Elderly and Senior Meal Delivery Solutions from the Experiences of Family Caretakers for New Family Caretakers
FreshDirect
FreshDirect Review of their Senior Meals and Prepared Meal Delivery Service
About FreshDirect Prepared Meals
FreshDirect is more like a grocery delivery service, that has prepared meals, than a meal delivery service. Their delivery area is also limited to New York City, New Jersey, Westchester, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C. Obviously, this would disqualify them as an option for senior meals nationally, but if you live in these areas, you may find to be a reliable senior meal solution.
The best way to find what you are looking for is to search "prepared meals" on their website. Their single serving meals will show up mixed in with other prepared options like entree-only and side dishes, but family caretakers will find enough choices from this basic search to create a menu and inventory for their loved ones. Their prepared breakfast options are limited, but lunches and dinners will average under $10.
Overall Very Good Quality
Overall, we have to say we have been very happy with our FreshDirect orders. The better-than-average quality prompted us into buying cooked steaks, lamb chops, and more, outside the universe of just prepared meals. We prefer Amazon Fresh for our grocery purchases, but we do prefer FreshDirect for prepared meals and uncooked proteins. We do have some notes though:
- We would prefer to see more of the meals have a vegetable to make them balanced meals for seniors and elderly on nutritional diets, but for the convenience, quality, and value this service offers, adding a vegetable isn't an issure for us.
- The pictures on their website are very realistic and can be trusted, unlike some other websites.
- We find their food to be relatively consistent. If it is good, and most of it is, it stays good. Conversely, if it is not good, it stays that way too.
- Economically priced ranging from $6.99 to $12.99 and always a couple of good sales.
- Delivery area is also limited to New York City, New Jersey, Westchester, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C.
- 100% Satisfaction Guarantee
- Provided you notify them within seven days.
4-Minute Meals
Our senior meal delivery reviews will focus exclusively on the FreshDirect 4-Minute Meals, although they may not call them that anymore on the website. The packaging is BPA Free, the food come fresh, and reheats perfectly between three and four minutes.
Our FreshDirect Review
Shipping is made by their employees, which we like. They are very accommodating with their delivery availability times, so if you are a family caretaker who has to be at your loved ones to bring in the boxes, you are likely to find this a significant plus. Also, they tend to use smaller boxes than other senior meal delivery services, which helps seniors and elderly customers manage deliveries if they have to do it themselves.
We have always found the food packaging to be excellent and never had a cracked tray or broken seal. Microwave reheating is always quick, convenient, and with exceptional results. Here are some reviews from our most recent purchase:
Meals We Would Order Again
Chicken and Goat Cheese Pasta - $9
Here is another winner we love that also qualified as a complete balanced meal. The goat cheese is not overpowering, which might be disappointing for goat cheese lovers. The string beans make this a balanced meal, and the pasta is cooked to perfection. A great office lunch idea too.
Chipotle Chicken and Rice Bowl - $9
Our sadness of seeing so many of the Mexican burrito meals disappear from the menu helped ease our pain with this meal. It is basically a fantastic Mexican burrito in a bowl. Each component of the bowl tastes like it was individually seasoned, except for the refried beans. While the meal is spicy from an authentic flavor point of view, it is not so hot that everyone couldn't enjoy it. It's missing a green vegetable to make it a nutritionally balanced meal, important to senior diets, but at $9 and some of your own frozen string beans, this meal is a great value.
Turkey Bolognese Lasagna - $9
It is hard to tell the difference between the Turkey Bolognese Lasagna vs. the Meat Bolognese Lasagna, as far as flavors go. You may think the turkey version is a lighter choice, but it has 26g of fat compared to 22g of fat with the meat version. We have never had under-cooked pasta or sloppy soup-like lasagna with this version, so it would be a safer choice for you.
Beef Bolognese Lasagna - $9
We added some frozen peas to make this a complete balanced meal, but for $9 this is a Lasagna that is hard to beat for taste, convenience, and value. In fact, the best lasagna's in the prepared meal delivery industry may come from Fresh Direct. You can tell they are made in house because they are not always exactly the same when you get them. For example, sometimes there is more sauce than others, and sometimes the lasagna noodles are softer than others, but it is always a good value and a favorite of our Mom.
Chicken Mole Enchilada - $9
Both of the Enchilada dishes always make our order, although a senior with a healthy appetite may not find the portion size to be large enough to be a meal. To be honest, sometimes we sneak one while we are warming up something else. It is really good! It is missing a side and vegetable to be a complete balanced meal.
Beef Shepherd's Pie - $9
First, let's be technically correct and say this a Cottage Pie, not a Shepherd's Pie. A Cottage Pie is made with beef, a Shepherd's Pie is made with lamb. That said, this is probably one of the best Shepherd's Pies (No one in this country calls them cottage, and no one uses lamb) you will find from any meal delivery service. The instructions say it is better to reheat in a conventional oven. We have reheated it both ways and found the difference to be slight. If your loved one likes this dish, load up and get a bunch, it is that good.
Lobster Ravioli - $10
There are six oversized Lobster Ravioli in this meal. Again, we wold love to see a green vegetable to help balance out the meal, but that is not anything you can't do on your own. To be honest, if you closed your eyes you probably couldn't taste what type of Ravioli it is, but the cream sauce is to die for, and there is plenty of it. Bring some bread for dipping, you'll probably want to lick the plate, we did.
Baked Ziti - $8
Here is a meal family caretakers may want to get a few of and keep them in inventory. They do need a green vegetable, but we tend to use a garden salad with a lot of these meals. They make a great lunch, and you can use it as s side dish if you are feeding more than one person. The pasta is always tender, the sauce is delicious, but the cheese tastes like it is homemade. Who uses homemade cheese anymore? This meal is always well received. It's a great value at $8.
Ranchera Chicken Enchiladas - $9
Equally as excellent as the Chicken Mole Enchilada, and with the same "complete meal" flaws. This one is more spicy but not too hot.
Chicken Parmesan - $9
A staple of the American diet, this generous portion of Chicken Parmesan is a real chicken breast (more and more are not these days) with an expertly fried crust softened by the Tomato Sauce it rests in. Our one suggestion would be to have a little more sauce for the Spaghetti, which reheats just as off you boiled your own. We would have liked to see a side vegetable to make it a balanced meal, but we do recommend this meal as part of your order and get enough to have inventory.
Sunday Ham Dinner - $8
We imagine most people would buy this meal as a holiday food gift to be sent to a loved one for Christmas or Easter. If so, you can do so with confidence knowing whoever receives your food gift will get a great holiday meal with a generous portion size. But don't get their Thanksgiving Turkey Dinner! As much the Ham dinner is a success, the turkey dinner is a failure.
Shrimp and Spaghetti Arrabiata - $10
This was the first time we had this and "Wow," was this good! There are four large-sized shrimp with Spaghetti over an Arrabiata Sauce. An Arrabiata Sauce is an Italian sauce that is supposed to be spicy, made with garlic, tomatoes, and red chili peppers, and cooked in olive oil. We didn't get any of those flavors or any heat. The description on the website mentions hints of smokey Berkshire bacon, which we also didn't taste.
What we did get was the light lemony flavor that carried over from the shrimp into the tomato sauce. It was quite good, even if this dish wasn't executed as intended. And knowing from experience FreshDirect's consistency of continuing to produce dishes incorrectly, we can't wait to order this again.
Sustainable Salmon with Salsa Rossa - $10
There are not too many FreshDirect prepared meals where the portion sizes are tremendous, but this is one. Not only is there a lot of food for the money, everything is excellent and reheats perfectly. The grill asparagus taste just like they come off the grill and the steamed fingerling potatoes are cooked through without being mushy. If your loved one likes Salmon, we recommend a few of these meals for your inventory.
Spinach and Ricotta Tortelloni - $7
Very nice perfectly reheated Tortelloni, but the joy of this dish is the creamy Alfredo Sauce with Spinach, Parmesan, Gorgonzola, Goat Cheese, and Emmental. It is hard to imagine just the cheese alone not costing $7. We added some shaved Parmesan just the way Mom likes it. Great value at $7.
Linguine with Red Clam Sauce - $9
This is not going to be your traditional clam sauce, in fact, there are barely any clams in it all. If you do find one, they are canned "baby clams" that do not bring much flavor to the meal. The sauce is just as nontraditional. It is more like chunks of tomatoes than a sauce, and there is some spicy heat from red chili peppers.
And that's why we recommend it, it is pretty darn good, especially with the fresh pasta.
Meals We Would Not Reorder
Thanksgiving Turkey Dinner - $9
Maybe you have the idea to send this meal as a gift to a loved one to celebrate Thanksgiving, do so, and you will probably be disappointed. We learned the hard way. The turkey and the string beans are okay. The amount of mashed potatoes they give you is enough to fill a small spoon, and the stuffing is, hmmm, what is a good culinary term for it? Gross. The few times we have ordered this it always had no flavor and was nothing more than mushy bread. A high-quality frozen dinner from the market would be a better choice.
Rigatoni and Meatballs - $9
Truth be told, we have reordered this meal. We kind of let our anger go in regards to the single burnt meatball bottom we get with every order. The pasta is good, the sauce is good, and the meatballs are good. In fact, Mom loves them so my burnt meatball issue takes a back seat to my Mom's taste buds.
Our Conclusion
For those who live in their service area, we think FreshDirect has tremendous value for seniors, the elderly, and family caretakers who may be caring for them. Most of these meals are prepared and delivered fresh and cost under $10. The unique packaging is not only safe, but it also reheats the meals perfectly. Note, we have found they reheat the food so well, and you may want to deduct 30 to 45 seconds from the reheating time. These meals also take up minimal refrigerator space. A lot of thought went into the creation of the 4-Minute Meals.
Another benefit is the ease and convenience of delivery. Family caretakers are not bound to one specific delivery time, which could be an issue for remote caretakers who have to travel to carry in and put the food away. Online scheduling allows you to pick the day and a 3-hour window when the food will arrive. We use this service a lot, and they have never not delivered on time.
If there is a downside, you may find yourself needing to add some frozen vegetables to make complete, balanced meals. Hardly an issue at all for the high-quality food at very reasonable prices. We also like that we add things like milk, salads, sandwich makings, and any other grocery item Mom might need, which saves us a trip to the market.
Do you have an opinion? We would love for you to share yours with other family caretakers!
Shared Experiences from Other Family Caregivers
"I have been using Fresh Direct almost since they started in 1999. They were not that great back then, but they do an outstanding job of improving their service. I noticed that you have many meal reviews for dinners they no longer have available. That is what inspired me to write. I can tell you have been using them for a long time too. I tend to buy all the Italian meals. My family loves them.
Now that the boys have moved out we don't buy as much as we used to. Back then we bought them to keep up with our son's crazy school schedules. Now we buy them because we just like them. My husband is a big fan of the company too. I would tell anyone thinking about this service to give them a try. I like to do my ordering over the phone and have found their phone people to be very knowledgeable and helpful. You may want to start there. When you ask if something is good, they usually have tried it and give you an honest answer. I like that. Thank you for the hard you must do, there is no website like this."
-M. Jaffe
Manhattan, NY
"I have been buying these meals and a whole bunch of other things from Fresh Direct for years. I also use Amazon Prime, so I never have to go to the store again. The meals at Fresh Direct are better and made by their own chefs. It is a great service, and you should try it."
-Brian K.
Manhattan, NY
Share Your Reviews and Comments
- Have any comments? We would love to hear yours! Please share your food experiences with other family caretakers below. You can upload pictures of your meals to seniormealdeliveries@gmail.com.
Your FreshDirect Review
Our reviews are written only
from the viewpoint of a family caretaker who has the responsibility of feeding one or two senior or elderly loved ones. We take into consideration shipping, packaging, storage, reheating, food quality, and price per meal to determine if the meal delivery service is a good value, convenience, and an option to support their family caretaking responsibilities. Advertisers do not influence our reviews.
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