Freshly Review 2024: All You Need to Know

Last Updated : December 22, 2023

Freshly review

What is Freshly & how was it created?

Do you want your dinner to be nutritious, delicious and dietitian approved?

Are you looking for a delicious and healthy meal delivery service?

I am sure you would love Freshly!

Freshly, as the name suggests, is conceptualized to provide fresh food to its customers. Their meals are straight out of the farm, delicious, prepared by professional chefs, and ready to serve in minutes.

Freshly is a highly customer-focused company, famous in the industry for its food-first approach. Maintaining a balanced diet and ensuring wellbeing of its subscribers are of prime importance to them. Their culinary experts thoughtfully choose the food ingredients leaving out the unnecessary ones.

Freshly follows a weekly subscription model and delivers fresh (not frozen like some of its competitors), healthy and delicious meals designed by their ace nutritionists, and prepared by their master chefs.  You just have to “heat-N-eat” your food as these are already pre-cooked. Every menu item is ready to be served within 3 minutes.

With Freshly, you don’t have to break your head to plan your dinner or decide the menu. Freshly will save you valuable time on shopping, chopping, cooking, and cleanup. Regular intake of Freshly foods will help you stay away from preservatives, unhealthy ingredients, and artificial sweeteners.

Freshly was founded with a vision and belief of delivering fresh and nutritious dishes in the daily menu of their customers. They understand that most of us are pressed for time and do all the hard work on our behalf. Procuring high-quality and farm-fresh ingredients, making every meal nutrient-rich and delicious, and creating a fresh vibe with all their meals made them stand out of the rest.

Freshly stands by its commitment to delivering fresh and nutrient-packed meals at your doorstep. Their culinary experts, ace nutritionists, and a team of in-house chefs put together yummy and refreshing recipes for you. Most of their dishes are high on protein and gluten-free containing less than 35 grams of carbohydrates and 500 calories. Satiate your taste bud with the iconic dishes of Freshly.

Freshly focuses on reengineering their menu items at regular intervals. All of their meals are paleo-inspired and gluten-free. You won’t find commonly available snacks such as crackers, cakes, bread, or pastries in their food ecosystem.

Freshly nutritionists avoid gluten-packed food items like seafood, imitation meats, products with high sodium concentration (soy sauce), and sweeteners in their menu. They believe in the principle that “Satiating your tongue may have a rippling effect on your health, so it’s always better to be safe than sorry.”

Freshly meals are cooked using naturally sourced ingredients, including fresh fish, dairy, seafood, and meat. Seasonal veggies and legumes, beans, fruits, potatoes, quinoa, and rice form a large part of their menu as well.

That’s why Freshly menu items are super-fresh, sumptuous, and nutritious.

What Does Freshly Offer in Weekly Menu Ideas?

Freshly meal portion are perfectly portioned for a single person.

We feel that this is one of the best features of Freshly as few other meal delivery companies serve single serve meals.

You can choose from 4,6, 9, or 12 meal options every week. If you feel like skipping their meal for a week, you can use their app to do so.

With other meal subscription providers, your option may be limited. You may have to choose from pre-set weekly meal plan options. Freshly respects your time and delivers your meal at the same time and days as per your zip code and preference. Your bill will accordingly get generated for that week’s meal kits without any overlap or backlog.

Once your sign-up with Freshly, you have to decide the number of meals you want them to deliver every week. I chose 6 meals to cover 3 dinners for me and my partner.

Once you have finalized a meal plan and given your email address, you may get flooded with meal options. You can sensibly narrow your choices to “home bistro,” “market day meals,” feel-better food,” “whole comfort,” and “takeout twists.”

If you follow a strict diet regime, then Freshly will only show you peanut-free or gluten-free options. Freshly offers dairy-free options with low-calorie meals.

Every menu item of freshly is backed by extensive research on its nutritional effect and taste.

Here are some of the menu options you get in Freshly:

High protein and low-carb: The protein-packed delicious foods on the Freshly menu will make you crave more, feel your stomach for a long time, boost your energy, and sheds extra fat. After such a filling lunch, your stomach won’t allow you to savor a high-calorie snack ever again.

No processed sugars: They deliberately kept artificial sweeteners and fructose out of their menu items. These elements do nothing more than adding a few extra pounds on your weight.

All-natural foods: Freshly believes and delivers all fresh food ingredients with zero hormones, zero chemicals, zero preservatives, and additives. Freshly food items are farm-picked, fresh-cooked, and delivered right away to the customers. With such a prompt turnaround, the company doesn’t need to freeze up the ingredients for long hours to maintain its freshness and taste.

What are the top reasons to consider Freshly?

The USP of Freshly is its variety.

You will never have to eat the same food as other family members in your home.

Everyone’s menu can be different based on their taste and preference. Another great advantage with Freshly is that once you are done with your meal, you don’t have to clean any utensils. Their containers are smartly designed to make you eat directly out of it, saving your dishwashing time.

However, you should ideally plate the food before consuming it. Even Freshly recommends it keeping in mind your health and hygiene factors. That’s how Freshly walks that extra mile to keep you healthy.

Whether you are a bachelor-apartment dweller or just want to eat what you like, you will have that choice with Freshly. Stop adjusting to other people’s tastes and enjoy “culinary-independence” with Freshly.

You will have a tough time finding flaws with so many healthy and delicious meal options with Freshly. The best part with Freshly is you won’t have to set aside cooking time. Once the food is delivered, switch on your microwave, heat it, and enjoy it! You will get plenty of low-calorie and gluten-free options with them, which will automatically fit into your healthy meal habit.

Customers have given many thumbs up to Freshly for staying committed to fresh and high-quality food ingredients. They follow a strict “Never-to-compromise” standard to ensure that none of their meals is cooked with hydrogenated oils and artificial ingredients.

Freshly meals are free of refined-sugar and trans-fat. Fresh ingredients give a strong foundation to the food. Freshly culinary experts believe in this principle and have listed 85 banned items, like maltodextrin and high-fructose corn syrup, on their website.

If you are on a weight-loss journey, Freshly’s healthy meals can help you to stay on course. You can select your meals based on your calorie preference. They have recently launched some menu items under 500-calories that include Chicken and Rice Pilaf with Carrots and Green Beans, Shrimp and Andouille Paella, and Peach Balsamic Pork Chop.

If any of your family members need to follow a gluten and peanut-free diet, Freshly’s 100% natural meals are the best solution for them. Freshly’s wide range of weekly menu selections with 5 breakfasts and 27 different entrees will leave you spoilt for options. The majority of their meals are a healthy twist of classic American style. Think of their roasted turkey with quinoa stuffing and meatloaf with mashed cauliflower, and I am sure hunger has suddenly started recoiling in your stomach.

Read more: Diet-to-Go Review

How Many Types of Meals Do You Get with Freshly

You get a jaw-dropping 30 rotating meal choices every week with Freshly. It covers from breakfasts to dinners, excluding snacks and desserts. All menu items are protein-packed, 100 percent gluten-free, and low in carbs, with zero processed sugars.

If you want to avoid specific food items, you can tick them off using Freshly’s dietary preferences tab in the account settings. You can inform the chefs if you don’t want any of the following items in your meal:

  • Eggs
  • Dairy
  • Beef
  • Pork
  • Tree Nuts
  • Chicken
  • Fish
  • Turkey
  • Shellfish
  • Soy

You can mark single or multiple items while selecting your menu. Freshly has kept its kitchen peanut and gluten-free, so you don’t need to flag these allergies.

What’s more that Freshly recommends that you should consult your physician before finalizing the subscription. Doesn’t that show the customer-friendliness of the customer?

Top 3 Best Selling Meals

CHICKEN LIVORNO with White Beans & Kale

Allergen -Soy-free, Dairy-free

High on protein

Preparation time – only 3 minutes to microwave

Calories – 410 cal per serving

Servings- 1

Their oven-roasted and juicy chicken breast nicely marinated in aromatic Italian herbs will melt in your mouth. The dish is served with a thick and healthy stew of creamy and simmering northern beans to add to its flavor and double-up your body fiber.

Well, that’s not all. It’s smartly mixed with leafy kale, nitrite and nitrate-free smoky turkey bacon and fire-roasted tomato to make the dish more delectable. We can guarantee that you will never stop craving the nutty and rich flavor of the meal. Freshly recommends you to sprinkle parmesan to make it cheesy.

SLOW-COOKED PORK & HERBED GRAVY with Skillet Kale & Roasted Potatoes

A treat for Pork lovers and high on protein

Preparation time – only 3 minutes to heat

Allergen – Soy-free and dairy-free

Calories – 420 cal per serving

Servings-1

It’s time to savor the tender, juicy, and silky-glazed pork with a fine touch of thyme and rosemary. It is served with skin-on, diced, and hearty Rustica potatoes of light brown color after roasting in golden herb oil. You will get vitamin-filled, and sautéed kale leaves tossed with fire-roasted tomatoes and crumbles of turkey bacon. Before savoring this mouth-watering dish, lightly sprinkle some fresh black pepper on top.

CHICKEN CACCIATORE with Brown Rice Fusilli

High protein

Preparation time – only 3 minutes to heat up

Allergen – dairy-free, soy-free

Servings-1

Calories – 470 cal per serving

This signature dish is made of Brown rice fusilli nestled in delicious and juicy chicken thighs. Sautéed onions, crunchy bell papers, and Italian spice seasoned mushrooms are added to elevate its taste. Freshly uses in-house marinara sauce free of any artificial flavor enhancers to add to its flavor. Sprinkle red pepper flakes and fresh parsley on top of the dish.

I ordered their meal to check the packaging quality and delivery time. After receiving the box, I opened it right away and was surprised to see their effort and care in the packaging. The food was well-packed in ice to maintain its freshness and padded with extra cushion to prevent any transit damage.

Packing well is common practice with all meal delivery companies. Boxes are generally packed in such a way to make your food survive for 2-3 days long transit. Freshly followed the same procedure with an extra touch of padding and cushioning to retain food freshness.

I got my meals delivered on Wednesday, and those were stamped with an expiry day of next Tuesday. Here also, they underpromised and over-delivered.  Mentioning 7 days of expiry was longer than a day or 2 written on their site and the industry standard.

Read more: HelloFresh Review

Pros & Cons

Pros
  • Easy, quick prep, and less cleanup - Forget using your cutting boards and pans on Freshly nights.
  • Keep them in the cabinet, and enjoy your dinner in freshly containers.
  • Be stress-free on cutting, cooking, and dishwashing.
  • Meals for one — You can go for a solo meal or let each family member choose a meal they like.
  • Flavorful results — Most of the Freshly meals come with rich texture and exceptional taste.
  • You get a wide range of menu options.
  • Fresh food that refrigerated, not frozen
Cons
  • No super-sized portions — If you prefer to have more food, Freshly's servings may seem too small for you. But, trust me, for average Americans, that's a lot of food.
  • Recurring billing — Once you have signed up with Freshly, you will have to skip your weekly meals manually you don't want. Otherwise, your meals will be auto-delivered.
  • No vegetarian options — Although Freshly has most of the special diets in their menu, vegetarians and vegans may not find enough choices.

Why You Should Order from Freshly

The last thing you want is to cook after a long and tiring workday. Dinner is the most important meal of every family as all of us get to meet and talk to each other. To make every dinner special, you need to plan, prepare the recipes, and finally cook no matter how much you are tired. Freshly relieves you from that cooking-stress and lets you enjoy your family time with their ready-to-heat and eat meals. After receiving their meal boxes, you can refrigerate for as long as 6-7 days. When you want to eat, just microwave and let it thaw for a few minutes and enjoy your dinner.

Freshly meal subscription boxes have soaring popularity due to its refreshing alternative to junk food or take out. You receive high-quality and fresh ingredients on your doorstep to make your favorite gourmet deal. Freshly always sets you up for wonderful mealtime for your family.

Most of the meal kits claim to have a cooking time of less than 5 minutes. But there have been several complaints that these meal kits take between 30 minutes to 1 hour to cook – something you would never expect. Freshly lives up to its commitment to keeping the meal prep time under 5 minutes. That’s why it has evolved as one of the leading meal delivery partners of many US households.

If you want to stay away from traditional frozen dinners, Freshly is an excellent alternative. Fresh, delicious, and healthy – that’s how Freshly helps you to achieve your weight-loss and other health goals.

You won’t get a better and easier option than a microwavable, ready-to-cook dinner. Even waiting in the drive-through-queue takes more energy and time than preparing these meals.

When you’re back home after a long and tiring workday, you will love the fresh and pre-cooked dinner by Freshly.

Microwave your favorite dishes, and enjoy your dinner from a cozy corner of your home.

Read more: Freshly vs. Blue Apron

FAQ's

At present, Freshly delivers to 28 US states. Before you jump into their subscription, you can visit their site to check if they service your zip code. After confirming your location, you can select one of their 4 meal plan options offering 4 to 12 meals every week. Deliveries are done once in every week.

You can log on to your Freshly account and choose from the meals available in that week, including breakfast items and entrees. Picking and choosing between different side dishes are not allowed. You have to forego your sweet tooth and forget snacking with Freshly as none of these two is available in the menu.

 Freshly puts major emphasis on the freshness of their meals. Their freshly-cooked meals don’t have chemical or artificial preservatives and come with a shelf life of around 4 to 5 days. You will find an expiry date on the back (nutrition label) of every meal.

If you are not able to eat all your meals within the shelf life, pop them into the freezer to retain its freshness. Once you take out your meal from the freezer, make sure to microwave it. Freshly recommends you to add some extra minutes to reach the ideal internal temperature level of 165° F.

The meals are delivered in a large insulated box, with extra cushion and ice packed inside as pre-made single serving. Insulated boxes are ideal for meal delivery as it helps retain the freshness. Once you receive the delivery, it’s recommended to refrigerate all the ingredients, leaving the ones outside, which you plan to cook on the same day.

You can easily track your Freshly delivery status once your box is despatched. Accessing its app or logging into your Freshly dashboard will keep your updated on your order history and important delivery details.

You only need 3 minutes to microwave your freshly-prepared Freshly meal and start relishing your dinner.

Who doesn’t want to be gifted with their preferred food items? All of us do and love to eat freshly-prepared meals. Whenever you are gifting a Freshly meal box to your loved one, you are not only gifting them fresh food but saving their cooking time as well. Isn’t Food and Time are two of the most precious gifts one can think of.

Let’s see how it works

First, you need to select a meal plan

Your gift will cover the first-time meal delivery of the recipient. Once they redeem, they get to choose their preferred meals. They take it from there- To continue the recipient of the gift will redeem your gift by opening a new subscription. They are free to cancel whenever they want.

Once the gift recipient chooses the meal plan, Freshly gets a notification. Freshly’s in-house culinary experts start meal planning, and chefs get to cooking the delicious recipes. Once meals are prepared, they will receive doorstep delivery in an insulated and properly sealed box.

You don’t need to sign any contract with Freshly. You can skip or cancel your meal plan anytime.

Once you sign in to your Freshly account, head over to the Deliveries section, and scroll down to skip an order. Freshly organizes your weekly order by delivery date, showing your current, previous, and up to 3 future orders chronologically.

Freshly strongly recommends that you thoroughly wash all fresh produces, which includes vegetables, herbs, and fruits before cooking and consuming them.

Freshly understands that everything is not in your control, and you may have to skip your meals for weeks in advance. You can simply navigate through their portal, go over to your Deliveries, and scroll down to your order you wish to skip. Once you reach there, you will find a small “Skip Week” button. Click on that, and you are good to go.

If you feel like canceling your subscription at any time, you have to log on to your Freshly account. Once you are logged in, head over to the top right corner of your screen, click on your name and go to Settings. Under My Subscription, you will find a “Cancel Subscription” link right above your Account Details. Once you click on the link, you will have to answer a couple of questions about the reasons for your cancelation, and your subscription will be canceled.

Still, if you need help, are having trouble understanding anything or encountering a system error, you can contact Freshly at any time. Reactivating your Freshly account is super easy and shouldn’t take more than a couple of clicks.

Get $80 off—$20 off your first 4 boxes