RealEats Review

UPDATED March 11. 2024.
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As of early 2023, RealEats is no longer offering meal delivery services. There are no further information about why this happened. If you’re looking for a meal delivery service like RealEats, we recommend you read our Factor review.

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RealEats is a New York-based meal delivery with a rich menu, good sourcing practices, and meal plans suitable for singles, couples, and families of various sizes. It focuses on real food prepared by top-notch chefs and delivered fresh to your home on a weekly basis.

Launched in 2016, the service has quickly gained a rather large customer base. It is universally praised by its loyal patrons who love how healthy and delicious its meals are and how easy it is to eat well with RealEats. Of course, this does not mean that there is no room for improvement. Keep reading this honest RealEats review to discover whether the service’s advantages outweigh its downsides.

What Is RealEats

RealEats is a prepared meal delivery that provides ready-to-heat dishes made of natural and organic ingredients. It allows you to handpick your weekly meals, decide how much food you want to get, and enjoy fresh, chef-crafted food of exquisite taste.

The company was launched with the goal of helping Americans move away from processed foods and effortlessly switch to a healthy diet made up of wholesome, genuinely nutritious produce, proteins, and grains. Its meals are well-balanced, controlled for calories, and ready to eat in just 6 minutes.

RealEats sources its ingredients from local farms that employ organic growing practices. It is not certified organic because such a certification would significantly raise the price of its meals. Still, you can be sure that every dish you get from this service is absolutely natural and good for you.

As a RealEats patron, you can expect to choose from about 2 dozen scrumptious dishes every week, customize your every order to suit your needs, and only receive your deliveries when you need them. There are no membership fees or long-term commitments, just amazing convenience and fresh and tasty food ready to eat when you are.

It is interesting to note that RealEats has a world-class chef on its side. Her name is Aliya LeeKong, she worked in many Michelin-starred restaurants, and you may know her as a judge on Beat Bobby Flay and a guest chef on NBC’s Today Show. If you have always dreamed of having your meals crafted by a celebrity chef, RealEats gives you a perfect chance to make your dreams come true.

How Does RealEats Work

RealEats is a subscription service. It lets you choose from 22 mouthwatering items on the menu and receive 4 to 24 meals per week. You can decide whether you want to get dinners and breakfasts or dinners only. Every RealEats meal yields one serving.

RealEats How it Works

The service offers 4 dinner plans and 4 dinner + breakfast plans. With dinner plans, you can get 4, 6, 8 or 12 dinners per week. Dinner + breakfast plans bring you weekly deliveries including 4 dinners and 4 breakfasts, 6 dinners and 6 breakfasts, 8 dinners and 8 breakfasts or 12 dinners and 12 breakfasts. The selection of meals in your order is entirely up to you.

Subscriptions are automatically renewed, but there is no minimum subscription period. You can pause or cancel your subscription at any time. You just need to make changes to your subscription before your next order is processed and shipped. Your order is charged on Thursday the week before your delivery is due to arrive.

As a RealEats patron, you can expect to choose from about 2 dozen scrumptious dishes every week, customize your every order to suit your needs, and only receive your deliveries when you need them. There are no membership fees or long-term commitments, just amazing convenience and fresh and tasty food ready to eat when you are.

What Makes RealEats Different

Like we mentioned at the beginning of this RealEats review, the service has both positive and negative distinctive features. Let us start with the positive.

First of all, it is important to reiterate that RealEats chooses only 100% natural food for your meals. Its ingredients are farm-fresh, locally grown, and free from artificial substances or anything that could negatively affect your health or figure.

Secondly, the entire menu is suitable for individuals who are keeping an eye on their calorie intake. Normally, all the items contain fewer than 600 calories and some of them may even have fewer than 300 calories per serving. That means that RealEats can help you stay slim or lose a couple of extra pounds the healthy way. Nonetheless, it should be considered a healthy eating solution rather than a weight loss service.

RealEats in the bag

Finally, the service is single-friendly, family-friendly, and designed to easily fit into your schedule. You can order anywhere between a couple and 2 dozen single-serving meals per week. You can cook on your own often or never. You can enjoy chef-prepared dinners at the end of a busy day or enrich your menu with the addition of nutritious pre-made breakfasts. You can order every week or pause your subscription whenever you wish. Whatever works for you, RealEats can make it happen.

On the downside, the company does not cater to individuals with special dietary needs. There are only a couple of dishes that could be suitable for individuals on meat-free diets. This could be considered a major flaw, particularly since many meal deliveries nowadays offer an abundance of choices for home diners with special dietary requirements.

When it comes to minor downsides, we have to mention the absence of actual gift subscriptions. Namely, the service claims you can buy its meals as a gift. However, in that case, you need to start a regular subscription and use the gift recipient’s address as the shipping address. You can share access to the account with your friend, so he or she can choose the meals. Then, you need to cancel the subscription when your friend receives as many deliveries as you wanted. This is far from the easiest way to send someone a food gift.

The service is single-friendly, family-friendly, and designed to easily fit into your schedule. You can order anywhere between a couple and 2 dozen single-serving meals per week. You can cook on your own often or never. You can enjoy chef-prepared dinners at the end of a busy day or enrich your menu with the addition of nutritious pre-made breakfasts. You can order every week or pause your subscription whenever you wish. Whatever works for you, RealEats can make it happen.

RealEats Meals And Recipes

RealEats meal options
For Families
For Singles

Out of 22 items on the RealEats menu, 3 are particularly designed for the week and 19 are standard items that are available every time you order. Therefore, you have an abundance of safe choices at your disposal, but you can also try out something new with every delivery.

Dinners make up the largest portion of the menu. Normally, all 3 weekly specials are dinner items and the standard offer includes 15 dinner options. At all times, there are 4 healthy breakfasts to choose from.

RealEats Menu

All dishes are suitable for omnivores. Pescatarians can usually find 3-4 menu items that suit their needs. Vegetarians normally have about 3 veggie-based dinner options at their disposal, along with 3 vegetarian-friendly breakfasts. Since the minimum number of dinners or breakfasts you can order is 4, there are hardly enough options for a diverse vegetarian or pescatarian weekly menu. Allergy-friendly options are not available.

Dishes mostly originate from American, Italian, Greek, and Cajun cuisines, with a couple of Asian delights. You can look forward to familiar flavors combined in more or less creative ways. The most frequently featured proteins include chicken, beef, lamb, shrimp, and fish (e.g. salmon).

The company’s meals normally contain 1 protein and 2 sides. The average calorie count per portion ranges between 270 and 580 calories. The portions are not particularly large, but they are filling enough to keep you satisfied for several hours.

Earlier in this RealEats review, we mentioned that the meals take just about 6 minutes to reheat. They are delivered fully cooked and individually packed in vacuum-sealed sous-vide pouches. However, you should not use a sous-vide machine to reheat them due to the risk of overcooking. You simply need to place your meal in a pot of boiling water and wait for about 6 minutes before enjoying it. The exact reheating time is indicated on the packaging.

You can keep your RealEats meals in your fridge for 7 days. Freezing your meals is always an option if you think that you cannot eat them all before they go bad. However, the service advises against freezing since the meals are designed to be enjoyed fresh.

RealEats BBQ Beef Brisket

How Much Does RealEats Cost

As a RealEats subscriber, you can expect to pay $59.96 to $135.84 per week, depending on how many meals you want to receive in your deliveries. In the past, they had a different subscription model but decided to change it in order to accommodate their customers even more. So, now there’s no subscription necessary which is a huge innovation. You can make a one-time purchase and basically try their meals risk-free. And if you like them, and we’re sure you’re going to, you can easily order more.

On top of all of this, you can customize each meal! Yes, if you click on the button Customize Meal, you will get to choose between different ingredients and other elements. You can swap them or even discard them completely. This expands your selection of meals significantly making sure you will enjoy every meal even more. We will now list the prices for all meals you can order from RealEats.

RealEats New Menu Subscription
  • 4 Meals – $59.96 or $14.99 per Meal
  • 6 Meals – $83.84 or $13.99 per Meal
  • 8 Meals – $107.92 or $13.49 per Meal
  • 12 Meals – $155.88 or $12.99 per Meal

However, we also must add that RealEats is almost always running special promotions driving the prices significantly down. This means that you will usually pay between $9 and $11 for your meals. After you’ve chosen your main meals it’s time to choose Add Ons. Soups, Sides, Proteins and a lot more await you in this section. The prices range from $3.99 to $8.99. We will now list a couple of options you can choose and their prices so you get a better picture.

  • Huevos Rancheros Frittata – $5.99
  • Broccoli Cheddar Soup – $6.99
  • Honey Sesame Chicken – $7.99
  • Korean BBQ Steak – $7.99
  • Cheesy Broccoli – $3.99
  • Stir Fry Veggie Rice – $3.99
  • Chana Masala – $4.49

Shipping is free for all $115+ orders. For orders worth up to $115, the shipping fee normally amounts to $7.99 per delivery.

To learn how much you would pay with each of the company’s meal plans, please view the handy pricing table below.

Dinner plans
Number of mealsPrice per weekPrice per portion
4 dinners$54.00$13.50
6 dinners$75.00$12.50
8 dinners$96.00$12.00
12 dinners$138.00$11.50
Dinner + breakfast plans
Number of mealsPrice per weekPrice per portion
4 dinners + 4 breakfasts$74.00$13.50 per dinner, $5 per breakfast
6 dinners + 6 breakfasts$105.00$12.50 per dinner, $5 per breakfast
8 dinners + 8 breakfasts$136.00$12.00 per dinner, $5 per breakfast
12 dinners + 12 breakfasts$198.00$11.50 per dinner, $5 per breakfast

Where Does RealEats Deliver

At the moment, RealEats delivers to 21 US states. Its delivery map includes CT, DE, IL, IN, KY, ME, MD, MA, MI, NH, NJ, NY, NC, OH, PA, RI, SC, TN, VT, VA, and WV. Orders are shipped via FedEx every Monday and delivered on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

The company provides tracking information for every package. A signature is not required. You should properly store your meals (in a fridge) within a few hours after arrival to make sure they stay fresh.

RealEats Pros & Cons

To make sure RealEats meets all your standards and expectations, it is important to know its biggest advantages and disadvantages. With a short overview of its pros and cons, you can easily decide if RealEats is the right meal delivery service for you.

Pros
  • Farm-fresh, natural, and organic ingredients
  • Fresh, never frozen meals prepared by pro chefs
  • 22 tasty and healthy items on the menu
  • Calorie-controlled breakfasts and dinners
  • Single-friendly
  • Flexible subscriptions
  • Free shipping on orders over $115

Cons

  • Does not deliver nationwide
  • Lacks options for special diets

Sample Dishes

With RealEats, you get delicious meals prepared by pro chefs at affordable prices. To find out what kinds of delights you will receive in your delivery, we have chosen a couple of sample dishes that accurately represents its offer and can help you decide if it is the right service for you.

Bottom Line

At the end of this RealEats review, we can say that this prepared meal delivery has quite a lot to offer to omnivorous home dinners. Its meals are delicious, carefully portioned, nutritious, and healthy. Its menu is rather rich and more than likely to please picky eaters. The prices are reasonable, although not exactly low. As far as the necessary improvements go, the company should certainly consider introducing special diet options in the near future.

All in all, we believe that RealEats is an excellent choice for omnivores who want to eat healthily with minimum effort.


User Reviews (8)

RealEats is rated 4.5/5, based on 8 user reviews.

The RealEats reviews listed below reflect the opinions and experiences of real users and are in no way influenced by the service reviewed here. Before publishing each review, our team checks whether it was submitted by an actual user in an effort to prevent false or spammy reviews.

  1. | June 29, 2021

    I started using this service due to a disability making it difficult to stand and prepare meals. As I live alone, this was much easier. I had tried Freshly before but was disappointed in the seasoning of the meals. I reluctantly tried Real Eats and was very glad I did! The food is very tasty and I am able to freeze some options to heat later. I like that one can also purchase items that have been prepared separately as well. It works great to have extra main courses and sides should one wish to share a meal. I had stopped it for a time but am planning on resuming it shortly, which is another plus for their service. All the food I’ve received has been excellent. I feel like I’ve eaten at a restaurant. And they have very responsive customer service should you need to contact them.

  2. | February 28, 2020

    5$ for breakfast is cheaper than a hot dog on the street! I’m a regular at Real Eats!

  3. | February 13, 2020

    I assumed that I would have to renew my subscription in order to for it to continue but it is automatically renewed which I didn;t know until I’ve seen it on my creditcard charges. I don’t think it is a good business model and I would also like them to state it somewhere where you can see it clearly!

  4. | February 1, 2020

    Real eats says that one dinner is one serving but I always have spare and leave it for latter or even pack it as lunch. Great job Real Eats!

  5. | December 18, 2019

    Well, it says that they only organic ingredients from local farms but there’s no certificate because it would affect the price which means you have to take their word for it and not that I’m complaining, the dishes are very tasty and I doubt that they could do that with bad ingredients, I’m just saying you can not just take someone’s word for it.

  6. | October 3, 2019

    It’s just like the microwave dinner only it’s healthy, made out of organic ingredients, delicious and all you need to do is heat it for a few minutes. I recommend it to everyone!!!

  7. | June 22, 2019

    I’ve ordered from Real Eats a couple of time so now my bf thinks I’m a chef :)))) I’ll let him think like that for a little while at least until I know for sure that he loves me :)))) after that I’ll break it to him gently, over a real eats dinner of course :))))

  8. | June 5, 2019

    Delivered on time, well cooked, easy to reheat, and everything tastes good. I hate cooking but I love healthy food so it works great for me.

  9. | January 20, 2019

    I love that they provide breakfasts because for me, making a healthy breakfast in the morning is the hardest thing ever. But… they could add more breakfasts or at least change them more often. Plus, some meals could be a bit spicier, but I guess not everyone likes spicy food. The meals are obviously healthy and I like that they are not high in calories. Dinners are a bit expensive. 4 out of 5

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