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Freshly Subscription Box Review + 30% Off Coupon – August 2016

Eric Cadman
ByEric CadmanMar 22, 2017 | 17 comments

FreshlyAugust2016-001

Freshly
3.4 overall rating
18 Ratings | 6 Reviews

Freshly is a gourmet prepared food subscription service that is designed to help people eat healthier without taking the time to prepare. They send out 6, 9, 12, or 21 chef-prepared meals weekly.

Freshly delivers meals that are all natural and gluten free. Each meal is made with no refined sugars, high-quality protein, and nutrient-dense veggies.

This box was sent to us at no cost for review. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)

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The Subscription Box:  Freshly

The Cost: Plans vary. They start at $69 (6 meals) and go up to $229.00 (21 meals) per week - shipping included.

You can also skip the week's shipment 4 days in advance.

ACTIVE DEAL: Use code LAUNCH15 to get $60 off your first four meals
CODE: LAUNCH15

Ships To: Us Only. More specifically, Freshly currently ships to these states:

  • Arizona
  • California
  • Oregon
  • Washington
  • Idaho
  • Utah
  • Nevada
  • Colorado
  • New Mexico
  • Texas
  • Missouri
  • Oklahoma
  • Arkansas
  • Kansas
  • Louisiana
  • Virginia
  • Georgia
  • South Carolina
  • North Carolina
  • Tennessee
  • Illinois
  • Missouri

Check out all of my Freshly reviews to get more information on this subscription. Check out all of our Food Subscription Boxes in the Subscription Box List. Rate, review, and follow this subscription on the Freshly profile page.

FreshlyAugust2016-003

This was a joint review by myself and Emily! We tried 6 meals. They're all prepared and ready to eat with just 2 minutes in the microwave.

The 6 meals arrived in one big box - all surrounded by ice packs. The plastic seals on each meal were tight and sealed the food very well. Everything arrived in great condition and intact.

The instructions for piercing the plastic seal was a bit vague so we stuck with the same strategy for each meal. I punctured each separate section of the container 4 times. We microwaved each meal for 2 minutes on high.

Every meal cooked through perfectly and even. Even the thickest part of the meat was heated as expected.

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Paleo Porridge

Our first meal was our only breakfast selection, also the only selection that was vegan, so Emily taste-tested this with me as well!

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Here's a look at the packaging for the porridge. Freshly's food has never been the best looking in the package - but they have made some positive changes since we last tried them. They are now sectioning off meal portions so it doesn't all run together - we'll examples of this in the next 5 meals.

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You can eat the meal from the microwavable container, or plate it and serve!

Emily and I really liked this porridge. I found it a bit bland at first, but when I had a bite with the included diced apple - it was delicious! I would suggest adding more apple like we did, to top the bowl, in these pictures!

It had the perfect amount of sweetness for us - which meant that it wasn't overwhelming. The only downside for us was the calorie count - which came in at 860 calories.

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Jerk Chicken

The next meal was this sweet/spicy chicken dinner. This turned out to be my absolute favorite of the day!

This meal comes in at 390 calories.

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Here's a shot of the packaging. I love how they have this separated now - in the past, it was one container which allowed the food to mix together in shipping - this looks better and had a better end product, in my opinion.

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The rice side dish is a cauliflower rice - and it was delicious! Both the rice and the chicken had just a little kick of spice, which I loved.

The mix of the spice and mango pieces was really a treat! It wasn't too sweet, but it was just the right amount to cut the spice and make it super enjoyable. I highly recommend giving this meal a try for your next delivery!

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Chicken Rustica

The next meal was our 2nd of 3 chicken meals of the group. This was much less spicy - I would compare it to a chicken parmigiana meal.

This meal comes in at 390 calories.

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This meal included a side of cauliflower and one piece of chicken with sauce.

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This meal was perfect for me since I was raised in an Italian family!

The cauliflower has a bit of sweetness that was a welcome surprise to me - it also kept a bit of its crunchiness even after 2 minutes in the microwave. The chicken really reminds me of an unbreaded chicken parmigiana meal. My surprise favorite inclusion in the sauce were the mushrooms - they were extra delicious!

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Honey Dijon Pork

This was the one meal that I was skeptical that I'd like. I'm just not a big pork fan - and especially not cuts of pork - so I went into expecting not to like it.

This meal comes in at 420 calories.

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Easily the most colorful meal of the day!

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The side for this meal was red cabbage. There were no real surprises here - if it was seasoned, it was mild. While I'm not the biggest cabbage fan in general, this was still pretty good - especially mixed with honey dijon.

I liked the pork much more than I thought I would. I do love honey dijon sauce so that absolutely helped with my acceptance of the pork. The pork was a bit harder to cut through, as expected - but the taste, when mixed with the honey dijon, was fantastic. There were a couple little currants in the sauce as well - I couldn't really tell if they added anything to the taste, though - the honey dijon was the overriding taste of this dish!

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Cod Romesco

Our second to last meal was our only fish dish. This was another meal that had me skeptical. I like cod, but usually only when breaded.

This meal came in at 430 calories.

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The cod was on a bed of cauliflower and served with another sauce that reminded me of a parmigiana sauce.

The green bean side was really good - nothing too special, but the beans didn't become too soggy when microwaving, so I thought that was a win.

This plate had a similar taste to the Chicken Rustica. The cod was better than expected. Good taste, but not overwhelming.

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Sweet & Spicy Chicken

Our last meal was also a chicken meal. This sweet and spicy chicken lived up to its name!

This meal came in at 400 calories.

FreshlyAugust2016-012

The last meal was also the first meal with broccoli - which I love, so I came into this meal with some excitement.

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The broccoli and rice was pretty basic - no added flavor or anything - which is alright with me, I enjoyed it!

The chicken was incredible! The sauce was a perfect mix of sweet and spicy for me - and extra good when you could get a cashew in your bite of chicken. I think I'd add extra cashews to this meal in the future.

Verdict: Emily and I were very impressed with Freshly. In only 2 minutes, I had a delicious and healthy meal - it's a great way to have a quick and delicious meal without taking the time to prepare it. It's not the best looking meal in the packaging, but they were all above my expectations in taste - and that's all that really matters for me! Each meal was easily plated and served for a more formal look, as well!

What do you think of Freshly? Do you have a favorite meal?

Starting at $45.96
Active Deal
Use code LAUNCH15 to get $60 off your first four meals
Use Coupon Code LAUNCH15
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Freshly is a prepared meal delivery subscription that offers over 30 different meals that you can heat and eat in 3 minutes or less. It’s one of the few meal subscription services that not only tastes better than its competitors but is also made with less sugar than standard subscriptions. Developed... read more.
Eric Cadman
Eric Cadman
Eric is the co-founder of My Subscription Addiction. He's been hooked on geek subscription boxes since 2012 thanks to Loot Crate and Nerd Block. Geek boxes sparked his desire for collecting Funko Pops and comic book statues!

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17 comments

Linda

Although the quality of the food you’re getting at Burger King is CRAP whereas what is in that porridge actually is fuel for your body… That’s food for thought, right,??

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TK

We’ve been getting these meals for 3 weeks now and have no complaints. They arrive well chilled in good condition. Every one has been delicious. Of course, there are some we enjoy more than others. At $12 per meal, it might seem expensive but there’s no shopping or cooking involved and the meals are generally healthy. We will definitely continue to get these meals. I just hope they offer new things so we don’t get tired of eating the same things.

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Jennifer

I <3 Freshly. The convenience, the deliciousness, the semi-freshness (better than any other package that's gone into my microwave)… did I mention the YUM factor? 😀 On the down side, it's pretty loaded with sodium. If they would take out half the sodium, it would still be more than I should eat, but I bet the dish would still be just as tasty. I plan to continue my subscription though (unless it affects my water retention/weight), because like I said I love it.

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Jennifer McDonald

Are they no longer offering the 50% discount you have listed? I tried it with the 6 meal and again with the 9 meal and it states it is not available. 🙁

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nursermk

One little bowl of porridge, 860 calories? I don’t get it, except maybe nuts and butter in the prep? If these portions were two servings I could justify the cost. But ease of prep and someone who has limited time to make meals AND not on a budget it may be worth it. I remember when they first started putting nutritional info on food and learning my favorite Maple nut muffin at Costco was 1080 calories and 65 grams of fat for one muffin. I shed a tear that day as me and the muffin parted ways!

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Lisa

Can you get a one time order instead of a recurring subscription? I’m disabled an struggle to make healthy meals. So this sounds like a good alternative for days when I’m not well enough to cook. Also how long will these stay good in the freezer?

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christopher vaughan

You have to signup for a subscription, but you can immediately pause your orders for the next four weeks if you want to just try the first one out first. or cancel after you get the first order. it’s not an obligation type service. no contract.

on the freezer part, I’ve kept meals in my freezer for up to 3 weeks with no issues. they still taste delicious! it’s fresh food, fully cooke, so they last as long as anything else you’d cook and put in the freezer.

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Eric

I don’t believe they do one-time orders. You can skip weeks if you do it 4 days or more before your weekly shipment. From what I can tell, the meals aren’t meant to be frozen, but refrigerated. They arrive pretty fresh, not frozen – so you’d keep them in the fridge. These meals arrived August 18th and had an expiration date of August 23rd.

Hope this helps!

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chris

The apples look really delicious with the Paleo Porridge. I have found in the past that Freshly does an especially good job on dishes with mushrooms in them.

I think this subscription is a little pricey, but makes sense for some people. It would especially be good for someone in an office who wants to eat healthfully but doesn’t have time to get away for lunch. Today, I spent almost $12 on a bowl of tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch because I didn’t have time to bring anything to work with me. If I did that somewhat regularly this would have been a much better option especially since I bet this could be delivered directly to my office.

I also think this subscription is good to gift to someone who is homebound (for example temporarily disabled, sick, elderly, etc.) and who can’t easily make meals for themselves, but yet you want to make sure is getting regular healthy food. (No, I don’t work for Freshly. I am just a fan of this concept in general.)

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Heathery

Am I the only one who scoffs at $70 for 6 one-serving frozen TV dinners? That’s over $11 per meal. I realize they’re supposed to be healthier than what you can buy in the frozen section at a grocery store, but that seems very high.

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Tilllia

Check out MealTimeBox. Same concept. Better price. Restaurant type meals ready to nuke. And they do have a trial box along w/ different meal plans that are very flexible. I have been using them for months and love them. Great customer service too.

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Dawn S

I do agree with you. But I do enjoy Hello Fresh personally and it comes out to be about the same price but the portions and fresh made seem to make it easier to swallow. Plus I have learned a lot of new techniques and ways to cook things from Hello Fresh.

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Karol

Totally agree. My go-to is Home Chef. I can justify $10/plate because I like the freshness of just-made food. Was hoping for something more with Freshly than I could get ready-made at the store. It was good to be able to try Freshly for $39/6 meals but even then, they didn’t appeal to my taste. I canceled.

Dawn S

Oh my word the calorie count on the Paleo Porridge is crazy! I can have a Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese for 780. (I cannot even finish a regular Quarter Pounder which is 540) Or 6 ounces of Doritos!That is just mind blowing to me….860 for Porridge with apples. Wow.

On the other hand the other food looks very good and a reasonable amount of calories for a meal.

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Stephanie

860 healthy calories and healthy fats with no processed carbohydrates. The amount of Omega 3’s alone will kill the bad cholesterol from those nasty fast food burgers.

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Jackie

I know, I was thinking along the same lines. I can’t imagine wasting that many calories on 1 meal unless it was something I obsessively love (mac and cheese, or pizza or something awful for you).

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Dawn S

Totally agree 🙂