I’m a Busy Food and Culinary Professional Who’s Tired of the Mealtime Grind — Here’s How I Think Fresh Meal Plan Can Make Your Life Simpler

Even as a dietitian and culinary professional, I’m not exempt from the decision fatigue and exhausting sameness from daily home cooking, so when I was offered the opportunity to try Fresh Meal Plan, a single-serving, fully prepared meal delivery service, I was excited at the prospect. At this point I’ve tried nearly every meal delivery service out there — from cookable kits to fully prepped and ready-to-assemble meals. Given my busy schedule, I was looking forward to seeing how this service would stack up to its many competitors. I tested Fresh Meal Plan for a week to see if it could lift me out of my food funk. Read on to find out what I thought of the service and its chef-crafted meals.

Getting my first order confirmed with Fresh Meal Plan was easy and quick, and I really enjoyed that the plan and pricing options were clearly displayed and simple to navigate right from the start. The first step for new users is to select whether you want a single-use subscription plan, an à la carte order, or one of their more cost-effective subscription plans. Each plan has an order minimum, so I went for the à la carte option, which has an eight-meal purchase requirement. The à la carte option allows you to place an order without committing to a revolving subscription plan. The website even advertises this option as a way to “try us out” before subscribing.

Next, I moved on to selecting entrées, then I chose my add-ons, and I finished by filling in payment and delivery information. You also get to choose your delivery day. My options were Tuesday or Friday, and this process seems to be exactly the same if ordering a subscription plan.

Choosing the Meals

Much like the sign-up process, choosing meals for your order with Fresh Meal Plan is simple and straightforward. Once you reach the vibrant, eye-catching menu page, you can view all the meals currently on offer. Unlike some meal delivery services, Fresh Meal Plan meals are not preselected for you, which may be a pro or a con for some users based on their individual needs. While the website states that the menus rotate weekly, it seemed to me that after several weekly viewings, the menu generally stayed the same with minor changes here and there. Meals are delivered as-is without any customization options, but you can order more or fewer meals than your chosen plan, especially if your needs tend to vary from week to week. This was a nice option, and I can see where it would benefit families or individuals with ever-changing schedules, but it will alter your price at checkout.

Given the size of the weekly menu, there is a fair amount of variety as far as proteins, vegetables, and flavor profiles go. The menu offers mostly plated entrées consisting of a protein, a starch, and a vegetable, such as the Blackened Grilled Chicken & Sweet Potato. A majority of the meals are designed to be reheated, like the Fajita Chicken Bowl, but there are a few cold salads and some pastas that don’t need to be reheated to eat. There are also breakfast options, such as the Blueberry French Toast, and several add-ons in bulk format that can be added after selecting your meals. Diet options at Fresh Meal Plan are not the most robust, but they do include vegan, paleo, and keto meals alongside the “lean and mean” meals, which, according to the website, prioritize protein, with ingredients that include grass-fed beef, hormone- and antibiotic-free poultry, no added sugars, and no preservatives. This information is clearly called out in the add-ons section, but not on the main menu or on individual item listings. 

In the end, I ordered eight entrées (which included a breakfast and an add-on dessert) for $125.26, plus $7.99 for shipping.

My meals arrived well-packaged and nicely chilled, thanks to several ice packs and the package’s insulated liner. While nothing spilled or broke open while traveling, several of the meals did look a little jumbled up, which took away some of their appetizing appeal. But everything was still edible, and nothing was technically damaged.

While some premade meal services wrap their meals in flashy additional packaging, individual meals from Fresh Meal Plan are packaged in a simple, recyclable plastic container with a plastic film. However, while I appreciated not having to discard an extra item from a single meal, I would have liked a sleeve of some kind around the meal to show the nutrition information and to provide reheating instructions.

As for the delivery box, I didn’t find much information on the website or in the package to discuss whether or not the packing materials could be recycled. This is different from some other meal delivery services that proudly advertise how much of the packaging can be recycled and provide instructions on how to do it. The Fresh Meal Plan website does state that the ice packs are biodegradable and can be reused, though I believe that refers to the inside materials of the ice packs and not the plasticky-looking outer bag. Basically, the website’s lack of clarity left me feeling unsure about specific recycling details.

Preparing and Cooking the Meals

All of the meals arrived fresh and refrigerated to either be eaten cold or reheated quickly in the microwave. As far as cooking instructions go, there are some minimal instructions included on a small sticker on the side. But because instructions are the same for all meals (which doesn’t really adjust for the variations in ingredients of certain meals), I often disregarded them entirely.

Most meals included a packaged sauce or had more than one component, such as the jerk chicken with slaw, in which one part is meant to be eaten hot and the other cold. There was no instruction to remove the container of sauce prior to cooking, nor were there instructions regarding the removal of cold components — so you’ll have to use your best judgment before putting it all in the microwave. In fact, I accidentally microwaved the honey packet that came with my breakfast entrée because it was hidden under the food, and while it didn’t explode on me, it really wasn’t an ideal situation.

Additionally, some of the meals did not turn out looking like the photos once heated. For example, the picture for the chicken in the orzo salad showed nice, clean slices of chicken, but they were actually kind of large chunks instead. The cottage pie and the beef chili also looked quite different from their advertised pictures, and they were a lot less appetizing in person. Fortunately, not all of my meals fell short of their pictures: Items like the steak and sweet potato, the salmon sliders, the jerk chicken, and my breakfast entrée were closer to my expectations.

Tasting the Meals

In terms of the eating experience, my order had some hits and some misses. Overall, I found that my meals were relatively filling with fairly consistent portion sizes. There were some things I’d even be happy to order again. I really enjoyed the jerk chicken plate and the fresh slam breakfast. I also felt that the steak and sweet potato bowl was solid but not memorable. Personally, I could take or leave the salmon sliders meal and the Greek salad with chicken meal, mostly due to the dryness of the chicken and fishy flavor of the salmon.

Finally, the ground beef used in the chili and the cottage pie was disappointing. I had assumed that these were safe items to order, given how well they hold up in the fridge over time, but the flavors and the texture of the beef did not work for me in the end.

As far as desserts, the Oreo cheesecake parfait wasn’t bad, even if it didn’t taste much like cheesecake. But it cost more than $7 and just tasted like yogurt with Oreo cookies crushed in it. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t really special either.

When starting any new meal delivery service, there is always a learning curve in figuring out which items you like and which you don’t, and Fresh Meal Plan is not an exception. Even though most of the meals were tasty and filling, I do think some services I’ve tried have had better-tasting food.

As a dietitian, one of my main criticisms is that the available nutrition information for each dish is pretty minimal. While this may not be an issue for some users, it would prevent me from recommending the service to most people, especially if you’re on a strict diet where it’s crucial to know exactly what’s in your food.

To be fair, though, Fresh Meal Plan does not necessarily bill itself as a healthy service or as one designed to fit into particular health categories like “heart-healthy” or “anti-inflammatory.” While it may be possible to ascertain general nutritional information for a menu, it would be much tougher to manage a medical condition or any type of chronic illness.

The information that is easily available includes calories, carbohydrates, fat, net carbs, and protein. Some notable missing nutrients that would typically be included on a nutrition facts label are saturated fats, sodium, fiber, and any micronutrients like vitamins and minerals. There is a very brief ingredient statement, but it doesn’t include any specific ingredients for items like dressings or seasonings. There is also no allergen statement.

For these reasons, I can’t recommend the service if you have a food allergy, nor can I offer an opinion on exactly how appropriate the service would be if you’re looking to manage issues like cardiovascular disease, IBS, and diabetes, all of which would require listing some of the ingredients missing from the nutrition label.

While the add-ons menu isn’t the most robust, there are some notable options that could enhance your weekly delivery or add a little extra food at dinnertime in case you need to feed more than one person. Some of the add-ons include dessert options like paleo brownies or a six-pack of keto cookies; multi-serving entrées of cooked proteins; multi-serving sides of simply prepared vegetables; or grains in 1-pound (lb) servings. There are also a few cooked entrées like lasagna.

In terms of pricing, the add-ons feel in line with the entrée prices. For comparison, a five-pack of cooked, cage-free chicken breasts comes in at $15.45; a pound of cooked, grass-fed Angus steak is a bit higher at $25.45; and a pound of cooked salmon costs $27.45. Sides are all priced under $10, with most of the vegetables costing between $8.45 and $9.45 per pound. For my first order, dessert was my only add-on, which was priced at $7.45 for a single-serving cheesecake parfait, which felt on the high side for what was essentially yogurt. Looking back, the six-packs of brownies or chia power bites might have been a better value. 

Fresh Meal Plan’s single-serving, refrigerated meals closely resemble options from other better-known services like Factor and Territory Foods. Fresh Meal Plan’s lowest starting price point matches up with Factor, at $10.99 per serving, and both take a fresh-food approach that offers keto, vegan, and high-protein options. However, in my opinion, Fresh Meal Plan’s food isn’t quite as tasty as Factor’s, and the nutrition information from Factor is complete, where Fresh Meal Plan’s is not.

Its other single-serving meal competitor, Territory Foods, features a robust menu and similar cuisines, with pricing starting at $11.99 per serving (price may vary based on where you live). All in all, Fresh Meal Plan is priced competitively, and, despite its drawbacks, it could be worth considering as you research similar meal delivery services.

Offering quick-and-easy fully prepared meals, Fresh Meal Plan is one of the lowest-priced fresh meal delivery services and could potentially be a great fit for individuals who want to outsource their cooking. With a large menu to choose from and several tasty add-ons, there’s a lot to work with to keep things interesting on the dinner plate, especially if you focus on balancing food groups rather than nutrient values. 

Unfortunately, I can’t recommend the service to anyone who needs a full nutrition breakdown or allergen information, and I don’t necessarily see the service as a fit for my own needs based on how much I’d have to purchase to make it financially viable and to meet my overall flavor preferences.

In order to find our way to the best meal delivery services, we vetted the field of options and tested over 50 different companies using industry experts and nutrition and health professionals. We tasked a team of journalists and dietitians with gathering firsthand experience by trying the services personally and looking at the full experience from ordering, the meal’s condition on arrival, nutritional value, flavor, ease of preparation, and even the sustainability of the packaging materials. 

Beyond my decade of experience as a dietitian and culinary professional, meal delivery has been a specialty subject area for me since 2021l. I have been reviewing services first-person and really appreciate seeing how the industry has grown and matured over the years. I always look for thorough and accurate recipes, well-developed flavors, menu variety, and enough focus on nutrition for a service to feel good for everyday use, while also having fun foods to keep life (and mealtime) interesting.