I’m an RD and I Tried Fuel Meals Delivery Service for a Week. Here’s My Honest Opinion.

Enter Fuel Meals — a meal delivery service that offers four high-protein meal plans based on nutrition goals, such as the “Muscle Gain” plan or the “Weight Loss” plan. They offer gluten- and dairy-free options (though no vegetarian choices) for active adults. These fully prepared high-protein breakfasts, lunches, dinners, protein add-ons, and snacks cater to athletes and fitness enthusiasts. These can be more convenient than traditional meal kits that you have to prepare yourself and can make it easier to consistently meet your daily protein targets. “Meal delivery services [like Fuel Meals] can be a game-changer for active individuals and athletes who need macro-balanced, high-protein meals to fuel their energy demands,” explains Kathryn Durston, RDN, the owner of Naturally Good Nutrition in Grand Rapids, Michigan. “These services make it easier to get whole-food, balanced nutrition, and can replace the need to grab protein bars or other convenience foods that may be packed with added sugar or lack the full nutrient profile necessary for sustained performance.”

That’s why, as a registered dietitian (RD) specializing in weight loss, I tried Fuel Meals myself to see if they delivered on their promise of high-protein meals that support muscle gains and fat loss — and actually taste good. Here’s the lowdown on Fuel Meals after I tried it for a week.

The sign-up process for Fuel Meals was fairly quick and straightforward. I could choose a meal plan or order à la carte meals. There are four meal plans to choose from:

• Best Sellers A mix of the most popular meals at various calorie and macro levels
• Muscle Gain Meals particularly high in protein and carbs for muscle growth
• Performance Meals designed to be more filling and to maximize workout performance
• Weight Loss High-protein, lower-carb meals with fewer calories

I chose the Weight Loss plan since this is my specialty area of practice. You can choose from 7, 10, 14, or 20 meals at a time with weekly or biweekly deliveries to all 50 states, including Hawaii and Alaska. They do not deliver to P.O. boxes. You can skip weeks or put your account on hold if necessary.

Fuel also offers three breakfast options, proteins by the pound, and one dessert: a high-protein brownie. I chose various breakfast and dinner options and, of course, as a self-proclaimed brownie lover, the dessert. Meals at Fuel Meals are prepared on Mondays and delivered fresh on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Choosing the Meals

If you choose one of the four meal plans, all the meals are chosen for you and you can’t swap meals in/out or modify proteins or ingredients.

If you’re choosing meals à la carte, there are breakfast, lunch, and dinner options, proteins by the pound, and one dessert. You can order a one-time delivery or sign up for a weekly or biweekly subscription.

In general, the meals are pretty basic and use familiar ingredients. There are a limited number of cuisine options, such as Asian, Mediterranean, and Mexican, plus American favorites like burgers and pizza. Fuel Meals are preservative-free and sourced from trusted vendors across the northeastern United States, and it uses organic, locally sourced vegetables when possible. Each meal is a single-serving meal that is fairly large, so they’re best for active adults with higher calorie needs, rather than children.

There are more than 50 different premade meals with various proteins, starches, and vegetables. The proteins are all animal-based: steak, chicken, shrimp, turkey, and pork. Most meals contain a vegetable, but the variety is limited to broccoli or tomatoes in a few dishes, and there are only three starches: pasta, rice, or potatoes.

My order of 20 meals included several breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and of course, the brownie:

• Egg Scramble
• Protein Pancakes
• General Tso's Meatballs
• Chicken Quesadilla
• Chicken, Broccoli, & Brown Rice
• Chicken Penne Vodka
• Crispy Chicken Parmesan
• Shrimp, Broccoli, & Brown Rice
• Bison Burger
• Triple Chocolate Protein Brownie

If you sign up for a subscription, the meal order will be made through automatically based on your prescription frequency unless you cancel before the 11:59 p.m. EST Saturday cut-off time.

The meals arrived in an insulated cooler in a large box. I was working when it arrived, so it probably sat in front of my garage for about an hour. When I opened the box, everything was very cold and packaged in an organized manner. Everything looked fresh, properly sealed, and unspoiled. I also appreciate how they didn’t use an unnecessarily large box and tried to package it more compactly. The meals come vacuum-sealed in tight plastic wrap, which can preserve their freshness.

Preparing the Meals

The meals you receive with Fuel Meals are fresh, not frozen, and can be refrigerated for up to seven days, or three months in the freezer. You can heat them in an oven or for two to three minutes in the microwave, which can be super helpful on busy days. You also don’t need any special ingredients or fancy cooking equipment to enjoy Fuel Meals (except for maybe an oven-safe tray if you decide to use the oven).

Since the meals come prepared and fresh, there was no prep work. There’s a label on each meal with the microwave heating instructions. This instructs you to keep all plastic wrapping on, including the instruction label, and heat the meal in the microwave for two to three minutes on average, except for the Triple Chocolate Brownie, which only had to be heated for 30 seconds.

The instructions for heating meals in an oven are not on the label, though — you’ll need to check the website instead. This was disappointing — had I not been looking at the meals online already, I might not have noticed that oven heating was even an option. If you prefer using the oven, you’ll need to transfer the food into an oven-safe tray or dish, then heat at 275 degrees F for 10 to 15 minutes. Either way, the convenience of preparing Fuel Meals, either in the microwave or the oven, can be a lifesaver on busy days when you don’t have the energy to meal prep or think about what you’re going to cook.

Tasting the Meals

The Fuel Meals didn’t “wow” me, but they weren’t bad, either. I would describe the meals as average in terms of taste, and they do fit the bill if you’re simply looking for a balanced meal to fuel your workouts.

The first meal I tried was the Egg Scramble. The seasoned potatoes on the side had good texture and flavor from a savory herb seasoning. The eggs were fluffy, but lacked flavor. The sausage had some flavor, but a metallic aftertaste. I also love a good healthy pancake, so I was excited to try the Protein Pancakes. The pancakes were pretty good, had a nice nutty taste, and were fluffier than I expected from a microwave. The turkey bacon, however, was chewy and had an unpleasant taste.

General Tso's Meatballs were my and my husband’s favorite. The meatballs were moist and well-seasoned, with just enough sauce, and the rice was cooked well. The broccoli had a decent flavor but was a bit mushy — I prefer my broccoli more on the crunchy side. I also tried the Blackened Shrimp and Chicken With Broccoli, Chicken Quesadilla, Bison Burger, and Chicken Penne Vodka. Overall, the flavors were decent, but the texture of some of the meats and pastas were mushy. The burger was also a little too greasy for my liking. I was most excited about the Triple Chocolate Brownie, but the texture was dense and heavy, likely because of the 12 grams (g) of protein from whey protein powder and whole-grain oat flour packed into it. While well-intentioned to boost its nutritional profile, the recipe resulted in a gritty taste with little chocolate flavor.

Overall, the portion sizes were large enough to satisfy a big appetite and the meals had decent flavor, but the texture could use some improvement. Perhaps because the food came vacuum-sealed, it seemed to contain a lot of water and moisture. If I had known heating in the oven was an option, it’s possible the quality and texture of the meals would have been better with this method. For someone who needs more quantity and richness to feel full, these meals could be a satisfying option to fuel physical activity and aid post-workout recovery.

Fuel Meals are made with minimal ingredients that are easy to read on the label. The meals I tried were all high in protein to help build muscle, similar in carbohydrate and fat content, but varied in the number of calories.

There’s also a lack of vegetables and fruit in Fuel Meals. Only one of the meals that I ordered, the Pineapple Stir-Fry, contained a small amount of fruit. Some others contained vegetables, but only a small portion of broccoli or tomatoes. Fuel meals appear safe for most people unless they contain something you’re allergic to (Fuel is transparent about allergens on ingredient lists). Meals aren’t designed to fit specific diet plans such as heart-healthy or diabetes-friendly plans. “I look for companies that offer various menu options, including meals suitable for plant-based and gluten-free diets. This allows me to recommend them to a wide variety of patients regardless of their dietary needs,” adds Durston.

And while there is a weight loss–specific meal plan, the calorie amounts of these meals are not much lower than the regular offerings. As a weight loss dietitian, I see the value of eating high-protein meals to support weight loss. But some may be too high in calories to help with weight loss, depending on your individual calorie needs.

Fuel Meals’ biggest competitors, in my opinion, are Meal Pro, Trifecta, and Factor. Like Fuel Meals, these three meal delivery services also offer macro-balanced and fitness-focused meal plan options with the active individual in mind.

MealPro meals are nutritionist-designed, with medical and fitness-specific meal plans. As with Fuel Meals, you can choose from an à la carte menu with a few breakfast options. But they don’t offer the add-on proteins and desserts that Fuel Meals does.

MealPro supports a wide variety of dietary needs such as vegan and vegetarian, pescatarian, celiac-friendly, diabetic, anti-inflammatory, and more — which is an advantage over Fuel Meals. It also offers what it calls a “GLP-1-friendly” meal plan for people using GLP-1 agonists like semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy) to manage type 2 diabetes or obesity. You have the option of choosing among four different categories: à la carte meals, Fitness Meals, Medical Meals, or Custom Meals where you build your own meal from scratch, offering more autonomy and flexibility. Then, you choose your specific diet plan. You can also customize meals to add extra veggies or protein. Fuel Meals doesn’t provide this customized option, and all meal portions are predetermined.

MealPro also stands out from Fuel Meals because it offers a few extra optional services besides meal delivery for a cost. Starting at $95 for an initial nutrition coaching strategy call, you can receive nutrition coaching and a personalized chef service where you can speak directly with one of the company’s chefs to customize your meals. This can help add an additional element of personalization and accountability, which can motivate you to reach your goals.

Trifecta offers premade organic meals on a number of different plans such as Paleo, Classic, Whole30, Vegetarian, GLP-1-friendly, as well as a breakfast option. It does not have any add-ons, like Fuel Meals.

Unlike Fuel Meals, though, Trifecta also offers a personalized companion app and access to a community of nutrition experts for advice. This app offers many resources such as nutrition articles, tips, carb, protein, and water goal calculators, meal prep toolkits, workout plans and more. And unlike Meal Pro, Trifecta’s first 20-minute nutrition consultation is free, and then you have access to a free calorie and macro counting app to log your meals and stay on track. You’ll also get connected with over 10,000 other like-minded individuals in their Trifecta Nutrition Community on Facebook.

Factor meals are also dietitian-designed, like Meal Pro, and prepared meals with various plans such as Calorie Smart, Protein Plus, or Chef’s Choice. It offers add-ons and, unlike Fuel Meals, offer plant-based options and a generous amount of fruit and vegetables with meals.

While Fuel Meals says its meals are “nutritionist-approved,” it doesn’t provide specifics. It’s unknown if it works with credentialed nutrition experts, such as registered dietitians, to curate meals and ensure they’re as balanced as they say they are. Factor meals, meanwhile, consults with registered dietitians in order to ensure the nutritional quality of each meal.

Another perk of Factor meals is that they show up on popular calorie-counting apps like Lose It!, MyFitnessPal, and Carb Manager, so you won’t have to enter the individual ingredients and macros of the meals. If you don’t need a lot of customization, personalized support, or vegetarian-friendly meals, Fuel Meals may serve you just fine. But if you’re looking for these extra components and need plant-based options, you may want to explore these competitors, which all offer plant-based meals.

Fuel Meals can be a great service if you’re an athlete or fitness enthusiast looking for macro-balanced meals that don’t require prep work. It’s also good if you need a lot of protein to feel full. Overall, Fuel offers balanced meals that provide both lower and higher-carb options.

But Fuel Meals, unlike its competitors, isn’t suitable for vegans or people with plant-based diets, as there are no vegetarian options on the menu. It’s also not ideal for people on a heart-healthy or low-sodium diet since many meals are higher in saturated fat and sodium. As a registered dietitian who values accurate nutrition information, I’m also a bit concerned with the fact that many of their meals seem to have very similar protein and carbohydrate amounts, regardless of the number of calories or plan they are on.

This is concerning because if you choose a particular meal plan to meet a specific goal, the nutritional makeup is not unique to that goal and, therefore, may not support the goal, such as enhanced workout performance or weight loss. For example, many of the Performance Plan meals are similar in calorie and carbohydrate content to other plans. Therefore, it’s unlikely that they have an edge above the others to provide a higher muscle-building or workout recovery potential.

There’s also nothing on the website indicating that a nutrition expert is confirming the nutrient accuracy of their meals, so it’s unclear where the nutrition facts are coming from. Personally, I was taken aback by the mushy texture of some of the meals and the amount of condensation in each dish after warming it, so I wouldn’t choose this service on my own.

Everyday Health finds the best meal delivery services by testing over 50 different programs. We conduct in-depth research and vet the company and its business practices. Then, we consult with RDs about what to look for in meal delivery, what to avoid, and overall nutrition guidelines. Finally, we assign professional journalists or RDs to try the service to get a well-rounded take on the service as a whole.

As a registered dietitian for over 18 years, I tested Fuel Meals with a critical eye, objectively weighed out the pros and cons, and asked myself if I would recommend this service to clients. Hundreds of clients have trusted my expertise in guiding them on the best diet choices for their personal health goals and preferences. I also sourced the insight of two other nutrition experts to get their take on what they look for in a quality meal delivery service.

Based on this process, we look for the following criteria when evaluating each meal delivery service:

• The sign-up process
• How the meals arrive
• Taste
• Cost and value
• Quality of ingredients
• Nutritional value
• Ease of preparation

With my expertise in nutrition and consultation with these other experts, you can trust that these reviews will guide you to options that support your health and wellness goals.