Having your fridge stocked with ready-to-eat meals is such a huge blessing in the modern-day busy lifestyle that people willingly pay to have prepared meals delivered to their doorstep.
But, sadly, vegans lack choices in this area of food as well. Things are beginning to change, though.
Freshly, a New York-based prepared meal delivery service has taken the lead in bringing change by launching a range of 100% vegan meals.
Categorized as the ‘Purely Plant Menu’, Freshly vegan options were introduced in the last quarter of 2021, and the move was (of course) appreciated in the vegan community.
According to the company, Freshly vegan meals are prepared using whole-food ingredients. But, what make Freshly truly stand out from other meal delivery services is that their meals are ready-to-eat and are delivered fresh, not frozen.
The company also claims that their plant-based meals are designed by nutritionists, so you can rest assured that they meet your everyday nutrient requirements. Sounds like your kind of meal service?
Let’s look at the Freshly vegan menu to find out all the options available.
Freshly Vegan Meal Options
There aren’t too many vegan options at Freshly, but the few choices that they offer are great-tasting and filling. Here’s what you can choose from:
- Unwrapped Salsa Verde Burrito
- Farmstead Baked Lentil Pasta
- Indian-Spiced Chickpea Curry Bowl
- Three-Grain Harvest Bowl
- Oven-Baked Sweet Potato Cakes
Freshly Vegan Options – A Detailed Overview
Let’s dig a little deeper into the Freshly vegan menu to find out what each of these meals is made of:
Unwrapped Salsa Verde Burrito
Imagine a rich, hearty burrito packed with a delicious combination of flavors and textures.
This plant-based meal from Freshly brings you all that in a bowl instead of stuffed in a tortilla.
The vegan burrito bowl is made with Freshly’s signature Purely Plant meat crumbles, prepared with yellow peas, pinto beans, mushrooms, and a bunch of spices, roasted sweet potato, bell peppers, carrots, black beans, and pinto beans.
These are topped with green chile, cilantro, and tomatillo for some more flavor and a kick of spice. Here’s the complete list of ingredients for this Freshly vegan burrito bowl:
Farmstead Baked Lentil Pasta
It isn’t easy to find a pasta dish that’s not only plant-based but is also gluten-free, healthy, and great tasting. But, this Freshly’s Farmstead Baked Lentil Pasta checks all the boxes.
The pasta is made with lentils and brown rice and is cooked with a range of vegetables, including butternut squash, carrots, mushrooms, broccoli, green chickpeas, and creamy marinara sauce.
Don’t let the word creamy here confuse you. The tomato sauce gets its creaminess from cashew butter and coconut milk. It’s 10% vegan.
Want to look at the ingredients list for this healthy pasta dish from Freshly? Here you go:
Indian-Spiced Chickpea Curry Bowl
For those who like a kick of spice in their food, Freshly offers a chickpea curry bowl cooked with traditional Indian spices, including turmeric, garam masala, ginger, lime, cilantro, and coriander.
Coconut milk is added to balance the spices and add a creamy texture to the curry.
The bowl includes plant protein, made with brown lentils and chickpeas, and Indian yellow curry made with chickpeas, lentils, and vegetables over a bed of basmati rice.
Here’s what other ingredients in this Indian-flavored curry bowl are:
Three-Grain Harvest Bowl
This fibre-rich, delicious vegan bowl includes a mix of brown rice, buckwheat, and quinoa topped with a mix of vegetables, lentils, and chickpeas, an herby dressing made with cilantro, ginger, garlic, turmeric, and toasted almond slices.
The veggies used in this vegan Freshly meal include onions, broccoli, sweet potato, mushrooms, and Brussels sprouts.
It’s light yet filling and bursting with natural flavors. Here’s the ingredients list for Freshly Three-Grain Harvest Bowl:
Oven-Baked Sweet Potato Cakes
If you like sweet potatoes, you would love this Freshly vegan meal starring baked sweet potato cakes.
These are made with an interesting combination of natural ingredients, including sweet potatoes (of course), black beans, brown rice, corn, bell peppers, and a bunch of spices, like garlic, cumin, and paprika.
The sweet potato cakes are served with turmeric-spiced rice cooked with onions and bell peppers and come topped with spicy mole sauce.
Here’s what else is added to this mouthwatering vegan meal:
Important
There’s a dish on Freshly’s menu called Middle Eastern Falafel. It’s labelled as plant-based, but it’s not vegan because it contains honey.
This is exactly why experienced vegans emphasize checking the ingredients list of every food item because we know that labels can be misleading, just like in this Freshly plant-based meal.
Another important thing to note here is that all the Freshly plant-based meals come with the disclaimer that they are prepared in the same facilities where non-vegan meals are cooked.
This means there is a potential risk for cross-contamination. If this goes against your vegan commitment, you may want to avoid Freshly meals altogether.
Freshly Menu FAQs
● What type of plans does Freshly offer?
Freshly offers five different weekly plans, allowing you to choose from 4 to 12 meals per week,
● How much does Freshly cost per month?
Freshly meals are individually priced, so the exact cost of your plan varies depending on what dishes you choose to get.
However, the meals start from as low as $8.99, and you tend to get a better price by ordering more meals per week. As they say on their website, the bigger your box, the more you’ll save.
● Where does Freshly deliver?
Freshly may be based in New York, but they deliver throughout the lower 48. While Freshly guarantees delivery within 48 hours to most locations, there are some areas where it may take longer to deliver.
● How long do Freshly meals last?
Since Freshly meals are delivered fresh, and not frozen, they have a refrigerated shelf life of three to five days. However, as stated on their website, you can extend their life by storing them in the freezer.
When reheating frozen Freshly meals, the company recommends not to thaw them before reheating. Pop your frozen Freshly meal into the microwave directly from the freezer.
● Does Freshly have vegetarian options?
Yes. In fact, the vegetarian options were added to the Freshly menu long before the vegan choices. In addition to the vegan options discussed above vegetarians can get the following meat-free meals from Freshly:
- Sautéed French Green Beans
- Masterful Mash
- Masterful Mac & Cheese
- Hearty Veggie Bolognese
- Creamy Mushroom Risotto
Conclusion – Are Freshly Meals Worth Ordering?
In my opinion, yes. Freshly vegan meals are at least worth giving a try, especially if you have a busy lifestyle and you don’t even get time for (or hate) meal prepping.
Freshly meals are not only plant-based, but they are also fresh and healthy, making them a great alternative to calorie-rich fast food options.
Freshly meals are also great for those who’re looking to control their portion size, as most of them come in single-serving packages.
The only downside of a Freshly meal delivery service is that the plant-based options are quite limited, so you may get bored of eating the same foods after a while (I hope they add more options to their vegan menu soon).
To sum up, if you’re a vegan who’s also looking to eat healthier and practise portion control, Freshly meal a delivery service is a good option. The best part?
You just have to heat the meals in the microwave, and they are ready to eat; no preparation, defrosting, or any other additional work is required. Freshly meals can make a good option on busy weekdays when you have no time or energy to cook.
Did you find this article helpful? Are you interested to learn about vegan options offered by other meal delivery services in the country?
Check out my article HelloFresh Vegan Options to find out what plant-based meal options this popular meal delivery service offers.
