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Meal kit delivery has taken the world by storm, and this trend is here to stay. Whether you need the convenience of having ready-to-go meals or want to live like a Millionaire and have your food already prepared for you, there are a lot of options you can now take advantage of. This week, I reviewed 3 meals from Fresh Prep, and let me tell you…I was not disappointed.
Table of Contents
What is a Meal Delivery Service?
Meal Delivery Services combine all the joys of cooking without the hassle of meal planning, grocery shopping or food preparation. Fresh Prep is a meal delivery service that creates meal plans and prepares all the ingredients to be ready to go straight into the pan.
Other Meal Delivery Service options
There are several meal kit delivery services in Canada each with its own unique flair. We offer several excellent choices for meal delivery services on Moola like Hello Fresh, Chefs Plate, and of course Fresh Prep.
What is Fresh Prep
Fresh Prep is a meal kit delivery service with a focus on fresh, local, and sustainable food choices. This British Columbian gem is available in 20 cities throughout the province and offers a wide variety of healthy food choices at a very affordable price.
Fresh Prep is unique in that it:
- Commits to the zero-waste movement: From their reusable packaging to their mindfulness around food waste, they set the bar high in terms of making meal kit delivery eco-friendly and sustainable.
- Has additional add-ons available: Choose from over 100 local products to add to your order each week including vegan baked goods, brioche French toast, and cold-pressed juice from Loop (yum!!!)
- Uses high-quality ingredients: Fresh Prep sources quality ingredients from local farmers as much as possible. They use ocean-wise seafood, free-range eggs, and seasonal produce wherever they can.
How Fresh Prep Works
Meal kit delivery is a great way to have dinner for the week all planned out. All you have to do is:
- Go online to freshprep.ca
- Select the meals you want to make next week from a list of 10 tried and tested recipes
- Pay for your meals with the tap of a button
In a few days, you’ll have your dinner delivery at your door complete with all the ingredients you need in perfectly portioned packages to make restaurant-quality meals at home.
It’s easy to see that Fresh Prep puts effort into making their food more than just delicious, and you can feel great about eating it. After doing a bit of research, I was anxious to review their services and see what the hype was all about.
Ordering from Fresh Prep
I began my journey on the Fresh Prep website, scouring through the list of dinner delivery meals available for the week. 10 choices seemed like a simple task. But, when each and every choice all sound delicious (like chili lime scallop tostadas), the selection process was surprisingly hard!
Fresh Prep Dinner Selections
The Fresh Prep website was simple to use and easy to navigate. After setting up an account, I clicked through the “Menu” tab to see all of the meals available for that week.
After taking a look around, I went with three meals, two of which were deemed “All-Star Recipes”.
My three choices were:
- Rare Yellowfin Tuna Tataki with green bean gomae and furikake sticky rice
- Spinach and Goat Cheese Quiche with garlic mushrooms and marinated tomatoes
- Striploin and Cherry Demi-Glace with roasted zucchini and potatoes
The striploin was not an all-star recipe, but it was packaged in a completely zero-waste kit and I wanted to experience that service for myself.
Fresh Prep Delivery
I got a text from Fresh Prep the morning of my meal kit delivery telling me my order would be arriving that day. I received an additional text a couple hours later telling me to expect my food in 4 minutes…very precise!
Around 2:30, I received a text from the driver saying that he was at my building. I buzzed him into my difficult-to-navigate Vancouver high-rise and he found my unit with remarkable efficiency. The bag was left outside my door with no contact required.
Score one for easy Fresh Prep delivery!
Fresh Prep Packaging
I’ve used other meal kit delivery services in the past and I must say, I was very impressed with the packaging from Fresh Prep. They use cooler bags equipped with an icepack and everything you need perfectly packed in bags, or their zero-waste kit inside. Not having to worry about getting rid of a cardboard box was awesome, and I appreciated their conscientiousness around eco-friendly packaging.
They also made a note that the bag would be picked up on my next order. Or, if I wouldn’t be ordering again, someone would be by the following week to collect the cooler bag.
With food in hand, I was ready to start cooking!
Cooking Fresh Prep Recipes
Each recipe was a little bit different. But there were a few things that I loved about cooking with Fresh Prep, across the board:
The recipes were super simple to understand
Every recipe I had spelled things out to a T. They told me exactly when to put the striploin in the pan and exactly how to long to sear it on each side. They even underlined the ingredients, so I knew which ones to choose. (Side note: Have a look at their recipes online, and you’ll see what I mean!)
Everything in the meal kit was pre-portioned
There’s nothing worst than buying a giant container of an obscure spice only to use ¼ tsp of it in a recipe. I loved how you received exactly as much as you needed of each ingredient, so nothing was wasted (money or food).
Clean-up was easy
Not measuring ingredients also means there was a lot less clean-up involved. I didn’t have to measure out a tablespoon of honey. I could just open up the honey packet, dump it in, and toss it out. Simple!
The meals were the perfect size
I’m not much of a leftover person, so having just as much of a meal as I needed is perfect for me. The size was plenty and I didn’t feel hungry afterwards. But, the portions weren’t so large that I felt uncomfortable either.
I tried recipes I normally wouldn’t have
Yellowfin tuna tataki is not exactly a regular meal for me. However, cooking it from start to finish with Fresh Prep’s help made me realize that it’s not nearly as difficult as it sounds! I didn’t quite get the sear right, but I was pretty proud of myself none the less.
Fresh Prep Review
Cooking dinner with Fresh Prep really did make eating more enjoyable and with a whole lot less to clean up afterwards. It was a fun activity that I got to do at the end of the day instead of being a chore.
The meal delivery kit service has opened me up to different flavours, made me feel accomplished, and gave me the opportunity to try something new in the kitchen.
Here’s a breakdown of the three meals I cooked with Fresh Prep, including which one I would definitely cook again.
Meal 1: Spinach and Goat Cheese Quiche
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Cook + Prep Time: 30 Min
Best if: you want a very delicious meal with very little effort
Fresh Prep Recipe for Spinach and Goat Cheese Quiche
Being that I had never cooked steak or tuna before, I decided to get warmed up with some quiche. I had also never cooked quiche before, but it seemed like the easiest one to begin with.
This meal is perfect for people who like eating delicious food and barely like cooking. Seriously it was so tasty, so flavourful, and so easy to make. Essentially all you have to do is:
- Mix quiche ingredients
- Pour mixture into pie shells and bake
Prepping the veggies was the most time-consuming aspect of the meal, and even that was relatively straightforward.
In the end the quiche was flaky, salty, rich, and the perfect compliment to a long day of work.
I did have to cook my quiche a bit longer than the recipe suggested (5-10 minutes), but my oven runs cool and I’m notorious for losing track of time.
Overall Rating: 8.5/10
Meal 2: Rare Yellowfin Tuna Tataki
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Cook + Prep Time: 25 Min
Best if: you want to impress someone with bold Asian flavours
Fresh Prep Recipe for Rare Yellowfin Tuna Tataki
As much as I enjoy eating adventurously, I stick to the staples in my kitchen. That’s why I chose this recipe – to challenge myself to do something new.
I had eaten tuna tataki before, but I had never tried making it myself. This recipe came with a lot of different things in a lot of little packages, so it can get a little difficult to keep track of. But most meal kit services have a lot of little parts, so I’m used to it.
The flavours of this meal were phenomenal. The sticky rice was sweet and tangy, the green beans were crisp and umami, and the soy sauce-drizzled tuna was hearty and rich.
I will admit that I overcooked the tuna, but since it was my first time, I think I get a pass. This recipe was my favourite of the three, and I will definitely be going out and buying furikake seasoning to put on all of my rice dishes from now on.
Overall Rating: 9/10
Meal 3: Striploin and Cherry Demi-Glace
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Cook + Prep Time: 30 Min
Best if: you want something simple, home-cooked, and hearty
Fresh Prep Recipe for Striploin and Cherry Demi-Glace
I was really excited to try my hand at cooking steak, considering I had never done it before. I quickly cut the veggies and threw them in the oven, eager to get searing. Of course, I didn’t quite get the sear right, and my smoke alarm went off a few times, but in the end, I think it was pretty good.
The roasted vegetables were simple, but super tasty as well. And the demi-glace, made using Salt Spring Kitchen Co rhubarb jam, was out of this world.
While this meal required a bit more technique, it was the simplest of the three in terms of prep work and execution. It also came in a zero-waste kit, meaning everything was packaged in reusable plastic containers as opposed to plastic wrappers.
That’s a win for sustainability right there!
Overall Rating: 8/10
Would I try Fresh Prep Again?
In a heartbeat!
I was so impressed with not only the meals, but the entire service that Fresh Prep provided. The food was delicious, the delivery was flawless, and the packaging was put together with care.
If you’re ready to try Fresh Prep, log on to their website and make an account to get started. This week only, get 10% off $100 Fresh Prep gift cards on Moola to put towards your order.
Download the app now to save on your next Fresh Prep or dinner delivery service order.
