A Complete Review Of Trifecta, From An Editor Who Loves To Cook

Some people dread cooking at the end of a long day, but I actually look forward to it. Sure, it might take a little pep talk to get me there some nights, but cooking helps me unwind after a stressful day and actually increases my productivity. Unfortunately, I don't always have that time to set aside for a night spent chopping and stirring—which is why I've become a huge fan of testing out meal delivery services. Most recently, I was offered a sample box to test out Trifecta Nutrition's lineup of prepared meals.

A favorite meal delivery service among the mindbodygreen team, Trifecta provides fresh, fully prepared breakfast, lunch, and dinner entrees, catering to all dietary preferences and needs. The company's intention? To simplify healthy eating and make it part of your everyday life. Each meal is carefully curated by medical and dietary specialists and then developed by nutrition-trained chefs using organic, sustainably sourced ingredients.

While intentionally designed as a meal delivery service for people with weight loss goals, Trifecta is equally beneficial for anyone looking to improve their eating habits with nutritionally balanced meals. Plus, it cuts down on time spent meal planning, shopping, and prepping.

Trifecta offers chef-curated menus with a variety of meal plans to choose from: Clean, Keto, Whole30-Approved, Paleo, Vegan, or Vegetarian. There's also a "Classic Meals'' option, which allows you to pick and choose from a menu of simple, balanced meals, along with a few meal prep kits, for people who want to save time and money when cooking for a larger family.

Everything Trifecta cooks is made without preservatives, artificial ingredients, refined sugar, or dairy. Designed to optimize your diet, the meals have carefully calculated macro- and micronutrients, all outlined on the brand's packaging. The company also works with farmers to source in-season produce whenever possible, as a way to keep prices down and serve the freshest foods.

Here's a brief snapshot of what to expect from the different options, including how much each Trifecta plan costs:

Clean Meal Plan: High-quality protein, organic veggies, whole grains. Average calories: 450; Average protein: 29g; Average carbs: 45g; Average fat: 17g ($15 to $16 per meal)

Paleo Meal Plan: Organic produce, paleo proteins. No dairy, soy, grains, legumes, or gluten. Average calories: 440; Average protein: 30g; Average carbs: 35g; Average fat: 20g ($15 to $16 per meal)

Keto Meal Plan: High fat, low carb, high-quality protein. Average calories: 400; Average protein: 32g; Average carbs: 10g; Average fat: 28g ($15 to $16 per meal)

Vegan Meal Plan: Organic produce, plant-based protein. Average calories: 430; Average protein: 21g; Average carbs: 55g; Average fat: 15g ($12 to $13 per meal)

Whole30 Approved Meal Plan: Organic produce, eggs, plant-based protein. Free of dairy, soy, grains, legumes, and gluten. Average calories: 440; Average protein: 30g; Average carbs: 35g; Average fat: 20g ($15 to $16 per meal)

One qualm I have with Trifecta is that you can't view the current menus prior to subscribing. That said, there are example meals on each of the individual meal plan pages. Once you do decide to sign up, you'll choose from the above meal plans and your account will default to a weekly schedule. Don't worry, though, you'll have the option to skip weeks whenever you want (as long as you do so up to one week in advance). If desired, you can also request to be moved to a different schedule (i.e., every third week of the month). 

Trifecta offers a few meal plan sizes with a choice of deliveries either five or seven days per week. Along with selecting the number of days, you can decide on the exact meals you want sent your way: breakfast, lunch, dinner, or all three. There's also a third entrée available for people who truly want to eliminate shopping and cooking.

While you aren't able to pick and choose menu items with Trifecta's typical meal plans, I was impressed by how seriously the brand takes dietary restrictions, preferences, and allergies. At checkout, you can apply up to two allergy or dietary needs. Once your preferences are set, your menu will be revised to fully replace any meals containing those ingredients rather than removing the ingredient itself from the meal (to avoid cross-contamination). 

First off, shipping is free in all 50 states, which (in my opinion) should be a given these days but unfortunately is not. Each meal is packaged in a vacuum-sealed container with everything delivered to your door in one box via FedEx, UPS, GSO, or your local delivery company. The box contains plant-based insulation materials and ice packs made from nitrogen-based plant food.

The fully precooked meals arrive with instructions on how best to heat them on the stove, in the oven, or in the microwave. If you prefer to use the air fryer, you can also check out the website for additional cooking recommendations.

The meals last up to seven days in the refrigerator or three months in the freezer. It's always best to freeze foods at their optimal freshness, so if you know you aren't going to consume all meals within a week of receiving them, be sure to freeze any extras right away.

For this review, I tested Trifecta's clean meal plan, with seven dinner entrees. Unfortunately, one of my entrees did break open in the delivery process, so I was only able to taste six of the meals. I froze half my meals at delivery so I could enjoy them over the course of two weeks. I tend to alter and supplement meals when using delivery services, but the only addition I made this time was serving each dish over a bed of arugula, kale, or spinach—just to up my greens intake.

I'll admit I'm on the pickier side when it comes to food. For example, because I prepare at least 90% of my food for myself, I often find meal delivery, takeout, and restaurant options to be heavy on the salt. I did not have this issue at all with Trifecta. I loved that each of the meals was clearly labeled with ingredients and nutritional information so I knew I wasn't loading up on excess sodium, additives, or preservatives.

Every meal I tried:

Southwestern Style Turkey Bowl with sweet potatoes, onions, and bell peppers

Pollo Guisado white meat chicken with tomatoes, pumpkin seeds, and citrus

Tropical Garlic Shrimp with bell peppers, lemon, and coconut

Jambalaya with spiced rice, white meat chicken, pork, and andouille sausage

Spicy Southwestern Style Turkey Skillet with sweet potatoes, bell peppers, and guacamole

Spicy Green Chili Chicken with brown rice, corn, and poblano peppers

When you first look at Trifecta's ingredient lists, they're so clean that you might expect the food to be bland. I didn't find that to be the case at all. The standout meals for me were the Pollo Guisado and the Tropical Garlic Shrimp—both of which I was actually not super excited about from the description. Since my meals arrived in October, the tropical and citrus flavors threw me off a bit. To my surprise, the flavors were bright and fresh while still warming enough for the cooler fall weather.

According to the countless testimonials, yes, Trifecta is good for weight loss. We've even included it on our nutritionist-reviewed roundup of the best meal delivery services for weight loss as our top pick overall. Each meal is macro-balanced with an average of 250 to 500 calories. The meals also tend to be very high in protein, which has been shown to keep you full and regulate your appetite1. Most importantly, all meals are dietitian-approved.

Trifecta is one of the healthiest meal delivery services I've come across yet. Not only are the meals chef-prepared and catered to nearly every dietary preference, but the mostly organic ingredients are high quality, gluten-free, GMO-free, and low in saturated fat, sugar, and salt. The brand sources local foods whenever possible, paying close attention to what's seasonal.

Yes, I'm thoroughly impressed by Trifecta's sustainability efforts. Each meal is minimally processed and made with sustainably sourced ingredients. The brand is passionate about limiting food waste, which is another great reason to opt for meal delivery in general. If there is any leftover food—which Trifecta aims to avoid—all extra meals are donated to Feeding America.

To be transparent, I was not expecting to enjoy the meals as much as I did. As I said, I'm particular about my food and ingredients, and I do love to cook. But Trifecta surprised me with its quality, freshness, and taste. Plus, you can't beat the simplicity of having premade meals ready to heat at the start, middle, or end of your day.