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My Freshly Review (28 Days of Outsourced Cooking)

Freshly meals in my refrigerator

I hate cooking.

Abhor and despise could also be used interchangeably. So when I stumbled across a meal delivery service, Freshly, with a much different approach than season veterans like Blue Apron, Hello Fresh, or EveryPlate, I was eager to give them a try.

With Freshly, you literally just pop a meal in the microwave for a few minutes and it’s ready to eat. It’s a prepared meal delivery service versus meal delivery kit services (that require you still prepare and cook the ingredients).

Given how much internal grumbling happens when I have to meal plan, grocery shop, cook, and clean up, I pounced at the thought of having a pre-made meal in just three minutes.

So for 28 days, I outsourced nine meals a week to Freshly.

Here’s what it’s like eating microwaved meals for a month … and whether I would recommend Freshly or not.

Table of Contents
How Does a Microwaved Meal Taste?
Is Freshly Worth It? Who Is It For?
How does Freshly work?
1. Pick Your Meal Plan
2. Pick a Delivery Date
3. Choose Your Meals
Long-Term Observations
The Positive Observations
The Not So Positive
Freshly Alternatives
Conclusion

How Does a Microwaved Meal Taste?

This was my biggest question. The answer, shockingly, is that Freshly meals taste great coming out of a microwave (you can also bake them if you’d prefer).

Seriously, if I plated a Freshly meal, I don’t think the average person would know it was microwaved. Friends and family who have tried Freshly have agreed.

And even random people on Facebook!

I recommended Freshly to a friend asking for meal delivery service recommendations and someone else followed up with this:

They are pre-made meals you heat up in the microwave and they are DELICIOUS.

And for someone who is prone to eating out a lot (of the unhealthy variety), Freshly meals provide a much healthier and more convenient alternative. While I joke that prepared delivery services like Freshly have added years to my lifespan, there’s probably some truth to it. I’m a lot less anxious or stressed when it comes to meal time and I’m eating healthier than I would otherwise.

Freshly Discount

Get $50 off your first three weeks (almost $17 off per week). This is the best discount you’ll find online for Freshly.

FYI: They don’t have to be consecutive weeks. You can skip weeks and only order when you want. You can also cancel after the first week—there’s no obligation to order three times.

Note: If you order your first box using any of the links in this post, you’ll get a generous discount and I’ll get a small commission. It’s a win-win for both of us! And please know I wrote this review before I knew I could earn a commission. It’s genuinely my honest, unbiased experience.

Is Freshly Worth It? Who Is It For?

Obviously, if you’re like me and hate everything about eating that’s not the actual eating part, then Freshly is worth checking out. But as I’ve talked to friends and family about Freshly, many of them have also been interested for other reasons.

They’re easy meal options for people coming out of the hospital (giving birth, surgeries, etc.). Another friend knows there are certain weeks where she’ll be too busy or stressed to cook for her family, so plans on taking a “cooking vacation” using Freshly. It’s also a worthwhile option if you’re going out of town and need to ensure your spouse/kids stay alive while you’re gone. ?

For me though, the biggest win is saved time and mental energy. Freshly is uber convenient. If you add up all the time you’d spend planning, shopping, cooking, and cleaning, each Freshly meal probably saves you at least an hour (if not more). That’s an extra hour a day to spend with your spouse, kiddos, friends, pursuing your hobbies, etc.

In a post-pandemic society with COVID-19 severely changing peoples’ day-to-day, saved time and mental energy become even more valuable to families.

Since the coronavirus pandemic, I’ve gone from being a working parent to a working, stay-at-home parent also in charge of three children’s remote education and meals. There’s just not enough hours in the day. The meals serve as a pressure-release valve for already-hectic work weeks.

Jackie D.

It’s an amazing feeling opening the refrigerator, grabbing a meal, and eating a few minutes later. It’s the convenience of fast food and knowing it’s good for you.

Freshly is also great if you need a break from your typical meal rotation. I know I can eat tacos only so many times in a month before I get sick of them.

Having tried it for a month, I can confidently say it’s worth it for me. I have less anxiety, more time, and eat way healthier. I’m not kidding you when I say figuring out what to eat each week was a stressful process for me. And their prices are actually cheaper than similar, prepared meal delivery companies.

Freshly Discount

Try Freshly and get $50 off your first three weeks. It’s a low-cost way to test drive Freshly and cheaper than eating out (plus way more convenient). You can also skip weeks as needed. There’s no need to order three weeks in a row.

How does Freshly work?

It’s really simple and straightforward—aided by a fantastic website. They get major bonus points for designing a website (and smartphone app) that’s incredibly easy to use.

1. Pick Your Meal Plan

Your choices are 4, 6, 9, or 12 meals per week (ranging from $11.49 to $8.49 per meal). I go with six meals per week and try to get a variety of meal types (beef, pork, bowls, seafood, etc.) for some variety.

2. Pick a Delivery Date

Freshly delivers throughout the week. Your first delivery will happen on that day of the following week. I have mine delivered on Wednesdays and the box usually arrives between noon and 3:00pm CST. If you’re not home when it’s delivered, the box will keep for an additional 12 hours.

You can also change the delivery date (my options are Wednesday through Saturday) for any given week which has been handy for me. I travel regularly for work so can easily adjust the delivery date for when I’m actually at home.

You can also skip weeks if needed.

3. Choose Your Meals

As of January 2021, you can choose from 38 entrees with new meals being introduced every couple weeks (including 10 newly introduced FreshlyFit meals that are more carb conscious). Although, sometimes they’re calling meals “new” when all they’ve done is make some minor changes (like shift up the side).

Freshly Discount

Choose 4, 6, 9, or 12 meals and get $50 off your first three weeks. Try some of my favorites (they’ll be pre-selected for you!) and let me know what you think.

The chicken meals with full breasts (versus meals using pre-cut chicken) are generally the most filling. While I never finish a meal still feeling hungry, I do wish the portions were larger on some of them. This might not be an issue though depending on how much you typically eat.

Long-Term Observations

While I originally wrote this post after eating Freshly meals every week for a month, I’ve continued using Freshly most months since May 2016. That’s how I stumbled across some of the observations below …

The Positive Observations

Up first, Freshly’s customer service is top notch and extremely generous.

I emailed them about a meal that was noticeably off from what I’d eaten in the past (the only time it’s happened in over 300+ meals) . Without me asking, they promptly gave me credit. I thought that was a nice gesture. It made me wonder if they’d give you a credit for a meal you didn’t enjoy.

Which led me to take advantage of their text support option one day while I was feeling a little goofy (as you’ll kind of gather from the text thread).

Another time, the deadline to skip a week was earlier than expected because of a holiday. I didn’t realize that and had a box shipped to me when I didn’t want it. After reaching out, they gave me a credit for the entire box! (They’ve actually done this twice now when both times were my fault for not paying attention to when I would be in town.)

A bunch of things have really stood out:

  • The proactive credits I mentioned above.
  • They’ve replied to every question I’ve tweeted at them.
  • They rolled out a feature on their website to let you rate meals.
  • I’ve seen them try different meal sleeves, insulation materials, cooling packs, and film.
  • They send out feedback surveys.

All of that plus a website/app that’s heads and shoulders above their competition communicates a company that values excellence. From the outside looking in, I’ve been really impressed with how Freshly operates.

Now that I’ve been a regular Freshly customer since 2016, I’ve found every third week is the right frequency so I don’t get sick of the meals. In the off weeks, I rotate between other prepared meal delivery services (see the alternatives section below).

Also, only having to wash cups and silverware has been one word, glorious!

The Not So Positive

As much as I genuinely love and highly recommend Freshly, it’s not all rainbows and sunshine. A few negative things I’ve noticed include:

  • A noticeable decrease in seafood options. From regularly having mahi mahi, cod, or shrimp options to none (as of this writing). And if there are seafood options, they’re meals made with seafood (e.g. crab cakes) instead of whole seafood entrees (e.g. cod fillets).
  • A decrease in shredded beef quality. It’s less shredded beef and more mushy beef.
  • An increase in pre-cut, chicken-based meals. IMHO, the quality of the pre-cut chicken isn’t as high as the chicken used in meals with uncut chicken breasts. Granted, the taste and quality of these meals are still good just not as good as their full chicken breast counterparts.

Freshly Alternatives

If you enjoy the act of cooking and want to save time on grocery shopping and meal planning then Blue Apron, Hello Fresh, or EveryPlate are great options. But if you’re looking for simplicity, convenience, and consistency (I lost count of how many Hello Fresh meals I’ve ruined), prepared meal delivery services are the winner.

In addition to Freshly, here are some of the other ones I’ve tried:

  • RealEats: Easily the best tasting service I’ve tried (also with the least packaging waste). Get 25% off your first order with my link and the code GETREAL25.
  • Factor: Better tasting (and larger protein portions) but pricer than Freshly. Get $90 off your first three orders with the code NEWTOFACTOR90.
  • The Good Kitchen: Didn’t like the meals so can’t recommend.
  • Nourish Foods: Haven’t tried them but look similar to Freshly.

Currently, I rotate between Freshly, RealEats, and Factor every three weeks to keep me from getting burnt out on any one service.

Another alternative to Freshly would be local food delivery services. It seems a lot of catering business also provide this type of service. Before trying Freshly, I found one in Nashville that was decent. The food definitely wasn’t as healthy or conveniently packaged, but it was still good. Had I not found Freshly, I probably would’ve continued with the local service.

Conclusion

From a value standpoint, Freshly is easily my favorite prepared meal delivery service (of the six I’ve tried) and the one I recommend to people first.

The things that stand out to me include:

  1. It’s the cheapest service I’ve tried.
  2. It provides the most meal options for better variety.
  3. The meals taste great.
  4. An overall great experience (from the website, to the app, to their customer service).

If you’re in the market, I don’t think you can go wrong with Freshly.

Freshly Discount

But don’t take my word for it, try Freshly yourself. Save $50 off your first three weeks (almost $17 off per week). If you don’t like the meals, you can cancel after the first week.

If you have any questions, let me know in the comments (or would also love to hear your experience if you’ve tried Freshly).

381 replies on “My Freshly Review (28 Days of Outsourced Cooking)”

Thank you so much for your awesome feedback im getting my first delivery tomorrow. I have a family of nine, the kids are good with pizza but with both of us working full time,in school and kids sports we want a little different. Fingers crossed

From your article: ” If you add up all the time you’d spend planning, shopping, cooking, and cleaning, each Freshly meal probably saves you at least 30 minutes (if not more)”. ROFL! You are obviously a male who has not done much shopping, cooking, or cleaning. Thirty minutes? With just the cooking that replicating these meals entail, you would spend about an hour – cleaning produce, cutting, chopping, mixing, seasoning, sauteeing, searing, grating, mincing, etc. And the shopping? Even if you had a grocery store 10 minutes away, and dashed in to get the necessary items and check out, you’re talking another 30 minutes. Cleaning? Pans used for searing, roasting, steaming, sauteeing, knives used for chopping, mincing. bowls, spoons, mincers, graters. Probably another 15-20 minutes, minimum. Alex, I’m just trying to give you a bit of ribbing and not trying to be critical. But 30 minutes? You owe every chef in your acquaintance an apology.

Thanks for the great review – it pulled me off the fence and convinced to try Freshly as my first-ever subscription food service! Used your code as well – thanks!

sweet, i just got an order delivered today. hope you enjoy this side of the fence! ;)

I’ll be going back to work soon after being on medical leave for a year and due to chemo, have difficulties with the taste of many foods. My son brought two Freshly meals for me to try and I really liked the quality of the proteins, sides, and vegetables as well as its flavor. I feared going back to teaching kindergarten and having to come home to cook because I am at 60% energy level. I’m so happy that I actually liked the food, it’s gluten free (I also have Celiac), priced well, no need to go shopping, just heat up, and I wash only utensils and a glass for my drink. Plus the meals are healthy and have the correct amount of protein, which is necessary for my recovery.

isn’t it so great only having to wash utensils and cups!? haha, it’s one of the fringe benefits of freshly. ;)

and glad they’re working for your situation. hopefully not having to worry about meals lets you conserve your energy for other more meaningful things!

You mentioned Nashville having a local delivery option. Do you mind sharing it? I like in Nashville and would like to try out several options including Freshly.

Hi Alex, u made my decision feel that I made a good one, I’m just bummed that I didn’t see ur web page sooner so u can receive the ur small commission sorry!

someone had to pay you to say it tastes good. Funny tasting, mashed up food. Its awful. Who makes this stuff? Ive had better food at a school cafeteria. I dont have cancer of the taste buds! Would have to to eat this.

i’m probably not the ideal person to ask this question since i historically have had a hard time gaining/losing weight. so i haven’t noticed any change in weight eating these meals.

I tried Freshly for the first time and my husband and I loved the meals. While I do love to cook, the fact that I am in school and work full time and dealing with low energy, this works for me. The meals taste great and since we are watching our weight, the portions work. I don’t have to shop and plan..fantastic!!!

woot woot! happy to hear freshly’s working on multiple level for you and your husband!

How do u change your orders weekly trying to sign on using email mot letting me.also my first 2 orders came in at 59.99 not the discounted price so I how do I cancel my order if they don’t credit my account.

hmm, well that’s not good. i bet if you reach out to them and let them know you clicked on my link but didn’t get the discount, they’ll give you future credits.

https://www.freshly.com/contact

they can also help you figure out why you can’t sign in. once you’re able to sign in, you can change you weekly meals by going to the meal planner section.

Errr, you forgot to mention this business is owned by the NESTLE CORPORATION
Posing as a little fresh meal business. Buy local people, not from a food factory thousands of miles away.

I agree the place where the food is made is all the way in Arizona, that’s weird and not fresh in my opinion. You think? And the sodium is astornomical!

they say the meals have a shelf life of 4-5 days. however, i regularly eat meals 7 days after they arrive and haven’t had any issues.

two weeks is another story story though. i’d probably be more wary of the meals going bad after that amount of time.

if you think you won’t eat them within the first week, you can always freeze them. there have been some commenters that have done that with success!

Wanting to sign up. Your promo code link for $40 off two weeks isn’t putting a discount on my order. Do you have a new link you can share?

hmm, well that’s interesting. i’m not sure why it’s no longer working. i reached out to them to ask about it. hopefully i’ll have an answer for you soon!

just heard back from them!

apparently they did something to their system which no longer automatically applies the coupon code when you click the link.

when you go through the checkout process, you’ll need to manually enter the promo code RAD40. also, i learned this only applies to the six-meal plan.

Hi! I used a company called Munchery for this same type of delivery. I would love to know if you used them before and how they compare to Freshly. These meals seem much cheaper……

their website does looks familiar. unfortunately, they don’t deliver to my area. but if they ever do, i will definitely try them. seems like they do both pre-made and meal kits. but you’re right, the prices are much higher.

while you can’t indefinitely pause your subscription, you can skip up to five weeks at a time. freshly shows you the next five weeks and you can choose which weeks to skip.

and they send you an email the day before you’re charged, so that acts as a reminder in case you forget to skip a week.

it’s also easy to cancel your subscription from the website. both skipping and canceling your subscription is found under the subscription settings of the website.

Alex, I’m seriously thinking of joining Freshly. I’m like you and don’t really like to cook. One thing that I noticed you didn’t mention in your review was spicy. Like their spicy cod cakes. If you are anyone else on here has tried them can you please tell me if their spicy means just a little kick or is it drink a gallon off ice water, still can’t feel your tongue spicy? Btw, loved your review on Freshly, learned a lot.

i have tried their cod cakes! it’s one of my go-to meals now. i like having a seafood option with every order to add some variety.

as far as the spice, it’s a little kick. i’m not a huge fan of spicy food and it’s just right for me. any spicier and i probably wouldn’t keep ordering it.

i can’t remember what other meals have been spicy, but none of them have been the burn your tongue kind.

and i’m glad you learned a lot from my review!

Compared to other services its about 50 dollars cheaper. the main thing I dislike when it comes to losing weight is the high sodium. Calorie count is great though.

i’m probably an atypical person for this question. i have a really hard time gaining or losing weight regardless of diet. so i haven’t experienced any noticeable fluctuations in weight because of these meals.

Do you think you could freeze some meals to thaw and heat later? I woukd like to order for my son but he may not get through everything in a week.

i do think some of the meals could be frozen. if your son does try it, please report back if you remember! i’d be curious.

also it’s worth noting i usually eat the last meal a week after it arrives. that’s generally after the recommended “eat by date,” but i’ve never had any problems with freshness.

I recently froze my shipment of 6 meals because I had some unexpected travel and it was too late to skip my shipment. My meals have been great, although I do allow them to thaw in the refrigerator overnight then microwave as normal the next day. I found them to be as tasty as when they originally shipped. Hope that helps!

As soon as you mentioned an affiliate program i had to stop. Not knocking you but in my head now you’re biased.

i totally understand. so i won’t try to convince you otherwise. but i do hope you got at list one useful tidbit (that you believe) from my review!

When you sign up for the four meal per week plan, are you getting four individual meals? I have been doing Blue Apron and getting two meals a week with enough food to feed four people at each meal. I am looking for food to feed a family of four not individual meals. Can you tell me how this works? It is not clear on their website.

I just signed up for my first 6 meals. I want to try Freshly out without feeling obligated to them. I do not like the fact that you are automatically signed up for weekly delivery. You should be able to try them out and then decide if it is for you.

yeah, it is a hassle for those just wanting to try the service. just remember to cancel your subscription and you’ll be good to go. you can restart it later if you want.

Great information! I’ve been using Freshly off and on for about 10 months. I do wish they would post the reviews of their recipes (like Blue Apron does) as it would be nice to see what people do to tweak the dishes. I’m not a fan of their breading on meats, but overall I’ve been extremely impressed with how well their meat entrees hold up in terms of texture and juiciness. These are great for lunches and busy nights!

a public database of reviews would be handy.

in general i’ve found all the steak dishes are good (maybe because i love red meat? ;) ), pasta, and seafood (with the exception of the shrimp fajitas).

I asked them about weight loss but didn’t get a very direct answer. The plans aren’t tailored to gender, activity level, etc. They just said it was “paleo-inspired”. Any thoughts?

truthfully, i use freshly more for the convenience aspect versus meeting dietary requirements.

so i’m probably not the best person to touch on freshly for weight loss. sorry!

You can click on each recipe and see the nutritional info. Dinners are typically 470-550 calories (though, curiously, the southwest bowls are crazy high in calories… must be a good deal of oil in them). Breakfasts are about the same. The only breakfast I get is the porridge, which I doctor up and make into two servings.

These meals do definitely give you good helpings of veggies, though!

It’s what I was thinking as I read the article. I like Asian cuisine specially Japanese and I like soup for breakfast and veggies. I eat more vegetable matter than protein and these meals sound like they are largely constructed on a traditional “American” style tradition, that being 75% animal protein, 15% carbs and 10% vegetable. I eat more like 80% vegetables and the rest meat and carb. I’m so glad I’m a professional Chef,,, it’s just better if you cook your own food.

Hi. I am getting my first shipment tomorrow was wondering how often they change there menu? I noticed for the next 4 weeks its the same menu.

i usually place an order every other week and there’s always one, if not two new lunch/dinner meals. so i’m guessing they still release a new meal each week (either a breakfast or lunch/dinner meal).

i bet they keep the menu fixed until they release a new one. so i bet if you check back next week there will be a new meal to choose from. (that’s why i always wait until the week of to pick my meals.)

Alex,

I looove Freshly! The ease of every meal is GF is awesome. I am a medical Cealic…gluten hurts! I too love the red meat meals! Wow! I stick to the highest protein and lowest carb ones too.

I keep it coming!

curious to know what about this post reads like an ad?

in case it helps, i wrote this post without any prompting from freshly. it genuinely is my own unbiased experience.

after spending so much time researching meal delivery services, i thought it would be helpful to others if i wrote about it. sure, i get a commission when someone signs up, but they also get a discount. so it’s a win-win in my book.

and i would’ve written the same review regardless of the commission.

Alex, I think this is pretty disingenuous. You get a commission from Freshly every time someone signs up? So, naturally your opinions are biased and likely less critical than they could be. I think you should have fully disclosed this at the beginning of your blog about Freshly.

you may have missed it, but early in the post i do share i get a commission.

i also share i wrote this review six months before i knew freshly had a commission program. it was written solely to share my experience and hopefully help others who hate cooking as much as i do. only after six months did i realize i could earn a commission.

with the exception of some minor edits, the review has remained the same whether i earned a commission or not. it’s because what i wrote pre-commission was 100% truthful. nothing needed to change post-commission.

but if you’re still wary, feel free to go through this non-affiliate link.

I honestly don’t see why it would be a big deal. If you are a freshly customer, they give you $20 for referring someone, and you get $20 off your order. They also run ads on Facebook for $20 off your first order. So basically, anyone could get “compensated” whether they bothered to write a review or not. I’m glad to have found this review – I’m on my third week, and slightly disappointed that no menu items have changed, and wondering if they ever would. Good to know they do change.

right now i’m probably averaging an order once every 2-3 weeks. there’s almost always a new meal when i order so they do change, however, it does seem like they’re introducing new meals less frequently.

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It doesn’t read like an ad to me. I’m another happy Freshly customer, buying 12 meals per week for my husband and I. We are both disabled with limited mobility and lung/cardiac issues. Freshly has been a godsend, is cheaper than Meals on Wheels, and convenient. Yes, some are too salty or spicy but there’s always a wide selection and it beats fast food.

Hi! I tried Freshly on your recommendation. I like that’s it pretty healthy and balanced. But to me, all the meals share a singular one note flavor. I just can’t past that. But then again, I’m a cook (who doesn’t have time to cook.). I want to love it, but I just don’t. It’s just ok, but I think $10 per meal is too much for just ok. (I know I’m very late coming here to comment, sorry.)

thanks for sharing your experience!

i always joke that my taste buds are not evolved as others. so i could definitely see someone with a stronger taste palate (like yourself) not enjoying the meals as much.

I completely agree with this assessment for many of their recipes. I keep lemons, limes and fresh herbs on hand to give the flavor profile more dimension.

Do you not see the images throughout the post with the discount offer? Or maybe you have an ad blocker installed? Regardless, all the “Freshly” links in the article are discount links for 30% off. So feel free to click any of those!

Hi Alex
I am retired and way too fat!! I have been looking for an alternative eating plan to help me lose weight. I realize that the calorie, fat, and sodium counts are probably higher than I would eat if I prepared my own meals. That being said, I am sick of cooking, shopping, and doing dishes. I figure if I eat one Freshly Meal each day, use simple low cal meals for breakfasts, and a nice green salad for lunch, I should be able to stay under 1400 calories. I do want to ask you…..have you noticed a change in your weight with Freshly Meals?
Thank you Alex for your thoughtful and thorough review. I feel informed.

to be honest, i’m probably not the best person to ask about weight changes. i’ve been the same weight for as long as i can remember. my diet doesn’t affect it at all. God’s blessed me in that sense (*knock on wood*).

Read the book “Why We Get Fat” written by Taub. I lost 20 lbs in 4 months, no true exercise, although I do more as I have more energy now eating as the book explains. The book is backed in science, like the biology not physics of eating. I put the book to the test. It really is NOT about calories in calories out (physics) for this female! Biology bro!

Plus Freshly helps keep handy high protein low carb real food meals. I love that they are Paleo based too. I did not receive compensation for this post, just sharing that eating real food really worked for me.

I tried the Homestyle Meatloaf first because I am a meatloaf lover. Sadly, the meat was full of grizzles so I had to keep pulling them out of my mouth. The flavor was good but those grizzles are a bit annoying and gross.

interesting. i’ve had the meatloaf a few times and never had issues with gristle. but i haven’t had it in awhile since i’m generally not a fan of meatloaf.

freshly’s always been great about feedback. i bet if you let them know they’d credit your account for that meal.

How do I contact Freshly? What is your phone # or email address? I purchased a 4-meal plan (gave you personal info, etc) and never heard from you again. My meals were to be delivered May 8 !!!

I just joined Freshly. I have severe COPD and wanted a service where eveything thing was alraedy done. As of yesterday I had the meatloaf meal . It was great, Not overcooked or under cooked and the seasoning perfect. I don’t like regualr green peas and pearl onions but I wolfed them down. The only reason I will not get the meatloaf again is that it comes with mashed cauliflower. I hate cauliflower. I thought with seasoning etc it would be okay but no. That is just me. Everything elso was great. Wish I could subsitute a side.

Awesome Jamie!

Bummer you did not like the cauliflower, I add real butter on them and put salt free Ms. Dash seasoning on it and it is yummy. Also just mixing it in the main dish helps. :)

Also note the discount for the first week on the 4 meal plan put my total at $24.99, still a fine deal but pretty much the same discount as their 6 meal discount.

i appreciate you using my link! and thanks for the letting me know the deal changed. i’ve updated the post.

Just received my trial shipment of 6 meals for 39. Used to cook alot, but now only cook for myself and I don’t enjoy it much anymore. Food delivered 24 hrs after shipment (I tracked it-was shipped from TX), well packaged in box, 2 big frozen bags and insulated box so food is cold. Will be eating one tonight, but I like the packaging of each meal. Have tried HomeChef, but it became too much for me to cook 2 servings and have a serving leftover that I may or may not eat later on. . I like that I can order 1 serving and it’s already cooked. Thanks for your blog, will be following everyone else’s comments.

Hah, agreed exactly on Home Chef! Plus, they started to skimp on meat cut size and even less vegetables! It became more like a one-person meal rather than the two,
as advertised!
I contacted HomeChef through their webform on the skimping and they gave me $10 off my next order, but I have not felt encouraged. I began looking for another option. I must eat gluten-free as well and love that I have more choices…like ALL of them with Freshly!

I am to receive my first Freshly this Friday! I like like that I can also easily take these to work to nuke for lunch too! If this turns out to be as awesome as Tran and all of you say, I may up to the 9 meals from the 6.

Thank you for your review Tran, it makes me feel calmer about my choice change to give Freshly a go!

Vee in TX

yup, i also like that they’re portable and can easily be taken to work. hope you enjoy your first meals, vee!

Haven’t gotten sucked in to a second shipment before I could cancel I did not know what I was going to do with this food then I thought well charity. So I warmed up a dinner and took it down to the corner and gave it to a homeless man. In the morning I was walking the dog and I saw that spot homeless man was gone but the food was still there Never saw the homeless man again

oh no, i’m not sure why!

i just sent you a link through freshly’s “tell a friend” feature. try using the link in that email. let me know if that still doesn’t work.

i’m going to reach out to freshly and see why the link doesn’t seem to be working anymore.

i just got an email back from freshly. apparently this is an issue on their end. they said they hope to have it fixed by the end of the week.

Hi Alex thanks for your thorough review of freshly I was wondering about meal freshness so you get 9 meals but obviously you’re not eating some until three four five days later right so did you feel that was an issue because once they get to you they have to at least be 2 or 3 days old already right I am in California and wondering if I will get older meals?

nine meals typically takes me a week to get through. so i’m eating some meals past the “use by” date. for example, my last order got here on dec 22 and the use by date is dec 26. i’ll eat the last meal tomorrow (the 28th).

and it’s never been an issue. even a couple days after the use by date, the meals never taste like they’re “expired.”

and i doubt you’ll get “older” meals living in california. the meals ship from phoenix, so you’re actually closer to them than i am in tennessee. and my guess is they ship meals the same day they’re prepared.

i haven’t had the need to freeze any meals yet. but a previous commenter said “they freeze well.”

Freshly was the first food delivery service I tried. To be honest, I was disappointed to see “TV dinners”. Boy was I wrong! These are not TV dinners they taste and look like meals that took hours to prepare. The Mahi-Mahi was the bomb! I could not eat these every week but for an occasional night off, these are great….and they freeze well.

the mahi-mahi was definitely a great addition to the mix. it’s one of my new favorites!

and that’s good to know they freeze well. i haven’t had to do that yet.

Very helpful review!! I’m waiting for my first order to arrive next week. I’m also in Nashville and am wondering what the local service was that you used? Thanks!

Freshly is wonderful. All of the other services want me to cook and wash a bunch of dishes — but for me the entire point of delivery is that I don’t have to do all that work. Finally, a meal service that gets me!

no dishes is amazing. i understand why people enjoy plating their meals, but i enjoy not having to do dishes more. ;)

have you checked out the nutritional content of these meals? they are unbelievably loaded with sodium, cholesterol, fat and calories. i will not feed these to my children, let alone eat them myself. very disappointed. also my meals arrived frozen, so I’m not sure how this still qualifies as fresh.

are we talking about the same meal service? freshly meals never come frozen and their nutritional content doesn’t match what you described.

i’m wondering if you may be mistaking it for another service?

I got my first freshly meal last night and yes it was chalked full of Sodium, so much so that I noticed my fingers were a bit swollen when putting on my rings today. The meal was delicious but their sodium levels make me hesitant to continue ordering from them.

Hi Alex & Lynette-

I have noticed the same thing. This was advertised as “healthy” so I didn’t do too much research into the nutritional content before giving it a try. (Also the ingredients they were using were some common ingredients I use so I thought “looks good”.) I was very disappointed when they arrived…

You are absolutely correct that the meals taste delicious and are very fresh. (Mine weren’t frozen at all). However, for example, in the Seafood Risotto there are 520 calories, 25g of fat, 11 g of saturated fat, 155 mg (52%) of cholesterol, and 900mg (41%) of sodium! For someone eating between 1200-1500 calories a day that is between 35-45% of your caloric intake PLUS tons of your fat, cholesterol, and sodium intake! I had the ancho turkey chili today and the numbers are even worse for that! I make a Weight Watchers recipe chili that is just as good for about 250 calories.

I think Freshly is a good service for those who want non-frozen, already prepared meals, but this shouldn’t be advertised as “healthy” unless they can cut down on the aforementioned categories!

glad to hear the meals tasted good. bummed to see the nutritional content wasn’t up to par.

admittedly, i never count calories or look at nutritional content. so i wasn’t aware the nutritional content was that high in certain areas.

but thanks for sharing and letting others know!

I have noticed that too. There was so much sodium in my freshly meal last night that my fingers are swollen today. Too bad, because the meal was pretty tasty.

They have to be loaded with Sodium, especially if they are not using other preservatives (I would look into whether or not the raw ingredient inputs are actually fresh or not as well). Sodium acts as a preservative and these meals require that because they are made on an assembly line in a factory before they are packaged up and shipped off. The risks from sending food through a delivery service to someone’s home that may make them sick are incredibly high, the food simply cannot be that fresh – logistically not possible.

Thanks so much for sharing! I hate to cook (& suck at it anyway) & stress a wierd amount about what to get for dinner! Off to try!!

Thanks for the tip Alex. I found your review by googling freshly reviews. Facebook had it as a recommendation as I was looking at one of those cook the ingredients at home sites. The FB deal was 6 for $36 but your link for 4 for $10 was so good it eliminated my hesitancy. Thanks for listing the other food delivery sites. I was going to google but you did my work for me. I was on Nutrisystem years ago just for convenience of needing healthier fast meals. I never cook nor does my husband. After 3 months I was so sick of the food. They were very bean heavy for protein. But some of the food was actually really good. It was expensive tho. I like your idea of meal rotation so I’m going to check out the other food sites. I really liked your review. Going to bookmark your site and check more of it out when I have time. Thanks for being so detailed!

freshly’s facebook marketing is on point. that’s how they got me too. ;)

happy to hear the review was helpful to you. i would definitely recommend some type of rotation to keep your taste buds from getting burnt out. right now i get a freshly delivery every other week (sometimes less often depending on my travel schedule).

if you do try some of the other services, let me know what you think of them!

Great review! I’ve been debating Freshly for a while and finally decided to give it a try. I used your referral link to sign up and it actually wasn’t $59 off my first order (I was hoping to get 6 meals for $10). Rather it was $39.99 off the 4 meal plan (it would only let the discount code apply to the 4 meal plan). So that comes out to $10 for 4 meals which is still a great deal! Thank you!

oh man, thanks for letting me know. i’ll update the blog to reflect that change. and thanks for using my referral link.

if you get the chance, i’d love to hear what you think of the meals when you get them.

I will be sure to let you know what I think of the food — my first delivery gets here today!

I am curious, though, have you ever tried baking your meals instead of microwaving? I’m one that thinks baked food tastes exceptionally better than microwaved, so I wonder if you feel baking Freshly meals improves taste/quality over microwaving?

i haven’t tried baking since it would take more time. but i am also curious to if that affects the taste.

now that you’ve gotten your first box, what do you think? have you tried comparing microwaving to baking?

Thanks Alex! This is Sophia’s husband Mike and I stumbled upon your website while searching Google for freshly reviews. Neat that yours came up- I enjoyed the review as well as some of the other articles you posted. Keep up the great work! . In Christ, Mike

haha. how small is this world!? great to have you stumble on my blog. tell sophia i said howdy. blessings to you both!

I love all the detail. Those are all the questions I would’ve asked. Thanks for putting in the time and honest opinion!

I am a new Freshly fan! I just switched to more meals because they are so good, healthy, and convenient. No more take out with portions too large. Weeknight meals with Freshly are a snap. Now, after work, I can read a book, garden, go for a run, surf the net…instead of cooking. Best of all…healthy.

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