Factor’s meal delivery service helped me lose weight this year and I’m now convinced it’s the best meal delivery service for me — beyond that, I’ve really come to appreciate these meal delivery kits and how much they can simplify and improve wellness.
I’m not proud to admit it, but I can’t really cook. I can make some simple dishes, but my New York City kitchen would complicate cooking for even an expert chef. And so I’ve resorted to ordering out way more than I should — a habit that’s neither healthy nor economical.
I never considered meal kits before reading our guide to meal kit delivery services, where I learned about services that delivered pre-cooked meals. Previously, I thought all kits only provided portioned out ingredients — so you still had to cook yourself while still paying a premium. I felt that there was significantly more value in the pre-cooked kits, especially since they’re more geared toward nutrition than much of what you’ll find in the frozen section of the supermarket.
When I saw Factor’s meal kits among our meal kit recommendations, I decided to give them a try. Since they offered a large discount on the first few boxes (they’re currently offering a combined $90 off your first three boxes), it seemed worth a shot. Turns out, I’ve loved the meals so much, I’d recommend them even at full price. The chef-prepared chilled (not frozen) meals have been tasty, nutritious and easy to prepare — they’re done after just a couple minutes in the microwave.
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Factor Meal Delivery Kits
When you first purchase your subscription, you can choose between the Chef’s Choice, Keto, Calorie Smart and Vegan and Veggie options. Then, you pick how many meals per week you want, ranging from four to 18 meals per box — the more you buy, the cheaper the cost per meal.
- Four meals per week costs $15 per meal (after the initial discount ends)
- While 18 meals per week costs $11 per meal
Once you’ve set up the subscription, you can choose your meals from the weekly menu up until a week before the shipment. Some of my personal favorites are the Green Chile Chicken and the Pork Shepherd’s Pie.
Each menu option lists its ingredients, common allergens and nutrition facts, so you can pick meals that work for your dietary restrictions or diet plans. Once you receive your box, the fresh meals can keep in the fridge for up to a week (or longer in the freezer), and it takes two minutes to cook meals in the microwave.
Factor has been a life-saver for me. The food is easy and quick to prepare, but it’s also helped me regulate my nutrition. I’ve actually lost about five pounds after a couple of months being on the plan without drastically changing my workout routine or lifestyle otherwise. And the meals are filling enough to where I don’t feel like I’m dieting — if anything, the food I eat now is tastier and more fresh than what I had eaten previously.
Some weeks, there will be one meal that’s a bit of a stinker, but as I’ve gotten to know the menu options more, I can pick my favorites when they cycle through the menu that week. If you have a tree nut allergy like I do, your options are a bit more limited — they use tree nuts in a lot of meals, even in ones you wouldn’t expect like Creamy Parmesan Chicken. I’ve still been able to fill my box every week, but you should definitely check the ingredients for every meal if you have an allergy.
Other meal delivery kits to consider
Whether you want a kit that’s more sensitive to dietary restrictions or one where you do the actual cooking, here are a few Select-recommended options from our guide to meal delivery kits.
BistroMD Meal Delivery Kits
BistroMD has a list of over 150 meals you can choose from to build your plan — they offer Signature, Gluten-free, Heart Healthy, Diabetic and Menopause programs. For an additional fee, you can also add on the EATS (Essential and Tasty Snacks) program for healthy snacks. The plan is more individualized to one person’s dietary needs, so feeding multiple people might be an issue. But because the plan is “doctor-designed” and “more medically therapeutic than most other companies,” said Lisa Moskovitz, a registered dietitian and CEO of NY Nutrition Group in our guide to meal kits, it might work for someone with specific dietary restrictions.
Blue Apron Meal Delivery Kits
Blue Apron is more like a traditional meal delivery kit. You receive portioned out ingredients and do the actual cooking yourself. Ben Leonard, a chef with online cooking class platform Homemade, told us beginner chefs could use this kit to “learn from the beginning and hone their basic skills” in our guide to meal kits. You’ll only receive two to four recipes per week, but each recipe makes two to four servings, depending on your plan. You can choose between the Signature plan, Vegetarian plan and Wellness plan.
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