If your dietary goals include the words vegan, high protein, ketogenic, paleo, or Whole30, it can be challenging to find or prepare tasty meals that fit your needs. Meal delivery services can make it easy to eat healthy, convenient meals that are right for you.
One meal delivery option that is well suited to specific diets is Fresh N Lean. With seven plans covering options from keto and low carb to vegan and the Mediterranean diet, this is a solution that fits almost every lifestyle.
essential information
All meals come prepared.
High-protein, ketogenic and vegan options
Over 100 food options each week.
customizable order
Vacuum Sealed Recyclable Food Containers
Full nutritional information provided
Meals ready in less than three minutes
Includes breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack options.
Non-GMO
Up to 21 meals per delivery
Unlike more traditional meal kits like Blue Apron and Marley Spoon, which help you make your own dinner with portioned ingredients, each Fresh N Lean meal arrives fully cooked in a vacuum-sealed container, ready to heat in less of three minutes.
If you’re wondering what a week in the life of a Fresh N Lean subscriber looks like, we tested the service to see how everything from delivery to food taste to nutrition stacks up. Here’s what you need to know before you start a Fresh N Lean Food Subscription. And if you decide it’s not for you, our guide to the best meal delivery services has plenty more options.
Rates and delivery
When you sign up for Fresh N Lean, you’ll select a meal plan. Options include Protein+, Vegan, Whole30, Keto, Paleo, and Low-Carb. You’ll then select whether you want breakfast, lunch, dinner, or a combination, for five or seven days.
Cost varies by plan. For example, five days of three vegan meals a day costs $134.85, or $8.99 per meal. The same number of meals on the Protein+ plan costs $162.35 or $10.82 per meal.
Shipping is included in the price. The service is subscription based, although you can pause or cancel it at any time. You can also skip up to two weeks at a time, or opt for bi-weekly, three-weekly, or quadruple delivery if you don’t want a box every week. The cancellation deadline is Saturday midnight PST for the following week. You can cancel and pause your account online or by calling customer service.
The deadline to select your meals is the Friday before shipping at midnight PST.
Use of meal delivery service
The first step to becoming a Fresh N Lean customer is choosing your plan and the number of meals you want. If you prefer to mix and match plans, you can use the a la carte option.
From there, browse the extensive menu and fill your basket with meals. Fresh N Lean boxes arrive on Fridays, guaranteed on Saturday. You can select a different delivery day for an additional fee. Meals are vacuum sealed and arrive with ice packs.
The positive thing about the packaging is that the meals stay fresh longer than other meal kits. Meals stay fresh for seven to 10 days after delivery, or can be frozen for up to eight weeks. And when you’re ready to eat, you can pop the entire tray in the microwave or reheat the food on the stovetop or in the oven, according to label directions.
taste and nutrition
Fresh N Lean places an emphasis on offering nutritionally balanced meals that fit a variety of dietary needs. Meals are prepared weekly with fresh ingredients that are organic whenever possible.
These are on the healthier side of meals in the world of meal delivery, with most menu options having a protein, starch and vegetable formula. From the Vegan plan we tried the Vegetable Chicken with Roasted Zucchini with Herbs and Rice. The meal offers 22g of protein, thanks to the soy-based chicken substitute, which surprisingly resembled chicken. The squash needed more seasoning (the packaging suggests seasoning the food to taste with salt and pepper), but overall it was a hearty, healthy-tasting meal.
From the Protein+ plan, we tasted the Cajun Salmon with Yukon Potato and Spanish Rice. This meal contained 470 calories, 36 g of protein, 14 g of fat, and 50 g of carbohydrates. There was a generous serving of salmon that was seasoned with cajun flavor. However, it seemed a lot of starch to include rice and potatoes. We would have preferred something green.
Also from the vegan line, we tried a Beyond Meat bowl with plant-based meatballs, pasta and cauliflower. If you’re a fan of plant-based meat substitutes, this was a tasty and complete meal.
customer feedback
Long-term customers of Fresh N Lean appreciate that the service makes healthy eating as convenient as possible. As one reviewer puts it, “Eating the meals has made me feel healthier and more satisfied with my food choices, while also being extremely convenient.”
The service has a rating of 4.0 on trustpilot (opens in a new tab). The biggest complaints boil down to some wrong ordering and personal taste preferences.
Should you use Fresh N Lean?
If you’re looking for a meal solution to help you stick to a specific diet, Fresh N Lean makes it easy. There is an extensive menu offering and you can have almost every meal of the week delivered to your door, making this one of the most convenient meal delivery services on the market. And, if you live in a house with several different types of diners, it’s pretty easy to customize your box to meet those needs.
If this product is not for you
On the other hand, if you’re looking to improve your cooking skills and want a meal kit that can teach you a thing or two, the Marley Spoon is a great option. Subscription includes ingredients and step-by-step recipe cards to guide you through how to prepare a gourmet meal at home.
If you’re diving headfirst into vegan eating, give Purple Carrot a try. You can buy pre-made meals and home-cooked meals from this plant-based meal kit.
