So after HelloFresh, we have Freshly! First, if you use the link below, you can get $20 off your order, and I'll also get $20 credit to my account as well.
Alrighty, let's get to it! For my first week of meals, I ordered the following meals:
Packaging
The meals are packed in a cardboard box with recyclable cooling packs on top of and below the food in a bio-degradable denim "cooler." The cooling packs make the box kind of heavy, though, so just be warned.
Rating: 4.5/5
Cost
Without discounts and coupons, the following meal plans are available:
For the 4 meals, they are $12.99 each, the 6 and 9 meal plans are $9.99 each, and the 12 meals are the best value per meal at $8.99 each. For my initial plan, I had $15 off my first week's order of 6 meals (plus free shipping), which makes the meals $7.66 each.
An average of $9.99 for a single serving microwave dinner is kind of expensive considering that you can get some pretty good ones these days, like Amy's or Fit Kitchen, for about half the price. So for the regular pricing, this will be kind of a low rating.
Rating: 1/5
Meal Variety
There is a pretty good mix of meals available for selection with pork, chicken, or beef options I haven't seen very many vegetarian meals available, though. There are about 30 to 35 meals available each week as options.
Even though there aren't many, if any, vegetarian options each week, I'm still going to give this a 3 out of 5 rating.
Rating: 3/5
Taste
Meal 1: Turkey & Mushroom Meatballs with Spaghetti Squash
I had never tried spaghetti squash before, so this was a first for me. I actually liked it. The meatballs were good sized and the seasoning and mushrooms added a good flavor to the ground turkey meatballs. The spaghetti sauce just seemed to be a general spaghetti sauce and was fine. The meal was pretty filling as well since they portion their meals based on nutritional guidelines or something. It doesn't look very appetizing in the picture below, which is probably why they recommend plating the meal, but eh. Who wants to add dishes to do? The meal is also only 430 calories and would make a good lunch in the office or at home. If anything, I would maybe just have a little more spaghetti sauce added. This meal is gluten free if that is a dietary restriction for you.
Meal 2: Slow-Cooked Beef Chili
This was just ok for me. The texture seemed different to me a little since I'm used to making my own chili. I guess it reminds me of the consistency of canned chili or Steak & Shake chili. I did throw some shredded cheese on it because why not? The chili flavor itself fine, but if you don't sweet potatoes, then avoid this meal since they replace beans with sweet potatoes. This meal only has 390 calories, so not bad at all on that front. I'm not sure if this one is gluten free or not since I didn't take a picture of the back of the package, but it is dairy and soy free.
Meal 3: Super Pesto & Sausage Fusili
I'm not a big fan of sausage (insert generic lesbian joke here), but this meal was really good. I've actually ordered several times. The noodles are just right and the pesto adds a really nice flavor when paired with the sausage, white kidney beans, and pasta. They also don't skimp on the meat in the meal: the sausage to pasta ratio is really good and you can have sausage and pasta in every bit if you want. At 690 calories, this is one of the higher caloric meals they offer if that is something you're concerned about. This meal is really filling and really good. This meal is also gluten free if that is a dietary restriction for you.
Meal 4: Homestyle Chicken with Butternut Mac & Cheese
The chicken in this meal was really tender and juicy. The breading was quite good with some nice seasoning. The butternut squash macaroni and cheese was pretty good paired with the chicken. I would just want more cheese, of course. The green beans were plain but still had some crunch to them. This meal is 580 calories, so pretty good for what you get. And again, this meal is also gluten free if that is a dietary restriction for you.
Meal 5: Cauliflower-Shell Bolognese
This meal surprised me. I really enjoyed this meal. They don't skimp on the ground beef bolognese and it is a filling meal. It had a rich tomato flavor and Italian seasoning, so it was very flavorful. It even had a decent amount of cheese, which is saying a lot coming from me. You also can't even tell that the shells are made from cauliflower. This meal, like many of the others, is gluten free and is only 450 calories.
Meal 6: Sicilian-Style Chicken Parmesan
The chicken in this meal didn't seem to taste as good as the chicken in the homestyle chicken meal for some reason. Maybe I was having sinus issues, who knows. The meal was still good, though. The cheese kind of falls off of the chicken and mixes with the tomato sauce, so that wasn't that great for me. The tomato sauce seemed kind of plain, but again, maybe my taste buds were off this day. I really like broccoli, but the broccoli here was bland, and I needed to add salt and pepper. I'm not sure if this one is gluten free or not, but it does only have 410 calories.
Overall, I really enjoyed the meals and they tasted really good.
Rating: 4/5
Ease of Prep
All of the meals are done in the microwave in just a few minutes and then need to sit for 2 minutes. Super quick and easy.
Meal 1: Turkey & Mushroom Meatballs with Spaghetti Squash
Meal 2: Slow-Cooked Beef Chili
Meal 3: Super Pesto & Sausage Fusili
Meal 4: Homestyle Chicken with Butternut Mac & Cheese
Meal 5: Cauliflower-Shell Bolognese
Meal 6: Sicilian-Style Chicken Parmesan
Rating: 5/5
Overall Rating
Overall, I enjoyed all of the meals this week. The only negative is the pricing (when they're full price), but the discounted price is worth it to me for just being able to microwave a meal that tastes good and is healthier than ordering takeout. I'm not sure how much it would cost to make the meals yourself, but some of them could be more expensive ingredients wise, and then you have to prep and cook.
Week 1 Overall Rating: 3.5/5
