For people who want to skip cooking meals at home from scratch, meal kit services like Home Chef and Factor help you do just that by delivering meals straight to your doorstep.
Such meal kit services take care of shopping, meal prep, and meal planning for you. All you have to do is cook the meals and, in the case of Home Chef vs Factor, just heat and serve!
I went ahead and compared both meal services so you can get a better idea of which works better for you. Home Chef and Factor both have their strengths and are aimed at specific types of home cooks. I found that Home Chef’s meals are more customizable, while Factor’s meals are more straightforward.
For instance, I would recommend Home Chef for improving your culinary skills. It has easy-to-follow and delicious recipes that save you time and effort. Plus, you can also choose from a wide variety of interesting snacks, desserts, and proteins.
Factor, on the other hand, is the best meal kit service for a lazy cook. It is aimed at simplifying your meals to the maximum as freshly prepared meals are served straight to you. Here, you can select your weekly recipes from vegetarian to nonvegetarian. That’s literally all you have to do!
Who Are Meal Kits Good For?
If you’re like most people, you probably don’t have time to cook every meal. This explains the recent rise in the popularity of meal kits like Home Chef and Factor. They really help simplify cooking by delivering recipe ingredients and prepared meals to your door. Plus, they’re not as expensive as takeout food!
Here are three top benefits of subscribing to a meal kit delivery service right now:
1. Less Effort + Saves Time
Meal kit delivery services ensure that you do not have to spend more than 15 minutes per meal if you’re going for prepared meal kits. Other than that, if you opt for pre-portioned meal kits, they take 30 minutes tops per meal. Compared to the time you would ideally spend in a kitchen to make a whole meal from scratch, 15-30 minutes is a life-changer!
You can make a healthy, nutritious meal in less time than it takes for takeout food to get delivered!
2. Delicious Meets a Healthy Lifestyle
Meal kit delivery services add new recipes every week. Thus, you don’t have to eat the same dish twice. Plus, you can try unique and versatile dishes at home, just like in a restaurant.
Made from high-quality ingredients, fresh produce, and hormone- and antibiotic-free meats, the recipes are aimed at meeting certain dietary needs such as low-calorie, low-carb, high-protein, gluten-free, etc. You can even filter out the ingredients you don’t want when browsing the menu.
Trying new recipes at home doesn’t get any simpler and easier than this. Plus, you can customize your recipes by adding more proteins, sticking to a vegetarian diet, or skipping nuts, dairy, or other common allergens.
3. No More Meal Planning or Leftovers
Meal kits provide accurate portions, so dealing with leftovers in the fridge is no big deal as there won’t be any! You can order as many different recipes as you want with single or double servings per recipe. The portion size of each serving is based on the nutritional values so you’re eating healthy and consistently.
The meal kits contain ingredients that are premeasured for the serving size you select. You won’t be wasting any ingredients nor would you have to buy measuring cups or spoons to prep them before cooking. Everything is done for you and packed in meal kits with the proper cooking instructions.
Home Chef vs Factor – Choose Your Meal Plan
Home Chef is an all-around and rewarding meal kit delivery service with two unique types of meal plans. You can either select one type of meal plan or opt for both to try out different recipes in each category.
- Fresh, Preportioned Ingredients Meal Kits. This meal plan has premeasured and individually packed ingredients. There is some prepping involved, but you have to follow the recipe instructions and use all the ingredients that the meal kit provides you with.
No separate grocery shopping is required. Everything you need to create the recipe is inside Home Chef’s meal kit, including the recipe’s cooking instructions.
- Fresh & Easy Meal Kits. This meal plan has prepared recipes that require no prep work and take as little as 5-7 minutes to reheat and serve hot and fresh. Fresh & Easy recipes are not frozen or use preservatives. As the name suggests, they are made fresh with high-quality ingredients.
These kinds of meal kits are also provided with reheating instructions either for a microwave, oven, or stovetop. The meal plan is ideal for people who have no time in their arsenal to cook an entire meal.
It should also be said that with select meals at Home Chef, you can customize your protein picks.
For example, when you select Crispy Sweet Chili Shrimp Rice Bowl, you can swap your shrimp with boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Otherwise, you can order a double portion of shrimp for the same meal kit.
Not all Home Chef’s recipes are customizable. They are, however, labeled with “Customize It” for easier identification. For some of these options, you can switch from shrimp to chicken, beef, or turkey and vice versa.
This is a great option for someone who’s allergic to any one kind of protein or just wants to avoid pork, fish, poultry, beef, etc. altogether.
Factor, which is the next best meal kit delivery service in line, offers only a single type of meal plan.
- Ready-to-Eat Meal Kits. As the name suggests, Factor does not offer meal kits the way Home Chef does with preportioned and individually packed ingredients. Theirs is exactly like Home Chef’s second meal plan- the Fresh & Easy meal kits.
You have prepared meals of different recipes and dietary categories, such as vegetarian, paleo, low-carb, low-calorie, dairy-free, etc.
The chefs behind Factor shop, prep, cook, and pack all the recipes without the use of preservatives. It’s all homemade-like in a proper and hygienic kitchen facility using high-quality and fresh produce. Some of these recipes are prepped and designed by nutritionists to suit the needs of specific diets such as keto, paleo, calorie smart, vegan, etc.
Factor meals do not offer customizations or swappable protein ingredients. To avoid eating chicken or shrimp, you must skip out on certain recipes with those ingredients.
Home Chef vs Factor – How Much You Pay
Home Chef’s meals start from $7-$9 per serving. Recipes with premium protein choices such as beef, pork, or seafood cost more from $11-$18 per serving. Other menu items such as snacks, desserts, or entrée salads cost $7 per item.
Shipping charges on Home Chef are $10, but you don’t have to pay shipping on orders above $45. Considering Home Chef’s minimum order of 3 meals and 4 servings each at $120, you don’t have to worry about paying shipping charges at all!
Home Chef’s preportioned meal kits cost more than Fresh & Easy meal kits. The difference between the two meal plans is $2-$5 depending on the number of servings you select.
Factor’s pricing is relatively more structured than Home Chef’s in that per-serving price is decreased upon the increase in the number of meals per week.
Starting with their minimum order of 4 meals per week, you pay $15 per serving. Right up to their largest order of 18 meals per week, you pay $11 per serving. The most popular meal plan on Factor is the one with 8 meals per week at $12.3 per serving.
Here’s the breakdown:
- 4 meals per week – $15 per serving
- 6 meals per week – $12.8 per serving
- 8 meals per week – $12.3 per serving
- 10 meals per week – $11.9 per serving
- 12 meals per week – $11.5 per serving
- 18 meals per week – $11 per serving
You have access to all the recipes on Factor’s menu regardless of the meal plan you choose. Their Chef’s Choice, Keto, Calorie Smart, and Vegan & Veggie dietary preferences have the same price.
Home Chef is cheaper than Factor in their meal kits and ready-to-serve meal kits.
You end up paying $120 with Home Chef for 12 meals weekly. With Factor, for 12 meals per week, you pay $140 on the final bill amount plus shipping. The shipping price is not fixed as it varies according to the delivery location.
The only advantage with Factor, in relation to price, is that the 12 meals you select can all be different recipes. However, with Home Chef, you have to select 3 different recipes with 4 servings each – what a bummer!
Home Chef vs Factor – Diet Preferences
Home Chef does not have the same dietary categories the way Factor does. You can see this on their menu.
Home Chef’s meals are divided into the following dietary categories:
- Calorie-conscious
- Carb-conscious
- Vegetarian
Factor’s meals, on the flip side, have a new dietary category for you to pick from apart from the ones that Home Chef offers:
- Calorie smart
- Vegan & Veggie
- Keto
Here’s an observation about Home Chef’s and Factor’s vegetarian meals:
To Home Chef’s disadvantage, I found that the number of vegetarian meals is scarce. Home Chef has a Gnocchi and Red Pepper Cream vegetarian meal kit. Other vegetarian options are smaller items such as Chocolate Lava Cake, Belgian Waffles, Smoothies, Appetizer-style Margherita Pizza, and a few others.
Factor, luckily, has at least five vegetarian/vegan meal kits that are also calorie-smart, which means they are super-healthy and plant-based. The vegetarian recipes include Roasted Vegetable Fusilli, Caramelized Onion & Goat Cheese Risotto, Smoked Tofu Almond Stir-Fry, Three Bean Vegan Chili, and Spicy Sweet Potatoes & Peanut Sauce.
If you’re looking for plant-powered meals, Factor has more of it than Home Chef. Home Chef is more suited to health-conscious eaters than nonvegetarians. Thus, vegetarians will not find enough meals to satisfy their dietary needs with Home Chef.
In fact, if you’re a hardcore vegetarian, Home Chef might not be the best idea. Factor has more vegetarian meals so you can completely skip out on animal proteins in your weekly diet. Even then, out of 30+ meals on Factor, only 5 of them are vegetarian which may not be enough for picky vegetarians.
Home Chef vs Factor – Nutrition
Let’s take a look at what the nutritional value of Home Chef’s menu looks like:
1. Meal Kits
In their Meal Kits menu, recipes favoring a high protein diet are included. I also found many recipes with high fat nutritional value, which might not be satisfactory for someone looking for a weight-loss meal plan.
Nevertheless, there are a few low-carb and low-calorie recipes such as Lemon-Herb Chicken and Pesto Cream, Tex-Mex-Style Pork and Bean Stuffed Peppers, and Marsala Fig Pork Chop. Low-carb meals come with fewer than 35g of carbs per serving, while low-calorie meals have fewer than 625 calories.
All of these meals are customizable. This means you can swap the protein for chicken turkey, pork, or fish depending on the options you find in the select recipes.
You can also evaluate other, just as important, nutritional values such as sodium and fiber. Keep in mind though that Home Chef’s meal kits, though they boast a balanced and nutritious diet, may contain low-fiber-focused meals and high-sodium meals.
2. Easy Prep Meal Kits
These are 15-minute meal kits that come with prepared recipes. Just like with their meal kits, you can customize some of the proteins in select recipes.
Recipes with pasta, rice bowls, grilled chicken, and some veggie-friendly ingredients are included. Carb-conscious meal kits such as Alfredo Chicken, Moo Shu Pork Lettuce, and Crispy Onion Crusted Chicken are also available. Since most of them are chicken recipes which are high in protein.
Low-calorie meals are the One-Pan Weeknight Beef Enchilada Skillet, Poblano Chicken Tacos, Firecracker Turkey Meatballs, and a few others including the low-carb recipes mentioned above. Here, the low-calorie recipe count is higher than the low-carb recipe count, which is a great choice for weight-loss diets.
3. Add-Ons
Unlike most other meal kit delivery services, Home Chef offers add-ons like snacks, desserts, and salad options. These you can add to your cart along with the meal kits.
I found that the majority of the add-ons on Home Chef are vegetarian options such as salad bundles, cheddar cheese spread, cakes, waffles, smoothies, and coffees.
You can also order for protein sources such as boneless skinless chicken breast, salmon, steak strips, sirloin steak, and tuna. Protein packs such as shrimp-salmon-tuna, sirloin steak-salmon fillets-chicken breasts, or steak strips and ground beef in bundles are also included.
The portion size of each of these items is entrée-styled, which means you can order them as add-ons to your meal kits – be it for a protein kick with extra chicken, beef, or fish in your weekly diet or binge-worthy items such as cakes, smoothies, or bread!
Moving on, compared to the versatile menu options of Home Chef, the nutritional value of Factor’s menu looks attractive and basic since they only offer prepared meal kits.
This shouldn’t take away from the honest fact that Factor has some really nutritious and healthy meals. You can fit them into so many different diet categories starting with the ones they already offer on their menu:
- Low calorie
- Low carb
- Veggie
- Vegan
- Keto
There are categories that are not mentioned, but still, Factor’s recipes adhere to specific dietary requirements. This includes paleo, high protein, dairy free, spicy, and plant-based. Though these options are limited, you can select the meals based on what you want.
I found a low-carb and high-protein nutritional value in most of the recipes. The majority of the recipes are focused around the main protein, both animal- and plant-based, with a filling yet nutritious side serving of healthy and nutrient-rich veggies.
Looks like Factor has really put some extra effort into making their recipes look and taste unique and delicious. Delicious sauces and spices such as Lemon Pepper, Chimichurri, Chipotle, Creamy Cheddar, Pesto, Marsala, and Ancho Lime Crema, to name a few, really spruce up the recipes to make them healthy and mouthwateringly appetizing.
Their meals approach healthy eating in crafty and restaurant-style ways, which means you won’t ever get bored of trying out new recipes every week!
Home Chef vs Factor – Cooking Time
I’ll make this quick since we’ve already covered most of the meal plans and how easy they are to prep/cook when talking about Home Chef vs Factor.
The cooking time of Home Chef’s meal is more varied since they offer two different types of meal plans plus snacks and add-ons that you can add to your cart.
Their meal kits, which come with preportioned ingredients, have an average cooking time range of 35 minutes up to 1 hour. There are a few recipes that take under 30 minutes to cook, even with 2 or more servings per recipe.
Now, the ready-to-serve, easy-prep meal kits will only need to be heated. They are labeled as 15-minute meal kits with some recipes that take slightly longer – up to 30 minutes – to prepare. These meal kits do not involve any prep, so you simply have to put them in an oven or microwave and set the specific time for reheating. There’s no need to wait around in the kitchen for the estimated time.
The cooking time of Factor’s meals does not take as long as Home Chef’s since they are preprepared and single-serve. I found that Factor’s meals were very consistent and convenient in cooking time. I did not have to add anything extra to their meals nor spend a lot of time reheating the meals for each recipe.
Majority of the Factor’s meals take 5-10 minutes to reheat. Each meal kit comes with heating instructions that you can follow to use either a microwave or oven.
Home Chef vs Factor – How They Deliver
Home Chef
Home Chef delivers to all US states except Alaska and Hawaii. Delivery dates can be adjusted and set through your account settings. Most orders, regardless of the delivery location, take place on Monday or Thursday. You can edit the delivery date on the Friday preceding the week’s order.
Home Chef uses cardboard boxes that are partially recycled and can be recycled again. Liners are made up of recyclable materials such as cotton or denim. Said plastic containers/liners are also recyclable. You can wash and sanitize them to reuse as storage containers at home.
There are no complaints regarding the packaging or handling of the ingredients and meals inside each and every one of Home Chef’s meal kits. You can read the FAQ regarding recycling details and find out your local area’s sustainable practices.
If your area does not have curbside recycling, you can drop all the plastic packaging off to a recycling center once or twice a week.
Factor
You can pick your delivery days from Monday, Tuesday, to Wednesday with Factor. However, this may be automatically selected for you based on where you live.
This may not be the best option if you work in an office. For people who work from home, however, it’s not a problem because you can take the order inside as soon as it arrives.
As far as packaging goes, Factor uses eco-friendly materials including a recyclable cardboard box. The plastic container the meals are packed in is BPA-free CPET, which is recyclable plastic. The liner or plastic film covering the container is not recyclable, so that’s the only thing that you will have to throw away in the bin.
All of the packaging is labeled so you’ll know which container or liner to throw away and which is recyclable for curbside pickup. You can even wash and reuse some of the containers to store dry or wet pantry ingredients. I use mine to store leftover cooking oil, butter, and sauces.
Select meal kits are stored in heavy cardboard boxes along with insulation such as gel ice packs. You can empty out the gel in the sink and recycle the ice packs easily. Other materials such as cotton, laminated plastic, or PET are sustainable. This means you can recycle them unless Factor lets you know what should be thrown in the bin.
Home Chef vs Factor – Food Handling and Organic Labels
On Home Chef’s FAQs page, a question about organic labels is posted with the clarification that they include meals with organic ingredients. However, not all of their recipes have organic produce.
Home Chef includes different seasonal ingredients that are used in a wide variety of recipes that change every week. Some of the ingredients are organic, while others are not. Home Chef does not list down any certified labels or food-handling information in relation to sustainable farming.
They do, however, feature some organic meat options in select meals such as organic boneless, skinless chicken breasts that are GMO-, antibiotic-, and hormone-free. Their meal kit boxes are USDA-certified for storage and safe food handling. All their seasonings, sauces, dressings, and meat options are free of colorants, sulfites, and any other artificial preservatives.
Factor’s ingredients and sourcing standards are with select organic farms that follow sustainable farming practices. All of the ingredients, according to their website, are sourced from within the United States. Seafood options such as salmon, which is BAP-certified, is sourced from Canada, while certain cuts of meat are sourced from elsewhere, outside of the United States.
To keep Factor’s meals 100% healthy and high-quality, ingredients are gluten-, hormone-, and antibiotic-free, as well as free of any other harmful preservatives and GMOs.
The meat is also sourced from farms that raise antibiotic-free and grass-fed animals. Though not all, most of the ingredients you will consume with Factor are organic.
To store and maintain the freshness of cooked recipes, Factor uses the blast chilling method rather than adding preservatives to the meals. You don’t have to worry about receiving a stale batch because all the ingredients and meals are cooked in the shortest span of time before you place an order and the scheduled delivery.
Home Chef vs Factor – Customer Service
Home Chef’s customer service is accessible via email, FAQ, and phone. Their response time, via email and phone, is always consistent. Most of what you’ll need can be found on their FAQs page that, on its own, is very informative and versatile.
There’s information about their recipes and ingredients, placing and editing orders, managing the account, shipping and delivery, and other discount features. Every section has over 15 questions posted by customers and promptly answered by Home Chef.
Factor’s customer service is also very responsive and consistent. You can reach them via email, phone, or text or refer to their FAQ page to have all of your questions answered.
Whether you’re concerned about the delivery of your orders or editing the meal plan after placing an order, the FAQ page has everything you need. You can quickly contact their customer service regarding any complaints or refunds, and they will provide credit for other future orders.
Skipping meals or canceling orders is easier to do from the account itself. You don’t need to contact their customer service to do so. Even if you want to change your delivery address or email, you can log into your account and edit the information on their Account Settings page. It’s simple and straightforward.
Home Chef vs Factor – Vegetarian/Vegan Meals
Both Home Chef and Factor have vegetarian recipes on their menus, but Home Chef has no vegan options, which is such a let-down if you follow a vegan diet. In that case, Factor emerges as the better choice because of its plant-based meals, both vegetarian and vegan, which are not only wholesome but also very delicious.
You know that the professional chefs at Factor are doing something right when even their veggie-based dishes look truly delightful and mouthwatering. Moreover, each recipe is packed with all the right kinds and amount of nutrients as well as the perfect combination of carbs and proteins.
However, even though Factor offers vegan meals, there aren’t too many of them, and that’s a bit displeasing. On the Factor menu, you’ll see more vegetarian options, highly nutritious and totally meat-free, but not enough “vegan” choices. Plus, it’s not like you can pick Home Chef instead because it’s even more disappointing since they have zero vegan and very limited vegetarian dishes.
Nonetheless, Factor is more suitable if you’re looking for vegetarian/vegan meal plans. However, with Home Chef, you can easily filter their weekly menu by clicking on the “vegetarian” tag at the top. What I also like about Home Chef is their “Customize It” feature. It allows non-meat-eaters, veggie lovers, etc. to swap their meats with veg protein.
Factor, unfortunately, has no features like filtering or meal customization. Thus, you have to go through the entire menu to find vegetarian/vegan recipes. There’s also no way to swap proteins, although they do have colored labels or tags indicating what kind of diet the recipe serves, such as Vegan, Vegetarian, Calorie Smart, Keto, and more.
Home Chef vs Factor – Protein Sources and Nutrition Information
Home Chef seriously honors the fact that proteins are an essential part of a healthy, well-balanced diet. This is proven through their special “Customize It” option which you can use to make your meal choices even more protein-rich, be it with meat or plants.
As for Factor, there’s no doubt that their meal kits too contain a nutritious blend of proteins for herbivores and carnivores, carbs, and a host of health-boosting vegetables.
To convince you of both meal delivery services’ genuine dedication toward including lots of protein, here are some of their recipes compared side by side. The whole nutritional value is also mentioned, so you can view and weigh out your options more transparently to make a better, well-informed decision.
Please note that these are not the only meals available. Both Home Chef and Factor have a lot more on their menus.
Vegetarian/Vegan Meals
| HOME CHEF’s Caesar Chopped Salad with creamy Caesar dressing | HOME CHEF’s Spaghetti with Roasted Red Pepper Cream and garlic bread |
| Calories: 200 calories per serving | Calories: 900 calories per serving |
| Protein: 4 grams per serving | Protein: 27 grams per serving |
| Carbohydrates: 9 grams per serving | Carbohydrates: 118 grams per serving |
| Fat: 17 grams per serving | Fat: 35 grams per serving |
| Dietary Fiber: 2 grams per serving | Dietary Fiber: 9 grams per serving |
| Prep/Cook Time: 5-10 minutes | Prep/Cook Time: 35-45 minutes |
| FACTOR’s Spicy Sweet Potatoes & Peanut Sauce with coconut rice & miso-roasted green beans | FACTOR’s Caramelized Onion & Goat Cheese Risotto with roasted carrots |
| Calories: 700 calories per serving | Calories: 480 calories per serving |
| Protein: 17 grams per serving | Protein: 11 grams per serving |
| Carbohydrates: 80 grams per serving | Carbohydrates: 66 grams per serving |
| Fat: 37 grams per serving | Fat: 19 grams per serving |
| Dietary Fiber: 11 grams per serving | Dietary Fiber: 6 grams per serving |
| Prep/Cook Time: not mentioned | Prep/Cook Time: not mentioned |
Chicken-Based Meals
| HOME CHEF’s Hazelnut Butter Chicken Breast with garlic mashed potatoes and honey-rosemary carrots | HOME CHEF’s Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken Thigh Pasta with spinach and Parmesan |
| Calories: 710 calories per serving | Calories: 810 calories per serving |
| Protein: 42 grams per serving | Protein: 56 grams per serving |
| Carbohydrates: 53 grams per serving | Carbohydrates: 78 grams per serving |
| Fat: 37 grams per serving | Fat: 31 grams per serving |
| Dietary Fiber: 7 grams per serving | Dietary Fiber: 6 grams per serving |
| Prep/Cook Time: 50-60 minutes | Prep/Cook Time: 20-30 minutes |
| FACTOR’s Keto Monterey Spinach Chicken with sun-dried tomato alfredo & cauliflower gratin | FACTOR’s Chicken & Mushroom Marsala with garlic mashed cauliflower & haricot verts |
| Calories: 690 calories per serving | Calories: 470 calories per serving |
| Protein: 49 grams per serving | Protein: 40 grams per serving |
| Carbohydrates: 13 grams per serving | Carbohydrates: 18 grams per serving |
| Fat: 50 grams per serving | Fat: 26 grams per serving |
| Dietary Fiber: 4 grams per serving | Dietary Fiber: 6 grams per serving |
| Prep/Cook Time: not mentioned | Prep/Cook Time: not mentioned |
Beef-Based Meals
| HOME CHEF’s Chili Cheese Beef Stuffed Peppers with sour cream and crispy tortillas | HOME CHEF’s Beef Egg Roll Rice Bowl with red cabbage and bell peppers |
| Calories: 620 calories per serving | Calories: 660 calories per serving |
| Protein: 40 grams per serving | Protein: 33 grams per serving |
| Carbohydrates: 31 grams per serving | Carbohydrates: 69 grams per serving |
| Fat: 38 grams per serving | Fat: 27 grams per serving |
| Dietary Fiber: 8 grams per serving | Dietary Fiber: 3 grams per serving |
| Prep/Cook Time: 35-45 minutes | Prep/Cook Time: 10-15 minutes |
| FACTOR’s Fiery Beef & Black Bean Chili with cilantro sweet potatoes & corn salsa | FACTOR’s Italian Ground Beef & Marinara Bowl with ricotta & pesto zucchini |
| Calories: 460 calories per serving | Calories: 710 calories per serving |
| Protein: 21 grams per serving | Protein: 37 grams per serving |
| Carbohydrates: 50 grams per serving | Carbohydrates: 16 grams per serving |
| Fat: 22 grams per serving | Fat: 57 grams per serving |
| Dietary Fiber: 10 grams per serving | Dietary Fiber: 3 grams per serving |
| Prep/Cook Time: not mentioned | Prep/Cook Time: not mentioned |
Seafood-Based Meals
| HOME CHEF’s Honey BBQ Salmon with bacon jalapeno corn muffins and corn on the cob | HOME CHEF’s Greek-Style Shrimp Orzo with zucchini and feta |
| Calories: 850 calories per serving | Calories: 590 calories per serving |
| Protein: 41 grams per serving | Protein: 29 grams per serving |
| Carbohydrates: 56 grams per serving | Carbohydrates: 50 grams per serving |
| Fat: 52 grams per serving | Fat: 27 grams per serving |
| Dietary Fiber: 2 grams per serving | Dietary Fiber: 7 grams per serving |
| Prep/Cook Time: 30-40 minutes | Prep/Cook Time: 25-35 minutes |
| FACTOR’s Pesto Salmon with creamed spinach & tomato butter haricot verts | FACTOR’s Tuscan Shrimp with creamy kale & zucchini-pepper-onion medley |
| Calories: 710 calories per serving | Calories: 520 calories per serving |
| Protein: 39 grams per serving | Protein: 24 grams per serving |
| Carbohydrates: 12 grams per serving | Carbohydrates: 13 grams per serving |
| Fat: 58 grams per serving | Fat: 42 grams per serving |
| Dietary Fiber: 4 grams per serving | Dietary Fiber: 3 grams per serving |
| Prep/Cook Time: not mentioned | Prep/Cook Time: not mentioned |
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Home Chef and Factor
Do Home Chef and Factor Comply with Food Allergies?
In both cases, they do not exclude potential allergy-causing ingredients. At the same time, there are no special categories wholly committed to serving those with common food allergies either. Some of their recipes, however, don’t have certain allergy-associated food items, but you have to check the list of ingredients for that.
One thing I like about Home Chef and Factor recipes is that on every recipe page, both make it a point to mention the usual allergy-triggering ingredients, such as milk, eggs, shellfish, wheat, soy, nuts, etc.
As someone with serious or severe food allergies, you might want to know that it’s best when allergy-causing foods are not handled, cooked, processed, or packaged in the same area or facility as allergy-friendly ingredients.
Quite disappointingly then, Home Chef and Factor fail to use two separate facilities. Instead, everything is taken care of in the same space, hence the chances of cross-contamination despite ingredients being individually wrapped.
How Easy Is It to Make Order/Delivery Changes on Home Chef and Factor?
With Home Chef and Factor, skipping meals is possible if that’s what you mean. How amazing and convenient is that?
The latter’s cutoff time is Wednesday, 12 am CT – the Wednesday prior to the scheduled delivery week of course. Home Chef’s deadline, on the other hand, is every Friday at 12 pm CT. Once again, this is the Friday before your delivery week.
Home Chef, in this area, seems like a more flexible meal kit delivery service, with the additional option to actually add/swap proteins to your order. Home Chef allows you to pause, skip, and even cancel your subscription, but then so does Factor.
Here are Home Chef’s instructions to cancel the subscription, which is a part of their very helpful FAQs & Support page. You can also manage your subscription on Factor because even they have useful, informative FAQs.
Are Home Chef and Factor Suitable for a Weight Loss Diet Plan?
Home Chef’s “calorie-conscious” and “carb-conscious” meals are perfect if you’re on a weight loss program.
As for Factor, the menu may not have categories like the ones on Home Chef, but it does include quite a few low-calorie recipes at under 500 calories per serving.
When trying to lose weight, keeping your consumption of calories in check is a must and so is preparing more nutritious, well-balanced, and healthier homecooked meals. With that in place, it’s such a huge relief to know that meal kit delivery services such as Home Chef and Factor take care of both for you.
Furthermore, in both cases, meals have high levels of protein per serving. Increasing your daily protein intake also helps with weight loss since protein keeps you full for longer.
Also, let’s not forget that the Factor menu does include the “keto” tag, which is a low-carb diet effective for shedding those extra pounds.
The Final Take on Home Chef
Home Chef Pros
- Very affordable meal kit delivery service.
- You can customize meal plans based on your diet.
- Minimal prep, and oven-ready meals are also included.
- Flavorful recipes and comfort food options on weekly menu.
Home Chef Cons
- Not the best for vegans or those with food allergies.
- Sodium content seems to be high.
- Information about sourcing standards is not clear/enough.
The Final Take on Factor
Factor Pros
- Fully prepped meals with add-ons
- Sustainably sourced, top-quality ingredients
- Premade and microwavable meals included
- GMO- and preservative-free meals
- Keto, low-carb, and high-protein varieties on weekly menu
Factor Cons
- Family-friendly meal plans not available
- Not very allergy-accommodating
- Very few plant-based recipes
- More expensive in the long run
Last Few Words
Home Chef is a meal kit delivery brand that lives up to all possible expectations its name automatically gives rise to in the head – homecooked-style meals with only fresh ingredients that you can quickly put together to conveniently cook your meals.
Fresh ingredients are accompanied by transparent pricing, flexible scheduling, and a lot more that’s nothing but ideal for those living a hectic life where cooking proper, wholesome lunches and dinners is just not possible. That’s the Home Chef experience!
Then there’s the very flexible and equally convenient Factor experience, with its wide variety of meal plans on the menu, simple order processing, easy customizations, vegetarian and vegan options, and more. The pricing range here may be slightly more expensive than Home Chef, but that’s mainly because their ingredients are organic and also gluten-free.
