As a Dietitian and Expert in Meal Delivery, I’ve Tried Nearly Every Service — Find Out What I Think About Methodology

I’m a dietitian and professional cook, but even for me, it can be tough to get a good mix of nutrients at every meal while also balancing flavor and interest level. Getting my fill of fiber, protein, antioxidants, and all the recommended fruits and vegetables can take a lot of planning and effort that I don’t always have, so I was excited to try out Methodology’s meal delivery service and have some of that work taken off my plate.

Methodology offers fresh, fully prepared, individual meals that focus on protein, plant quantity and variety, and plenty of fiber. All of Methodology’s meals are free of gluten, dairy, refined sugar, and select oils and additives.

The company’s advertising and website design leans into the visually appealing “clean girl aesthetic” to create an aura of wellness, but I wanted to find out if it was really as health-focused and evidence-based as its marketing made it out to be. I tested Methodology meals for one week to get a feel for what the company really has to offer and how this service may or may not work for folks trying to improve their health.

The process of getting started with Methodology can be a bit confusing if you’re not already aware of where to navigate on the website. Initially, you’ll see a full menu of prepared meals, mix-and-match options, and then some “reset” program choices. These don’t precisely translate to the ordering process but if you prefer to order what you like off the menu, make sure you choose the “build your own” weekly subscription option.

But if you want a preset menu where you have less control over the meal selection and can’t include add-ons (but, in turn, have to do less decision-making), then you can choose from the options under “one-time program.” With the program, if you want to swap out any of the preselected meals added to your order, you’ll need to communicate with a Methodology representative via email to make those changes.

After looking at the options, I decided that I wanted the flexibility to choose my own meals and include some add-ons, so I ultimately chose the “build your own” plan.

To get started, I had to enter some personal information about my goals and then choose the type of meal plan I wanted, including how many meals I wanted per day and for how many days in the week. I chose the minimum two days with lunch and dinner options (so two lunches and two dinners) with the knowledge that once I made it to the point of choosing my meals I would be able to add more meals and sides if I desired.

From there I was guided through the payment process, and then I finally reached the fun part — meal selection.

Choosing the Meals

Methodology’s menus change every week, but the service doesn’t allow self-selection of meals with any of the program options. Since I didn’t sign up for any of these plans, I did not run into this barrier, but I noticed that if I signed up for a plan I would be able to swap out up to two of the preselected meals for something of my choosing.

With the build-your-own-box plan, I was able to choose meals weekly, a week or two at a time. The menu rotates weekly and offers a pretty large selection, especially considering the many “made without” ingredients in these meals. Each week, there are 5 to 10 breakfasts, around 20 entrées across all categories, including vegan, seafood, and meat, as well as a few soups to choose from, plus some add-ons. Meal sizes are either “standard” portion (approximately 450 calories), “large” portion (approximately 550 calories), or “couples” (meaning two servings), and there are a handful of family-size meals, too, that have four servings.

Everything looks bright, colorful, and fresh. Some meals are simpler, like the Cozy Cinnamon Apple-Cranberry Toast or the Grass-Fed Braised Beef Bourguignon. Then there are off-the-beaten-path meals like the Golden Stonefruit Dijon Salmon Cakes or the Almond Butter Hoisin Shiitake Chickpea + Tofu Stir Fry. There is one constant, though: Everything is “healthified.” Instead of basic pumpkin bread, I found the Pumpkin Spice Relaxation Toast made with ashwagandha, a “cream cheese” made from coconut cream and cashews, and garnished with marigold petals. While there isn’t necessarily anything inherently bad about it, it does lend a bit of sameness and an air of health elitism to the menu.

In addition to the meals, Methodology offers substantial add-on options, which encompass a range of offerings including proteins, veggies, and starches. There are also add-on baked goods, snacks, drinks, and even some stoneware bowls, aesthetic flatware, and of course, Methodology brand tote bags and merch.

For my entrées, I ordered:

• Grass Fed Beef Bolognese + Sprouted Walnut Pesto Pasta
• Loaded Moroccan Lentil Stew + Organic Tempeh Chorizo
• Omega-3 Brightening Bowl With Herbed Salmon and Pomegranate Rosemary Vinaigrette
• Pastured Tsukune Chicken Scallion Ginger Donburi Rice Bowl

For breakfast, I ordered:

• Vegan Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread With Protein Almond Butter
• Lean & Light Protein Egg White Scramble With Chicken Apple Sausage

For add-ons, I purchased a side of cauliflower white bean mash, some kimchi, a green juice, and an order of house-made protein bars with collagen.

My order was set to arrive by 8 a.m. on my chosen delivery day, but actually arrived closer to 8 p.m. the evening before. Fortunately, I received timely updates via text so I was able to be home to grab the package, but be aware when selecting a delivery date that you may need to be close by so that your food doesn’t sit out overnight.

As for the packing, I would say it’s one of the more interesting (and likely polarizing) elements of Methodology. The meals arrived in a standard cardboard box with an insulated liner, complete with ice packs to maintain temperature. But the food itself is packaged into mostly glass jars, which are then individually wrapped in brown paper so they don’t break during transit. Everything arrived safe, intact, and very fresh-looking.

Certain meals were in individual plastic entrée containers that were fairly functional, but the majority was glass. The glass containers were not always conducive to reheating the food, especially when it came to trying to heat things evenly or get a softer product like lentils out of the bottom of the container. This simply would not be functional for heating up if I only had a few minutes.

It seems like Methodology prefers the glass containers but uses plastic where a meal may not work in a glass jar and needs to be plated, which is smart. The website states that both the glass jars and plastic bentos are recyclable, but there are none of the typical markings on the plastic to denote if these are curbside recyclable or need to be taken to a separate facility.

While I appreciate the eco-friendly aspect of the glass packaging, Methodology doesn’t have a reclamation process that allows me to send my used jars back to them. If I were ordering weekly deliveries, it would result in an absurd amount of jars to toss into the recycling bin, which seems like a waste.

Cooking the Meals

All my meals arrived fresh and fully prepared, and they simply needed to be heated up. The labels on each meal provide reheating instructions for the stovetop and the microwave, and everything can technically be heated in its container, whether plastic or glass.

I reheated the chicken, banana bread, salmon, cauliflower puree, and egg white scramble in the microwave. Some of the meals needed a little more or a little less time to fully reheat compared to the instructions, but everything was fast and nothing more than a minute in difference. I didn’t feel the need to heat the banana bread as long as the instructions indicated, but for meals like the salmon and the chicken bowl, I ended up adding more time.

I thought the lentil stew and the bolognese would reheat better on the stovetop, and while they weren’t super easy to get out of the jars and took some effort with a spatula, I do think stovetop heating was the way to go. Unfortunately, the noodles in the bolognese disintegrated a bit in the reheating process, but I think that would have happened in the microwave as well. I resisted the urge to add some moisture to the lentil stew but if I were to order this again, I’d definitely incorporate some broth since it was pretty dry. Overall though, everything was very easy to heat and relatively close to the instructions.

Tasting the Meals

Some of the meals definitely tasted better than others. There were a few hits, mostly misses, and a general theme that just because something is visually appealing, that doesn’t always translate into enjoyable flavors and textures.

I enjoyed the Pastured Tsukune Chicken Scallion Ginger Donburi Rice Bowl the most, as it maintained the moistness within the chicken meatballs and had some nice flavors in the grains, beans, and veggies in the bowl. I would definitely order this again, and would probably look to other meatball entrées in other weeks because I like them in this meal so much.

The Loaded Moroccan Lentil Stew With Tempeh Chorizo was probably my second favorite, though it was a bit dry and felt more like a grain bowl than a stew. The flavor was still pretty good; I’d consider ordering it again, but it doesn't top my list.

I wanted to love the Omega-3 Brightening Bowl With Salmon, but the fish was quite dry by the time it was reheated. Also, the herbed crust on the outside, while attractive, was not super pleasant to eat. But the veggies and vinaigrette for this dish were lovely and I’d look to order those again with a different protein if it was available.

The Grass Fed Beef Bolognese With Sprouted Walnut Pesto Pasta was my least favorite. The flavor of the sauce was nice, but the meat was quite tough and by the time it was reheated, the alternative noodles were basically mush and it was not enjoyable.

Breakfasts varied a lot, the egg white scramble didn’t look super enticing in the jar because of the water it had released, but it ended up tasting quite good. The vegan banana bread with protein almond butter looked beautiful but was difficult to eat with some of the textures. The protein almond butter was extremely dry and gritty and the edible flower topping added to those textural challenges. I ended up eating the banana bread without the topping, but it meant that I probably missed out on the majority of the protein in the dish.

The add-on green juice I tried both looked and tasted delicious. The kimchi was straightforward and tasty, but the white bean cauliflower puree was gritty, and as a bean lover, I was surprised that the texture wasn’t more creamy. Finally, the collagen protein bars were beautiful to look at, and I could taste some of the raspberry and goji berry flavors, but they generally tasted of protein powder and were the least pleasant items to eat out of everything.

Methodology meals are vegetable-forward and made without gluten, dairy, refined sugar, canola oil, and emulsifiers. The company emphasizes protein, fiber, and plant diversity as well as wild and pastured proteins. During my testing, I found a lot of less-common ingredients and supplements integrated into the meals, such as ashwagandha, collagen protein, adzuki beans, amaranth, green garbanzo beans, and more.

Methodology has a similar look and feel to some other prepared services like Sakara Life, and it carries a comparable price tag as well. Meals from both companies are fresh and ready, they prioritize plants, and carry a similarly restricted ingredient list. They also offer similar “programs,” however, unlike Sakara Life, Methodology lets you order à la carte which allows for more decision-making around food.

In comparison to Territory Foods and Provenance Meals, which are quite similar themselves, Methodology has multiple programs as well as a build-your-own-box option to choose from while Provenance only has one “cleanse” program and Territory has none, just à la carte meal ordering. But both Territory and Provenance offer meals that are free of gluten and dairy and are much more straightforward with pricing than Methodology.

If your goal is to eat healthy and avoid certain ingredients, Green Chef is another potential option. The price point is significantly more manageable and the sourcing information is clearer with Green Chef, but you do have to prepare and cook your meals and there’s not as much produce variety as you’d find with Methodology.

Whether or not you enjoy Methodology will depend on your personal tastes and priorities. If you’re a meat and potatoes person who is looking to get a bit more vegetables in your diet I don’t think this would be a good fit as the flavors and textures may pose a barrier. For those who are not accustomed to some of the ingredient substitutions or aren’t comfortable with the less commonplace ingredients, like what I came across with the bolognese dish, Methodology’s meals could feel too much out of your comfort zone.

But if you’re already pretty health-conscious and familiar with plant-based foods and alternatives, or you lean more adventurous in your approach to eating (and don’t have any contraindications) you might really like Methodology as an easy way to maintain a vegetable-forward lifestyle.

Methodology could also benefit someone who is navigating a busy schedule and doesn’t have the time (or the desire) to cook but wants to keep up their nutrient intake. While I definitely fall into this category, the cost as well as some of the challenges I experienced with flavors and textures would likely keep me from ordering the meals again.

In order to determine which meal delivery services are worthy of recommendation to our readers, Everyday Health selected a team of experts to test and evaluate each one from the perspective of a typical customer. Dietitians, journalists, and food industry experts put each service through its paces and noted how the service performed in areas of ease of use, meal variety, nutrition and health accommodations, packaging and shipping, cost and overall value, flavors and quality, and more.

Our author, Tori Martinet, RD, is a dietitian and food writer with over 10 years of experience in culinary and food service including healthy menu development, allergen management, and food safety. She has been a broadly published food and nutrition writer, specializing in meal delivery, since 2021 and her work has been featured in publications like Eating Well, Verywell Health, PopSugar, U.S. News and World Report, The Spruce Eats, Food & Wine, and more.