Nurture Life VS Little Spoon is the head-to-head comparison you’ve needed to choose the best meal delivery service for your kid. From baby food to kid’s meals, these companies are saving parents so much time in the kitchen with their fresh, never frozen meals that can be heated and served in minutes. View all the important details and learn who we’ve crowned the winner in this tight competition!Â
Nurture Life
Pros
- Meals for ages ten months and up
- Picky eater-friendly options
- Gluten-free, vegetarian, and allergen-free options
- Discounts on larger orders
- The menu includes kid’s meals, smoothies, finger foods, and snacks
- Flexible subscription
- Dietitian-designed meals offer balanced nutrition
- Core menu with customer favorites plus rotating menu options
- Nut-free facility
Cons
- Unsuitable for kids with celiac since the facility processes gluten
- Costly compared to other meal delivery services
- No delivery to Alaska or Hawaii
Little Spoon
Pros
- Dishwasher-safe and recyclable plates
- High-quality, non-GMO ingredients
- Meals for ages six months and up
- Finger foods and pre-cut options to help baby transition to table foods
- A wide variety of ingredients deters picky eating
- Little Spoon parent community with pediatric experts to answer questions
- Flexible subscription
- Nut free facilityÂ
- Meals are made with a team of chefs, nutritionists, and pediatric experts
Cons
- Only the Baby Blends are certified organic
- The only snacks available are smoothie pouches
- No delivery to Alaska or Hawaii
Menu Options
Nurture Life
- 48
- 6 meals/week
Little Spoon
- 29
- 4 meals/week
Finding a meal delivery service that works for your child’s age and development is essential. If you’re ordering from a service that doesn’t have the right type of meals to grow with your child as they develop, you’re setting yourself up for a lot of wasted food and money.
Little Spoon began as an organic baby food company, so it’s no surprise they continue to offer baby foods. Their baby food delivery services have six stages of certified organic, non-GMO blends. The earliest blends include just one ingredient, while the more advanced blends include multiple ingredients with texture in every bite.
When your baby is ready to transition to table foods, Little Spoon’s Biteables are the perfect fit. These veggie-packed meals feature a wide variety of healthy ingredients to help discourage picky eating as your child grows. Each ingredient is cut to the perfect size to promote independent feeding with the use of fine motor and oral skills.
Toddler and big-kid meals from Little Spoon feature a mix of finger foods and more sophisticated foods that require utensils. Chicken pot stickers with veggie quinoa stir fry and edamame is a good example of the fresh weekly meals that all ages, toddlers and up, can enjoy. The Little Spoon menu includes breakfast, lunch, and dinner items.
In terms of snacks, Little Spoon offers cold-pressed organic smoothie pouches that most ages can take on the go. Nurture Life also has smoothies as a snack option, but they come in a bottle rather than a pouch, so they’re not as suitable for young toddlers. Mighty Bites are another on-the-go snack that’s full of healthy energy for your child.
Mighty Bites are bite-sized snacks filled with nutritious ingredients to eat in between meal times. They’re much healthier than the processed snacks at your local grocery store and can easily be added to any order. When it comes to the kids and baby meals available from Nurture Life, there are options for ages ten months and up.
10-month-olds who show signs of readiness can enjoy nutritious baby food that isn’t pureed with flavorful finger foods. The finger food meals arrive pre-cut to the perfect size for self-feeding toddlers. The final stage of meals on the Nurture Life menu is meals for kids and older toddlers.
These kids’ meal plates have larger portions and bold flavors. There are kids meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner with picky-eater-approved recipes. The cheesy omelet with sweet potato and a mini muffin is just one example of a picky-eater-favorite breakfast option.
Menu Winner
Nurture Life and Little Spoon are very similar in the kid and toddler meals they offer. While Nurture Life has more snack options, Little Spoon truly has something for every stage of eating.
The ability to go from baby food purees with just one ingredient to toddler meals and plates for kids without changing the company you’re ordering from is convenient at its finest for busy parents!
Dietary Options
Nurture Life
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Little Spoon
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If there’s one thing we know about kids’ meals, it’s that they can’t all be the same. Different children have unique dietary needs, so kids’ meal delivery services can’t take a one-size-fits-all approach to their menu. Little Spoon and Nurture Life offer similar dietary options for customers to choose from.
Nurture Life offers meals that are milk-free, egg-free, gluten-free, fish-free, sesame-free, coconut-free, pork-free, and vegetarian. Menu items aren’t clearly labeled for allergens at first glance, but you can read the complete nutrition label or filter your menu search by dietary need.Â
The number of available options does decrease significantly depending on the dietary need selected. For instance, there are only five gluten-free meals on the current menu.
Little Spoon has meal options that contain no gluten, dairy, eggs, nuts, coconut, sesame, meat, fish, and eggs. If that list sounds familiar, it’s because it’s the same dietary options offered by Nurture Life. When you’re selecting meals, you can filter by dietary need or browse the complete menu with easy-to-see allergy tags listed by each item.
Dietary Options Winner
While both companies can accommodate the same dietary needs, Little Spoon does it with a better variety and clear allergy labeling for all menu items. It’s easy to check for common allergens without filtering your search by reading the allergen icons displayed below each dish’s name.
Little Spoon offers almost double the variety as Nurture Life in their allergy-friendly meals, which we love! Your child shouldn’t be limited in the foods they can enjoy just because of an allergy or dietary preference, and Little Spoon ensures they don’t have to be. Ordering according to your dietary needs can feel quite restrictive and repetitive.
Ingredients
Nurture Life
- Non-GMO
grass Organic- Grass Fed
- Wild-Caught
Little Spoon
The ingredients that go into meals can make or break any meal delivery service. Without the right ingredients, the food quality can go down in terms of texture, flavor, and appearance. The variety of ingredients used is also important with kids meal delivery because a lack of variety can lead to picky eating habits at a young age.
Nurture Life is not certified organic, but they base meals around organic produce whenever possible. Proteins are free of antibiotics and hormones. Whole grains are another important part of their meals, while high fructose corn syrup, artificial colors or flavors, trans fats, and nitrates are avoided entirely to keep meals as nutritious as possible.
Little Spoon baby good is certified organic and non-GMO, but the rest of their menu is not. While the rest of the menu may not be 100% organic, they do source organic vegetables whenever possible. All Little Spoon meals are free of added sugars, GMOs, and artificial flavoring or colors. The best part of Little Spoon’s ingredients is the incredible variety offered.
The variety begins with the baby food blends that include more than 100 different ingredients! It remains a priority at every stage of the menu to bring kids unique foods and flavors they might not have been exposed to before. While your child may not love everything they try, offering a good variety of high-quality ingredients is one of the best ways to prevent picky eaters!
Ingredients Winner
Nurture Life and Little Spoon both ship healthy food with carefully sourced ingredients. Neither company is 100% certified organic, but Little Spoon does offer organic baby food blends. We’re giving the win to Little Spoon for this reason, plus the awesome array of ingredients that can be found at each stage of the menu.
Kid-Friendly Taste
Nurture Life
- Spaghetti & Meatballs
- Chicken Taco Pockets
- Steak & Cauli Fries
Little Spoon
- Mac and Three Cheese
- Chicken Super Nuggets
- Whole Wheat Penner and Kale Turkey Meatballs
Arguably the most important aspect of being a successful kids meal delivery service is offering kid-friendly flavors. If kids don’t love the meals, parents will be wasting money and food by ordering the meals. Both of these companies do a phenomenal job of making healthy food in kid-friendly recipes.
Little Spoon has kid-friendly flavors with items like their mac and three cheese with hidden butternut squash and carrots and their chicken super nuggets. On the other hand, there are some flavors that kids might find challenging at first. Tortellini with kale pesto, cheesy black bean pupusas, and egg bites with sweet potato red bell pepper hash are a few examples of flavors your kid might not have tried before.
Nurture Life uses hidden veggies exceptionally well to maintain a menu that’s nothing but kid-friendly in terms of taste. There are well-known favorites like spaghetti with meatballs, grilled chicken, mac n cheese, and french toast sticks that even picky eaters will love.
The veggies that aren’t hidden are simple and easily identifiable flavors your child has probably had before. Broccoli, peas, and green beans are some of the most popular vegetables on the menu.
Taste Winner
Nurture Life has a more kid-friendly taste for most kids. If you have an adventurous eater, Little Spoon could be a great fit! If not, some of the flavors may be overwhelming at first, even for older kids.
They have mastered the art of hiding nutrient-dense veggies in familiar favorite dishes that any kid will try.Â
Pricing
Nurture Life
MEALS | SAVINGS | PRICE PER SERVING |
6 | $7.49 | |
10 | $5 Off | $6.99 |
13 | $10 Off | $6.72 |
16 | $15 Off | $6.55 |
Little Spoon
MEALS | PRICE PER SERVING |
Lunchers | $7.92-$8.28 |
Toddler Plates | $6.49 - $7.74 |
Organic Baby Food | $3.32 - $4.28 |
Early Finger Foods | $6.49-$7.74 |
Smoothies | $2.82-$4.07 |
Pricing is one of the biggest concerns for parents exploring meal delivery options. It’s important to fit meal delivery into your existing budget if you can, which is easier with some brands than others! As grocery store prices continue to rise, some meal delivery services are even cheaper than traditional shopping and cooking at home.
Little Spoon’s pricing starts at $2.62 for baby blends and $5.83 for finger foods, as well as meals for toddlers and big kids. While that might be more than you would pay for premade baby food at the store, you’re paying for the high-quality ingredients, nutritionally balanced recipes, and convenience.
As with most meal delivery companies, the price per meal depends on how many meals you order. If you only receive eight meals per delivery from Little Spoon, the cost goes up to $7.50 per serving. The more meals you receive in your delivery, the cheaper it is.
Nurture Life costs more than Little Spoon, with meals starting at $7.49 per item. That’s the lowest price per serving possible, so smaller orders cost even more. It’s a wonderful option for those who can afford it, but unfortunately, it’s just too expensive for a lot of families.
Pricing Winner
Little Spoon is the more economical option for kids meal delivery service. Fresh food is affordably priced at every stage, from baby food to when babies start eating solids and even full-size meals for older kids. The price point is quite impressive considering the overall quality of their meal delivery service too!
Nurture Life takes second place in this category simply because it costs more, but that doesn’t mean it’s unreasonably priced. If you can afford them, then the price shouldn’t be a deterrent.
Packaging & Recycling
Nurture Life
Little Spoon
Kids meal subscription companies have been paying more attention to the type of packaging they use as the consumer demand for eco-friendly products grows. Nurture Life and Little Spoon both do a great job in this department, so it’s a close call.
Nurture Life packaging is curbside recyclable. This includes everything from the exterior packaging to ice packs used for shipping and the trays that hold the fresh meals. The insulated liner in every box is made of 95% recycled paper fibers too! If you want to empty the ice packs and recycle the plastic rather than reuse them, you might have to take them to a recycling plant or local grocery store that processes #4 plastics.
Little Spoon has similar packaging that’s curbside recyclable, including plastic ice packs. One of the unique features of Little Spoon packaging is the lasting, reusable design of the plates used for finger food and big kid meals. The plates are dishwasher safe, so they can be used time and time again.
Packaging Winner
Little Spoon beat out Nuture Life in this category for two reasons. First, Little Spoon ice packs can be recycled with your curbside recycling. That’s not the case for Nurture Life, and although it may seem like a small difference, some customers may throw the plastic in the trash instead of finding a safe recycling location.
Second, Little Spoon’s reusable, dishwasher-safe plates are a customer favorite! Parents love getting a product they can continue to use even after the meal has been eaten.
Customer Service
Nurture Life
- Difficult
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Little Spoon
- Online
- Online
Customer service is something that’s easy to overlook until you need it. Avoid a frustrating experience in the future by choosing a meal delivery service that prioritizes a good customer experience.
Both of these companies offer customer service online and over the phone, but Little Spoon has a surprising amount of less-than-positive reviews online that note poor customer service. Most of the reviewers mention issues with their subscription or meal choices that they sought further assistance with, only to have a not-so-helpful experience with the customer service team.
Nurture Life has nothing but positive reviews of their customer service team, though! If you have any questions or concerns regarding your child’s nutrition, there’s even a nutrition team you can email directly to get accurate answers.
Customer Service Winner
Customer service is a personal thing that will look a little different for every customer. While it’s impossible to say definitively that Little Spoon has bad customer service, it is safe to say from reading online reviews that Nurture Life has better customer service.
FAQs
Is Little Spoon FDA-approved?
Yes, Little Spoon uses FDA-approved ingredients and food preparation methods for all meals.
What age is Nurture Life for?
Nurture Life is suitable for ages six months and up.
What age are the Nurture Life finger foods for?
Finger foods are designed for ages ten months and up. The age can vary depending on your child’s development.
Winner
Little Spoon
Little Spoon and Nurture Life are two of the best kids meal delivery services on the market. In this head-to-head comparison, it’s clear that Little Spoon came out on top. Little Spoon has baby food delivery services for younger ages; their meals are affordable, the ingredients are high-quality, and the menu can accommodate most major dietary needs.
We love how Little Spoon can grow with your child as food textures and flavors change in each section of the menu!