Try as I might to eat healthy on my own I have realized this year that I could use all the help I can get in this department. I want to eat healthier, but the idea of cooking a separate meal for myself or taking the time to prepare something that my kids probably won’t like just doesn’t sound appealing. So I started looking for other alternatives and came across Freshly and Evolve.
Two boxed meal delivery services that promise chef-prepared meals that only require a quick few minutes in the microwave to prepare. I wanted to give them both a try and really compare them side by side to find out which one would truly be a great fit for me. Hopefully, this will help you as well if you are on the fence about which meal service to chose or you would like to know what they are really all about!
Here are the five areas I really wanted to compare:
User-Friendly Website
Menu
Taste
Affordability
Customer Service
Let’s first dive into Freshly:
Website:
While the site is easy to navigate, I found when it came to choosing the meals the layout wasn’t very user-friendly. The pictures of the meals were all done in a different style and it made it difficult to pick out what I wanted. It just felt like a very cluttered layout.
Also if you are on a specific diet you will have to click on every meal to find out what it’s made with or if it would suit your dietary needs. This can be a bit of a pain.
Menu:
While I feel Freshly provides plenty of options I was kind of expecting a longer list to choose from, I also feel while there are other options than chicken, the menu is very chicken heavy.
Taste:
Once I received the meals I was very excited by the pictures on the front of each meal, but quickly realized while some of the meals were represented well in the pictures, some ended up being very different than the picture. Case in point: The Chicken Tikka Masala. Be sure to check out my video for more on that! Overall I would say most of the meals I received were pretty good. I did have a couple that I was disappointed by though and when you are spending $8-$11 on these meals you really want to be able to say that you loved them all.
Affordability:
This was my biggest drawback with Freshly. While it can be affordable it all depends on which meal plan you sign up for. The more you buy = the more you save. As someone with commitment issues I really just wanted an à la carte option so I could try the meals first before buying into a big commitment. The smallest meal plan is four meals at $11.49 a meal. I also felt like the portions were small. I was left still feeling a bit hungry, which wasn’t a problem, but I do feel they could beef up the portions just a little bit.
Customer Service:
Freshly offers a detailed FAQ to answer any questions you might have before or after ordering. Also on the bottom right-hand corner of Freshly’s site, you can find a customer chat and speak to someone directly. I never personally encountered any issues so I didn’t use this feature, but I’ve heard their customer service is great if you have any issues or questions.
Overall impression:
If I had to give Freshly an overall grade I would give them a B. A huge downside for me is being locked into a meal plan service that I will continuously be charged for. I like flexibility and when I first try something out I like to be able to do a “taste test”. I also wasn’t thrilled by all of the meals and that was definitely disappointing.
Now let’s move onto Evolve:
Website:
I found Evolve’s website very easy to navigate. Right on the homepage, you can navigate to the subscription plans or the à la carte options. I also loved the transparency of prices being shown right on the homepage, you immediately see what you’re getting. You can also see the different lifestyle options they offer such as: Paleo, Keto, Evolve 30, and Primal.
Menu:
I absolutely love that Evolve offers so much more than just entrées! Evolve even has breakfast, snacks, and grab & go options! This makes it easier to customize meals for your whole day. à la carte options make it easy to pick and choose your meals and even order your favorites any time you want. If you do a meal plan your meals are chosen for you, unless you prefer to be surprised I would go the à la carte way. Evolves meal selection is very comprehensive and offers many different options. While I like chicken I am a big fan of beef and pork so I was happy to see how many dishes these were included in. Oh! And they have chocolate chip cookies on the menu! For those with certain diet restrictions, you will love that you can cater the meals to what you need.
Taste:
I really enjoyed the flavors in all the dishes I tried and the ingredients really did seem very fresh. I definitely preferred the vegetable sides that came with the Evolve meals as opposed to the Freshly since most of the vegetables were whole and very fresh. I am very picky when it comes to meat, especially chicken; I don’t like to come across chewy bits, so I was very happy with the quality of the meat in the meals. It all seemed to be hand-picked for consistency. Flavorful is definitely a great way to describe the Evolve meals, you don’t have to worry or settle for basic or bland with Evolve.
Affordability:
When it comes to affordability you have to take into consideration that these meals are being delivered right to your door and are chef-prepared. It’s basically like having your own personal chef and as most of us know that’s usually reserved for the stars or the rich and famous. With meals starting at $5.75 you definitely can’t go wrong with Evolve. If you go à la carte it’s really easy to stay within your budget! Be sure to look out for promotions too! Often you can get a percentage off your total and free shipping.
Customer Service:
Evolve also offers a detailed FAQ and a customer chat to speak to someone directly. One thing I did notice that was different was in the chatbox you can track your last order which I thought was really cool. Evolve is definitely ready to make eating healthy super easy and convenient.
Overall impression:
If I had to give Evolve an overall grade I would definitely give them an A. I love the flexibility of ordering à la carte and it was very easy to find the meals I wanted and I loved how every meal tasted and the high quality of the ingredients. Everyone could use a break when it comes to cooking and I feel Evolve is a great solution!
If you’re looking for a great meal delivery service I would highly recommend Evolve. Head over here to check them out!
This post was sponsored by Evolve; as always we only promote products we love and all opinions are our own.
Check out my video below for a deeper look at each service:
