Fresh Start Meal Delivery Review (2025)

#1 - What is Fresh Start?

Created by Home Chef, Fresh Start is a subset of their service that includes the only dietitian-approved meals. Fresh Start is Home Chef’s “lighter option” and will consist of all of your favorite meals, but each meal uses healthier ingredients. Because Fresh Start is a meal service, all you have to do is choose your weekly menu, pay the affordable price, and then your meals will be delivered right to your door.

Because Fresh Start is dietician-approved, each meal is guaranteed to have healthy and delicious ingredients. Additionally, Fresh Start will incorporate seasonal ingredients and dishes, so you will always have many different options to choose from.

With Fresh Start, you can choose to receive meal prep kits to make your own food, or you can choose to have pre-prepared dishes sent to your door. You can eat healthy with the latter option even if your busy schedule doesn’t offer enough time to cook.

#2 - How Does Fresh Start Work?

Fresh Start aims to make planning your meals more manageable than ever before. Instead of spending hours each week trying to come up with meals to suit your lifestyle, you can choose meals from a weekly menu and have them shipped straight to your door.

Suppose you are ordering meals for the first time. In that case, your first step is to choose your dietary preferences and any ingredients you wish to avoid. Once you have done that, you will be taken to the page that will ask for your email address. After entering your information, you will choose the number of meals you need each week, pay for your box, and then get to choose your meals. It’s that simple!

After you have ordered your food, your meal box will be delivered directly to your door. There is no need to make a trip to the grocery store because each ingredient for every meal will be included in the box.

Each week, you will go through the following steps to get your meals from Fresh Start.

1. Pick your meals. The first step is to choose recipes that meet your dietary needs. Luckily, there will be many options to choose from, so even if some meals don’t sound good, there will be other options. When choosing Fresh Start meals, look for the green sticker in the top right corner that says, “Fresh Start.” If you choose those meals, you will always have healthy options.
2. Customize your plate. After you have selected a meal, you have the option to customize it. During this step, you can choose to substitute your meat options or opt out of certain ingredients.
3. Cook your meal. Depending on if you chose a meal kit or a pre-prepared meal, this step would look different. Regardless, you will follow the steps on your directions card to prepare your meal.
4. Enjoy your meal. After you have prepared your pre-portioned dishes, you can sit down and enjoy your healthy meal.

#3 - What Meal Plans Does Fresh Start Offer?

Fresh Start takes a lighter spin on the classic Home Chef meals. Offering carb-conscious, vegetarian, and carb-conscious meal options, nearly everyone can find a menu that suits their dietary needs. When choosing your meal plan with Fresh Start, you click on the option you want to try, and several different meals will appear for you to choose from.

Additionally, Fresh Start makes it easy to stick to a diet because all the ingredients are listed on each meal option. Instead of spending too much time trying to decide if a meal is low-carb or vegetarian, you will see precisely what is in the meal every time.

Carb Conscious Meal Plan

Fresh Start is an excellent option for those who need to limit the number of carbohydrates they consume. With many different ways to customize your meals, you will have the opportunity to choose low-carb sides. With delicious sides such as brown sugar-glazed carrots and garlic butter green beans, you will be eating well and skipping the carbs.

Vegetarian Meal Plan

If your diet requires you to limit your meat intake, then Fresh Start has options for you. With nearly every meal, you will have the opportunity to switch out meat products for Impossible products. Or, you can opt to remove meat from your dish. Additionally, with options such as Shredded Carrot and Crispy Beet Salad with Goat Cheese and Honey Mustard Dressing or Cauliflower, Kale, and Chickpea Skillet in Pomodoro Sauce, you will have options to suit your tastes for sure.

Calorie Conscious Meal Plan

If you need to watch your caloric intake, Fresh Start offers delicious meals that will help you maintain a portioned diet. Not only can you mix this option with the carb-conscious diet, but you can opt to change out your source of protein. With the calorie-conscious option, you can choose meals such as Herbes de Provence Chicken with brown sugar-glazed carrots and pecans or Southern Baked Pork Chop with hot honey and cheddar-cauliflower mash.

#4 - Customizable Options

With Fresh Start, you will have the opportunity to choose from a variety of different customizable options. Because customers are given this option, every meal or dietary preference can be accounted for. Whether you need customization due to allergies, diet, or health issues, Fresh Start will have options for you.

Before you are even given meal options, you will fill out your preference page by selecting to include or avoid the following ingredients:

• Calorie-conscious
• Carb conscious
• Pork
• Beef
• Poultry
• Fish
• Shellfish
• Mushrooms
• Tree nuts
• Peanuts

Even after you have selected these options, you will still get to choose between several meal options. With Fresh Start, customization is one of their most impressive features. It is one reason why customers continue to choose this company over their competitors.

#5 - Cost of Fresh Start

The cost of your meal box will depend on the number of people you are feeding and the number of meals you want to receive each week. With Fresh Start, you can choose to get meals for either 2, 4, or 6 people. So if you have an odd number of family members, you will want to round your meals up. That way, everyone can eat, and you will even have leftovers.

After choosing the number of people you will be feeding; the next step is to select the number of recipes you want to receive that week. Your options are anywhere between 2 and 6 meals, but you can change this number depending on the week.

While the base price is $8.99 per serving, you will pay more or less depending on the number of people you are serving and the number of meals you choose to receive. In general, more meals and more people will be more expensive. You will also always pay $7.99 for shipping each time. This shipping cost does not generally change but may be slightly different depending on where you live.

Additionally, some recipes may cost more than others. You can also add costs if you substitute a different meat for a meal or add more protein to your meal plan. So, the base cost may change depending on your weekly food preferences.

Finally, Home Chef and Fresh Start offer new member discounts of up to $90 off your first few boxes. So if you are not sure that meal plans are right for you, you can try the service at a discounted price before you commit to paying for a whole week.

#6 - When Do I Get My Meals?

Each week, Fresh Start will deliver your chosen meals directly to your door. Not only does this make it convenient, but it ensures that all your ingredients will be as fresh as they can be.

When you choose your meals, you will also select which date you prefer to have your box delivered. Depending on where you live, the exact day may vary. However, most delivery days will be on a Friday. Once you have chosen which day you prefer your meals, your box will show up right on schedule.

Unlike some other types of subscriptions, you can skip a week any time you choose. So if you are on vacation or have company coming to visit for a week, you can decide to postpone your meals. There are no penalties to do this, and you can pick up exactly where you left off the following week.

#7 - Who is Fresh Start Good for?

If you are a busy professional who does not have the time to cook healthy meals, then Fresh Start by Home Chef may be the option for you. With this service, you can come home to an already planned meal that will require less planning on your part.

Meal kits such as Fresh Start can also be great for couples (or individuals) who want to get more creative with their weekly meals. Because you can choose from various entrée and side options, you can discover new recipes and cook with ingredients that you never thought you would try. For example, you can choose meals that are:

• Meal kits
• 15-minute meal kits
• Oven-ready
• Grill-ready
• Culinary collection
• Entrée salads

While this meal kit option is excellent for those looking to explore new meal options or for those who want to start eating healthier foods, this meal plan may not be the best for families with children, picky eaters, or those who engage in an intense workout routine. This is because the meal options include some unique food options that may not be the best for children, and some of the portions may be too small for those who need to eat a lot of calories.

However, you can still choose Fresh Start and supplement with added sides if you want to eat healthily. Or, adults can choose the meals provided by Fresh Start and prepare different meals for their children.

#8 - Why Choose Fresh Start?

All in all, Fresh Start by Home Chef is an excellent option for healthy meals. Because the meals are fresh, delicious, and customizable, you can guarantee that each meal will not only have some fantastic flavors but are suited to your needs and lifestyle.

Finally, since you have Fresh Start meal options, you will still have access to the rest of Home Chef’s meal plans. So if you are looking for a meal plan with numerous healthy choices, all for an affordable price, look no further. Fresh Start by Home Chef may be the meal service for you.