If you’re strapped for time between a full day in the office and getting the kids to baseball practice, here’s your solution to a speedy dinner with absolutely no prep time. And no, it’s not a drive-thru.
Our editors and experts handpick every product we feature. We may earn a commission from your purchases.Learn more.
As a toddler mom who works full time, it sometimes feels impossible to plan, shop, prep and cook multiple nutritious meals every day in addition to everything else I’m juggling. Not to mention, my incredibly picky toddler often ends up eating something “off the menu.” In other words, she regularly asks for something entirely different from what I’ve cooked, like hashbrowns after I’ve made enchiladas.
Some days (who am I kidding, most days), I’m tapped when it comes to dinner, and I don’t feel like making multiple entrees or cooking at all—and there’s only so much takeout my wallet and belt will allow. So, when I was asked to try out Tempo by Home Chef as part of Taste Recipes’s search for the best meal delivery services, I didn’t require much persuading.
Protein-packed, nutrient-rich meals with zero prep time delivered straight to my door? Sign me up! Even Tovala, a favorite of my colleagues for its one-minute prep time, requires some washing, slicing, lining pans and other, albeit minimal, prep work. With Tempo, there’s genuinely no prep work necessary, unless you count opening and closing the microwave. I tried Tempo for a week, here’s how it went.
MARY HENN FOR TASTE OF HOME
Tempo preps meals, so you don't have to—just heat and eat!
Launched in 2023, Tempo is a ready-to-eat meal delivery service with high-protein, chef-crafted recipes. Tempo is part of the Home Chef family, owned by Kroger, and focuses on fast, easy, nutritious meals that are ready after just a few minutes in the microwave.
Tempo meals don’t come with loose ingredients or detailed recipe cards like Blue Apron or HelloFresh. Tempo’s heat-and-eat meals require absolutely no prep. Each meal is delivered chilled (never frozen) and ready to pop in the fridge. All you have to do is reheat it. Really!
Janelle Bober, MS, RDN, registered dietitian nutritionist at Dietitian Live, says that reviewing the ingredients of any delivery meal kit to make sure they meet your nutritional needs and preferences is incredibly important. “We want to make sure meals are nutrient-dense, and on track with your goals for protein, fiber and calorie needs,” she says.
Additionally, Bober recommends looking at portion sizes, processed ingredients, sodium content and sugar levels. She says that ingredient transparency can be helpful when considering whether a meal delivery service is right for you.
Tempo lists detailed nutritional information and full ingredient decks for every single meal on its menu, past and present, and you don’t need to create an account to see that information. You can access everything you need to know about Tempo meals before signing up; that way, you’re not wasting time entering your personal info before deciding whether Tempo will work for your dietary needs and personal health goals.
For this Tempo review, I enjoyed about a week’s worth of quick dinners. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by the convenience and taste of the meals. I also appreciated that the “best by” dates for each fresh meal were staggered, so I didn’t feel rushed eating them before they spoiled.
I tried six Tempo recipes: Pesto-Topped Salmon with Mushroom Orzotto, Asiago and Basil Pesto chicken with Florentine Potatoes, Spicy Korean BBQ Chicken with Rice and Chives, Red Pepper Filet Mignon with Fancy Hash, Spicy Tuscan Turkey Meatballs with Asiago Cauliflower ‘Grits’ and Broccoli, and Chicken with Whole Wheat Rotini Alfredo and Garlicky Green Beans.
Each meal contained one serving, required three minutes in the microwave and sat around the 500-calorie mark. Additionally, each meal offered instructions for cooking in a conventional oven. However, I did not opt for this route as it required more than 30 minutes and, I believe, defeats the purpose of the brand, which offers quick, ready-to-eat meals.
Similar to Factor75, Tempo offers 20 rotating meals each week. Each meal is a bit formulaic, typically consisting of a protein, a vegetable and a grain. There are extras you can add on for breakfast, appetizers, snacks, desserts and drinks. Additionally, you can filter options for fiber-rich, protein-packed, calorie-conscious and GLP-1-balanced foods.
Truthfully, I was a bit underwhelmed by the number of menu items. However, the minimal menu could be partly due to the company’s newness or its investment in quality over quantity.
One thing I love about the Tempo site is that you can see the weekly menu options in full detail before starting an order or even creating an account. If you’re familiar with meal delivery services, you know that this level of transparency isn’t always available.
Better yet, the website is easy to navigate, and the prices, nutritional info and extra options are listed upfront. I also appreciate that you can search past meals and find other meals similar to those you’ve enjoyed before.
While I did not use the app while testing Tempo, it shares the Home Chef: Meal Kit Delivery app, which has a 4.8-star rating on Apple. The app lets you browse the weekly menu, order meals, plan your week and personalize your taste profile and diet preferences, such as keto-friendly, wheat-free, vegetarian and more.
Tempo sends weekly deliveries, and you can pick which day of the week your meals will arrive. However, options will vary depending on where you live, and you can’t pick a specific delivery time or timeframe. You can change the delivery date for one specific order if you’re out of town, for instance, and you can always change your default weekly delivery day for future deliveries.
The meal kits arrive at your door in insulated liners with ice packs to keep your food refrigerated, not frozen. I can vouch for this, as my meals were very cold when I opened the delivery box, although I opened the box within an hour or so of delivery. If your package has sat out for hours in warm weather, you’ll want to be sure that all food products are 40 degrees Fahrenheit or colder upon opening.
Tempo also lets you skip a delivery for any reason and set your subscription frequency to biweekly or monthly. Menus are posted up to five weeks in advance, so you can look ahead to organize your meal schedule. If you decide to skip or cancel a meal, you’ll have to do so by noon Central Time on the Wednesday before the scheduled delivery day.
I tested six different Tempo recipes, constituting about a week of easy dinners for me, allowing me to devote more time to making toddler-friendly meals and other weeknight tasks. I will say, however, that my toddler, who tends to be less picky when eating off my plate, was a big fan of the chicken dishes.
As mentioned, I tried the Pesto-Topped Salmon with Mushroom Orzotto, Asiago and Basil Pesto chicken with Florentine Potatoes, Spicy Korean BBQ Chicken with Rice and Chives, Red Pepper Filet Mignon with Fancy Hash, Spicy Tuscan Turkey Meatballs with Asiago Cauliflower ‘Grits’ and Broccoli, and Chicken with Whole Wheat Rotini Alfredo and Garlicky Green Beans.
Below are my favorites, but first, here are a few notes on one of the meals that didn’t land among my top picks. The Red Pepper Filet Mignon with Fancy Hash Served had me intrigued from the beginning. After all, how does one microwave filet mignon successfully? Is that even possible? The answer, in short: Sort of.
For being microwaved, the filet was tasty. To my surprise, it maintained its pink center and was pretty tender, not rubbery or chewy. However, the texture of the steak was not one you’ll find in your typical steakhouse. I think the meat must have been compressed at some point, perhaps vacuum-sealed during production and/or sous vide. I’m not certain.
My partner and I didn’t care for the red pepper sauce on the filet, but we agreed it probably helped preserve the taste and tenderness of the meat. The filet was paired with seasoned cauliflower and potatoes. The veggies weren’t anything special, but the cook on them was nice (not too soft or limp).
This was my favorite of the bunch. The veggies were delicious, and the salmon was very good. The steamed broccoli wasn’t limp after microwaving, and the coin carrots were halved and honey-roasted, which provided a bit of sweetness to the dish.
The fish still had some flake, and the red-pepper pesto was simple and tasty. The mushroom orzotto (like risotto but made with pearl barley instead of rice) was cooked well, and made the meal more filling.
As someone who often has texture issues when it comes to proteins, I was so happy to find that Tempo’s meats were all very “clean,” so to speak. There was no grittiness, sliminess, tough bites or fatty pockets in any of the meat or fish I tried.
These meatballs were delish! My partner tried them and couldn’t believe they were turkey. They were served in a yummy, straightforward marinara sauce and paired with steamed broccoli topped with shredded asiago cheese and cauliflower grits with Tuscan butter.
Turkey meatballs often dry out when cooking, but these meatballs were fresh, moist and tender. I wish I had the recipe to recreate them.
For what it’s worth (to me, a lot), this was my toddler’s personal favorite of the Tempo meals. The grilled chicken was packed with flavor and not too spicy for a one-year-old. I am certain this one was sous vide before it was grilled, which made it extra tender. Side note: Some cooks swear by sous vide for meal prep, and now, after trying Tempo, I’m convinced it might be the secret to flavorful, tender cook-ahead meats.
The veggies in this meal were our favorite (and maybe Tempo’s favorite) honey-roasted halved coin carrots and roasted cauliflower. (If you’re thinking that there seems to be a lot of carrots and cauliflower in these meals, you’re correct.) There was also jasmine rice, which was plain and slightly dry, which I could look past because everything else was near perfect for a ready-to-eat delivery meal.
Tempo and Factor75 are both meal delivery services that offer fresh heat-and-eat meals. That means no prep is required for either. Each brand delivers meals straight to your door, ready for the refrigerator. Additionally, both Factor75 and Tempo offer weekly rotating menus, so that subscribers have variety week after week.
Factor75 has a larger rotating menu, offering 35 new menu options weekly instead of Tempo’s 20 new weekly meals. While each brand offers a range of add-ons like breakfast items, snacks and desserts, Factor75 has many more add-on items to choose from. That said, our tester experienced a few delivery hiccups with Factor75 and did not like the design of the Factor75 website. I found Tempo’s website easy to navigate and transparent.
You can’t beat the convenience of a heat-and-eat meal delivery kit like Tempo. For working moms who need a healthier alternative to takeout and fast food, Tempo is worth looking into. Even if you opt for a biweekly or monthly delivery, that’s still a few meals you won’t have to plan, shop and prep for.
My biggest issue is that while some meals were delicious, others fell short. I would certainly order the salmon and meatball entrees again, and I would likely steer clear of steak and pasta dishes. So, I wish there had been more consistency regarding tastiness, although I suppose that’s subjective.
MARY HENN FOR TASTE OF HOME
Tempo meals are dietitian-approved, chef-designed and ready to eat in minutes.
Want to try the meal delivery service with absolutely zero prep time? Visit Tempo’s website to see this week’s menu. Meals start at $11 per serving, but the final price depends on the number of meals chosen and any add-ons.
Tempo by Home Chef may just be your key to more free time during weeknights.
Tempo meals start at $11 per serving, but the total price varies based on the number of meals chosen and whether you add additional food items like snacks, desserts and breakfasts.
I found all the Tempo meals I tried to be cooked well. The proteins were tender and tasty, while the veggies were seasoned and not limp or dry. However, I did notice some dryness in the pasta and rice sides. In terms of flavors and pairings, some of the meals were very good, while others were underwhelming.
Tempo meals are dietitian-approved, less than 600 calories, and protein-rich. Each well-balanced meal typically contains protein, vegetables and grains. They do, however, tend to contain high amounts of sodium. If you have high blood pressure or otherwise need to manage your sodium intake, this could be a dealbreaker.
No, Tempo meals are not made to be frozen. They should be refrigerated and prepared by the use-by date.
At Taste Recipes, we back every meal delivery service review with hands-on testing, including this Tempo review. Our testers’ needs, wants and budgets reflect those of the average shopper. In addition to ordering and testing over a dozen meal kits, our team has reviewed meat and chicken delivery services like ButcherBox, Snake River Farms and Good Chop. Our testing extends to grocery services, like Misfits Market and Thrive Market, too.
Shopping Editor Mary Henn has years of experience writing about food and testing products. She’s also a working mom of a toddler who is constantly trying to find ways to save time in the kitchen. That’s why we asked her to test Tempo, known for its convenience and quick, chef-created meals. Knowing that we personally test every meal delivery service we review, readers can feel confident in our recommendations.
We also chatted with Janelle Bober, MS, RDN, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist at Dietitian Live, about what to look for when selecting a meal delivery service that’s right for you.
