60 Before 60 Project: #40 - Try a Pre-Packaged Meal Delivery Service

Whenever we cook at home, we have always bought the groceries and either cooked from memory or recipes.  

But recently, I received one of those amazing saving promotions from a prepackaged meal delivery service and thought this might be interesting to try.

Now, before I signed up, I did confirm that there wasn’t any long term contract that I would have to commit to as I didn’t want to get into something I couldn’t get out of. Turns out I could so I signed up for a couple of weeks. 

Here’s some of the pros and cons I of my experience. 

Pros 

Convenience: Perhaps the most obvious advantage of a prepackaged meal delivery services is the convenience. No grocery shopping, meal planning or major cooking prep required. The most difficult part was choosing the dinners we wanted to eat in advance. 

Time Saver: The meals arrived already pre-portioned and often ready to go. The spices were already packaged for the meal, the vegetables were often already primarily precut (for example broccoli or cauliflower were cut from their stalks). There was some prep required (for example cutting an onion or a pepper) but for the most part it was pretty much done.  

Taste: The majority of the meals we had were really delicious. Personally, I held back a bit on the spices as I knew they could be high in sodium but the food was still really tasty.

Portion Control: Portion sizes were already done. Now, we ate all the meals without any leftovers so if you’re looking for leftovers for the next day, unless you have a small appetite, I would suggest this likely won’t happen.  

Lots of Variety: There was a wide range of menu options choose from - vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free – all were offered.  

Reduced Food Waste:  Given I had ordered pretty close to a week’s worth of meals, our fridge was kept relatively bare of other items. Since ingredients are provided in the exact quantities required for each recipe, I had minimal food waste for the week. 

Cons: 

Cost: One of the primary drawbacks of most of these prepackaged meal delivery services is the cost. If I wasn’t running on a specific promotion, this service is quite a bit more expensive than purchasing ingredients and cooking meals from scratch. While the convenience factor may justify the price for some, it might not be financially viable for everyone. 

Culinary Skills ARE Required: Even though the ingredients were provided and relatively ready to go, you still need culinary skills to follow the recipe. I noted that for most of the meals I cooked, I had on average about 3 things happening at once. I was often boiling or baking something while combine other ingredients together (for example sour cream with lime juice and spices) all at the same time. Unlike what may be promoted, I had also had to refer to the recipe quite frequently so it didn’t just “poof” come together like magic. 

Packaging Waste: Prepackaged meals often come with a significant amount of packaging, including plastic containers, insulation materials, and ice packs. I did find I kept the ice packs and cooler box for possible reuse in the future. But to get this every week would be a lot. They do promote that it’s all recyclable, but it still seems like a lot. 

Reduced Control Over Ingredients: While prepackaged meal services can cater to various dietary preferences, the spice packages come already combined. For example, I noticed when I read the nutritional ingredients of one of the meals I choose the sodium content was extremely high. You really have to watch what you choose as well as any additional ingredients you may add yourself. Also, the calories can be quite high. I noticed that depending on what you choose, the meal could range from about 580 calories to around 800 calories. 

Subscription Service: You need to stay on top of this service. As it’s a subscription service, the meals will automatically come based on your profile choices. This means you need to know what the deadlines are in order to either skip or customize your meal choices. 

I did really enjoy the service.

I liked the fact that after I selected the meals online, I didn’t have to think too much about what we were going to have for dinner. I enjoyed the convenience of it arriving on my doorstep and not having to do significant grocery shopping for the week. I also really enjoyed the meals. I consciously choose a variety of different foods (have you tried farro before?) and different tastes (Moroccan for example) which was great. 

But in the end, I just couldn’t justify the cost of the service without the promotional pricing.

Possibly back when I was working full time and raising my kids and very short on time, this would have been a different decision. But for now, I decided I would rather save my money and spend it instead on another 60 Before 60 adventure. 

My 60 Before 60 Project Life Lesson: Convenience is great but it can come with a cost

Here are some pictures of some of the meals that I made;

Interested in seeing all my 60 Before 60 experiences? Click here.