Stop Cooking. Use This Healthy 3-Minute Shortcut Instead (It’s Way Cheaper Than Takeout)

A plate of food is displayed that was originally prepared by Freshly. A person also holds a fork with a piece of the dish on it.
Photo courtesy of Freshly
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Finding the time and energy to cook a real, healthy meal — one that tastes better than a sad, plain chicken breast — seems impossible.

And your poor wallet probably cries each time you treat yourself to “healthy” takeout. (You know, those $15 soggy salads that shockingly have 600 calories.)

But we found a service that will save you a ton of time and rescue your bank account from overpriced takeout. It’s called Freshly, and it drops off scratch-made meals developed by nutritionists and chefs at your doorstep for half the cost of takeout.

Make Your Life Easier, For Half the Price of Takeout

You might be thinking this is another meal kit. You know the ones. You get a box of ingredients and step-by-step instructions. Now it’s on you to spend the next hour prepping the meal (that definitely won’t look like the photo).

That’s still time-consuming, and plus they’re never really that cheap.

But Freshly is different. You get healthy, already prepared dishes delivered to your door for as little as $7.99 a meal. And no cooking — or clean up — is required. All you have to do is pop them in the microwave for three minutes. You can even plate it, if you’re feeling fancy.

Here’s how it works: You choose how many meals you want each week from a menu of 30 different options, plan your menu and pick which day you want your meals delivered. Freshly handles the rest.

All you do is heat and eat.

A person takes Freshly meals out of a box.
Photo courtesy of Freshly

If you have a special diet, like dairy-free, low-carb or high protein, it has plenty of options. In fact, all Freshly meals are gluten-free, with no added sugar. Allergic to soy? Order the chicken and spring pea risotto. Trying to keep it low-cal? The golden oven-fried chicken and mash will fill you up.

Even if you’re not on a diet, Freshly’s meals include better-for-you swaps that will make you feel like you’re taking care of your body. The turkey mushroom meatballs with zoodles, for example, is so good you won’t realize you’re not eating pasta!

It’s like ordering takeout from a restaurant, but instead, you’re paying as little as $7.99 for a perfectly plated dish made by a real chef.

Plus, you can get $60 off your first month of meals if you use the promo code LAUNCH15. It’s amazing how much better you’ll feel with zero prep and zero clean-up.

Kari Faber ([email protected]) is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She’s a big fan of Freshly’s chicken tikka masala.