I tried Factor Meals for 6 Weeks - My Honest and Unsponsered Review

Here's everything you need to know before you try Factor.

Since we love HelloFresh, we decided to give Factor a shot (HelloFresh acquired Factor in 2020). Factor offers ready-to-eat meals that you can easily re-heat in an oven or microwave. Every week you get to choose which meals you want delivered to your front door. These meals are not meant to be put in the freezer, they are made fresh and are meant to be eaten in 7 days. I went with the 6 meals a week plan. 

(Nonna's Sunday Beef Bolognese with Garlicky Zuchini- tasted great. Used the microwave.

Background info- Since returning to the office four times a week, I wanted to see if Factor meals were a better choice than what I normally ate for lunch which was soup in a can, or leftovers. Plus, Factor ads have been popping up all over my social media feeds and I had to see for myself if it lived up to the hype. My husband cooks, so we weren't eating these for dinner. I'm not looking to lose weight, but I am looking to maintain my weight and not gain. When choosing my meals for the week, I looked for lower calorie meals. I would aim for 400 to 600 calories per meal.

Types of meals- Factor offers 35+ meals every week to choose from. Chicken, beef, pork, fish, shrimp, vegan, keto. You can choose 4, 6, 8, or 12 meal plan. There is a $10.99 shipping charge per box.

(Tried a vegan meal and I was surprised at how much I did like this one. Used the microwave and transferred onto plate.)

Packaging - Factor ships all meals in a big cardboard box with dry ice. They deliver the meals to your doorstep on Monday. The meals are meant to be refrigerated and eaten within 7 days. Each meal has a enjoy-by date on the packaging. You can freeze the meals if you run out of time but it isn't recommended. All meals come in a black plastic container with a plastic film over it like most microwavable meals. There is also a cardboard wrapper that tells you the name of the meal and nutritional facts. They really need to put the names of the meals on the front of the box isntead of on the side and back of the box. It was a pain having to flip the them around to see which meal it was. People most have complained because after a while, some of my meals would have the name printed on the front.

Reheating instructions - There are two options. Stick the entire thing in the microwave for two and a half minutes or use the oven which usually takes about 13 minutes plus pre-heat time. If you're worried about consuming micro-plastics from microwaving the food in the plastic container, you could as an alternative, transfer the meal onto a microwavable plate. You can do the same thing when using the oven. I've tried both ways with the same heating instructions and the meals came out fine. That said, using the oven does taste better versus the microwave. 

Does it look as good as it does in the ads? Definitely not. The meals actually look pretty sad in the black plastic container it comes in. It looks much better transfered onto a plate. 

Ground Pork Tomato Ragu

(Easily one of the best choices Factor offers, I ordered this dinner a few times.)

Portion size - I never felt stuffed after a Factor meal. I felt they were the right amount of food I should be eating. That said, the portions are bigger than your typical frozen dinner, unless you're used to eating Hungry-Man meals. I went to Target to inspect a few frozen dinners just to make sure I wasn't wrong. Whenever I would eat say, a Heathly Choice frozen dinner, I would always still be hungry and felt like I needed to eat two, which made sense because as I looked at the back of the packaging, a Healthy Choice dinner was under 200 calories. 

Nutritional value - I chose meals that were in the 400 to 600 calorie range. I noticed the sodium wasn't terrible, I have seen a lot worse on pre-packaged meals. The sodium would range from 30 to 50 perent of your daily intake per meal. I didn't pay too much attention to the fat content to be honest. By the end of the six weeks, there wasn't any noticeable change in my weight. 

Taste and flavor - This is where there is a learning curve. I noticed the chicken cutlets were never that good, they were rubbery and chewy when re-heated. The only time I enjoyed a chicken meal was when the chicken were in little pieces in a pasta dish. That is the only time I would choose a chicken based meal. Pork and beef reheat the best in the microwave and oven. I never had an issue with those. The ones that come with a creamy sauce were hit or miss. The sauce would not last very long and would congeal. It's probably best to eat those first. I did enjoy the salmon, but did not think the shrimp reheated well. The shrimp were also small. I only tried a shrimp meal once.

(This was possibly the worst chicken cutlet I've ever had! Very rubbery when reheated in the microwave.)

(This chicken dinner tasted much better when reheated in the oven and also looks better on a plate. Would have loved to have a bigger portion of brocolli.)

Cost - The more meals you select per week, the lower the price per meal. Each meal cost $13.49 for 6 meals. After shipping and tax, each meal ended up costing $16.51. Factor definitely cost a lot more than microwavable meals from the grocery store. Healthy Choice, Marie Calendars, and evol all cost under $5 each. Factor is expensive for what it is, but less expensive than going out or ordering from Uber Eats. 

6 meal plan = $99.06 per week

Lousiana Shrimp with Smoked Gouda Cauliflower Grits & Chicken Andouille Tomato Gravy

(I did not like this one, the tomato gravy did not reheat well at all.)

Is it worth it? If I were single and didn't want to cook I would definitely do this. It's less expensive then eating out and it feels healthier than a frozen dinner from the grocery store. Since my husband cooks, it's less expensive for us to go with HelloFresh, but if my husband were to go away to New York for a week and since I don't know how to cook, I would definitely order 12 meals that week to save money on Uber Eats, which would bring the cost per meal to $11.50. No dishes, no prep, no mess. You don't have to go grocery shopping or meal prep. Factor is quick and easy and zero stress. It's perfect if you're super busy and don't have the time to cook. If my husband wanted to take a break from cooking but also didn't want to spend the money eating out, this would be an option for us. 

Grilled Salmon with Green Beans and cream of spinach

(I would never reheat fish in a microwave, I will say this was very enjoyable.)

Bottom line - Perfect if you're single and don't know how to cook or single and you just need a break from cooking. Just know that it is expensive for what it is and meals can be hit or miss. The meals did feel healthier than my usual office lunches. If you'd like to give Factor a try for yourself, my referral link saves you $120 off (spread across a few boxes).

Also check out my HelloFresh Review