Mom’s Meals Review: Affordable and Comforting Food

Mom’s Meals provides chef and dietitian-designed meals for seniors and others with medical conditions. The company was founded as a family business in 1999 with the mission to provide “better nutrition at home” and ships to any address in the United States.

The company provides refrigerated, heat-and-eat breakfast and main meal entrees to support common health conditions such as type 2 diabetes. Meals are created by chefs with input from in-house registered dietitians who help tailor the meals to meet various nutrition requirements. The meals support general wellness, health conditions such as cancer, and diets geared toward heart health and avoiding gluten. It offers a variety of flavors, from classic comfort foods to those with an international influence.

Pricing: Varies

Mom’s Meals offers a number of pricing options depending on whether the customer is using self-pay or a health plan such as Medicare Advantage or Medicaid. Case managers and government partners who order Mom’s Meals for patients must call for information on specific pricing. Costs for the meal plan program varies based on the patient’s state, zip code, menu choices, and program participation.

However, the public price is $6.99 for most meals and $7.99 for pureed, renal-friendly, and gluten-free selections. Self-pay customers can order directly from the site with a minimum order of 10 meals for $79.90 To really stock the fridge, you can place an order of 14 or 21 meals as well. Shipping is pricey compared to other services at $14.95 per delivery.

Summary of ordering options:

• 10 standard meals: $79.90
• 14 standard meals: $111.86
• 21 standard meals: $167.79

Note: If you need renal, pureed, or gluten-free meals, add $1 per meal for each of these selections.

How It Works: Choices Abound

Mom’s Meals is designed for those eating with specific health conditions in mind. Before adding meals to your cart, think through which meals will be the most suitable for your condition and then select exclusively from that category (such as gluten-free) or look out for icons throughout that indicate, for example, that a meal is diabetes- or heart-friendly.

Mom’s Meals makes it easy to select from all categories on the website or by calling customer service. And luckily, you can view the menu and pricing options before setting up an account.

The service offers single-serve, heat-and-eat meals with a menu that covers nine different health concerns: diabetes-friendly, heart-friendly, cancer support, lower sodium, vegetarian, general wellness, renal-friendly, pureed, and gluten-free meals suitable for those with celiac disease.

Though there is variety, many of the meals tend to have a comfort food slant with American classics such as meatloaf, corn chowder, beef stew, and chicken with mushroom gravy. 

We tested the self-pay, individual plan with 10 meals, and chose meals from a variety of categories. You can order meals in increments of 10, 14, or 21 but don’t need a subscription to enjoy Mom’s Meals. Instead, you can order as needed—just remember to place your order and make any necessary changes at least a week ahead of time. 

Bonus: The system keeps track of past orders, making it easy to place the same order or make small tweaks for quick and seamless new orders. 

Mom’s Meals staffs two professional chefs who undergo nutrition training and five registered dietitians who work together to ensure the meals taste good and meet the target nutrition requirements.

Choosing Meals: Dozens of Choices

Mom’s Meals offers over 50 different menu items across various categories. This includes 26 entrees in the American Classics or International Flavors categories plus about a dozen breakfast meal options and six soup or sandwich selections. Most customers will enjoy choosing their own combination of entrees, but Mom’s Meals offers a one-click Chef’s Choice option to make it easy.

Though you cannot customize individual meals or add items to the box, each meal comes with small snacks like string cheese, whole oranges, vanilla or chocolate pudding, fruit cups, and flavored gelatin. However, a notable difference between Mom’s Meals and other home-delivered meals in the healthcare industry is that this service allows health plan customers to select meals that can be customized to their condition, allergens, and food preferences versus a pre-set meal pack.

The service is quite convenient. Keeping in mind that when refrigerated, the meals last up to 14 days from delivery, you have the option to select a delivery date that works best. For ease, you can also set up an auto-ship for ongoing deliveries.

What We Made

We ordered and received 10 meals, which is the lowest number of menu options you can order. Meals are pre-made and vacuum-sealed and cannot be individually customized (e.g., you cannot remove onions). We’ve highlighted five of these meals that showcase some of the variety the company offers for the purposes of this review:

• Vegetarian red beans and rice, string cheese, orange, and chocolate pudding
• Chicken with southwestern vegetable hash, ranchero sauce, and brown rice 
• Turkey meatballs and garlic basil butter sauce over brown rice and seasoned Scandinavian blend vegetables
• Cheese lasagna with marinara sauce and spiced fruit crisp and whole wheat bread 
• Creamy turkey & wild rice soup and brown sugar peaches, gelatin, and vanilla pudding 

Packaging: Plenty of Plastic

Our meals arrived on time and intact. The food was cool to the touch thanks to a well-insulated and well-packed box that endured the almost two-day transit.

There was a lot of packaging—34 pieces total. The cardboard box was fitted with a six-piece styrofoam cooler, two plastic liners, and three large ice packs that were still frozen upon arrival. 

Meals and extras like bread, whole fruit, and fruit cups in juice were kept in place with cardboard separators inside the box. Each meal comes in a plastic tray sealed with a plastic film cover and each slice of bread or stack of tortillas comes sealed in a small plastic bag. Applesauce, fruit cups, gelatin, and puddings were also provided in eight plastic cups with foil lids. The box also included six pieces of paper, including a full-color, double-sided promotional page and a brochure-style menu displaying all of the meals in one place.

Customer Support: Experts on Hand

The delivery includes the meals complete with ingredients and heating instructions on each meal tray. The box also includes an itemized pack list of the different meal components in the shipment.

The online menus make it easy to view nutrition information for each meal and to determine if it’s suitable for a specific health condition. You can also call the Mom’s Meals customer service agents for help choosing meals that fit a particular need. Mom’s Meals are created with guidance from registered dietitians, who are also available to discuss specific questions about the nutrition information and ingredients.

Mom’s Meals provides customer support via phone, live person chat, text, and an online contact form (or email). Response times are fairly quick as long as you reach out on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. CT. Note that there is no weekend support.

Reaching out by phone was a quick way to resolve the one issue encountered. Our order was missing an item that had been substituted with a tuna casserole. The agent kindly resolved the issue, offering to send the missing meal with a future order or refund the meal price to the credit card on file. (We chose the latter.)

Nutrition: Visible at Every Step

Nutrition is always top of mind at Mom’s Meals and available for customers to review at every step of the process, from purchase to unboxing.

According to Mom’s Meals, meals for specific conditions follow guidelines set by recognized organizations such as the National Kidney Foundation and the American Heart Association. Further, the gluten-free options meet the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) guidelines and are sent to an outside lab for testing to ensure they contain less than 20 ppm gluten per meal. It’s notable, however, that the meals are not made in a 100% gluten-free facility.

The company makes it easy to eat for a variety of conditions without having to micromanage the nutrition details. While you can review the nutrition label and ingredients for each meal before purchasing, customers have the option to simply click on their condition which helps screen the meals for the different nutrient requirements and limitations. For example, all meals in the renal-friendly category contain lower sodium, potassium, and phosphorus levels to meet the needs of people with certain forms of renal disease. They also include meals without restrictions so they work for a number of different clients. 

The delivery box includes a handy printout (albeit in small type) that lists each individual snack and dessert item and their complete nutrition analysis, ingredients, and allergen disclosure. It’s a good idea to read the ingredient lists carefully since there are meals like the meatloaf that contain soy or other additives that might not be obvious from the title. 

The Cooking Process: Fairly Straightforward

Preparing dinner was easy with Mom’s Meals. Microwave instructions were provided on each meal tray, and reheating instructions were mostly clear and accurate. However, the heating instructions did not specify whether to heat on high or medium power, which can have a major impact on the texture and how the food tastes.

At times, the instructions were too general. We noticed, for example, that the sticker on the lasagna meals encouraged stirring—which you typically wouldn’t do for lasagna. In this case, it may have been helpful to cut the lasagna in half or to reheat it in a conventional oven.

Flavor, Freshness, and Quality: Decent Flavors, Small Portions

Based on appearance alone, the meals invited some questions about taste and quality. And the results were somewhat of a mixed bag. Overall, the portion sizes were small and you’d need to eat the included sides of applesauce, pudding, or add other food to feel satisfied. 

Our tasting panel found the turkey meatballs to be tough, dense, and rubbery, though the rice and vegetables were of good quality. Though the portion was small and may be better suited for a child, the cheese lasagna was full of flavor, had a good texture, and tasted almost homemade. The turkey soup entree was also very small and didn’t feel like a full meal. 

The vegetarian red beans and rice was a tasters’ favorite. The dish included a little spice and made for a hearty vegetarian choice. It did need the pudding and string cheese snacks to make it feel like a meal. The Southwest chicken was very saucy with an average flavor, but unfortunately, the chicken had several chewy pieces that made it less appetizing to eat. 

Overall, the food we tasted was fresh. The accompanying vegetables and grains for most meals were good quality yet pretty bland, and the protein was less predictable. There was also a fair bit of repetition as rice, peas, and carrots show up often.

The meals left us wanting more food and/or flavor in most cases. Adding salt, garlic powder, and other seasonings helped. But we did keep in mind that some meals were lower sodium on purpose, so this shouldn’t necessarily be counted as a bad thing depending on the recipe.

Mom’s Meals doesn’t share details about ingredient sourcing, so keep that in mind if having organic, sustainably sourced, or locally sourced foods is a priority. 

Mom’s Meals Is Good For

Seniors and anyone looking for convenient, no-fuss meals could find Mom’s Meals useful. Mom’s Meals hits the mark for providing condition-specific meals for people using Medicare and Medicaid. It can also serve as a quick and easy meal for kids since the portions are small and each meal comes with fun snacks. The service is less ideal for those seeking gourmet or organic meals. 

The Competition: Mom’s Meals vs. Snap Kitchen

When deciding between Snap Kitchen and Mom’s Meals, consider three main factors: dietary needs (whether you need meals for medical conditions), cost, and overall ingredient quality. 

While Snap Kitchen offers convenient meals for busy people who want mostly lower carb meals, Mom’s Meals caters to the customer who might be managing a chronic medical condition and may not be able to get around as easily. Both meal services are informed by registered dietitians so that the meals meet the necessary nutrition requirements.

Mom’s offers meals starting at $6.99 and accepts health plans to cover the cost, while Snap Kitchen is all self-pay and comes in at $10.50 per meal if you commit to the largest subscription offering. That cost difference is reflected in the ingredient quality, as Snap Kitchen offers higher-quality protein and flavor overall with a promise of no additives. 

Methodology

We ordered, cooked, and evaluated meals from 27 meal delivery services to get a sense of each one’s offerings, nutrition profiles, prices, and, of course, flavors. We contacted the customer service teams at each of the companies, collected data, and wrote detailed reviews about each one.

Our writers are all registered dietitians and relied on their research and its resulting data to inform their reviews.