With how busy my life has been with my new full time job and being back in school, sometimes I just don’t have time to make a fancy meal anymore. I do eat healthy and make simple dishes, but they started feeling boring to me, which is why I decided to try heathy meals from Freshly.
I promise I am not on this food subscription box kick you guys, LOL! This is the last one I’ve been wanting to try for awhile. All meals are made for a single person serving and heat in the microwave in 3 minutes or less. They are also packed with nutrients, healthy fats and proteins, gluten-free, have no added sugars and nothing is processed.
Freshly offers the following meal plans:
- 4 meals/week ($11.49/meal)
- 6 meals/week ($9.49/meal)
- 10 meals/week ($8.99/meal)
- 12 meals/week ($8.49/meal)
I placed my order on Jan. 18 for a delivery of Feb. 8. That’s the soonest I could get my order, isn’t that crazy?! I chose the 6 meal plan at $62.93 total. That’s like me spending a weeks worth of groceries at Trader Joe’s! I chose the Steak Peppercorn, Masterful Meatballs, Sliced Turkey & Mushroom Demi-Glace, Zingy Buffalo Chicken Bowl, Spiced Dukkah Chicken and the Wholesome Chicken Sauté Bowl.
Let’s dive in! 🙂
Steak Peppercorn
This dish consists of a grilled flat iron steak, mashed potatoes, green beans and sautéed carrots tossed with garlic oil, lemon, and herbs, all topped with a creamy peppercorn sauce made from yogurt and porcini mushrooms. It is 510 calories and 33 grams of carbs.
Review: It said to heat for 3 minutes, 30 seconds but I had to do 5 minutes. This was my least favorite one and yet it looked so good in the pictures! The steak was too chewy and the potatoes were too mushy due to the sauce weighing it down. The vegetables were pretty good but also kind of bland.
Rating: 2/5
Masterful Meatballs
This dish consists of beef and mushroom meatballs made by NYC chef Will Horowitz, with ground beef, umami mushrooms, rolled oats, spinach, and ras el hanout spices (turmeric, nutmeg, cayenne and cinnamon). It also has gluten-free brown-rice pasta tossed in a marinara of tomato, carrot, butternut squash, cauliflower, onion, spices and a hint of honey. It is 380 calories and 57 grams of carbs.
Review: It said to heat up for 3 minutes but I pushed it to 5 minutes. Even after I did that, the dish was still somewhat cold. This actually tasted amazing and I loved how there were mushrooms and spinach in the meatballs! The marinara also was sweet ‘n’ spicy. Again, great dish, but I struggled to get it warm enough to eat!
Rating: 4/5
Sliced Turkey & Mushroom Demi-Glace
This dish consists of carved turkey and sweet potato mash made creamy with a hint of Greek yogurt. The mushroom demi-glace topping is made from thyme, rosemary and garlic, while the Parisian carrots are glazed with maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and clove. It is 440 calories and 46 grams of carbs.
Review: It tasted like a mini Thanksgiving! I loved the potato mash and turkey, but I wasn’t a fan of the carrots covered in all that sweet spice, it was weird! The sauce on the turkey , on the other hand, had a nice flavor with the spices. And once again, I had to heat it up for more than 3 minutes.
Rating: 3/5
Zingy Buffalo Chicken Bowl
This dish consists of a flash-fried chicken thigh, tossed in a spicy buffalo sauce, roasted chunks of sweet potato, cauliflower, zucchini, sweet onion and bell peppers, and a blend of brown and wild rice. It is 450 calories and 48 grams of carbs.
Review: It required to be heated up for 3 minutes and that’s all it needed! Finally, a normal dish that heated up well! I loved the zingy buffalo sauce with the sweet potato and chicken which was the best part of the meal! I am not so much a fan of wild rice, which is why I think I got sick of eating it after awhile. It was still good though!
Rating: 3.5/5
Spiced Dukkah Chicken
The dish consists of chicken breast is coated in dukkah, a Middle Eastern mix of almonds, sesame seeds, turmeric, cumin and cracked black pepper. The sides consist of Persian rice with chopped almonds and dried apricot, along with roasted cauliflower with ground cayenne pepper. It is 630 calories and 47 grams of carbs.
Review: This was another meal that had to be heated up for 5 minutes instead of 3 minutes and 30 seconds, but I loved this dish! I loved all of the spices on the chicken and cauliflower and how the rice was prepared with the apricot. This is a must and was my favorite out of all of them!
Rating: 4/5
Whole Chicken Sauté Bowl
This dish consists of a spicy pad kee mao sauce with tamari, shio koji, powdered shiitake mushroom, ginger, Thai chile pepper, honey and coconut sap, diced chicken breast and creamy pinto beans, broccoli, fire-roasted mushrooms, green chickpeas and red bell peppers. It is 260 calories and 29 grams of carbs.
Review: I didn’t find this dish too sweet, although the vegetables were getting slightly mushy once I heated it up. I loved the chicken, spices and the sauce though! Not too sweet, not too spicy. And if you’re wondering, yes, I had to heat it up for more than 3 minutes!
Rating: 3/5
Final Thoughts
I probably won’t be doing Freshly again due to the meals being somewhat bland or just not my style. They are healthy, but I needed a little extra kick. Also, just as I felt with Daily Harvest, spending $63/week on a subscription box (even though I got Daily Harvest for $30 at the time with a promo code) where there are hardly any new items introduced isn’t worth it for me.
If you guys have tried a subscription box, let me know which one and it it was worth it! 🙂
