Freshly™ Cooks & Delivers Meals for Easy Date Nights at Home

The Short Version: A Freshly subscription gives busy singles, couples, and families access to a menu of healthy and affordable meals. Its pre-made dishes range from 300 to 650 calories and provide optimum nutritional value without sacrificing taste. Freshly can offer fresh, chef-prepared meals that make it easy for couples to arrange at-home dinner dates and skip the restaurant scene.

Before the days of lockdowns and social distancing, my boyfriend and I used to eat out so regularly that local waiters knew us on sight. Meeting at a restaurant was a convenient and fun way to unwind during a lunch break or after work. Then the coronavirus pandemic changed everything.

Suddenly my boyfriend and I started working from home full time, and our favorite restaurants became takeout-only. We relied primarily on takeout to sustain us at first. However, as the weeks wore on, it became clear that we’d be working at home and dining at home for a long while, so we began looking for healthier and less expensive eating habits.

Freshly offers a healthy and easy alternative to wining and dining someone at a restaurant.

My boyfriend and I don’t feel at home in the kitchen, so we looked outside the home-cooking box for solutions that could fit our lifestyle and our budget. That’s how Freshly got on our radar.

Freshly delivers pre-made meals to singles, couples, and families who don’t want to go to a restaurant or spend hours cooking at home. A subscription can offer as few as four and as many as 12 meals per week, and prices start at $8.49 per meal.

Instead of struggling in the kitchen or ordering takeout, people can subscribe to Freshly and bring nutritious, affordable, and freshly prepared meals to their doors.

Over the last year, Freshly has seen a significant increase in requests from people who are working from home and need quick, low-calorie meals to power through the day. Whether you’re having lunch at work or planning an intimate dinner date, you can rely on Freshly to give you everything you need to enjoy a savory and healthful meal.

“Freshly can replace relying on takeout or resorting to snacking or cereal for dinner,” said Shara Seigel, the Director of Public Relations at Freshly. “It’s great for the days and nights when you’re burnt out, literally don’t have time or energy, or are simply striving to eat better.”

Adults who work part-time or full-time jobs typically don’t have the time or energy to cook a healthy meal three times a day, so they can rely on snacks, fast food, skipped meals, and other unhealthy options to get by.

Freshly was founded in 2012 by Mike Wystrach and Carter Comstock to give working professionals a healthier way to plan their meals. The idea started when Mike, who was an investment banker, wanted to lose weight but struggled to find affordable, convenient, and tasty ways to do so.

Freshly meals are not frozen and can be ready in under five minutes.

Mike and Carter put their heads together to create a weekly subscription service that could offer easy-to-make meals packed with nutritional value. These meals are delivered fresh — not frozen — and can be heated up in the microwave, in the oven, or on the stove within minutes.

Freshly has dairy-free, peanut-free, and gluten-free options to accommodate people with dietary restrictions. Its chefs put out a weekly updated menu with over 30 meals available, and customers can pick their favorites. The menu offers healthy twists on traditional comfort food and takeout dishes, including chicken parmesan, turkey meatballs, mac and cheese, and peppercorn steak.

The Freshly team aims to provide good nutrition and good flavor in every bite by getting a little creative in the kitchen. Its meals cut out sugary and processed foods in favor of more wholesome vegetables and proteins.

Customers can order up to 12 meals per week for $8.49 per meal, plus shipping. This option is perfect for couples and families with big appetites and serious health goals.

Couples can store Freshly’s chef-prepared meals in the fridge for about four or five days. All it takes is three minutes of microwaving, and these meals are good to go, so at-home date nights no longer have to be such a headache.

“At this point, many of us are over quarantine cooking,” Shara said. ” Freshly provides a new wave of grab-and-go-style lunch options that support the at-home workforce. They require no prep, and don’t skimp on nutrition or taste.”

All Freshly meals are intended as single-serving dishes, but couples can always order seconds of a particular dish if they want to share it on a dinner date. The 10 meals per week plan is a great option for couples who want to take the stress out of dinnertime during the work week and stick to a health-conscious diet.

Freshly is a step up from frozen dinners or even takeout meals because its ready-to-eat meals feature fresh, healthy ingredients and are incredibly simple to make. Thanks to Freshly, daters don’t need to put in much effort to prepare a wonderfully healthy and tantalizing meal.

“There are simple hacks that go a long way,” Shara told us. “Couples can eat the meals off a plate versus in the tray, add fresh herbs and garnish, pair it with wine, or set the table with flowers to upgrade their experience for a date night.”

Making an appetizing lunch or dinner doesn’t have to be time-consuming and costly.

Freshly has gotten a lot of positive attention for disrupting the food industry and providing healthy alternatives to fast food, takeout, and frozen TV dinners. Its most glowing reviews tend to come from single adults and couples who work full time and want to save themselves the effort of having to cook every day.

“With Freshly, I don’t have to think about what I’m going to eat for lunch each day,” said a Freshly subscriber named Cindi. “I feel good knowing that I’m eating a healthy meal. I love the convenience!”

A HuffPost writer named Caroline Thompson tried Freshly for two months and recommended it to busy professionals like herself. “The service made meal time effortless, which is what I needed,” Caroline said. “Knowing that I always had a tasty, healthy meal waiting for me in the fridge at home stopped me from ordering in as often, and it saved me from wasting money at the grocery store.”

“The price is comparable to Blue Apron,” said a single woman in Oregon in a ConsumerAffairs review. “As someone who normally is working full time and is a full-time grad student, it is worth it to me to use a meal service, and it is certainly cheaper than eating fast food or having food delivered every night.”

Cooking at home takes a lot of time, preparation, and effort, especially if you’re trying to stay on the healthy side. My boyfriend and I had to give up our restaurant ways during the pandemic, and that’s been overall good news for our monthly budget and long-term health.

A Freshly subscription can be a game changer for couples who, like my boyfriend and I, are hankering for healthier and easier dinner date options while stuck at home. These ready-made meals don’t require customers to add any extra ingredients or spend hours of prep time, so it’s a quick and easy way to get more vegetables and nutrients into your diet.

“The future of food is health and convenience,” Shara told us. “As we head into the New Year, we’ll be focused on introducing menu options to help customers meet their health and wellness goals.”