Freshly Review

Inside of sending you the raw ingredients and related recipes, Freshly take the whole concept one step further by cooking the food for you. While this may sound like just another microwave-friendly junk, Freshly is dedicated to changing how we think about what we eat, providing gluten-free meals that are healthy and nutritious.

Only natural ingredients go into Freshly meals and priority is given to seasonal fresh produce. The meals aren’t frozen and each one is prepared by an experienced chef. In addition to being gluten-free, Freshly meals are also low in carbohydrates and high in protein. By shunning all processed sugars and ensuring all the meals are prepared in a peanut-free zone, Freshly ensure that their products are suitable for people with food allergies.

The Freshly meal service is not only healthy for the consumer but also good for the environment, with Freshly working hard to reduce their impact on the environment by using biodegradable packaging.

Often, we sacrifice healthy eating and variety for convenience but, with Freshly, you get super convenience without the sacrifice. So, how does Freshly work? Well, first you need to check that you’re eligible for their service. As Freshly’s distribution is still limited to 27 states, you will be asked to enter your zip code before completing the subscription process.

If you live in an area covered by the Freshly meal service, you can start planning, using their easy-to-navigate website. First, you need to select your delivery day. Freshly deliver every day from Tuesday to Saturday, although the choice of day may be limited in certain areas. Your first delivery will arrive on your chosen day the following week.

With your delivery date set, you can decide how many meals you want which is easy to work out as each meal feeds one person. Now you can move onto the exciting part – selecting your menu! Each of the meals available each week are completely free of gluten and, should you have other food allergies, you simply let the chefs know using your online account.

If you enjoy online shopping, then you’ll love browsing the delicious- sounding meals each week. If one particular dish really catches your eye, you can keep adding it until you reach your total. Alternatively, you can select a variety of different dishes to give your taste buds a real treat.  One of the joys of using the Freshly meal service is the ability to create a bespoke menu that’s tailored to your palate and schedule.

In addition to offering 26 different entrees, Freshly also have a breakfast menu to select from, boasting eight different dishes per week. Each meal’s characteristics are designated by a symbol so you can spend a week on a paleo or low-calorie diet if you want a real health-kick. If you’ve been wondering, “Is Freshly healthy?”, the answer is a definitive yes!

So, now you’re thinking, if you’re out at work all day, how can you receive your delivery each week? Well, you don’t need to worry as Freshly’s carefully designed packaging will keep your meals fresh and cool even if left on the porch for 12 hours. The delivery window is between 8am and 9pm and, should you traveling, you can even change your delivery address for the period that you’ll be away, ensuring you don’t have to abandon your new, healthy diet simply because of a business trip.

If for some reason, you’re not happy with a meal, you can get in touch with Freshly’s customer care team who will attempt to remedy the situation as quickly as possible. Similarly, if you aren’t always on the ball with your scheduling and receive a box that you didn’t want, Freshly will refund you even if the fault is yours! That really is customer care and Freshly are clearing dedicated to their consumers, providing a comprehensive FAQ section on their website as well as an online chat service.

A choice of 27 meals per week is impressive, especially when compared to meal kit delivery services like Blue Apron which only offers a selection of seven different meals per week. Although Freshly don’t depart too far from traditional American fare, they do try to incorporate as many different flavors into their weekly menus as possible. A few international cuisines get a look-in each week, although Mexican and Italian take most of the limelight.la

Most of us have tried microwaveable meals in the past and are used to the same dreary dishes appearing again and again. Freshly certainly combat this problem, presenting an array of meat-based dishes alongside plates of vegetarian pasta, and spicy chilis. On the menu, during the week we were researching this Freshly review were delicacies like Korean-style Shrimp, Moroccan-style Root Veggie Tagine, the rather unusual Turkey Shepherd’s Pie and the more traditional Homestyle Chicken with Butternut Mac & Cheese.

This small sample selection of Freshly meals is indicative of the variety you can expect each week. As we mentioned earlier, each meal’s main characteristics are indicated by the symbols at the bottom of the entry. For example, on our first screenshot, you can see we’ve underlined the symbols in red. Moving onto the next screenshot, this is the view you get by double-clicking on the meal of your choice. Now you can see that the symbols indicate that the Steak Peppercorn contains less than 35g of carbohydrates, is high in protein, and free of both soy and gluten.

On the downside, there are limited weekly options for those wanting to stick to a purely vegetarian diet. The weekly menu we looked at only had four vegetarian options so, if you were ordering 12 meals per week, you would have to accept a fair amount of repetition. Nevertheless, Freshly try their best to avoid too much duplication, introducing new meals every couple of weeks. On occasion, these “new” meals may simply be slight adaptations on recipes you’ve tried before, but often they are completely innovative and original.

The breakfast menu is a little more limited but, given that many of us eat the same couple of things for breakfast every day of our lives, it’s still a lot more imaginative than in most homes. Consistent with what you might expect to find at a café or breakfast bar, Freshly offers dishes such as an omelet, berry porridge, and muffins. While possibly not as cost-effective as their other meals, the breakfasts are still great for those whose busy lifestyles mean they often skip this first and important meal of the day.

Just because Freshly meals are designed for optimal health and nutrition, that doesn’t mean they compromise on taste. While some of us are under the misconception that healthy food is, by necessity, lacking in flavor, we clearly don’t have the gastronomical creativity of the chefs at Freshly. Not only are all the ingredients natural, with no additional or artificial flavors or colorants, but their high-quality and freshness also makes them taste as though they came straight from Mother Nature.

None of the meals are ever frozen, giving you the benefit of all the flavor and nutrition supplied by fresh ingredients. Each meal you receive from Freshly can be either warmed up in the microwave or reheated in the oven, depending on your preference. Once ready, sample and see if you would identify this as a microwave meal? It certainly doesn’t taste anything like the macaroni cheese my mom used to force-feed me as a child!

Somehow, each component of the meal retains its texture and flavor, blossoming into a delicious and harmonious collection of flavors and aromas once warmed up. Although Freshly chefs provide the culinary flair and inspiration for each dish, Freshly have a strict set of guidelines they must adhere to, ensuring that each meal meets their high standards in terms of freshness, taste, and nutrition.

If you’ve lived off takeout and microwave meals for the past few months, it’s time to give your digestive system a break and your taste buds a treat by investing in the Freshly meal service. We’re certain you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the results and, not only will you relish your new healthy-eating regime, but you’ll be delighted by the increase in energy you experience as a result.

So, is Freshly worth it? Definitely. How could having fresh, healthy meals delivered to your door each week not be worth it? With the ability to select dishes according to your diet and food allergies, Freshly is providing a useful service that will prove particularly beneficial to those with a busy lifestyle, or who were recently discharged from the hospital. Alternatively, Freshly is a convenient service for busy moms needing a week off the pressures of meal planning and grocery shopping. Equally, if you’re going to be away on a business trip and want to make sure your kids still have healthy meals waiting for them each evening, the Freshly meal service is for you.

Obviously, if you love cooking, Freshly is not for you but, if you simply don’t have the time or energy to think about what to eat tonight, purchase and prepare all the necessary ingredients and then clean up afterward, you couldn’t ask for a more convenient service. You can spend the time you’ve saved with your family or at the gym, improving your lifestyle while Freshly take care of your diet.

Some meal delivery services have been heavily criticized for their complex procedures when it comes to asking for a refund or canceling the service altogether. Freshly have been committed to setting themselves apart from the pack, ensuring their customers receive full refunds timeously and making the cancellation process smooth and free of glitches.

As Freshly meals don’t require any cooking, you won’t need any kitchen equipment except a microwave and maybe a knife and fork. This makes the service ideal for those living in small apartments with limited kitchen facilities.

If you decide to skip a week or two, either because you want a break or because you have plenty of leftovers from the previous week, this is easily organized using your online account access or via the iPhone-friendly app. If you’re wondering, “How long do Freshly meals last?”, the answer is, as they don’t contain any artificial preservatives, they will last in the fridge for around five days. Each meal comes with a use-by date on its nutrition label so you know when it should be consumed by.

If you have several meals that you still haven’t used and they’ll all about to reach their use-by date, you can freeze them, although they won’t taste quite as good as they did fresh. Still, Freshly meals can be reheated from frozen, without the need to let them thaw first.

All in all, Freshly provide a very convenient service, perfect for people who already have too much on their plates before even thinking about dinner and especially those who want a healthy diet without the hassle of meal planning and shopping.

Taking into consideration the high-quality ingredients and the ultimate convenience of their meals, Freshly pricing is extremely competitive. Clients selecting the largest plan available and ordering 12 meals per week get the best offer available, paying just $8.99 for each of their robust and nutritious meals. Few meal kit delivery services can compete with this, even though their customers still need to prepare the ingredients themselves.

The cheapest meal kit delivery services charge as little as $4.99 per meal but you’ll still need to prepare all the ingredients, cook the meal and clean up afterward. This requires at least an hour’s effort that you won’t have to put into your Freshly meal. Other mid-range meal kits cost around the same price as Freshly meals, ranging from $7.49 per portion at Blue Apron, to as much as $11.99 at Plated. By comparison, Freshly is pushing the boundaries in terms of affordability and convenience.

If we’re going to be really pedantic, we could complain that Freshly don’t offer a complimentary wine service but, given that their mission is to “Help the world eat healthy, feel better and live more”, alcohol doesn’t really fit with their goal.

Of course, you could produce the same meals yourself for a fraction of the price but would then be forced to spend half your precious weekend in the mall. Buying your own groceries also means you’ll probably have to purchase more of each component than you need for that particular meal, limiting your choice throughout the week and forcing you to repeat the same core ingredients several times over. Let’s not forget the additional expense of driving across town and paying for parking, either.

If you’re really on a tight budget, Freshly might be a little beyond your means, but you could choose to indulge yourself one week of every month and take a break from cooking. At $8.99 per meal, it’s certainly a lot cheaper than most takeout services and definitely a lot healthier. Similarly, one meal per week at the local restaurant will probably set you back around $15 to $30 per meal. In effect, that means you could sacrifice your one meal out per week and enjoy three Freshly meals instead.

If trying to decide what to have for dinner brings you out in hives and the thought of visiting the grocery store after work has you ordering an extra glass of wine at lunchtime, Freshly meals are the answer you’ve been looking for. Not only does the company pride itself on the high standard of both ingredients and meals, but Freshly is also dedicated to providing an excellent customer service.

The Freshly meal service is flexible and convenient, delivering to over 50% of America on a weekly basis. Menus can be adapted to suit your needs so, if you want to go on a health-kick and dedicate a week to a paleo-based diet, Freshly gives you the adaptability to do that. Freshly meals can be prepared in just three minutes, in the most minimal kitchen environment.

Designed and cooked by professionals with a keen eye for taste as well as nutrition, Freshly meals can help you improve your diet and embrace a new lifestyle that isn’t focused on feeding your family, but rather on enjoying them! You can change your mind, skip weeks or cancel your subscription at any time.

In addition to providing healthy meals, Freshly are also committed to the environment, using recyclable packaging wherever possible, without compromising the quality of the contents. Their clean-cut website is easy to navigate and provides a wealth of information about their products, system, deliveries and pretty much everything else you can imagine. If you can’t find the answer to your question in the FAQs, you can contact Freshly via email or telephone, or make use of their handy live chat service.

Convenient, cost-effective and healthy – what’s not to like?