MacroPlate

MacroPlate does not ship by mail. Meals are cooked in its Los Angeles kitchen and taken by third-party couriers to the ZIP codes it serves, which its help center describes as parts of California and Arizona; enter your ZIP code at sign-up to check. In Southern California, deliveries arrive on Sunday and Wednesday between 2 PM and 10 PM in insulated cooler bags with ice packs, and meals are designed to keep in the fridge for up to 5 days. There is no delivery elsewhere in the US or to Canada, Australia or the UK, and no holiday schedule is published.

Return each cooler bag and its ice packs at your next delivery, or leave them out for pickup after your last one; a bag not returned costs $20. In a gated community, add your access code to the delivery instructions.

The subscription renews every week and is billed in advance. The site's FAQ asks for pauses by Tuesday at 2 PM for the following week, and the Terms set the cancel-or-pause cut-off at Wednesday at 12:00 PM Pacific, so act by Tuesday. Once a week is billed, the charge is final, and late skips may be rushed through with the meals donated to a food bank and no credit.

There is no warranty on fresh food. Report spoiled or damaged meals within 24 hours with photos for an account credit; missing or incorrect meals, and meals containing an allergen you listed, are credited too.

Five plans set the style of every meal. Traditional, the plan most members start with, balances complex carbs, lean protein and healthy fats. High Protein cuts carbs for athletes and body-composition goals, with dishes such as Steak Chimichurri at 48g of protein, and the site says meals reach up to 55g. Paleo leaves out grains, dairy, gluten, soy and corn and is the plan MacroPlate recommends most for weight loss; Paleo Lite is the same idea in smaller, lower-calorie portions. Vegetarian builds meals on legumes, tofu, tempeh and eggs.

You choose how many meals a day and how many days a week, set allergies and foods to exclude, and the kitchen picks the meals; one recent Yelp reviewer noted you cannot choose individual dishes. Add-ons include house-made protein smoothies and snacks, Stumptown cold brew and Pressed Juicery cold-pressed juices.

Ingredients are named: chicken and turkey from Mary's Free Range Farm, USDA Prime and American Wagyu beef from Snake River Farms and Black Hawk Ranch, mostly wild-caught seafood and produce from Southern California farms, all cooked in organic avocado oil or extra virgin olive oil, never seed oils. Nutrition labels are estimates, and the Terms say the meals are not intended to diagnose, treat or prevent any condition.

Start with your ZIP code, since MacroPlate serves only local delivery areas. Then pick the plan that matches how you eat: Traditional for balanced everyday meals, High Protein for training, Paleo or Paleo Lite if you avoid grains, dairy and soy, and Vegetarian if you eat no meat or fish.

Next, choose meals per day and days per week. Two meals a day on weekdays is the smallest priced plan, $150 a week on Traditional, and adding weekends raises it to $210. If you eat out a few nights a week, a smaller plan wastes less food, since meals keep about 5 days.

List every allergy and dislike in your account before the first billing. The kitchen handles major allergens, including peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, wheat, soy, fish, shellfish and sesame, and cannot guarantee a meal free of cross-contact, so anyone with a severe allergy should email [email protected] first. If you take medication or follow a doctor-prescribed diet, the Terms ask you to check with your healthcare provider before starting.

Weekly prices for 2 meals a day on 5 days: Traditional, Paleo Lite and Vegetarian $150, Paleo $160 and High Protein $170. For 7 days the same plans cost $210, $224 and $238, and the largest plans, 5 meals a day every day, cost $525 to $595 a week. Add-ons cost $4 a day for snacks or cold brew, $7 for smoothies and $7.25 for juice. We could not find a published delivery fee on the current site, so check the total before you confirm.

MacroPlate's referral program takes $25 off a new member's first week when they use your code and adds a $25 credit to your account. Gift cards are sold on the site.

We do not list coupon codes we have not tested. Because plans renew weekly, put the Tuesday 2 PM cut-off in your calendar, and set a price alert on In-Right's Watchlist at /watchlist/ to hear about any Black Friday offer.