{"id":2139902,"date":"2025-05-05T20:01:29","date_gmt":"2025-05-06T01:01:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/?p=2139902"},"modified":"2025-05-05T20:01:29","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T01:01:29","slug":"tempo-meals-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/tempo-meals-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Tempo Meals Review: The Meal Delivery Service with Zero Prep Time"},"content":{"rendered":"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\u2019m juggling. Not to mention, my incredibly picky toddler often ends up eating something \u201coff the menu.\u201d In other words, she regularly asks for something entirely different from what I\u2019ve cooked, like hashbrowns after I\u2019ve made enchiladas.\r\n\r\nSome days (who am I kidding, most<\/em> days), I\u2019m tapped when it comes to dinner, and I don\u2019t feel like making multiple entrees or cooking at all\u2014and there\u2019s only so much takeout my wallet and belt will allow. So, when I was asked to try out Tempo by Home Chef<\/a> as part of Taste Recipes<\/em>\u2019s search for the best meal delivery services<\/a>, I didn\u2019t require much persuading.\r\n\r\nProtein-packed, nutrient-rich meals with zero prep time delivered straight to my door? Sign me up! Even Tovala<\/a>, 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\u2019s genuinely no prep work necessary, unless you count opening and closing the microwave. I tried Tempo<\/a> for a week, here\u2019s how it went.\r\n\r\n[SINGLE_AFFILIATE_PRODUCT superlative=\"We Tried It\" product_name=\"Tempo by Home Chef\" short_description=\"Tempo preps meals, so you don't have to\u2014just heat and eat!\" image=\"2140286\" image_credit=\"MARY HENN FOR TASTE OF HOME\" pr_name=\"Tempo\" pr_url=\"https:\/\/www.tkqlhce.com\/click-9070496-15736742\" pr_display_text=\"Shop at Tempo\" \/]\r\n

What are Tempo Meals?<\/h2>\r\nLaunched in 2023, Tempo is a ready-to-eat meal delivery service with high-protein, chef-crafted recipes. Tempo is part of the Home Chef<\/a> family, owned by Kroger, and focuses on fast, easy, nutritious meals that are ready after just a few minutes in the microwave.\r\n\r\nTempo meals don\u2019t come with loose ingredients or detailed recipe cards like Blue Apron or HelloFresh<\/a>. Tempo\u2019s 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!\r\n\r\nJanelle Bober, MS, RDN, registered dietitian nutritionist at Dietitian Live<\/a>, says that reviewing the ingredients of any delivery meal kit to make sure they meet your nutritional needs and preferences is incredibly important. \u201cWe want to make sure meals are nutrient-dense, and on track with your goals for protein, fiber and calorie needs,\u201d she says.\r\n\r\nAdditionally, 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.\r\n\r\nTempo lists detailed nutritional information and full ingredient decks for every single meal on its menu, past and present, and you don\u2019t 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\u2019re not wasting time entering your personal info before deciding whether Tempo will work for your dietary needs and personal health goals.\r\n

Our Tempo Meals Review<\/h2>\r\n\"Toha25\r\n\r\nFor this Tempo review, I enjoyed about a week\u2019s worth of quick dinners. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by the convenience and taste of the meals. I also appreciated that the \u201cbest by\u201d dates for each fresh meal were staggered, so I didn\u2019t feel rushed eating them before they spoiled.\r\n\r\nI 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 \u2018Grits\u2019 and Broccoli, and Chicken with Whole Wheat Rotini Alfredo and Garlicky Green Beans.\r\n\r\nEach 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.\r\n

Menu<\/h3>\r\nSimilar to Factor75<\/a>, 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.\r\n\r\nTruthfully, I was a bit underwhelmed by the number of menu items. However, the minimal menu could be partly due to the company\u2019s newness or its investment in quality over quantity.\r\n

Website and App<\/h3>\r\nOne 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\u2019re familiar with meal delivery services, you know that this level of transparency isn\u2019t always available.\r\n\r\nBetter 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\u2019ve enjoyed before.\r\n\r\nWhile 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.\r\n

Delivery<\/h3>\r\nTempo 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\u2019t pick a specific delivery time or timeframe. You can change the delivery date for one specific order if you\u2019re out of town, for instance, and you can always change your default weekly delivery day for future deliveries.\r\n\r\nThe 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\u2019ll want to be sure that all food products are 40 degrees Fahrenheit or colder upon opening.\r\n\r\nTempo 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\u2019ll have to do so by noon Central Time on the Wednesday before the scheduled delivery day.\r\n

Recipes<\/h3>\r\n\"Toha25\r\n\r\nI 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.\r\n\r\nAs 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 \u2018Grits\u2019 and Broccoli, and Chicken with Whole Wheat Rotini Alfredo and Garlicky Green Beans.\r\n\r\nBelow are my favorites, but first, here are a few notes on one of the meals that didn\u2019t 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.\r\n\r\nFor 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\u2019ll 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\u2019m not certain.\r\n\r\nMy partner and I didn\u2019t 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\u2019t anything special, but the cook on them was nice (not too soft or limp).\r\n

Pesto-Topped Salmon with Mushroom Orzotto<\/h4>\r\nThis was my favorite of the bunch. The veggies were delicious, and the salmon was very good. The steamed broccoli wasn\u2019t limp after microwaving, and the coin carrots were halved and honey-roasted, which provided a bit of sweetness to the dish.\r\n\r\nThe 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.\r\n\r\nAs someone who often has texture issues when it comes to proteins, I was so happy to find that Tempo\u2019s meats were all very \u201cclean,\u201d so to speak. There was no grittiness, sliminess, tough bites or fatty pockets in any of the meat or fish I tried.\r\n

Spicy Tuscan Turkey Meatballs with Asiago Cauliflower \u2018Grits\u2019 and Broccoli<\/h4>\r\n\"Toha25\r\n\r\nThese meatballs were delish! My partner tried them and couldn\u2019t 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.\r\n\r\nTurkey meatballs often dry out when cooking, but these meatballs were fresh, moist and tender. I wish I had the recipe to recreate them.\r\n

Spicy Korean BBQ Chicken with Rice and Chives<\/h4>\r\nFor what it\u2019s 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\u2019m convinced it might be the secret to flavorful, tender cook-ahead meats.\r\n\r\nThe veggies in this meal were our favorite (and maybe Tempo\u2019s favorite) honey-roasted halved coin carrots and roasted cauliflower. (If you\u2019re thinking that there seems to be a lot of carrots and cauliflower in these meals, you\u2019re 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.\r\n

Pros<\/h2>\r\n