Meal Kits Without Subscription: How to Buy Farm Boy & Longo's Kits A La Carte

TL;DR: You don’t need a subscription to get meal kits. Voila sells Farm Boy and Longo’s kits as regular grocery items. Buy one when you need it. Skip it when you don’t. No cancellation drama.

Why are meal kit subscriptions often a “trap”?

Subscription models rely on “breakage”—customers forgetting to skip weeks—which leads to wasted food and unwanted charges of $80+ per week.

Meal kits sound great. Pre-portioned ingredients. Easy recipes. No planning.

Reality check: You sign up for HelloFresh. You love it for a month. Then life happens. You forget to skip a week. Or two. Meals pile up in your fridge. $80/week for food that’s slowly rotting.

Eventually you try to cancel. And discover it requires a phone call. Or a chat with some “retention specialist” who’s trained to make you feel bad. Or navigating account settings that seem deliberately confusing.

I’ve been there. Twice. Cancelled HelloFresh once and Chefs Plate once. Both times I had to argue with someone whose job is to keep me paying.

Subscription fatigue is real. Meal kit companies know exactly how to exploit it.

How do you buy meal kits without a subscription?

You can purchase individual meal kits from Farm Boy and Longo’s directly through the Voila app, treating them like any other grocery item with no recurring commitment.

Here’s the thing most people don’t realize: you can buy individual meal kits from Farm Boy and Longo’s through Voila. No subscription.

Not a trial. Not a “pause your subscription” trick. Just… regular grocery products.

Add it to your cart like bread. Check out. Done.

No account with a meal kit company. No “skip management.” No cancellation process because there’s nothing to cancel.

Use the referral link for $20 off your first order of $100+. A kit costs ~$15-20, so your first one is basically free.

How does the “Voila Model” compare to HelloFresh?

Voila allows you to buy kits “a la carte” with zero commitment, whereas HelloFresh requires a weekly subscription that you must manually pause.

Traditional Subscription (HelloFresh, Chefs Plate)

1. Create account
2. Choose delivery frequency
3. Enter payment (it WILL auto-charge)
4. Remember to skip weeks you don’t want
5. Forget to skip at least once. Get charged.
6. Feel guilty about wasted food
7. Eventually cancel (if you can figure out how)

Voila Model (Farm Boy & Longo’s Kits)

1. Open Voila app
2. Search “meal kit”
3. Add one to cart
4. Check out
5. That’s it. Nothing to manage. Nothing to cancel.

Want one this week? Order it. Don’t want one for three months? Don’t order it. Nobody tracks your “skip pattern.” Nobody sends passive-aggressive emails asking why you haven’t ordered.

What Farm Boy and Longo’s meal kits are available?

The selection includes Farm Boy’s quick Stir Fry and Fajita kits, and Longo’s more upscale Italian options like Sausage Rapini Orecchiette.

Voila stocks kits from both Farm Boy and Longo’s. Here’s what I’ve seen:

Farm Boy Kits

Stir Fry Kits Fresh veggies, noodles, protein—pre-cut and ready to go. The Teriyaki Chicken & Udon is solid. About 20 minutes start to finish.

Fajita Kits Pre-sliced peppers and onions, seasoning, tortillas. Quick Mexican night.

Curry Kits Aromatic spice blends with pre-portioned vegetables. Add your own protein if you want.

Longo’s Kits

Sausage Rapini Orecchiette Italian comfort food. Quality sausage, bitter greens. Serves 2 for about $17.

Chicken Stir Fry Quick weeknight option. Fresh vegetables, sauce included. 15-20 minutes.

Mediterranean Chicken Sun-dried tomatoes, olives, herbs. Feels more upscale than it costs.

Selection rotates. Search “meal kit” in the app to see what’s currently in stock.

Is buying kits a la carte actually cheaper?

While the per-serving cost is similar (~$15-20/kit), you save money long-term by avoiding the cost of forgotten subscription weeks and wasted food.

Let’s be honest about the math:

HelloFresh/Chefs Plate Subscription

Farm Boy/Longo’s via Voila

Why a la carte wins:

Per-serving? Subscription might be slightly cheaper. But the real cost of subscription includes:

• The meal you forgot to skip and paid for anyway
• The meals that went bad because life got busy
• The stress of managing another recurring payment
• The 15-minute phone call trying to cancel

Most casual meal kit users waste 20-30% of what they order. The Voila model? Zero waste. You only buy what you’ll actually cook.

What is the “Busy Tuesday Strategy”?

This strategy involves ordering just one meal kit for your busiest night of the week (like Tuesday) instead of committing to a full week of kits.

Here’s how I actually use this:

Tuesday nights are chaos in my house. Late meetings, kids’ stuff, or just running on empty. Consistent chaos.

So when I do my weekly Voila order, I throw in one meal kit. Just one. Designated for Tuesday.

Monday: Regular meal I planned. Tuesday: Longo’s Chicken Stir Fry. Minimal thinking. Minimal dishes. Wednesday-Sunday: Back to normal cooking.

The kit handles the hardest night. That’s all I need. HelloFresh wants to sell me 4-6 kits per week. I need one.

Who is this non-subscription option best for?

It is ideal for subscription survivors, occasional users, single households, and people who want backup for rough nights without a weekly commitment.

Subscription survivors: Signed up and cancelled before? This breaks the cycle.

Occasional kit users: You like the concept but not every week. Cherry-pick when it makes sense.

First-timers: Want to try before committing? Zero-risk entry point.

People who already cook: You don’t need a system. You need backup for rough nights.

Cancellation-haters: Nothing to cancel. Ever.

Who Should Actually Subscribe

Being fair here. Subscriptions work for some people:

Big families eating kits 4+ nights per week: Volume discount makes sense at that scale.

People who struggle with meal planning: The forced structure genuinely helps some households.

Those who’ve managed subscriptions successfully: If you’ve never had a surprise charge, keep doing what works.

For everyone else—honestly, most people—the a la carte model is just better.

Combining with Your Grocery Order

The beauty of Voila: the kit shows up with your groceries. Same delivery. Same driver. Same box.

Example cart:

• Weekly groceries: $85
• One Longo’s kit: $17
• Total: $102 (hits the referral threshold)
• After VOILA20: $82

Week of groceries plus a stress-free meal for $82.

Use the referral discount on your first order. Essentially taste-test the meal kit concept for free.

Are Farm Boy kits better quality than HelloFresh?

Farm Boy and Longo’s kits are often fresher because they are prepared locally and don’t spend days in distribution centers like national subscription kits.

Quality ingredients: Farm Boy and Longo’s are known for premium produce and meats. These aren’t warehouse-assembled kits sitting around for days.

Local and fresh: Made locally. Haven’t been in a distribution center for a week.

Real flexibility: No app to manage. No subscription to pause. No retention team to argue with.

Arrives with groceries: One delivery. Simple.

Steps to Get Started

Step 1: Open Voila

App or website. Account takes 2 minutes.

Step 2: Search “Meal Kit” or Browse Farm Boy/Longo’s

Pick something that looks good for your week.

Step 3: Add Groceries to Hit $100

Referral code needs $100 minimum. Easy with a week of food.

Step 4: Apply the Referral Code

Enter the unique code sent to your email at checkout. $20 comes off instantly.

Step 5: Cook It

Kit has everything plus instructions. Follow them. Feel accomplished.

Step 6: Repeat Whenever

Or don’t. Your choice. No pressure. No subscription. Nobody tracking you.

How to Get Our $20 Voila Referral Code

To get your $20 off, you need to follow a specific process (it’s not just a code you type in):

1. Click the referral link below.
2. Enter your email address on the Voila page.
3. Check your email for a unique code sent by Voila.
4. Paste that code at checkout.

Note: The discount applies to your first order of $100 or more.

A single kit runs $15-20. With the referral discount, your first one is free.

No signing up for anything. No committing. Just seeing if this works for your life without the subscription pressure.

Like it? Order another one next week. Don’t? You’ll never hear from them again.

That’s how meal kits should work.

FAQ: Meal Kit Questions

Do I need to subscribe?

No. They’re sold like regular grocery items. Add to cart when you want, ignore when you don’t.

How long do fresh kits last?

Fresh pre-cut veggies and proteins typically have 3-5 days freshness. Check the date on the app before buying.

Are they cheaper than HelloFresh?

Roughly the same per-serving. But you’re not paying for the weeks you forgot to skip, and you’re not wasting food on kits you didn’t actually want.