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The meals were delivered in a cardboard box with an insulated liner inside. My order included two large ice packs – one on top of the meals and one under the meals – and a very thoughtful handwritten thank you note.
The ice packs were still cold and mostly frozen when the shipment arrived. If there were any delays in shipping or if the weather were warmer, there could be problems keeping the meals cold.
Sprinly’s website says that the insulation of the box and the ice packs are sufficient to keep your meals cold, as long as you’re at home to put them in the fridge at some point the same day they arrive, but it doesn’t list a specific size . over time the box can go without refrigeration safely.
All of the meals I received were in excellent condition. There were no wilted vegetables, leaked packages, or missing items.
In addition, all packaging materials are reusable, compostable or recyclable.
Preparing the Meals
Since all the meals are pre-made, I just had to reheat them.
All meals included stove/oven and microwave instructions. I chose to follow the stovetop/oven instructions, and I think it made a huge difference in the overall quality, texture and enjoyment of the meals, compared to heating it in the microwave.
Each meal took no longer than 10 minutes to heat up, and each meal felt like I had cooked it myself, with no prep work involved.
The Paprika Spinach Salad With Baked Tofu and Hemp Hearts was the lowest pre-prepared item, since it was designed to be eaten cold. I brought it for lunch on a park playdate with my kids, and all I had to do was pour the dressing and sprinkle the hemp hearts over the salad.
The most complicated preparation was the three meals that used both the oven and the stove top. For me it was this:
- The Royal Beetroot With Ancient Quinoa and Greens
- The Pesto Pasta With Sun-Dried Tomato Cakes
- The Roasted Tahini Sweet Potatoes With Red Rice and Sweet Lemon Chowder.
For each of these, the entrée needed to be heated in the oven (for texture and crispiness), while the rest of the meal was heated on the stove top. I used my air fryer on the “Baking” setting for the beetroot, tomato cakes, and sweet potato tahini, instead of my oven. It crisped and heated these foods nicely without any preheating time. The slightly more preparation involved was worth it though – these were my top three.
I was also pleased that all my meals looked very similar to the photos on the Sprinly website. All of these meals were very nice, especially after taking an extra minute or two to plate them up nicely.
Tasting the Meals
The Pesto Pasta With Sun-Dried Tomato Cakes container had a helpful little note on it that said it should be eaten soon, so that was the first one I tried.
I was very skeptical about the tomato cakes – but wow, this meal was incredible. The tomato cakes were delicious, with a strong umami flavor and a texture that reminded me of a soft corn muffin. The pesto was flavorful, the salt levels were perfect, the pasta still had a nice bite (even though it was pre-cooked), and the cherry tomatoes and spinach were the perfect veggies for this meal.
Next, I tried the Tahini Roasted “Butter” Sweet Potatoes with Red Rice and Sweet Lemon Chowder. This meal looked amazing, thanks to its deep colors (that is, until I got heavy handed with the sesame seeds), but the flavors were a bit muted.
I had a Paprika Spinach Salad With Baked Tofu and Hemp Hearts at the park with my kids, and it was the first (and only) Sprinly meal I didn’t like. The dressing was bland, and the quinoa and hemp hearts made a huge mess while I was eating.
Up next was the Indian Roasted Vegetable Curry with Cashew Quinoa. I liked this one. It was well seasoned and had a nice coconut aroma, but it was light enough that I could share it with my 3 year old daughter. I would definitely prefer rice as a side to quinoa though.
One of my favorites was the Royal Beetroot with Old Quinoa and Greens. The beet medallions were made with beets and black beans, and had none of that earthy/dirty taste that many people dislike about beets (myself included). According to the instructions, the salad and quinoa were supposed to be eaten cold with the reheated beet medallions, but I also reheated the quinoa, which I thought was the right call. The salad was huge, though, and I couldn’t finish it.
Finally, I tried the Osaka Soba Noodles With Tofu and Peanut Sauce. This one was good, but the sauce could have benefited from more spice or pizzazz (for example, from miso). However, the texture of the noodles was nice and I loved the shredded carrots in this dish.
Overall, the ingredients, flavors, and textures of these meals were amazing, and the portion sizes were huge. The amount of food that Sprinly was able to fit into their little meal prep containers always went up, and all the meals were very filling.
