I’ve Sampled Dozens of Meal Delivery Services, and Fresh N Lean Is Still the Best I’ve Tried – CNET

Cons

• Menu choices are largely preset, except for expensive a la carte plans
• Changing your meal plan requires a phone call or email
• Avoid the breakfast meals

Meal kits are ideal for people who want to cook but don’t care to do all the planning, shopping and prep. If cooking isn’t a hobby you’re interested in undertaking, or you’d like to do less of it, prepared meal delivery services send meals that are ready to heat and eat. The problem then becomes which meal delivery service to choose. By my count, there are now more than 30 meal subscription options with national reach. After tasting my way through nearly all of them, I’ve found that Fresh N Lean stands tall as the most consistent and healthy meal delivery service, with fair prices, an intuitive ordering platform and an impressive menu of excellent meals and snacks.

This meal subscription service is aimed at people who are looking to eat healthy, with plans for keto, paleo, organic and plant-based diets. Fresh N Lean is a mostly organic service. Unlike with a “cook it yourself” meal kit service, you’ll get premade and vacuum-sealed meals that are ready to eat and are sent to your door every week. 

When you sign up, you choose one of nine meal plans: Protein Plus, Keto, Paleo, Vegetarian, Standard Vegan, Low Carb Vegan, Mediterranean, Whole30 or a bulk plan that sends large portions of meats, veggies and grains for mixing and matching and DIY meal planning. Next, you’ll choose how many days per week you want meals (five or seven) and how many meals per day (breakfast, lunch and dinner or any combination of the three). You can easily change meal plans after you’ve signed up.

The price per meal doesn’t change regardless of whether you choose five or seven days of meals, but it does vary significantly based on how many meals per day you opt for. For instance, choose only dinners for the Protein Plus plan and it’ll be about $15 per meal but the price drops down to $10.82 per meal if you get breakfast, lunch and dinner for five days per week. 

How much does Fresh N Lean cost?

There are many pricing combinations, depending on the meal plan and frequency. Too many, perhaps. For a snapshot, Fresh N Lean meals start at around $8.49 when you pick three meals a day from the Standard Vegan plan. Keep in mind that would mean receiving 15 or 21 meals per week. If you choose just two meals per day for five days a week (10 meals total) the price jumps to $10.50. Meal plans with meat are about a dollar more per meal.

If you want meals with meat, it’ll be about $13 per meal for two meals per day (10 or 14 meals per week) and closer to $15 per meal if you choose only one meal per day (five or seven total meals per week). So, yeah, the more you order the cheaper it gets, but don’t forget that trick I mentioned about scheduling bi-weekly boxes instead of every week. Our little secret.

Now for the fun part. I tested two more weeks’ worth of Fresh N Lean meals, all of which were preselected for me. This is in addition to a previous round of testing, where I tried another 12 meals. In both deliveries of meals, I found all of them to be, at the very least, good and most were better than that. Proteins were all cooked well and not rubbery, stringy or tough. Even seafood dishes such as salmon filets and shrimp didn’t taste overcooked or mealy.

Overall, Fresh N Lean had the best-tasting meals of any service I’ve tried, and it’s not particularly close. My food was all fresh and the meats were (mostly) cooked nicely and not dry or tough. The same goes for vegetables, which were rarely mushy — an issue I’ve encountered often in these tests.

Tofu with shitake mushrooms and cauliflower fried rice: Tofu from meal delivery services is often tough and inedible. Fresh N Lean’s is silky smooth and completely delicious.

Chili-lime tofu with rice and broccoli: Being a harsh tofu critic, I had extremely low expectations for this one, but it ended up working well. Both the broccoli and tofu had the right texture — not mushy or tough — which isn’t always easy to do, and the flavors were bright and balanced. 

Vegan cheese taco bowl with rice: This was true vegan comfort food. The plant-based cheese melted exactly like dairy cheese and the medium spice level was right on the money.

Braised beef with vegetables and coconut-cilantro sauce: This was one of the best prepared meals I’ve tried from any service. The beef was restaurant-tender, and all the flavors worked. It was the only one that didn’t look so appealing, but once I dug in, I couldn’t have cared less.

Citrus marinated shrimp with squash and mushrooms: I’m always worried that the seafood from a prepared meal service is going to be scary. This shrimp still had its snap, and the keto side dish was simple but satisfying.

Chicken breast with cremini mushrooms and tomatoes over rice: This meal had really nice flavor and reminded me of a light chicken cacciatore, and the veggies were cooked nicely. My one complaint is the chicken breast was a tad dry. 

Turkey breast with cauliflower, cranberry and celery hash: An obvious nod to Thanksgiving. I was surprised at how tender the turkey breast was and assume it must have been prepared sous vide. The flavors were mild but classic, and it proved to be a very solid meal. 

Breakfast meals are the only weak spot