Freshly Review

Friday, February 3rd

2023 Prepared Meal Reviews

Freshly

• Menu categories include Signature Collection, Purely Plant, Freshly Fit, Proteins & Sides
• 45+ meals to choose from
• Arrives fresh, can be frozen for extended storage
• Order 4-12 meals per week
• Certified gluten-free safe service
• Priced at $8.99+ per serving
• 24/7 customer service

Freshly packs a lot into their prepared meals so that you can have a hassle-free, healthy dining experience. Their recipes use "simple swaps and sneaky veggies" to boost the nutritional content, lower sugar than a typical meal, and use less-processed ingredients overall. Everything on the menu is gluten-free, but previous Freshly customers should take note that this is no longer a peanut-free service.

3-5 days in the fridge - or put in the freezer

All of your Freshly entrees will arrive fresh, not frozen. Expect them to keep in your refrigerator for 3-5 days; any items that may spoil quickly (and that you should eat sooner rather than later) have a badge on the package as an indicator. Not planning on eating everything that fast? No worries: just stick the containers in the freezer, then add a few minutes to the cooking time (and don't thaw first).

Lots of flexibility in delivery choices

Once you've entered your email address and zip code, Freshly will show you all of the available delivery days in your area. For us, that included Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and we were able to get our first box as quickly as five days from when we placed the order. You can select a future date almost three weeks in advance, if that helps you avoid a time you'll be out of town or get meals ready to go for a busy period in your life.

Order requirements: minimum of 4, maximum of 12

Getting prepared meals here is a little different. You don't have to try and figure out how many servings and how many nights you want them, in order to set up your orders. Instead, you'll choose anywhere from 4-12 entrees in single-serving packages, all with a starting price of $8.99. That's a great perk for one-person households that really don't want leftovers. The more you buy, the bigger the automatic discount: anywhere from $10.80 on six meals, up to $33.60 on an order of 12. We don't think it's smart for Freshly to allow a maximum of 12 meals - what if you'd like lunches and dinners for a whole week? -but it may have to do with shipping efficiency and not Freshly being restrictive just because.

Up to 45 meals to choose from

If you're a foodie who enjoys browsing interesting meal choices, you've got almost four dozen options in every weekly Freshly menu. Or, save yourself a bit of time and apply the sort and filter options to narrow that down: plant based? Carb-conscious? Dairy-free? Take a look and see which parameters will help you get the prepared meals you want. And, don't forget to use the arrows to scroll to other weeks, if you'd like to get an idea of which entrees might be available regularly vs. which are limited time only.

Customer feedback is puzzling

Freshly's reputation varies widely depending on where you look. The Better Business Bureau dropped this company's rating to an "F" for not responding to nearly a dozen complaints. It bothers us to see people taking the time to file a concern, then updating a month later to say that they still got no response from Freshly. On the other hand, issues brought up outside of the BBB seem to get an appropriate answer every single time - not to mention the 10,000+ five-star reviews from happy customers across the globe. The long and the short seems to be this: Freshly has no excuse (that we're aware of) for leaving the BBB folks in the lurch, but they're definitely present and accounted for elsewhere - and that stops this formerly high-ranking prepared meal company from dropping to the lowest spot in our evaluation.

Could definitely meet a need

It's easy to see how Freshly would be the perfect prepared meal choice for some customers. Stock your fridge and your freezer, have healthy entrees on hand, choose just the recipes that appeal to you. We're still not enamored of Freshly's failure to respond to those BBB complaints, but you could still give Freshly a try and see how it works for you.