Daily life can be too busy and hectic that shopping, prepping, and cooking your own food becomes too taxing for many. There are instances when you just wish for a delicious, well-prepared meal at the end of the day so you can spend your remaining waking hours relaxing or bonding with family and friends. Freshly meals can help solve this particular problem of yours. With Freshly, you get to have ready-to-eat meals delivered for you to store in the fridge and pop them in the microwave a few minutes before your meal.
What is Freshly?
Freshly is a food delivery service that provides ready-to-eat meals. Everything you need is prepared for you by Freshly’s chefs, so you are guaranteed a delicious meal each time you open a Freshly package and pop it into the microwave.
Similar to other food delivery services in the country, your Freshly meals are delivered to you each week. You do not have to worry about them getting spoiled because each delivery is packed in ice so that your packages that await you at your doorstep will be ready to be stored in your fridge even while you’re at work. You merely have to take them out before every meal and be guaranteed of another scrumptious Freshly serving.
Most food delivery service companies provide you with a minimum of two servings per meal option. This can be a huge problem when you live alone and have no one to eat the other serving with you. Freshly aims to be different because they provide you with a one-serving option. You do not have to purge yourself with so many servings of the same meals packed away in your fridge with Freshly. It’s also an economical feature that helps you save money in the long run, as well.
Thus, Freshly is a superb choice for busy people who live independently but have no time to shop, prepare, and cook for themselves. If you want to know more about other meal delivery services, here are our reviews of Green Chef menu options and Purple Carrot.
What Does Freshly Offer?
Freshly offers ready-to-eat meals that do not require an hour or more to prepare. Freshly provides single-serving meals per week that are all microwaveable and do not require extra prepping time other than a few minutes before consumption at any time of the day.
Because Freshly delivers meals per week, you get several options to choose from. You can opt for 4, 6, 9, or 12 meals per week, depending on your specific preference. You can also skip, pause, or cancel the subscription via the Freshly app and website.
Freshly meals arrive on the same day per week. Once your orders arrive for that week, you are billed for the subsequent week. You don’t have to worry about unpaid bills since Freshly requires advanced payments, allowing seamless transactions between the company and its customers. Depending on your zip code, your meal packages get promptly delivered so that you have all your Freshly meals ready each week.
How to Create a Freshly Account?
Before you get to enjoy your Freshly meals, you must create a Freshly account.
Signing Up
To sign up for Freshly meals, do the following steps:
- On your browser, visit the Freshly website. You can also download the Freshly app on the Google Play Store or Apple App Store.
- On the upper right corner of your browser, tap the green “Sign Up” button.
- This brings you to a new screen where you are prompted to provide both your email address and your zip code.
- Tap the “Continue” button.
- Choose your meal plan options. You can opt for 4, 6, 9, or 12 Freshly meals per week.
- You can further specify your preferences by ticking off your choices from the following:
- Feel-Better Food
- Home Bistro
- Market Day Meals
- Takeout Twists
- Whole Comfort
- Further narrow down your choices by looking into the following selections:
- Peanut-Free
- Gluten-Free
- Low Calorie
- Dairy-Free
- After specifying your Freshly meal options, provide the following details:
- Full Name
- Billing and Delivery Address/es
- Phone Number
- Payment Information
You can now wait for your Freshly meals to arrive during the next delivery schedule.
Requirements
Note that subscribing for Freshly meals require you several things:
- Full Name
- Billing and Delivery Address/es
- Email Address
- Phone Number
- Payment Details
- Zip Code
Payment Terms
Freshly accepts payments via the following modes:
- Credit or Debit Cards: Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, JCB, and Diners Club
- PayPal, Apple Pay, and Venmo
Google Wallet and various prepaid cards are not accepted at the moment, however.
Weekly orders are automatically charged to your default mode of payment. Nonetheless, you can always change your payment details via the Freshly website, as well.
Make sure to update your details five to six days before your scheduled Freshly delivery. The exact delivery schedule depends on your specific location and zip code. All order payments are also deducted on the said deadline per week.
Freshly allows you to skip weekly deliveries, modify your orders, or cancel your subscription entirely as long as you abide by the weekly deadlines provided via your “Welcome Letter” or your account’s Delivery page. Once a paused account gets reactivated, however, your weekly payments start again.
Freshly Meals Discounts
At the moment, Freshly does not offer senior or military discounts. However, they offer a Student Discount. If you are a student, you might want to avail of this helpful discount to save more money on your next order.
Freshly Meals Student Discount
Students get a Student Beans account where they receive a promo code that provides a 15% discount on Freshly meals for the next four weeks of subscription. Note, though, that only students who are over 16 years old currently enrolled in a full-time education program and have a valid student email address can avail of this promo.
They also offer discounts via promos posted via the company’s Facebook or Instagram page. Have a look at those, as well.
Freshly Meals Menu
Here is a peek of the Freshly Meals menu to give you an idea of the Freshly meals you would likely be receiving.
What Types of Food Do They Offer?
Below are samples of the 30+ dishes offered by Freshly.
Shrimp & Andouille Paella
This Freshly meal package contains big shrimps, lots of Andouille sausage, crisp vegetables, and lots of spices—a flavorful dish that’s unexpectedly delicious.
Sicilian-Style Chicken Parm With Broccoli
This dish contains chicken, parmesan cheese, and broccoli. The broccoli is a bit bland, but you can add a bit more salt and pepper to provide flavor to your dish.
Penne Bolognese
Another Freshly meal is the Penne Bolognese. The dish contains a lot of meat, and the penne is well-cooked. This is a superb choice, especially if you prefer a protein-packed meal at the end of the day.
Turkey Meatballs with Spicy Arrabbiata & Veggie Noodles
The turkey meatballs are big enough, although some might need a bit convincing when it comes to the vegetable noodles used in this dish. The flavors make the dish a bestseller, however. This dish is a perfect choice for individuals who may want to add some vegetables in their diet but cannot go all the way without meat.
Three-Bean Ancho Turkey Chili With Cheese
Another favorite is the three-bean ancho turkey chili with cheese. If you are merely starting your Freshly subscription and want a superb first-try recommendation, choose this dish. You’ll be surprised with its flavorful texture and its homey feels. This is an excellent choice, especially on a cold, depressing day!
Cauliflower Sausage & Peppers
If you’re used to authentic rice in your meal, you might be turned off with this choice. However, try this dish if you want something extra tasty but contains fewer carbs. It’s satisfyingly filling, plus it includes sausages anyway!
BBQ Pulled Pork with Squash Cakes & Carrots
This dish is another of Freshly’s bestselling meals. The pulled pork is delicious; the carrots tough, but you can always pop it back into the microwave for 20 more seconds. The squash cakes are super delicious. If you haven’t tried squash cakes before, you would be impressed with this dish—this might even become your new favorite.
Cod Cakes with Spicy Chipotle Sauce & Succotash
A perfect comfort food, this dish has succotash and potatoes. Have this with a bit of wine on the side and be prepared for a relaxing night after.
Bruschetta Chicken with Roasted Potatoes and Veggies
For those who love anything that has potatoes in it, this dish is another one you should try. It has chicken and several other veggies—an excellent meal if you want your protein, carbs, and vitamins covered.
Chicken Fajita with Mexican Street Corn
This is another Freshly chicken meal you should try. It has Mexican street corn plus fajita chicken in it. You can even add a couple of tortillas to make it a perfect feel-good meal.
Chicken Tikka Masala with Vegetable Biryani
A typical Indian and Middle Eastern dish, this concoction is another Freshly meal you should try. The flavors are awesome, particularly if you like your meal to be a bit spicy and exotic. What’s more, you’re sure to have a delicious meal that’s also filled with lots of nutrients as well.
Freshly Meal Plans
Freshly offers meal plans that have 4, 6, 9, or 12 meals per week. These meals are single servings. A breakdown of these plus their corresponding prices are shown in the table below:
Meal Plans Cost
4 meals per week
- $11.50 per meal
- $46.00 weekly
6 meals per week
- $8.99 per meal
- $53.94 weekly
9 meals per week
- $8.99 per meal
- $80.91 weekly
12 meals per week
- $7.99 per meal
- $95.88 weekly
All prices are listed on the Freshly website. However, you are also required to pay a minimal shipping fee for deliveries. The total amount shall be reflected on your screen after checkout.
Freshly Ingredients
All ingredients are guaranteed fresh, of course. Your Freshly meals are already ready-to-cook when they arrive at your doorstep. They are packed with ice, so, you don’t have to worry when you aren’t in during the time of delivery. Your Freshly meals will remain fresh when you arrive from work. You only have to put them in the fridge and have them microwaved several minutes before your meal.
All Freshly meals are guaranteed to have no chemicals or preservatives added to them, so their products’ shelf life is typically 4–5 days after the designated delivery schedule. You can also check the meal’s use-by date near the nutrition label at each package’s back.
Freshly recommends placing your frozen meal directly into your microwave after your oven reaches 165˚F for the best results.
How to Order From Freshly
To order from Freshly, you must have a Freshly account. Follow the steps provided above to create a Freshly account and start enjoying your Freshly meals. You can opt for 4, 6, 9, or 12 meals per week. Make sure to update your preferences five or six days before the given cut-off, because otherwise your Freshly meals delivered will remain as is based on the default specifications that you placed earlier.
Pros and Cons of Subscribing to Freshly
As with any food delivery service, however, Freshly has its own set of pros and cons. Below is a breakdown of these.
Pros
Flavorful Options
Freshly meals are prepared and pre-cooked by the company chefs. Freshly meals are guaranteed to be delicious—even when you aren’t a fan of a dish’s ingredients, for instance.
Single Servings
Most food delivery services do not have single-serving options. This can be difficult when you live alone and have no one to share your extra servings with. This eliminates the possibility of extra servings filling your fridge and wasting your money.
Quick Preparation and Cleanup
Because Freshly meals are ready-to-cook, they are also ready-to-eat. You simply need to keep them frozen and pop them in the microwave a few minutes before eating. You don’t have to use too many kitchen utensils and appliances to prepare your meals, either.
Cons
No Vegan/Vegetarian Options
If you prefer vegan or vegetarian meals, don’t expect Freshly to have you covered. All Freshly meals are a mix of vegetables and meat ingredients, although they cover other particular diet preferences.
Recurring Bills
Freshly uses your default order specifications. If you want to skip weekly deliveries, you need to update your specifications manually. If not, Freshly delivers your weekly meals continuously.
No Family- or Super-Sized Selections
For individuals who may want to order more than one serving per meal, Freshly does not have an available option for them. Some customers may be disappointed with the single-serving default, especially when they want to order for companions and unexpected guests.
Freshly Compared to Competitors
HelloFresh
HelloFresh is another food delivery service company. It provides both meat-based and plant-based dishes. The company provides family-sized meal packages. It is an excellent choice for individuals who might want to order food for more than two or four people at a time. HelloFresh is also a superb option for people who may like to learn how to cook.
Purple Carrot
If you are a vegan and are pretty disappointed with Freshly’s pure meat-based selections, you can choose Purple Carrot. This food delivery service fully caters to vegans since all their food packages are plant-based. Their meal packages contain all the ingredients needed to cook a specific meal, and all you have to do is follow the instructions placed on the accompanying recipe card. Like Freshly, Purple Carrot does weekly deliveries, too.
SunBasket
If you’d rather have purely organic ingredients, you can opt for SunBasket. This food delivery service company provides only organic food. Like most of its counterparts, the company offers weekly deliveries direct to your doorstep. They also provide you with step-by-step instructions to help you cook your chosen meal. Unlike Freshly, the minimum servings per meal is two. They also have a wide array of dish choices on their website.
Green Chef
Green Chef is similar to SunBasket since they also offer organic ingredients. The company provides you with ingredients, and you are required to cook them. However, they have limited dish choices available, unlike SunBasket’s 18 dish options or Freshly’s 30+ dish selection. Nonetheless, Green Chef has several meal categories: keto, paleo, plant-powered, and balanced living. Plus, their prices are affordable.
Try Out Freshly Meals Today!
Freshly meals arrive per week, and they are ready-to-eat dishes. You simply need to slide them in the microwave and wait for a few minutes to heat up before eating. They offer a wide array of dishes to choose from, and you can even provide specific diet preferences in your account. Unlike other food delivery services, Freshly does not require you to spend so much time preparing and cooking your meals. This food delivery service is highly recommended for busy people who barely have time to shop, prepare, and much less cook their meals each day.