When it comes to flavor, variety, and nutritional punch, Factor meals deliver on the company’s promise. For one person, it’s well worth consideration. I break it down for you in this Factor meal review.
Factor meals provide a convenient solution for busy individuals looking to maintain a healthy diet, with fully prepared meals designed by registered dietitians.
Factor has a strong commitment to quality. It sources sustainably raised proteins and organic produce whenever possible to make sure that every meal is not only delicious but also environmentally friendly.
Meals are designed to support a variety of dietary needs and preferences, with options such as Keto, Calorie Smart, Chef’s Choice, and Vegan & Veggie.
Once you select your meal plan, you can choose the number of single-serve meals you want to receive each week. Meals are delivered once per week, and you can heat them in the microwave in just a few minutes.
For those logging their meals, Factor also lists detailed nutritional information for each meal, and many can be found in food databases of popular meal-tracking apps.
Factor customers can adjust meal selections, change meal plans, or pause subscriptions at any time before the weekly cutoff date in their online accounts.
Factor
Sign-up, delivery, and cancellation processes4.5
There are a lot of meal delivery services vying for your business. But it’s often a toss-up whether the taste of the food will match what a service promises.
With Factor, which boasts meals designed by nutritionists to make healthy eating easier, it does.
Read on to learn about Healthline Nutrition Editor and Registered Dietitian Kelli McGrane’s experience eating Factor meals for 2 weeks and why she’d recommend this meal delivery service, especially for solo meal planning.
Name: Kelli McGrane, MS, RDRole: Healthline nutrition editor, registered dietitian, cookbook authorDietary needs and preferences: flexitarianMeal-time preferences: make-ahead, one-pan, and 30-minute weeknight meals and recipes that are toddler-friendly
I’ve been using meal delivery services for more than 10 years, testing 25 services just within the past 3 years. I tried Factor for 2 weeks to determine whether the service is something I can recommend. Here is my experience.
Sign-up, delivery, and cancellation processes
Score: 4.5 out of 5Sign-up and cancellation process
Getting started with Factor was a breeze. As with most meal delivery services, you first choose from one of several meal plans, which include:
Chef’s ChoiceKeto Calorie SmartFlexitarianProtein PlusVegan & Veggie
You can also pick how many single-serve meals you want to receive each week, ranging from 6 up to 18. Choosing more meals each week can help lower the average cost per meal.
Next, you create an account by inputting details like your name and address. While you can choose which delivery day you want, the delivery day options are somewhat limited based on your location.
After you’ve input your payment information, you can browse the offerings for the week and start choosing your meals to curate your custom menu.
Choosing my meals was intuitive. While I don’t follow a specific diet, I appreciated that you can easily filter meals by dietary need and ingredient to find meals that fit your dietary needs and preferences.
If you want to modify your menu or make changes to your subscription, be sure to do so by the weekly cutoff date, which is listed online in your account information. If you wish to cancel your subscription, you can do so either by deactivating your account on the company’s website or by emailing customer service.
Delivery
Factor food delivery ensures that your meals arrive fresh and ready to heat every week, with robust packaging that keeps ingredients at the ideal temperature.
Both weeks, my deliveries arrived smoothly — right on time and at the proper temperature. And while the containers were stackable and not particularly bulky, they did take up a good amount of space in my refrigerator.
According to Factor, meals can be enjoyed for up to 7 days. Because I only ordered 5 entrees each week, I didn’t have any meals left by the 7-day mark. However, on day 5, my last entree was just as flavorful and fresh-tasting as the entree I tried on day 1.
Meal variety
Score: 4.5 out of 5
Many prepared meal delivery services have large menus that rarely change or rotating menus of just a few options. I was happy to discover that Factor’s menu changes weekly, and there’s a good variety of meals to choose from. In fact, I had a hard time narrowing down which ones to try.
I ultimately ordered the following items over the course of 2 weeks:
Herbed Quinoa Pesto BowlTomato & Roasted Vegetable Risotto with Toasted Pine NutsPesto Salmon with Creamed Spinach & Tomato Butter Haricot VertsSun-Dried Tomato Chicken with Zucchini NoodlesSmoky BBQ Chicken Breast with Mashed Potatoes, Creamed Corn, and Green Bean CasseroleCreamy Parmesan Chicken with Roasted Broccoli and Tomatoes Chickpea CurryRoasted Garlic Braised BeefRoasted Tomato & Feta CavatappiCaribbean-Style Chicken Breast
Nutritional quality
Score: 5 out of 5
As a registered dietitian, I was impressed by the nutritional quality of each entree. The entrees I tried were nutritionally balanced, meaning that they each contained a lean protein, a healthy source of fat, and a generous serving of vegetables.
Factor has ensured that each entree is nutritionally balanced, containing a lean protein, a healthy source of fat, and a generous serving of vegetables.
With that said, some of the entrees are high in sodium, and some dishes, especially those on the Keto plan, are high in saturated fat.
Ingredient quality and freshness
Score: 5 out of 5
Factor prides itself on featuring high quality ingredients, including sustainably sourced seafood and antibiotic-free poultry.
While I only tried the service for 2 weeks, I didn’t experience any issues with damaged or spoiled ingredients.
In fact, unlike many other prepared meal delivery services, Factor’s ingredients — especially the vegetables and proteins — tasted fresh and didn’t get mushy, dry, or rubbery after microwaving.
Ease of prep
Score: 5 out of 5
Every meal I tried was easy to reheat when I decided to use Factor for my meal prep needs. All I had to do was remove the paper sleeve, puncture the plastic film once or twice, and microwave the meal on high for 2 minutes.
For those who prefer not to use a microwave, Factor meals also include reheating instructions for the oven.
Taste
Score: 4.5 out of 5
I found the ingredient quality continued to be excellent after reheating and didn’t experience any mushy vegetables or dry proteins — a major win for microwavable meals.
I also found the meals to be flavorful without being overseasoned, and I loved that each meal had a generous serving of vegetables.
The Herbed Quinoa Pesto Bowl stood out as my favorite. The quinoa was perfectly chewy, the sweet potatoes were soft but not mushy, and the pesto was zesty and flavorful without being overpowering.
The Roasted Tomato & Feta Cavatappi was another winner. It featured a sauce with a slight spiciness that was nice, along with juicy tomatoes, hearty noodles, and broccoli, which was soft without being mushy.
The only reason I didn’t award Factor a 5 out of 5 for taste is because, while the meals were satisfying, I can’t say that the flavor combinations were unique or differed greatly from what I’d typically make on my own.
Sustainability
Score: 3 out of 5
Factor’s delivery boxes, food containers, and laminated insulation are all recyclable. Additionally, the gel packs used to keep the food cold during transit are nontoxic and reusable.
However, some items, like the PET and cotton insulation layers, are not recyclable. I also found it a bit tricky to understand which materials could be recycled without searching for that information on the company’s website.
Another way in which Factor strives to be more sustainable is by using high quality, sustainably sourced ingredients in all its meals. All meals are free of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The service also uses sustainably sourced proteins, including antibiotic-free poultry and pasture-raised pork.
However, Factor’s ingredients are conventional, which might not be ideal if you prefer eating organic. If organic ingredients are important to you, you might consider Green Chef.
Cost
Score: 3 out of 5
While Factor isn’t the most expensive meal delivery service, and its per-meal pricing goes down the more you order, when you include shipping, the cost adds up. Here is Factor’s pricing:*
6 meals per week: $13.49 per meal8 meals per week: $12.99 per meal10 meals per week: $12.49 per meal12 meals per week: $11.99 per meal14 meals per week: $11.49 per meal18 meals per week: $10.99 per meal
*as of June 2024
Shipping is available within the contiguous United States and costs $10.99 per delivery.
Also keep in mind that Factor frequently offers discounts for new customers.
