Freshly is a meal delivery service that sends healthy fully-cooked chef-prepared meals directly to your door. Each meal takes about 3 minutes to heat up, making this perfect for a super busy lifestyle. I tried Freshly a few different times and this is my honest Freshly review.
If you’re ready to give Freshly a try, but don’t want to read my entire Freshly Review, then here’s 30% off your first box!
**This post contains affiliate links. I will receive a small commission if you decide to give Freshly a try. However, this is my completely honest Freshly review and you’re by no means obligated to use my links. If you do, thanks so much for supporting my site.
Freshly is very different from the meal delivery companies I’ve reviewed over the years. Instead of providing a box filled with ingredients that you need to cook, they send fully-cooked meals that are prepared by chefs. So, all you need to do is heat and eat!
It took me a long time to fit Freshly into my review schedule. Not because I didn’t think it was a good service but I like the idea of cooking from scratch – this is what I get with traditional meal kit companies.
Anyway, I finally decided to give Freshly a try and, to be honest, set my expectations low – I mean how good could microwave meals be?
I’m going to get more into my experience later in the review but I’ll just say this, I was pleasantly surprised by Freshly.
I ordered my first box in the middle of volleyball and cheerleading season so saying I was busy is an understatement. What a relief I felt when all I needed to do was quickly heat up a meal for myself or daughters.
Freshly really delivered on their promises!
To assume everyone has the time, or desire, to cook every single night is silly. Actually, after going through my first box I felt kind of silly not testing Freshly out much sooner because clearly they’re meeting the needs of busy people who just want to heat and eat. So, I think Freshly could really work for many people.
Also, out of the 6 meals I received, 4 of them were super flavorful and surprisingly filling. The other 2 were edible but I wouldn’t order them again. Honestly, I expected all of the meals to taste like a Lean Cuisine, or other diet meals, but I was wrong. Each one tasted like a home-cooked meal. I’ll go over each meal below.
The last thing that really stood out to me was each meal was under 600 calories. This was something I could really appreciate considering keeping calories low at dinner time is often a struggle for many people, including myself. It’s also a big struggle with meal kit companies. Many of the companies I’ve reviewed offer meals up to 800 calories a portion, sometimes more. That’s a problem, especially when trying to keep daily calories under 1300.
Okay, before I jump into my personal experience I want to answer some common Freshly questions.
Are Freshly Meals Healthy?
In my opinion, yes. Each meal is gluten free, packed with protein, free from refined sugars, and all natural. However, the meals are not made with organic ingredients so if that’s important to you then it’s something to consider.
The meals I tried tasted very fresh. Like I said, I was expecting the meals to taste like a processed frozen meal, especially being microwaved. But I was wrong. Everything tasted fresh as if I just cooked it.
Also, all Freshly meals are portion-control and have the nutritional information located on the box. I was super impressed by this. Like I said, the meals I ordered were under 600 calories.
Actually, when I look at the meal selection on the Freshly website all the meals are under 600 calories. So, if you’re trying to lose weight then Freshly could be a great option for you – especially, if you don’t want to cook.
It’s important to note, that each Freshly meal is one serving. So, this works out well for single people or families that prefer different meals at dinnertime.
So, with all that said, I’d definitely say Freshly meals are healthy.
If you’re ready to give Freshly a try, but don’t want to read my entire Freshly Review, then here’s 30% off your first box!
Does Freshly Change Their Menu?
Freshly has a large selection of meals to choose from. They have standards available every week and also include different seasonal and speciality meals.
How Long Do Freshly Meals Last?
Freshly meals are designed to last all week in the refrigerator. Personally, I’d eat any seafood selections first and save the vegetarian and/or meat selections for later in the week.
Of course, if you can’t eat all the meals you freezing them is an option. You’ll need to add a minute or 2 to microwave time when when you’re ready to heat and eat.
Is Freshly Worth the Money?
Freshly offers 4 different meal plan options. The more meals you order the cheaper the meals will be. Whether or not Freshly is worth the money is really up to the individual. It depends on your needs. If you tend to order out a lot, and want to eat healthier, then turning to Freshly for healthy portion–controlled meals could work out great for you, and save money.
If have zero time or desire to cook but want to eat fresh nutritious meals then Freshly could be worth your money.
Last, if you live alone, or with other who don’t want to eat healthy, then ordering Freshly meals could be worth it.
Overall, Freshly prices are comparable to other meal kit companies. The cost of their meals are also very comparable to take-out. For example, a meal at Panera Bread or Core Life will cost you at least $10 – $13 a meal so replacing those meals with Freshly will actually save you money. Something to consider.
Freshly Promo Code
Here’s a Freshly Promo code for 30% off your first week. This is a great way to give Freshly a try at a discounted price.
How to Cancel My Freshly Subscription?
One of the things I look for when doing a meal kit review is how easy it is to skip or change an order or cancel a subscription. The last thing I want it is to be charged for a box that I don’t need or want.
First, all changes to your order must be done by the date UNDER your delivery date. If you miss this cut-off date there’s literally nothing you can do no matter how much you beg, scream, and cry. Just saying….so pay attention to this date. It’s like this with all meal kit companies.
Freshly makes it super easy to skip weeks and make changes. To skip, all you need to do is click on “skip” underneath the menu of week you want to skip. To change meals all you need to do is click “change meals”. Again, all of this needs to be done by the cut off date.
Freshly also makes it relatively easy to cancel your subscription. It’s a little hidden but you need to click on deliveries and then click on change subscription. On the bottom of that page there is a “cancel subscription” link.
I feel like the subscription information should be in the account section but at least they don’t make us call to cancel. So, if you decide to cancel it can be done with a couple clicks.
Before I jump into my Freshly box I just want to cover who I think Freshly would work great for and who shouldn’t even waste the money.
If you’re ready to give Freshly a try, but don’t want to read my entire Freshly Review, then here’s 30% off your first box!
Who I think Freshly Would Work For?
- People who tend to eat take-out but want to start enjoying healthier foods without cooking.
- Super busy people who need healthy “heat and eat” options.
- People who don’t want to cook but want the convienence of meals sent to their home.
- People who want to lose weight but don’t have the time to cook, meal prep, or portion-out meals. Freshly does all the work! By the way, you can sort all the Freshly meals by calories, carbs, protein, fat, or sodium.
Who I Think Shouldn’t Bother With Freshly?
- People who prefer to cook meals from scratch.
- People who don’t see the value in a meal delivery company. That’s okay, I don’t judge, meal delivery companies aren’t for everyone.
- People who need more than 500-600 calories at dinner. These meals are perfect size for me – I felt satisfied after eating them. However, my husband (who’s a beast) could’ve ate 3 meals at a time. These servings were not big enough for him. So, Freshly wouldn’t work for him.
My Honest Freshly Review
Okay, let’s get to my personal Freshly experience.
Just like with every meal kit company, Freshly sends all your meals in a sturdy insulated cardboard box.
This is the cooler bag in the box.
My box had 2 icepacks so everything stayed nice and cold.
Here are two of the meals.
My other meals were underneath the second ice pack. Like I said, it was such a relief to get this box of meals. All I needed to do was take out the meals and stick them in the refrigerator. No organizing ingredients, no cooking, no mess. This was perfect considering that week was CRAZY busy.
If you’re ready to give Freshly a try, but don’t want to read my entire Freshly Review, then here’s 30% off your first box!
Here are the 6 meals I ordered. When I’m reviewing meal kit companies I like to get a variety of meals so I can test out everything. Specifically, I want to see if the meats and seafoods are fresh with good texture. My daughter and husband tried these meals too so I’m including there opinions on the ones they tasted.
Let’s start with the homestyle chicken with butternut mac. My daughter ate this after volleyball practice. Again, it was so nice to simply heat and eat.
This dinner is very similar to foods I usually make for my kids so that’s one of the reason I chose this recipe. We both consider this to be family-friendly. To cook this meal all I needed to do was vent the plastic a bit and cook for 3 minutes and then let it sit for another minute or so. All the cooking instructions are on the back of the box.
Freshly reccomends putting the cooked meal on a plate to eat. This is to make you feel like you’re eating a home-cooked meal not a microwave dinner. I’d say this little mind trick worked 🙂
My daughter LOVED this meal. I took a couple bites to try it because I wanted to test out the texture of the chicken and beans along with the flavor of the macaroni and cheese.
The chicken was delicious. Honestly, you’d never know it was microwaved. I was expecting a rubbery texture and that wasn’t the case at all. It was crisp on the outside and juicy on the inside. Green beans were crunchy and macaroni and cheese had awesome flavor.
I’d order this one again.
The second Freshly meal I tried was the Mediterranean Chickpea Bowl. This is one of their vegetarian options. I decided to eat this for lunch and, just as the box promises, it was ready within 5 minutes.
I ate this one right out of the container. I thought this one had great texture, I loved the chickpeas and vegetables in it. However, it was a little bland. I did add some salt which helped a lot. I think it could benefit from a sauce of sorts. Although, if you’re watching your salt intake then this could be a great option. Anyway, it was filling and overall satisfying.
Even though this wasn’t terrible I probably won’t order this again because there are other vegetarian options to choose from.
If you’re ready to give Freshly a try, but don’t want to read my entire Freshly Review, then here’s 30% off your first box!
The next Freshly dinner I tried was the Turkey & Mushroom Meatloaf with Cauliflower Mash. I’m a huge meatloaf fan so I was looking forward to this one. My husband gave this one a try too.
We thought this dinner was delicious!! It seriously tasted like I spent all day cooking. The potatoes/cauliflower mash were creamy and super flavorful. The meatloaf was juicy and delicious. The vegetables were crisp and tasty.
Also, the whole meal was only 440 calories which I found to be super impressive. This is one of Freshly top-rated recipes and I can see why. If you give Freshly a try definitely put this in your box. I’d order this one again.
The 4th recipe we tried was the Sliced Beef and Rustic Potatoes. Sorry, I didn’t get a picture of the box.
This meal was one of my favorites. The steak was super tender which I wasn’t expecting at all – I thought it’d be rubbery and dry. Nope it was tender and juicy. The potatoes were amazing and the broccoli was cooked perfectly.
I couldn’t stop eating this.
I’d definitely order this one again.
The 5th meal we tried was the Sausage Baked Penne. Actually, my husband ate this one. I did get a small bite to try it. Sorry I didn’t get any pictures because we ate this late after we got home from a friends house.
Anyway, my husband wasn’t crazy about this at all. It was bland and the texture of the pasta was off. Also, he thought the portion was really small. So, like I said earlier, Freshly meals aren’t for everyone 🙂
We wouldn’t order this one again.
The last Freshly meal I tried was the Wild-Caught Mahi with Cilantro Lime Rice and Romesco. I wanted to test out one of their seafood options.
Just like with all of the meals, this was ready to eat within 5 minutes.
Yum, yum, YUM! I thought this meal was absolutely delicious. The Mahi Mahi was super fresh. Great texture and no bones. The sauce was scrumptious. The rice and vegetables had great texture and flavor. I was really impressed with this meal because you never know what you’re going to get with seafood – especially seafood that needs to be microwaved.
I’d put this on the meal plan again.
Overall thoughts of Freshly
- Overall, I’m really impressed with Freshly. If you can appreciate healthy ready to cook meals being delivered to your door, and don’t mind paying for that convienence, then this could really work for you.
- Meals are all single serving making this service perfect for people who live alone.
- Recipes are classic all-American style which I think would work great for those that don’t want anything eclectic. It also makes these meals great for kids.
- I love that each meal is portion-controlled and under 600 calories. This is perfect for someone trying to lose weight who needs some structure and guidance with their meals.
- I think the prices are comparable, if not cheaper, than take-out so if you’re looking to eat healthier without cooking then this could be the solution.
- Their website is very easy to use. The process for changing meals, skipping weeks, and cancelling your Freshly subscription is simple to do.
- Most of the meals I tried were very tasty. I reccomend looking at the meal reviews on the Freshly website if you’re have trouble deciding which meals to choose.
I hope my Freshly review helps you make an informed decision whether or not Freshly is a good fit for your lifestyle. If you’re ready to give it a try then here’s 30% off your first box.
Have you tried Freshly? I’d love to hear about your experience. What were your favorite meals?
Read my other meal kit reviews:
