We Pit Factor Meals Against HelloFresh, And The Results Surprised Us

Advances in technology have made our lives convenient beyond all recognition, practically eliminating all routine, tedious tasks — most notably, grocery shopping, which I consider the most arduous of all those boring chores. Personally, I dread painstakingly trudging through each aisle, only to get home and realize I forget half of what I needed. Then, instead of going back to the store, I accept defeat and tell myself I'll remember everything next time. Spoiler alert: I don't.

Thanks to meal and grocery kit delivery services, gone are the days of the inevitable frustrations of food shopping. These services offer ingredients and recipes or pre-made, heat-and-eat meals delivered to your door on a subscription basis. There are plenty of companies to choose from for your meal delivery service, but HelloFresh and Factor are two of the country's favorite options. I tried four of each brand's meals (in no particular order) to determine which was tastiest, then I determined which of the two brands offered the best value. I compare their price point, as well as the nutrition content and taste of the meals so you can get a clear picture of which meal service will best fit your budget, dietary preferences, and preferred flavors.

Some recommendations are based on firsthand impressions of promotional materials and products provided by the manufacturer.

HelloFresh's humble beginnings date back to 2011, when the business started as a small operation to deliver ingredients to people living in Berlin, Germany. It eventually transformed into a worldwide, meal kit subscription behemoth. It's now one of the most highly regarded of those services in the U.S.

HelloFresh began solely as a meal kit delivery service. This subscription-based model ships raw ingredients that are all pre-measured for specific recipes. The meal kit — which can be designed for one person or an entire family — includes cooking instructions and nutrition information, taking all the guesswork out of making home-cooked meals.

Today, HelloFresh has expanded its service to include fully prepared dishes, dubbed "Ready Made Meals," which I tried for this review. They arrive at your door in pre-portioned, single-serving containers; all you have to do is heat them up in the microwave. Think of these meals like fresh, high-quality versions of old-fashioned TV dinners. HelloFresh's Ready Made Meals can be swapped out for meal kits in your regular subscription at no additional charge. The company charges $9.99 per serving, but offers frequent promotions that lower the subscription cost.

Factor, previously known as Factor 75, started in 2013 –two years after HelloFresh began its meal delivery journey in Germany. Factor — now a subsidiary of HelloFresh — shares some similarities with its parent company. But unlike HelloFresh's ingredient and recipe delivery model, Factor is known for shipping solely ready-to-eat meals in an amount of your choosing. You can receive between six and 18 servings per week. Chef-made, heat-and-eat dishes are approved by Factor's in-house dietitians and include a flexible range of cuisine types, including keto-friendly, vegetarian, high-protein, and low-calorie options. Every week yields a different menu with a whopping 40 meals to choose from, each offering an eclectic array of flavors and ingredients. Two measly minutes in the microwave is all it takes to have a hot dinner at the ready, although they can also be cooked in a conventional oven.

Factor offers snacks, breakfast items, smoothies, and juices along with its gourmet, pre-made dinners, so — in theory — you don't have to pick up a spatula or a measuring spoon ever again. All meals from Factor arrive at your door fresh (never frozen) and are designed to be eaten within seven days of receiving them. Factor meals cost between $11 and $14 each, depending on how many are ordered per week; the more you order, the more cost-effective the service becomes. The company offers regular promotions and discounts that also drive down the cost of each week's order.

Nothing says "gourmet" quite like truffle, so I was eager to try this delicacy-infused dinner option from HelloFresh. I found this meal to be among the best of the eight options that I tried. Cavatappi is best cooked al dente, and HelloFresh delivers with expertly-cooked, tender-yet-firm pasta perfection. I expected only a whisper of the earthy essence of truffle in the sauce, but instead, it packed a punch of nutty and umami-loaded truffle flavor, from its aroma to its aftertaste. It also included small pieces of kale, but these green tidbits did little for the dish's flavor or nutritional content, since the dish only included a few tiny fragments of the vegetable. 

Instead of relying on truffle-flavored oil, which doesn't contain actual truffles, this Alfredo truffle cavatappi dish contains actual truffle juice and real truffle pieces. The Alfredo sauce — made with real milk and cheese — was nearly as flavorful and creamy as the one my grandmother used to make, But it was very oily and, naturally, packed a ton of saturated fat and sodium.

I don't think there's an American out there that didn't grow up eating home-cooked chicken Alfredo pasta. Factor's take on the classic is standard; grilled chicken and Alfredo sauce make up the bulk of the dish, with a small side of garlicky broccoli so you can get your greens in.

As soon as I removed the package from the microwave, I was hit with an intensely smoky smell. This was odd, since there are no smoky ingredients typically present in Alfredo sauce. The aroma transferred to the dish's flavor, which contrasted drastically with the milky sauce. The sauce was very watery and the chicken was dry, but the pasta was cooked well. The bland, mushy broccoli did little to salvage this meal. Ultimately, this was the worst of all eight meals that I tried.

I scoped the ingredients list and found that smoked black pepper was the culprit for the bold, incongruous flavor in this pasta dish. It could have worked if it had been more subtle, but that ingredient completely distracted from all the other flavors. Its nutrition label showed high levels of saturated fat and sodium, though it did contain a significant amount of protein.

The Southwest-style chicken bowl reminded me of the simple, veggie-heavy rice dishes that I tend to cook at home. It includes a substantial amount of chicken, corn, beans, salsa, and a blend of Mexican cheeses. Poblano peppers give it a hint of spice that's not overpowering, but warming. Corn adds a necessary punch of sweetness to complement the savory, spicy, and smoky veggies and seasonings. I expected it to need a drizzle of hot sauce to give it a flavor boost, but it was completely tasty as is. All the ingredients came together to create a hearty, bold dish. It could have been made better without cheese, since this addition was scant and added nothing to the meal's texture or flavor. 

Compared to other dishes on this list, the fat content in the Southwest-style chicken bowl is minimal, but the sodium content is a different story. You'll find an astonishing 1,140 milligrams of sodium per meal, which is about half if the average recommended daily allowance. Overall, this bowl was lighter than other options on this list, as it had less fatty oils and oodles of cheese.

The chipotle-spiced potato and pepper bowl is one of Factor's meat-free options. It consists of diced paprika and chipotle-coated potatoes smothered in cheese sauce mixed with pickled jalapeños and fajita veggies. A little bit of beans in a light ranchero sauce come on the side.

This Factor meal is absolutely bursting with spicy, smoky chipotle pepper seasoning. I'm a big fan of this pepper, and I was nervous that Factor wouldn't do it justice, but it exceeded my expectations. The cheese sauce tamed the spiciness and didn't leave an artificial aftertaste behind, like cheese sauces tend to do. A side of chipotle crema — which the package instructs to pour onto the meal before it heating up — also offered a heat-taming coolness. The potatoes — which were diced too small — were mushier than I would have liked, but the intense flavors in the dish made up for the lackluster texture. The side of ranchero beans, which was also brimming with smoky sweetness, was a good choice for a small dish to serve alongside this dinner.

There's nothing like a warm, comforting stir-fry dish to warm you up on a chilly night. HelloFresh's Asian-inspired version is made with a base of thick udon noodles topped with carrots, edamame, and pulled pork, all doused in a sweet-and-savory sauce made with sesame, soy, apple juice, and rice vinegar.

The flavor of the salty-sweet sauce was exceptional; it offered just the right amount of tang, bite, and umami aftertaste. It coated the strands of pulled pork and noodles to make them extra tender. However, this stir-fry dressing could have been more of a feature in this dish; instead, it just coated the ingredients lightly. While it still added plenty of flavor, it wasn't the sticky, saucy goodness that I was craving. The udon noodles were perfectly chewy and soft, without being mushy, but carrots and edamame were sparse and soggy. In fact, an additional veggie or two would have taken this dish from "decent" to "downright delicious."

Tender pasta and rich, meaty ragù join forces in this Italian classic from Factor. This particular dish features a pork ragù draped over cavatappi — an excellent noodle shape for a thick, viscous sauce like this one. The pairing works well in this dish, as the al dente pasta complement the hearty, meat-riddled sauce. The pork, however, was ground too thin, which made the sauce a little runny and gave the entire meal an off-putting texture. A coarser grind would have provided more satisfying bites of meat and helped diversify the dish's texture. Like with Factor's chicken Alfredo, the side of broccoli is mushy and uninspiring.

Although the sauce's texture was less-than-perfect, I was impressed by the flavors. Factor claims that the sauce is made with mirepoix, along with fennel, garlic, chili flakes, and red wine — essentially the staple ingredients in any Italian sauce — and the authenticity is apparent. Flavor-wise, I could eat this ragù at a true Italian eatery and never think that it came out of a plastic package. While it may not be one of the most health-conscious dishes Factor sells, its small size lends itself to a relatively low calorie count. 

Indian cuisine is known for intense aromas and an eclectic array of intense spices. It's easy to distinguish an imitation of an Indian dish and an authentic one, and HelloFresh gets as close as possible to hitting the authentic mark with this Indian-inspired chicken and rice dinner. It wound up being my personal favorite of the eight meals on this list, in part because I'm an Indian cuisine-fiend, but also because it caught me off guard in the best possible way.

I'll start with the sauce (the best part of any meal). Bold, earthy coriander and cumin are blatantly present in this korma sauce, while a thick, creamy yogurt base highlights hints of heat and accentuates the intense earthy spices. Like with the brand's udon stir fry, I found myself wishing there was more sauce because, yes, it was absolutely delicious, but also because the chicken was a little dry and needed a moisture boost. This meal's turmeric rice base added an extra layer of warmth to an expertly-cooked and overall tasty dish. 

Bahārāt-spiced pork and turmeric chickpea rice is one of Factor's many globally-inspired meal options. Bahārāt — a Middle Eastern spice blend that typically features cardamom, coriander, black pepper, cinnamon, paprika, and nutmeg — and pork are an unlikely duo. Earthy, warming spices pair well with the naturally sweet meat, and Factor, thankfully, doesn't hold back on the seasoning.

The pork in this meal is ground on the finer side, just like in the brand's ragù, but it works better over chickpea rice than it did over cavatappi. The meat and rice blend together seamlessly, while whole roasted plum tomatoes add a much-needed tangy bite — though they were soggy and still cold while the rest of the dish was piping hot. Cilantro-mint chutney gave the meal a cooling contrast, demonstrating why mint and bahārāt make an excellent team. Unfortunately, onion-butter cauliflower on the side couldn't hold a candle to the main dish. The onion flavor was pungent and too sweet rather than pleasantly aromatic and umami-packed, while the cauliflower itself was too heavily salted.

Factor's and HelloFresh's meals are similar in that they have a heavy focus on carbohydrates and meat with minimal vegetarian or vegan-only dishes. They are also typically high in fat and sodium, which may not be ideal for all diets. According to The World Health Organization, limiting sodium and fats and incorporating a substantial amount of vegetables and fruits is key to a healthy diet for most people.

Both meals provide similar portion sizes, which will likely be suitable for many consumers, though others may find them insufficient. They both require nearly identical and convenient microwave cooking preparation, though there is the option to make them in the oven. Both take inspiration from international cuisine and offer customers an assortment of unique flavor possibilities and protein choices. While these brands might offer the healthiest dishes on the market, they offer convenient meals that are a step above infamously low-quality frozen entrées from the grocery store.

HelloFresh's Ready Made Meals trump Factor's in terms of quality and taste — but not by much. HelloFresh is therefore a better value, considering its meals cost less than Factor's. While the food was only marginally more impressive, the HelloFresh's packaging was much higher in quality than Factor's. It didn't get too hot in the microwave and it stayed sturdy after cooking, while Factor's containers were much flimsier and hot to the touch. However, Factor surpasses HelloFresh in terms of options, which should come as no surprise considering it specializes solely in ready-to-eat meals.

Food is incredibly personal, so what works for one person may be completely unappealing to another. So, depending on whether you prefer value and quality over a wide array of options would determine which meal plan is best for you. That being said, I dub HelloFresh the victor in this face off — but only by a small margin — based on its slightly superior quality and lower price point.

In order to see whether Factor or HelloFresh had better heat-and-eat meals, I tried a total of eight products — four from each brand — to get a clear and fair understanding of the standard of quality that each company offers. I chose dishes from several different cuisines to get a better idea of each brand's strengths. 

While trying all eight dishes, I focused on the quality and flavor of each over personal preferences. I considered each meal's nutritional value and found that there was no discernible difference between the two brands in this area. I noted which brand's portions were more substantial, but found that both brands hovered around the same size — about 10 to 12 ounces. I even tested out whether one brand's cooking methods were faster and more convenient than the other's, but they proved to be nearly identical. When I considered price and flavor, I found that HelloFresh came out on top. It offered better-tasting and higher-quality meals with superior packaging, all at a better price than Factor.