This has been something that I’ve been wanting to test out for a while now. Being someone who meal preps on a weekly basis and who encourages her clients to do so as well, I wanted to see what the hype was about pre-made meal services was. All of the “great” athletes on Instagram have a sponsorship through one of the many services and rave about how great they are.
I looked into a number of different companies, large and small. A few of them being MegaFit Meals, ICON Meals, FlexPro Meals, Small Potatoes Company (local), and a few others. The one I decided on was Freshly. When deciding which company to test, it really came down to what meals they offered and at what price. Freshly was probably the most reasonable one because they have options for 4, 6, 9, or 12 meals per week. All of the other companies had a 10 or 12 meal requirement and majority of their meals were $10+
With Freshly, I opted for the 6 meals, making each meal $9.99 and totaling $59.99 per week + free shipping. A major plus when I signed up was that they give you 2 weeks of $20 off…so I only paid $39.99 for the 6 meals – definitely can’t complain about that! So far, so good!
Delivery
I scheduled for the meals to be delivered on a Thursday, which made me a little nervous because I work until 3 on Thursdays, and that day I ended up scheduling 2 clients until 6pm as well. I was pretty worried throughout the day because I wasn’t going to be home until about 6:30pm and the meals had been sitting on my porch since around 8:30am…BUT when I got home and grabbed the box, it was still cold! The meals were packaged so well with 3 large ice packs stacked between and a foam covering wrapped around. Some people reviewed that the packaging was excessive, I thought it was the right amount, it wasn’t hard to get into the meals or anything, and it kept my meals cold so that’s all I cared about.
Each meal had a sleeve around it with the name of the meal and the nutrition facts for the meal (each meal was 1 serving). I thought this was extremely convenient and made it easy to decide when / how much of the meal I wanted to eat at a time. My only complaint about the containers used is that they had a plastic seal which was super hard to pull off and it would rip unevenly and was a mess, but I could have just been on the struggle bus when it came to opening them.🤷♀️ They also weren’t reusable which was slightly disappointing…not that I need anymore tupperware.
What I Ordered
Chicken Livorno
Based on the look and the amount of protein in the nutrition facts, it was about 5oz of chicken, solid portion size. The chicken was paired with a white bean and kale blend which I had never had before and would never think to make on a regular basis, but it was so very good and flavorful.
The meal didn’t have that “frozen foods” taste that some people mentioned in their reviews, huge plus there. Overall, I thought this meal was well portioned and it was very filling.
Nutrition – 380 cal | 39g of protein | 15g of fat | and 22g of carbs.
Buffalo Chicken & Cauliflower Mash
When I opened this meal, it didn’t look like a whole lot, as you can see in the picture. Based on the nutrition facts, I decided to split it in half.
It definitely did not look that appetizing when I opened it, especially the cauliflower mash. The cauliflower ended up being a lot better than expected, the chicken was good but nothing spectacular. The meal was quite filling even split in half.
Nutrition – 480 cal | 41g protein | 30g fat | 16g carb
Sicilian-Style Chicken Parm
I decided to split this meal as well based off of the macros . And again, when I opened this meal it wasn’t that big, though it was about 6oz chicken.
The chicken was breaded with almond flour & spices and oven-fried, topped with marinara sauce and a chunk of mozzarella, and with a side of sauteed broccoli. All around, this meal didn’t impress me, the chicken wasn’t very tasteful and just the look of the mozzarella when I opened it was a large turn off.
Nutrition – 440 cal | 43g protein | 24g fat | 17g carbs
Slow Cooker Pulled Pork
I love pulled pork…but this one did not impress me. The Pulled Pork came with a sauteed kale/bacon/tomato blend and roasted carrots. The kale blend was great, the pork not as great. I wasn’t a large fan of the gravy that was topped on the pork, just didn’t taste right. But overall, it wasn’t too bad and it was a good size for 1 meal.
Nutrition – 370 cal | 27g protein | 20g fat | 22g carb.
Slow Cooker Beef Chili
I’ve never been a huge chili fan, definitely not something that I would think to make on the regular, but the Freshly Slow-Cooker Beef Chili was really good. It was the perfect level of spicy, a good serving size and very filling. Freshly made this meal paleo by throwing in sweet potatoes rather than beans, I don’t follow a total paleo diet but that’s a nice option that they provide.
Nutrition – 300 cal | 25g protein | 27g carbs | and 10g fat — pretty well balanced.
Chicken Cacciatore
A blend of roasted peppers, onions, and mushrooms with chopped up chicken thighs over cauliflower rice. I believe this meal would qualify as a ‘sh*t in a bowl’ meal as Aubrie Bromlow (check her out on IG – @aubrieb) would call it…just a bunch of good food thrown into a mixture. It was a solid meal, very filling and though not the most appetizing looking, had very good taste to it.
Nutrition – 350 cal | 34g protein | 25g carbs | 13g fat.
Final Thoughts:
I’d be interested to order from Freshly again. There are some meals like the chicken livorno, chicken cacciatore, and chili that I’d be comfortable with ordering again. Looking through their menu, there are definitely a few other meals that I would like to try. I think they have a pretty good variety of meals.
This is most definitely not going to be something that I make a regular thing… paying $60 for 6 meals isn’t exactly worth it to me when I can pay $60 at the grocery store and make about 20-25 meals with what I buy. But I can see the convenience of having pre-prepped meals for someone who is extremely busy and can’t find the time to meal prep their own each week.
Ordering meals from a service would be great for traveling…you can order the meals and have them shipped to the hotel that you’re staying at and avoid paying a ton of money on eating out for 3+ meals a day.
I am planning on checking out another well-known/big name meal prep service, just have to wrap my head around spending close to double my normal grocery bill on 12 meals…and then using 1 or 2 local meal prep companies that are on the smaller side.
