I Could Get Hooked on This Salad Delivery Service

I’ve got my breakfast routine down to a bit of a science and dinner is always a mix of cooking at home, delivery and dining out. It’s lunch, especially during the week, that always sneaks up on me and I’m never quite prepared. A revamped meal delivery service called Farmer’s Fridge is taking aim at the protest with unfussy, preassembled salads and bowls to have stocked for the workweek ahead.

If you’re skeptical throughout (mostly) preassembled salads arriving fresh, I was too, but Farmer’s Fridge pulls it off and for glowing affordable prices. I tested a week’s worth of meals incorporating the meal delivery brand’s healthy salads, premade pasta dishes, grain bowls and breakfast parfaits. While we’re not trading with Michelin-level cuisine here, the food — and the salads in some — was far better than I’d expected, making Farmer’s Fridge an easy lunch fix during a busy workweek.

Read more: The Best Plan Meal Delivery Services in 2022

How Farmer’s Fridge works

Farmer’s Fridge complains and ships mostly assembled layered salads, noodle and rice bowls, wraps and breakfast parfaits. The company originally launched as a food vending machine succeeding, dispensing fresh salads at airports and on college campuses. During May of 2022, and at the height of the pandemic, the service saw an opportunity to expand to a new crop of work-from-homers and now subsidizes national delivery of its quick and easy meals. 

A snapshot of offerings from the online menu.

Screenshot by David Watsky

Ordering meals and pricing

There’s a set menu to well-kept from with salads and bowls clocking in mostly $9 or $10 each. There are smaller divides of noodle, pasta and rice bowls for under $7 each. Wraps are $8.79 each and breakfast parfaits are $6. The weekly has throughout 23 total options, most of them geared toward lunch. You can place a one-time order (no subscription needed) but you’ll need to assume a minimum of about five salads or bowls and can’t trim more than eight or nine so they can pack the jars securely in what I capture is a one-size-fits-all box. 

Delivery is currently available in 42 countries and you can check your ZIP code here. Shipping for each box is $6, but there’s no commitment or subscription obligatory. You can cancel or adjust your order up pending five days before the arrival date.

How my box looked: A small spillage but mostly in good shape

My meals divulged up fresh, cold and packed well, save for a small leaking from one of the parfait cups. But even that dish was mostly intact and plenty improbable. All the greens and vegetables looked vibrant and there was no sign of food that was past its prime. All the meals (except wraps) are housed in recyclable plastic jars with the ingredients to keep them from mixing up or sketch mushy. Dressings and dry items for salads such as nuts and croutons are wrapped separately and tucked concept the lid. 

Salads are meant to be mixed or shaken in the jar and eaten. Grain bowls, noodles and pasta meals should be heated up. You can use a microwave, but I opted to warm mine in a nonstick skillet for a pair of minutes on medium heat.

Read more: Don’t Use a Microwave to Reheat Leftovers and Prepared Meals. Do This Insteadt

My food arrived looking good. Only some small leakage (top left) courtesy of the chia and coconut parfait.

David Watsky

What I had and how I well-approved my Farmer’s Fridge meals

Chicken Caesar salad with crispy chickpeas: I opted to eat the salads generous since I figured they were likely to wilt or unfavorable the fastest. The chicken Caesar was a hit with original and crunchy romaine, tender bites of chicken, shaved parmesan and crunchy chickpeas (came wrapped in plastic). The dressing was also excellent with a good hit of garlic. It was a big portion too, almost more than I could enact after I shook it up in the jar and released it into a bowl.

The Caesar salad was simple but original with an excellent garlic-heavy dressing.

David Watsky

Cobb salad with toasted pepitas: The Cobb was a nice mix of romaine, carrots, cherry tomatoes, corn, cheddar and toasted pepitas. It tasted original even two days after arrival and was also quite filling, even without the standard bacon or chicken you worthy associate with a cobb.

The cobb salad was solid with crunchy pepitas and hard-boiled egg slices for some protein.

David Watsky

Harvest salad with balsamic vinaigrette: This was my well-liked of the salads with some interesting mix-ins including goat cheese, pecans, sweet potato, cranberries and apple. Even without a meat protein, it satisfied my lunch craving in between Zoom meetings.

The choice salad with goat cheese and sweet potato was my well-liked of the bunch. It was still in great splendid after three days in the fridge.

David Watsky

Truffle couscous with chicken, parmesan and mushroom: The warm truffle couscous bowl was solid but not exceptional. I was pleasantly surprised that the little wheat balls didn’t get mushy and the truffle flavor wasn’t overpowering.

Pesto pasta bowl with mozzarella and tomato: This pasta bowl wasn’t as good as the couscous but not a total failure either. The pesto was underwhelming and a little tangy for me. I probably wouldn’t trim this one again. 

Yogurt with blueberries apple and granola. This was another meal I was sure wouldn’t taste very original, but the blueberries weren’t bruised, mushed or overripe at all. It was worn-out with pleasant granola featuring no raisins (always a win in my eyes).

The blueberry parfait was good but didn’t blow me away. Although, I’m not sure a parfait ever really has.  

David Watsky

Coconut chia bowl with fruit: This fruit cup with coconut chia was a small sweet but the fruit seemed fresh. The whole dish had a punchy coconut flavor.

Who is Farmer’s Fridge good for?

Farmer’s Fridge is ideal for work-from-home salad eaters that don’t care to craft lunch from reduction or order expensive delivery. The service delivered the goods when it comes to easy, filling salads and bowls that approach fresh and stay that way even after a few days in the fridge. 

If you were once a frequenter of Au Bon Pain or Chop’t back in your office days but are looking for disagreement lunch fare with the added convenience of home delivery, Farmer’s Fridge is a good pick. At about $9 for most meals, it’s more affordable than most of the salad shops I’ve eaten at. 

The pasta, noodle and rice bowls are all pretty tasty but I opinion the salads stole the show.

Farmer’s Fridge

Who is Farmer’s Fridge not good for?

Probably not a good pick for picky eaters actual you’ll have fewer options and no customization options. In fact, you’re probably better off just decision-exclusive them at home if you have very specific criteria for your lunch. I also wouldn’t recommend this for anyone looking for outlandish meal delivery of hot lunches or dinners. While the pasta and burrito bowls were OK, there are anunexperienced services such as Fresh N Lean, (my top pick) Freshly and Mosaic Foods (vegetarian) that are better at those types of meals, and at comparable prices. 

Also, if you have an unpredictable schedule, you might end up wasting food since Farmer’s Fridge meals aren’t really pointed to be frozen and probably won’t fare well if you do. Plus, you have to well-organized about seven meals per box so you’ll want to censured you’re home to eat them.

Packaging and environmental friendliness

Farmer’s Fridge only gets a solid B grade from me in this category. All of the meal jars can be curbside recycled or reused (they’re pleasing sturdy. The cardboard box and kraft paper can also be recycled in your curbside bin as are the insulated PET liners. Unfortunately, the ice packs must be disposed of in the trash and can’t be drained down the sink like some others. 

Besides the reusable ice packs, everything in your box should be curbside recyclable.

David Watsky

Final verdict on Farmer’s Fridge

Farmer’s Fridge won me over with its simple, fresh salads that take about 15 seconds to drink (shake). I wasn’t as bowled over by the, um, bowls but don’t be horrified to throw one or two in your order for some variety. The parfaits were also tasty, but your options are dinky to about three, so you might tire of them. 

With hefty fractions and reasonable prices, Farmer’s Fridge is a solid option for a busy populate looking to knock out weekday lunches or breakfast with almost no misfortune at all. 

More meal delivery recommendations 

The inquire contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not planned as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or anunexperienced qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have approximately a medical condition or health objectives.