BistroMD Review: Diabetes-Friendly Meal Delivery

BistroMD is a doctor-created meal service that's known for its refrigerated-to-frozen meal deliveries that focus on weight loss goals and helping your metabolic health. Not only does it offer meals for diabetes diets, but you can also find high-protein meals, gluten-free options, and more. The meals at BistroMD are designed by Dr. Caroline Cederquist, and the company's been around since 2005. BistroMD's meals come fully prepared, cooked, and flash frozen, so you don't need to worry about cook time with this diabetes-friendly meal option.

Service Overview

• Diets offered: signature weight loss, gluten-free, heart-healthy, keto, diabetes, menopause, vegan, postpartum, and GLP-1
• Days of food: 5-7
• Shipment frequency: every week
• Daily meals: 2-3 meals per day (depending on order)
• Protein per meal: 25-30g
• Average added sugars: 5g or less per meal
• Number of diabetes-specific programs:  2 (tailored and flexible)
• Trial period: lower first week price (50% off)
• Shipping fee: $19.95 per order

Basic plan: 5 Day Lunches and Dinners

BistroMD's least costly plan for this diabetes-friendly meal delivery program is the 5-day option with just lunches and dinners. This means you can have a total of 10 meals per week, 5 lunches and 5 dinners. For regular orders, this plan costs $149.90 per week. For your first sign-up, the first shipment price is half off, so you'll be looking at $74.95 for 10 meals the first time you try BistroMD. This makes the cost per meal $7.50 for your first meal box and $14.99 for your normal shipments after that. Just don't forget to factor in the delivery costs of $19.95 per order.

Top-tier plan: 7 Day Full Program

The top-tier program at BistroMD is the "Full Program," which includes breakfast, lunch, and dinner as well as 1 night "off" to do what you like. The full menu at this diabetes-friendly meal delivery service includes 7 breakfasts, 7 lunches, and 6 dinners. The final dinner is open for you to do what you like (enjoy a night out maybe). The price per week is $219.80 normally, but your first shipment will be half off at $109.90 for the week. Per meal, you'll be looking at a value of $10.99 each for the full price or $5.50 each for the first week.

Flexible plan options too

On top of the tailored program choices, BistroMD also offers "flexible meal delivery," which just lets you pick a certain number of meals per week at a set price. These don't have specific "meal types," so you can put together the type of box you want. All breakfast? No worries. Only dinner? That's fine too. The minimum number of meals is 10 per week at $14.99 per meal. The largest number offered on the flexible plan is 20 meals per week at $10.99 per meal. This flexible plan is ideal for families who want diabetes-friendly meal delivery as well as options for other meals or styles, so you can pick and choose what you want each week rather than being on the tailored plan for one specific diet.

Only 12 meals on the weekly menu

BistroMD has a wide menu of interesting flavors and unique meal types. Here are some of the meals you can look forward to on the diabetes-friendly meal delivery plan with BistroMD:

• Grilled salmon with creamy pesto
• Chicken egg roll bowl with cauliflower fried rice
• Chicken lasagna with garden marinara
• Smoked chipotle pork with salsa verde
• Barramundi seabass with sweet coconut pineapple sauce
• Merlot chicken meatballs with orzo

However, there were fewer diabetes specific meals on BistroMD than we've seen at some competitors. At the time of our review, the weekly menu only offered 12 options for entrees. Most of the meals targeted multiple specialized diets like keto and menopause alongside diabetes. But it was a smaller menu than we anticipated.

You can freeze meals for a year

BistroMD recommends that you reheat your meals directly from frozen in the microwave for 3-5 minutes. If you want to thaw your meal first, you can leave it in the fridge for up to 4 days. If you'd like to oven-heat your meals, you will cook at 325° in an oven-safe dish and heat until the food's internal temperature is 165°. BistroMD recommends you put your meals directly in the freezer on arrival, and the meals should last up to a year that way.

Refunds as store credit if your meal has problems

BistroMD notes that if there are any issues with your meals, you are welcome to reach out to the customer service team. However, options for credits to your account or a reshipment of one of your meals are limited to meals with specific problems with delivery or the packaging where the meal has spoiled. If you want a refund based on taste/flavor or preferences, you won't be able to get anything from this diabetes-friendly meal delivery service. Keep in mind that refunds only apply as store credit, so you won't get your original payment back either way.

Unappealing and unappetizing meals

BistroMD holds a "B+" rating from the Better Business Bureau. This rating is due to 22 complaints that have been filed against the diabetes-friendly meal delivery service in recent months. However, the truly bad news can be found on Trustpilot. Currently, BistroMD holds a 1.8-star average out of 5, and almost all the reviews in recent weeks are 1 or 2 stars. Customers complain that the meals are bland and soggy. Many comments also focus on the color (that the brown/yellow look isn't particularly appetizing). There was also general agreement from customers that the frozen meals from grocery stores taste and look better than the meals you get from BistroMD. Yikes.

Say no to bland meals

BistroMD sounds like it might be worth a look if you're hoping for a diabetes-friendly meal delivery program that is developed by a doctor to serve your needs, but when you dig into the details, it just doesn't measure up against other services in our review. With complaints about the food quality across the board, and mentions that buying frozen meals from your local grocery is better than the quality you get at BistroMD, we can't recommend it over better, fresher options in our review.

Learn More  ➜

On the BistroMD website