Freshly is a prepared meal delivery service providing weekly deliveries of premade meals you can reheat in the microwave.
They offer a fully gluten-free menu and a wholesome food philosophy that involves less sugar & processed ingredients and more lean protein & vegetables.
Whether you’re trying to eat healthier, lose weight, maintain a specific diet, or just make some more time for yourself in your busy days, Freshly can help.
All About Freshly
Freshly is a prepared meal delivery service, meaning they cook the food and package it in individual, reheatable containers for you to reheat in the microwave and have a hot, home-cooked meal in 3 minutes or less.
Many of their features make them unique in their industry, namely the fact that they’re 100% gluten-free.
They also focus on minimal sugar, minimally processed ingredients, and they’re conscious about swapping ingredients whenever possible to make sure every bit is packed with nutrition.
They offer a variety of different types of meals, including carb-conscious, high protein, keto, and low calorie. They also have a new segment called Freshly Fit that focuses on macros for fitness lifestyles.
The Freshly Review
We’re diving into the Freshly meal service and reviewing our experience from a customer perspective to give you a sense of what to expect.
Simple, Fuss-Free Ordering
Freshly’s ordering system is refreshingly simple, which makes their meal delivery service that much more appealing.
You simply choose your plan – 4 meals, 6 meals, 10 meals, or 12 meals per week – then select your meals and you’re good to go!
You can either log in each week to select your Freshly meals or you can let them choose for you for an even more hands-off experience.
Good Variety of Meal Selections
Freshly offers a huge selection!
There are nearly 40 choices each week, which offers great variety.
They boast a great balance of different protein choices such as chicken, sausage, turkey, pork, beef, and vegetarian options as well.
Their meals are categorized into 4 different types: crafted classics, signature collection, Freshly Fit, and takeout twists.
This means that with all of their array of choices, you can filter into the specific types of meals you’re looking for and really nail down the perfect selection for yourself.
Crafted classics are just that: classics. You’ll see components such as mac & cheese, bolognese, risotto, lasagna, cheesesteak, dumplings, and even fried chicken.
The signature collection includes some of their more creative options for a more adventurous eater, such as dijon pork, spiced chicken, lemongrass chicken, and turkey chili.
Freshly Fit meals are geared towards a healthy, active lifestyle and are built around balanced macros to help you stay on track with your goals.
Takeout twists are inspired by common takeout meals such as pork al pastor, chicken teriyaki, chicken tikka masala, and orange chicken.
Great for Gluten-Free Lifestyles
Unlike most meal delivery services, Freshly offers 100% gluten-free meals!
Whether you need to avoid gluten or not, this is a great feature because it means they’re focusing more on high-quality proteins, balanced meals including a lot of fresh vegetables and even healthy fats.
If you are leading a gluten-free lifestyle, this is a huge benefit.
The fact that they don’t use gluten at all means you don’t even have to worry about cross-contamination the way you would with a different service that offers both gluten-free and gluten-containing meals.
Environmentally-Friendly Packaging
Freshly is a leader in this market when it comes to environmentally-friendly packaging.
Their boxes, plastic meal containers, and cardboard sleeves are all recyclable.
The insulation is actually made of recycled denim, and it’s 85% biodegradable!
In addition, their ice packs are non-toxic and the plastic sleeves for their ice packs and insulation are recyclable as well.
Creative & Delicious
Freshly meals are SO creative, and they taste amazing!
No wonder they’re so ultra-popular because every single meal we tried was excellent.
Between the creative takes on common takeout items, adventurous meals, and comforting classics, there are flavors for any kind of eater.
And as a bonus, all of their meals are fresh, not frozen.
This means it tastes like home cooking, and you can really tell.
Not only that, but since they’re fresh they also reheat quickly.
All of their meals reheat in only three minutes.
Fresh Food Philosophy
I’m a huge fan of Freshly’s food philosophy.
It includes 3 parts: less sugar, less processed food, and more nutrients.
This means they use natural sweeteners instead of processed sugar, they make clever swaps for items such as cauliflower rice instead of grain-based rice, and they focus on quality proteins and a good amount of vegetables.
With Freshly meals, you know you’re getting food that’s truly nourishing your body, not just simply filling you up until the next mealtime.
That’s a win!
Competitive Pricing
Considering the level of both the quality of our Freshly meals and the healthy, junk-free ingredients, their prices really surprised me.
I definitely expected these meals to be more expensive.
The fact is, though, that Freshly prices are very competitive with others (of even lesser quality) in the same market.
Their prices decrease as the number of meals per week increases, with the highest price for the 4 meal plan at $11.49 per meal all the way down to $8.49 per meal for 12 meals per week.
Considering the average cost for a meal service offering prepared meals is typically around $10, this is quite fair.
What’s in Our Freshly Box?
Chicken Livorno
This is such a great dish! It’s full of clean protein and greens, but it’s not bland at all and tastes very clean. One thing that really stood out was that the chicken was surprisingly tender & moist for a premade meal.
Steak Peppercorn
This is one of their signature dishes and the one we tasted in our review video. Wow is it done well! The steak is moist, tender, and seasoned perfectly, and the sides are just right as well. I’d highly recommend ordering this with every order.
Chicken Tikka Masala
Wow, was this one good! I’m a huge fan of Indian food and this one hit the nail on the head. The chicken is tender, the sauce is thick & flavorful, and the rice is perfectly al dente. This is such a great weeknight meal, but it’s also somewhat light so it could be a good lunch as well.
Savory-Sweet Chicken Teriyaki
This is one of their Takeout Twists, and it’s absolutely delicious. They manage to recreate that sweet tang we love about teriyaki without pumping the dish full of sugar and other processed ingredients. Very satisfying.
Pulled Pork al Pastor
This dish brings back fond memories of the taco trucks in Los Angeles (the al pastor tacos are to die for!), so I had high hopes for this one, and it definitely delivered. The pork is melt-in-your-mouth with that spit-roasted flavor of the classic, and with just enough pineapple to add that bit of sweetness.
Sierra Chicken Bowl
I could definitely eat this dish every day for lunch! It’s light & flavorful but full of healthy vegetables & lean protein from the chicken, which is moist & tender as it should be. Great portion size too.
What We Liked
We liked pretty much everything about Freshly to be honest, although there are some features that stand out more than others.
First, the amount of variety is fantastic!
Having so many different options between different proteins, different styles of cooking, different vegetables, and clever swapped ingredients is refreshing. It makes it that much easier to create a meal plan more specific to your goals.
Second, I’m absolutely obsessed with their food philosophy.
We try not to eat much sugar or processed food, so that part is a huge factor. And the fact that they’re completely gluten-free is a great component as well.
Third, their portion sizes are perfect.
We’ve had a lot of premade meals before, and it’s pretty common to find the portions either too small or too large, which is not ideal when you’re reheating a meal in the microwave for reasons of convenience.
Freshly’s portion sizes are great!
They’ve got just the right amount of protein and vegetables to keep you full, but they’re light enough that you won’t feel weighed down after eating.
What We Didn’t Like
There wasn’t much we didn’t like, so I had to really think about this one to find anything I’d change if given the chance.
There were a couple of things that came to mind, although these are hardly big factors, simply notes to keep in mind.
First, they make a lot of their dishes with cheese.
This may not be an issue for most people, but for those of us trying to avoid dairy (specifically cheese), it’s frustrating to see many items that are essentially dairy-free but have cheese sprinkled on the top.
The other thing that I noticed is that their ingredients are not organic or non-GMO.
Since they have such a wholesome food philosophy, I would’ve liked to have seen at least a mention of some organic/non-GMO ingredients, but even the answer to this question in their FAQ section is vague and non-committal, which leads me to believe they don’t use many of these ingredients at all.
