Home Delivered Meals/Meal Kits (“half-fast” review-ish)

[Spiky Bugger]

We have tried many delivered meals/meal kits. Have you?

(And, DianaCox , it occurred to me today that SOME of these may be a good idea for use while traveling, if for no other reason than all the shopping is done for you and there’s no need to buy/store/toss large quantities of unused things.)

Because of MY intolerances, the nuke-and-eat meals are a no go. Things I cannot tolerate are already in the food, so that doesn’t work. But we did try some services BEFORE I knew what was bothering me, so we have (limited) experience with them. ALSO, I’m not a very discerning diner. My anosmia (inability to smell anything) surely reduces my gustatory acuity. So, no comments on taste, because I’m clueless.

~Homechef.com…starting at $6.99/serving and going way up from there…lots of options…LOTS…some limitations. You must order either two or four of each meal. (But they are part of Kroger and SOME of the stuff sold in stores is single serving.). You can order meals that take about 30 minutes to prepare, or 15 minute meals, or oven-ready no-prep meals or even grill-ready. Look for good introductory offers. A warning…if you decide to cancel, you have to cancel VERY EARLY or end up with one more delivery that you get to pay for.

~Factor75.com…factor75…$10.79/serving…fully prepped, cooked meals. Nuke and eat. But since you can’t take the garlic out of the heat-and-eat Grilled Chicken Parmesan meal, it’s not a service I can use. MrSue says they are good, though.

~EveryTable.com…This is a local, Los Angeles-down-to-San Diego Area, potentially-socialist (because of the pricing structure), service that delivers in some areas and has storefront availability and is even on or near college campuses. Its mission is to compete with unhealthy fast food places. The prices vary depending on location, as in…it costs less in low income areas. Some items have to be pre-ordered. They also offer a la cart items like Mac & cheese, green beans, salmon, chicken, etc. But I put it in here because you may have some relatively unknown service like this in your area.

Last one for right now, although we have done several more:

~EveryPlate.com…pretty cheap, $4.99/serving…we just finished our first week, and so far, so good. It is the Budget Division of HelloFresh.com, which we have also used, but my fingers are tired. Their menu is potentially boring, as even though the protein items are quite good, almost every meal has oven roasted potatoes and carrots as a side dish, so we’ll probably do this every other week.

SO, SPILL!! Have you tried any of these services?


BTW, with osteoporosis, standing for long periods is painful and these services eliminate a lot of grocery store time and standing in the kitchen prepping and cooking time. At least that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

 

[talitali]

I’d say if you are considering this, the first thing to do is find out who does the delivery for your area.

I signed up for HomeChef which uses Ontrac since I’m in a “one day delivery zone.” Ontrac is awful. They cannot typically deliver their way out of a paper bag.

Anyway, I signed up and chose the carb conscious meals since I would be sharing them with my carb junkie of a husband. I liked the conscious part over low-carb or keto because they still had things like sweet potato, potatoes, etc. It made a balance of our two food preferences.

I ordered through Rakuten which net me $10 cash back, and they had a $90 (or $100?) off coupon which gets spread out over the first few meals. It took two weeks for my first delivery so I went to the QFC to pick up a few meals. The idea that we would try a few meals and if we absolutely hated them we’d cancel. Make sure if you do this that you keep track of the expiry dates, they can be close.

We liked them. They were tasty, nothing earth shattering but solid meals. The servings for two are lighter on protein but the side dishes were generally plentiful. I was full from eating my portion and husband usually got extra side. He likes to snack at night so he was definitely not stuffed snd still able to snack.

The things I liked were the ability to add additional protein if desired, changing the protein in the meal if you didn’t want the one selected and the recipes have modifications for the different protein options, the recipes are online so you can see what they are like, and I liked that I could swap meals out each week if I didn’t like their selection. That said, if you do that, you are selecting from all the meals and will need to check the carbs levels if you are still wanting “carb conscious.”

Do you sense a “but” coming?

Ontrac is awful. My first order of 4 meals was set to arrive on Friday by 8pm. It arrived Monday at 6pm. At that point, I couldn’t cancel my next weeks order or make changes since it past the time. The box of food arrived and was full of 62° ingredients so it went straight into the trash. I was upset. And I then had to go grocery shopping. They refunded it and apologizes, adding the credits into my account so I was out nothing monetary at that point.

The next order was due that Friday by 8pm. I crossed my fingers. It arrived Tuesday at 6pm.

AARGH!

The prior Friday I canceled the service. I had this gut feeling it would never get better. And when the food arrived on that Tuesday I knew I’d done the right thing. But then on Thursday (after having canceled the service and thrown out two boxes of food), I got a shipping notification that my box was to arrive that night. I laughed. I showed my husband. We both laughed. I called customer service to ask why I was getting it and the prior agent hadn’t finished everything right so that’s why I got the order. They refunded it.

Husband says, what do you want to bet we will get this box on time and it’ll be the best food ever? We laughed.

We got the food Thursday evening. Proper temperature. It wasn’t “the best food ever” but we enjoyed it.

The recipes are easy. I like having everything done and ready for me. The recipes I chose were a mix of prep options and some I have to chop the vegetables, some come with everything already chopped, etc. I liked that.

I do find their temperature guidance off. For example, we had pork chops and they spare pretty thin and they said cook 4-5 minutes per side to get to 145° (Minimum temp) and I knew that was going to give me shoe leather so I did 3 minutes per side and ended up at 155°, so I could have done less but they were fine. So, use your thermometer when cooking meat and use times as an idea.

At this point, I had all the money refunded. I received 12 meals, threw away 8 of them, and enjoyed 4 of them. I’ve purchased 4 meals at the store and enjoyed all of them.

What I learned is that I really liked the kits. I liked not having to plan/shop for everything and I didn’t have to deal with leftovers of meals or ingredients. I wasn’t having to buy a jar of roasted red bell pepper and use half of them have half a jar in the refrigerator I needed to use up. That was great. I don’t find it expensive particularly when you consider the variety of proteins. In our meals we’ve had chicken, pork, shrimp, and salmon. It’s been nice. I didn’t like the packaging waste from all the ingredients but that’s not something I normally care about so it’s odd to care about it here.

I do want to keep doing meal kits but I am burned on HomeChef, BECAUSE of Ontrac. I will not hesitate to buy them in the store though.

 

[talitali]

To add to this, when I posted my woes on my FB, I got the following recommendations for alternatives.

Acme - they are in Bellingham WA, so delivery may be limited. They are 4-servings only but things are locally sourced. Also on the spendy end.

HelloFresh - a lot of positive responses for this. I may find out who delivers for them and try them.

GreenChef - similar to HelloFresh but less meal options.

Freshly - pre-made/eat and eat meals. I hear a lot of good things about them. A lot of coworkers use them for lunches for work.

EveryPlate - mentioned above, but I looked at this seems carb heavy and “family favorites” so not appealing to me at all.

Factor75 - diet oriented and more on the costly end.

Sunbasket - great for special eating plans.

Epicure - I’m not endorsing this at all, it seems to be an MLM. I am just mentioning it as something that exists.

Plan to Eat - meal planning service. No real food, just plans and grocery lists.

EMeals - another meal planning service. I am considering this though.

I’d say research, check for discounts on Rakuten, referrals, etc. You can try most of these fairly cheap.

I’d also say, understand the real costs. For example, you may think these services are expensive but your time and energy have a cost too. I realized that my chicken I buy is $10 a meal alone, that’s definitely more chicken than in the kit but it helped me out the things in perspective. I try to do my DS eating during the day and dinner leans towards my husbands preferences.

 

[Spiky Bugger]

Yes! Glad to know I’m not the only one using these services.

We’ve cancelled a couple of companies because of delivery problems. And we have received refunds, as well.

From your list, we’ve done HelloFresh, Freshly, Factor75 and more. It looks like Sunbasket has more choices than most.

Sooner or later, they all may package things to make them usable to the HUGE number if people who need to be on a low FODMAP, meaning…among other things…no garlic and no onions, diet. (Try that when you’re half Italian and half Mexican.) There are several companies that serve those needs, my favorite is FodyFoods where I get seasonings, salsa, ketchup (not great, but usable as a recipe ingredient), and marinara/tomato basil/arribbatta sauces. But now, even Rao’s (the folks who make the marinara sauce so good that Barefoot Contessa uses it) has a “SENSITIVE MARINARA No Onions No Garlic” which, of course, is not for those on a tight budget. If the meals included fewer pre-mixed seasonings/salsas/rubs/etc, I’d buy more!

But Sunbasket’s heat and eat meals come in single servings, which most services don’t include!

 

[Munchkin]

Haven't tried any of these yet but I am interested. Absorbing what everyone else has to say. I don't really see any way these are ready for a Las Vegas summer. Any delivery delay would guarantee the meals were useless. I also have considered what if...they ride around on a truck for 6 hours and then are re-frozen by the delivery company. How would you ever know?

I am taking a dip into the dark side for Thanksgiving. I have ordered a Turducken and a Piecaken and they are both supposed to arrive frozen. But with the outrageous shipping I am paying they should come with a chef to cook and clean up. It's a one time do something different experiment. We shall see. Also...not nearly as temperature critical in November as it is in July!

 

[Spiky Bugger]

Well, some delivery companies have tracking, so you can see where they are. AxelHire does that, so you can see when their drivers turn the wrong way. Which they do. Often. FedEx tells me when my stuff is on the truck, so I watch that, too.

I’d probably have the same concerns. The way I look at it is that they wouldn’t try to do business in Las Vegas if they didn’t work this issue out. (We have a few warm days once in a while. Last year we got to 111°, pretty high here.) So, use a credit card that is very good about disputed charges, just in case. Try to deal with a company that will NOT offer a Friday delivery. We have had one “Friday” delivery that didn’t show until Monday. But our bank immediately accepted the dispute and the food delivery service…I don’t remember which…reversed that charge and applied an extra credit to our account.

EveryPlate’s (a really cheap intro, $1.99 & free shipping) cancellation policy on its FAQs page reads:
“Please note, if this is not done 5 days prior to your last delivery then you will get one more box that you have already paid for.”

BUT, their 92,000 page contract says:
“10.3 Deactivation Procedures.
Please note that the ability to change an order locks five days prior to your scheduled delivery date. Therefore, if you wish to deactivate your Account and/or cancel or change an order, you must do so before the day and time listed above for your respective delivery date. For example, if you have a scheduled delivery date on Tuesday, you have until Thursday at 11:59 PM PST to cancel your subscription. If you do so after the time listed for your delivery day, you will be charged and receive your Meal Box for that week, and the cancellation will take effect for the following Delivery Week.”

 

[talitali]

I’ll also mention most of the meal kit services do not freeze their food. If it arrives frozen that’s a problem as it isn’t shipped that way.

 

[k9ophile]

We get two meals every other week from Hello Fresh. They ship to us by UPS. So far, we haven't had a meal we didn't like. They're fairly easy to put together and cook. I forgot to check one week and they sent me the two pre-picked meals. I was a little irritated at myself for missing the notice, but they turned out okay. The portions are just right my my DS stomach and DH's decreased serving sizes (due to age?). They save us from the "What's for dinner?" "I don't know." "You want me to get something to bring home.? "I don't care." Neither one of us are imaginative cooks, so at least we get to eat somewhat fancy.

My friend gets her meats from Butcher Box. She likes it because she doesn't want hormones and other stuff found at grocery stores.

 

[Spiky Bugger]

We get two meals every other week from Hello Fresh. They ship to us by UPS. So far, we haven't had a meal we didn't like. They're fairly easy to put together and cook. I forgot to check one week and they sent me the two pre-picked meals. I was a little irritated at myself for missing the notice, but they turned out okay. The portions are just right my my DS stomach and DH's decreased serving sizes (due to age?). They save us from the "What's for dinner?" "I don't know." "You want me to get something to bring home.? "I don't care." Neither one of us are imaginative cooks, so at least we get to eat somewhat fancy.

My friend gets her meats from Butcher Box. She likes it because she doesn't want hormones and other stuff found at grocery stores.

It sounds very healthy. But, skeptic that I am, I like to decide when I buy USDA Choice or Prime beef. So I wonder how this non-US meat is “graded,” or if it is at all. Do you know?

 

[Spiky Bugger]

Well, some delivery companies have tracking, so you can see where they are. AxelHire does that, so you can see when their drivers turn the wrong way. Which they do. Often. FedEx tells me when my stuff is on the truck, so I watch that, too.

I’d probably have the same concerns. The way I look at it is that they wouldn’t try to do business in Las Vegas if they didn’t work this issue out. (We have a few warm days once in a while. Last year we got to 111°, pretty high here.) So, use a credit card that is very good about disputed charges, just in case. Try to deal with a company that will NOT offer a Friday delivery. We have had one “Friday” delivery that didn’t show until Monday. But our bank immediately accepted the dispute and the food delivery service…I don’t remember which…reversed that charge and applied an extra credit to our account.

EveryPlate’s (a really cheap intro, $1.99 & free shipping) cancellation policy on its FAQs page reads:
“Please note, if this is not done 5 days prior to your last delivery then you will get one more box that you have already paid for.”

BUT, their 92,000 page contract says:
“10.3 Deactivation Procedures.
Please note that the ability to change an order locks five days prior to your scheduled delivery date. Therefore, if you wish to deactivate your Account and/or cancel or change an order, you must do so before the day and time listed above for your respective delivery date. For example, if you have a scheduled delivery date on Tuesday, you have until Thursday at 11:59 PM PST to cancel your subscription. If you do so after the time listed for your delivery day, you will be charged and receive your Meal Box for that week, and the cancellation will take effect for the following Delivery Week.”

I forgot to add that they have “Premium” meals, which can add quite a bit to the prices. Suddenly, your $10 for two meals can cost $20. So we have to watch for that.

 

[Spiky Bugger]

And yet another tidbit…

Even if you don’t buy anything, most of these sites have the cooking directions free (for the price of a screenshot) on their websites. Those might be handy when you want part of the meal but don’t want to pay for a whole meal. So, since I can’t do regular pasta, most of my purchased meals have potatoes as a side dish. And carrots. And that’s boring after a while. So I might want to use their easy-to-follow recipe for the protein item and add the veggies of my choice.

 

[k9ophile]

It sounds very healthy. But, skeptic that I am, I like to decide when I buy USDA Choice or Prime beef. So I wonder how this non-US meat is “graded,” or if it is at all. Do you know?

I don't know anything about Butcher Block, just that my friend is satisfied. I prefer to get my meat where I can at least see the cut before I get it. I hate grocery shopping anyway. DH does most of it. He did mention a craving for pot roast. I was out and decided to get one. Sticker shock! I also noticed lots of holes on the shelves. I do find comfort in the fact that supply chains are just as crazy everywhere else in the world. I tend to think that the USA has more crazy people than other countries. It's nice to know the crazy is spread around the globe.

 

[Spiky Bugger]

So, this week’s delivery:

•gettin’ a little tired of carrots and potatoes. Next week we subbed out Brussels sprouts for one meal and asparagus for another. Total price increase was $2.

•we likely eat WAY TOO MUCH meat. (His dad was a butcher; meats DO NOT upset my stomach.) So the ground beef that was included to make individual meat loaves seemed skimpy to us, although by all known standards it was a sufficient amount. But 10 ounces of 85/15 ground beef, once the fat is rendered, will be 8.5 ounces. So we would each have a 4.125 ounce serving. I put that meat in the freezer and will use a one pound of ground beef from my expensive meat market. (Then I will have enough left over for lunch the next day!)

•he’s actually TRYING food he would never eat before. For 48 years, meats NEVER, EVER had anything that resembled a sweetened anything in or on them. No barbecue-type sauces; no applesauce near his pork chops; no glaze on his ham, etc. All of a sudden, he’s not only TRYING the pork chops with balsamic glaze and the chicken with lemon something on it. *He LIKES it. So it’s a good thing, but a good thing that makes me want to slap him around.

I imagine we will continue with this, maybe weekly, more likely every other week. I could produce the same thing cheaper. But it would require more planning and shopping, and probably throwing out the parts of bottles, etc that were not needed.

*ETA that he liked it.

 

[DianaCox]

We tried Freshly. Meh is all I can say. Too healthy I guess, but all precooked and just required warming up. Still have some in the freezer after 3 months because I still have no interest in eating them, even when there’s “nothing” else in the house.

 

[k9ophile]

•gettin’ a little tired of carrots and potatoes

I used to like carrots. I can't imagine ever getting tired of potatoes.