals is poor.
- Can be expensive at lower quantities.
- Website is quite difficult to use.
Best Discovery Box – GoodnessMe
GoodnessMe is an ethical, health-driven discovery box perfect for discovering new brands that meet your dietary needs. Whilst the GoodnessMe subscription box isn’t specifically built for low sodium diets, they do have a wide range of reduced-salt products in their shop.
- Service Type: Discovery Box
- Price Range: $25 – $30 per box.
- Delivery Areas: All Across Australia.
Learn More: Read Our Review of the GoodnessMe box.
Why I Recommend GoodnessMe for Low Sodium Diets
It can be really hard to find ethically-sourced, healthy products that suitable for your diet. That’s where a discovery box from GoodnessMe is incredibly helpful.
They’ll send a box each month packed full of 8-10 products that have been hand-selected by their team, mostly from Australian producers.
With this, you’ll get to discover alternatives for the unhealthy snacks you’ve been relying on for years.
Undoubtedly, you’ll find low-sodium products you’ll quickly want to eat every day.
They also have the GoodnessMe shop which is a great place to buy more low sodium and healthy products.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Great variety of interesting products each month.
- Fun community of subscribers all living a healthier life.
- Incredible value for money.
Cons
- Unable to personalise specifically for low sodium diets.
- Full-size products on their store are at a premium price.
Check out the GoodnessMe box from just $25Discover new health foods every month
Featured Service
Best Budget Meal Kit – Dinnerly
Marley Spoon may have the lowest average sodium content, but Dinnerly is not far behind and comes at a significantly cheaper price point. Save 30% on your meals with the same low sodium benefits.
- Service Type: Meal Kit
- Price Range: $5.49 – $9.85 per meal.
- Delivery Areas: All States (Exc. NT)
- Sodium / Serving: 853mg
Learn More: Dinnerly Review.
Why I Recommend Dinnerly for Low Sodium Diets
With 40+ meals available each week, there’s no doubt you’ll find plenty of options that are perfect for you.
Dinnerly meals have an average of 853mg of sodium per meal when you follow the instructions exactly. However, this can be significantly reduced as you have full control of what goes into each meal.
The main reason I recommend Dinnerly is due to the price. With our discount link, you can get meals for less than $5 per portion delivered to your house.
It’s difficult to pay less than that buying your own groceries, which is what makes Dinnerly such fantastic value.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Control your own sodium intake.
- Huge variety of meals each week (40+)
- Great value on ingredients.
Cons
- Meals aren’t specifically designed to be low sodium.
- Requires you to have a lot of store cupboard ingredients.
- Portion sizes can be quite variable.
Best For Muscle Gain – MACROS
Wanting to reduce your sodium intake doesn’t have to be the end of your fitness goals. It’s possible to hit your protein intake without consuming a large amount of Sodium. That’s where we recommend MACROS.
- Service Type: Prepared Meals
- Price Range: $7.80 – $19.86 per meal.
- Delivery Areas: Australia-Wide (inc TAS).
- Sodium / Serving: 580mg
Learn More: Is MACROS any good? Our Review.
Why I Recommend MACROS for Low Sodium Diets
I’ll be upfront with you, MACROS do not have the lowest amount of sodium per meal compared to all other fitness prepared meals. That title instead goes to Core Powerfoods.
So, why am I recommending MACROS for a low sodium diet?
Simply because the taste and experience of your meals is incredibly important. I rarely recommend services like Core Powerfoods simply because the food taste and quality are very poor. You won’t want to eat them.
MACROS delivers delicious, lean, healthy meals that are also low in sodium. Our research showed an average of under 600mg per meal. It’s a little higher than you’d want for a low sodium diet, but I think it’s a trade-off worth considering.
Enjoy your meals and you’ll be far more likely to stick to the diet.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Lean meals with <600mg of sodium.
- Great variety of different meals with different portion sizes.
- Integrates with My Fitness Pal for dietary tracking.
Cons
- Still has the occasional disappointing meal.
- Doesn’t qualify strictly as low-sodium meals.
Best for Vegetarians – Soulara
We highly recommend Soulara for vegetarian diets, and they also happen to have the lowest sodium content compared to any other vegetarian meal delivery services. Delicious meals with 50+ options to choose from.
- Service Type: Prepared Meals.
- Price Range: $9.10 – $12.30 per meal.
- Delivery Areas: Australia-Wide.
- Sodium / Serving: 650mg
Learn More: Read Our Soulara Review.
Why I Recommend Soulara for Low Sodium Diets
Unfortunately, there aren’t any vegetarian meal delivery services who specifically cater towards a low sodium diet. Soulara have the lowest average sodium content but even this is quite high with around 650mg of sodium per meal.
Each meal has nutritional details on the menu, so you’ll need to be careful and pick meals that are low in sodium content.
We recommend Soulara for plenty of reasons, but significantly for their clever use of various protein sources like jackfruit, tofu and mushrooms. I never found myself wanting to add meat into any of the meals.
Great flavour, great texture delicious vegetarian meals. What more could you want?
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Full plant-based range of 50+ meals.
- Snacks and drinks also available for purchase.
- No lock-in subscription.
Cons
- Some meals are high in sodium.
- Limited protein content in most meals.
Guide to Finding the Best Low Sodium Meal Delivery Service
The right meal delivery service depends heavily on your own circumstances and preferences. We’ve recommended a variety of meal kits, prepared meals and discovery boxes based on our experiences, but you should apply the following criteria before handing over your hard-earned cash:
Why am I on a low sodium diet?
Some people are on a low sodium diet for lifestyle reasons, so can be a bit more flexible with the amount of sodium in their diet. That means any of the services recommended in this article would be suitable.
If, however, you’re on a low sodium diet for medical reasons then you must be a lot more careful. You should opt for a very low sodium service like Be Fit Food or a meal kit like Dinnerly or Marley Spoon where you can have full control of the amount of sodium in your meals.
What budget do I have for food?
Prepared meal services often cost around $10 per meal, with services like Be Fit Food coming in slightly higher. This can be quite expensive if having these for lunch and dinner every day.
In contrast, we recommend a service like Dinnerly who can deliver meals for $5 – $8 per portion which is much more budget-friendly and could save you hundreds of dollars each year.
Do I normally get bored of eating the same meals?
Whilst we try and recommend services with lots of variety, like MACROS and Soulara with 50+ meal options each, some services are quite limited with menus that don’t change very often.
Be Fit Food is a prime example of this with a limited menu that doesn’t change.
In contrast, meal kit services like Marley Spoon and Dinnerly will provide a completely changing menu of 40-50 dishes every single week.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much sodium should I consume each day?
Our expert nutritionist, Clare Keating, recommends no more than 2000mg of sodium per day, in line with Australian government regulations. This means that a main dinner should ideally contain less than 500mg of sodium.
However, a low sodium diet should be looking at keeping total sodium intake under 1000mg per day with meals that have less than 250mg of sodium each.
What are the benefits of a low sodium diet?
Consuming too much sodium can put you at risk of long-term health outcomes like high blood pressure, kidney disease, heart disease and strokes. A low sodium diet is recommended to reduce the risk of these.
Low sodium diets are generally recommended to people who are already at high risk of one of the above issues. That’s why hospitals often serve food that is very low in sodium.
Are HelloFresh meals low in sodium?
Based on a study by UoS researchers, it’s clear that HelloFresh meals are not low in sodium. In fact, researchers found an average of 1426mg of sodium per portion. That’s very high.
If subscribing to HelloFresh, it’s possible to find HelloFresh meals that are low in sodium but you should pick meals carefully based on the nutritional details available on their menu.
Do any meal kits have low sodium options?
There aren’t any meal kits in Australia that deliver a subscription of low sodium meals. It’s up to each individual subscriber to select meals that are low in sodium.
However, the advantage of meal kits (over prepared meals) is that you can control all of the ingredients used in the final meal. That means you can substitute or reduce any ingredients that are high in sodium.
What’s the Best Low Sodium Meal Delivery Service in Australia?
The best low sodium meal delivery service in Australia is Be Fit Food. They deliver meals with less than 250mg of sodium per portion, whilst maintaining an enjoyable flavour. They might be slightly more expensive than other services, but they’re hard to beat if reducing sodium is important to you.
