There are nights when I want to cook, and then there are nights when 8 p.m. sneaks up on me and I realize I never really ate lunch. As a mom, I can spend the whole day making sure everyone else is fed and somehow leave myself until last. The fridge is technically full, but nothing in it feels like a meal I want to assemble. On those nights I need something satisfying that's already handled.
Is this you? 5 signs your own meals keep getting bumped
Sound familiar?
- You fed everyone else today and you're the one still standing at the fridge at 8 p.m.
- Lunch is whatever was closest to your desk, if it happened at all
- Takeout is one more decision and you're out of decisions
- You want a real meal, not a snack with a plate under it
- You like cooking, some nights. Not tonight.
Feeding yourself is the task that keeps getting bumped
It doesn't take kids to get here, and September makes it worse: the calendar fills back up before the routines do. Maybe you have 15 minutes between meetings. Maybe you eat lunch alone at your desk and it's whatever was closest. Maybe everyone else has eaten by the time you look at the kitchen and decide that chopping, cooking and cleaning are not happening tonight.
Even ordering takeout is a decision, and by 8 p.m. I'm out of those. You still want a real meal. You just don't want feeding yourself to be one more thing to manage.
Meet Factor
That's the gap Factor is built for. It's a prepared-meal delivery service: single-serving meals that arrive fresh, never frozen, and heat in about 2 minutes.2 No recipe, no pan. Factor's pitch is real food: ingredients you recognize, nothing unnecessary, and none of the cooking. When the day gets away from you, dinner is already in the fridge.
What do you actually get with Factor?
Factor puts 100+ meals on the menu each week, plus 70+ add-ons (breakfast items, snacks, smoothies, treats).3 You heat, plate it if you feel like it, and eat.
You choose meals by preference, and the preferences are specific. Factor's 8, in Factor's own terms:4
- High Protein: 30 grams of protein or more per meal
- Calorie Smart: around 550 calories or less per serving
- Low Carb: around 35 grams of total carbs or less
- Keto: around 15 grams of net carbs or less
- Fiber Filled: 6 grams of fiber or more
- GLP-1 Support: portioned, protein-forward, calorie-friendly meals
- Flexitarian: meals built around veggies with purposeful proteins
- I Eat Everything: the whole menu, for when you'd rather not pick a lane
"Nutritious" can mean almost anything. Seeing the actual numbers makes it easier to pick meals that match what you're prioritizing, without doing the math yourself.
Factor also offers complimentary nutrition consultations with its in-house dietitian team, so if you want your meals to fit a routine or a goal, you can ask a person instead of guessing.5
Plans run from 6 to 18 meals a week, so "cover my solo lunches" is one plan and "work is relentless, handle most of my week" is another.6 You can skip a week up to 5 days before a delivery, or cancel whenever.7
On price: Factor doesn't publish one number because it depends on your plan size and where you live. The plan picker shows your exact per-meal price once you enter a ZIP code, bigger plans cost less per meal, and shipping is extra. Expect more than cooking and less than most takeout once the fees land. The case for it is that the meal exists at 8 p.m.
What happened when Kristel ate a box of Factor?
What I got: I asked for High Protein and Fiber Filled, and the box came with 4 meals, all chicken as it happened, plus a few of the add-ons: Cocoa Truffle Bars, Banana Bread Energy Bites and the keto-friendly Chocolate Chip Cookies. The bigger question going in was whether a meal I didn't cook could feel like dinner.
When the box arrived: I was starving, which turned out to be the point. Nothing to prep, nothing to thaw. You can see these aren't frozen. Everything went into the fridge and the first one got heated up. I read the Cocoa Truffle Bar wrapper out loud on camera because the ingredient list is short enough to: raw honey, coconut, coconut oil, cocoa powder, Himalayan salt, vanilla extract.
The food: The butter chicken was my standout. Flavorful, not gamey, and you could tell it was fresh. The sweet potatoes were great. I cook all the time, and for that plate I'd change nothing. I always want something sweet after lunch, so the Cocoa Truffle Bars got tested first, and my review on camera was "oh my god, it's so good," which I stand by. My husband and kids kept taking bites of whatever I was testing, and I ended up packing some of the treats in the kids' lunch boxes, which I did not see coming when the box showed up.
What to know before you order: I'm one box in, so this is a first impression, not a month of dinners. The box Factor sent had 4 meals; the plans you'd actually buy start at 6 a week.6 These are single servings, so the kids' bites were a courtesy, not a plan. The treats are add-ons and cost extra. And the menu rotates, so my standout may not be there the week you order.
Kristel is an employee of The Assist, which is paid by Factor for this page. Factor provided this box at no cost. The opinions are hers.
Factor by the numbers
Factor's published figures, checked September 2026.3
New subscribers: 50% off your first box + free Daily Greens
Use code ASSIST50FG. Daily Greens is Factor Form's greens powder in single-serve packets:8 one free 3-pack per box while your subscription is active, while supplies last. Offer runs through September 27, 2026.9
Get 50% Off Your First Box →Skip a week or cancel anytime
How does Factor compare to cooking, a meal kit, or ordering in?
We tested Factor, not its competitors, so here's the category picture.
swipe to compare →
| Cooking from groceries | A meal kit | Delivery apps | Factor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who cooks | You, start to finish | You, from a recipe card | A restaurant | Factor's kitchen. You heat. |
| Decisions before you eat | What to make, what to buy, what to do with the rest | Which recipe tonight | Which app, which place, which dish, how much to tip | Which tray |
| Time to table | A full cooking night | Still a cooking night | Whenever the driver arrives | About 2 minutes2 |
| Cost shape | Cheapest per serving if you plan well | Per serving, plus shipping | Food, plus fees, plus tip | Per meal by plan size, plus shipping; first box 50% off |
| Best for | People who like cooking | People who want to cook without shopping | Nights off | The meals nobody else makes for you |
Cooking from groceries is the cheapest option if you plan well, and food you made tonight tastes like food you made tonight. Factor isn't trying to beat that. A meal kit gets you most of the way to a home-cooked dinner but still asks you to cook it. Delivery apps are the other no-cook option: you pay fees on top of the food, and you still have to decide what to order, which on my worst nights is the actual problem.
Factor sits in the gap. Real food, no cooking, and the only decision is which container to pull out. It makes the most sense as the dependable meal for the parts of your week that go sideways, not as a replacement for every dinner.
🎯 Which Factor plan fits your week?
4 taps. Get a plan size and a preference matched to how your week actually goes.
50% off your first box + free Daily Greens with code ASSIST50FG · Through September 27, 2026 · Skip a week or cancel anytime
Skip, pause or cancel, your callSkip any week up to 11:59 p.m. Pacific, 5 days before your delivery, from the website or the app. Pause or cancel whenever.7
Who is Factor actually for, and who should skip it?
Factor makes the most sense when the hard part of eating well is finding the time and energy to make it happen. If your busiest days are the days your own meals become an afterthought, a meal that's waiting in the fridge changes what the easiest option is.
Skip it if...
Skip it if you like cooking from scratch and want that experience to be part of your evening. Skip it if you're trying to feed a family of four every night; these are single-serving meals and the math gets steep fast. And know going in that the menu rotates, so the meal you loved may not be there next week.
Some nights I want to cook. Other nights I want to open the fridge at 8 p.m. and know there's a real meal waiting for me. Factor is built for those nights, and for the lunches squeezed between meetings.
50% off your first box, plus free Daily Greens
Code ASSIST50FG · Through September 27, 2026 · Skip a week or cancel anytime
Get 50% Off Your First Factor Box →Skip a week or cancel anytime
The reasonable questions you're already asking
What does Factor cost?
It depends on plan size (6 to 18 meals a week) and where you live, so Factor shows your exact per-meal price in the plan picker after you enter a ZIP code. Larger plans cost less per meal, and shipping is extra. The 50% offer applies to your first box.
Is Factor good for work lunches?
It's the use Factor fits best. The meals are single servings, they keep in the fridge, and they heat in about 2 minutes, which is faster than deciding what to order.
Can I skip a week or cancel?
Yes. Skip a week by 11:59 p.m. Pacific, 5 days before your delivery, from the website or the app. You can pause or cancel at any time.
Do I have to microwave them?
The meals are designed to heat in the microwave in about 2 minutes.
What's actually in the "free greens"?
Factor Form Daily Greens, a greens powder you shake into water, in single-serve packets. One free 3-pack per box while your subscription is active, while supplies last, through September 27, 2026. Offer code ASSIST50FG.
Is Factor only for one person?
The meals are single servings. You can order up to 18 a week, so two people can share a plan, but it's priced as meals for one rather than family dinners.
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Disclosure: This page is sponsored by Factor. The Assist was paid to produce it and earns a fee when you subscribe through links on this page. Factor provided the meals Kristel reviewed at no cost. Kristel is an employee of The Assist, and the opinions here are hers.
Product facts, preference definitions and plan details are Factor's published figures, checked in September 2026. Offer terms were provided by Factor in writing and run through September 27, 2026, while supplies last; prices vary by plan size and location and appear in Factor's plan picker. Menus rotate weekly, so specific meals named on this page may not be available the week you order.
- The Assist reader poll, ThirstyThursday #249, August 20, 2026, 211 responses to "What’s the hardest part of weeknight dinner for you?" 58% chose deciding what to make, 26% chose finding the time to cook. Self-selected newsletter readers, single-choice question.
- Factor, "Menus and Plans" and homepage, factor75.com: "Fresh, never frozen meals arrive fully prepared"; "Simply heat and eat our meals in two minutes." Checked September 2026.
- Factor homepage, factor75.com: "100+ rotating weekly meals"; "Access to 70+ add-ons." Checked September 2026.
- Factor's published preference definitions, factor75.com (keto, low-carb, high-fiber and low-calorie meal pages) and Factor's Q3 2026 partner materials. Brand-published figures, checked September 2026.
- Factor, "Nutrition Coaching," factor75.com/pages/nutrition-team. Brand statement, checked September 2026.
- Factor plan sizes: 6, 8, 10, 12, 14 or 18 meals per week, factor75.com. Checked September 2026.
- Factor, "How to Cancel or Pause a Factor Subscription," factor75.com: skip deadline "11:59 pm PST, 5 days prior to your delivery." Checked September 2026.
- Factor Form Daily Greens product page, factor75.com/factorform/products/greens. Checked September 2026.
- Offer terms provided by Factor in writing, September 10, 2026: 50% off your first box + Free Greens; one free 3-pack Daily Greens per box with active subscription, while supplies last, until 09/27/2026; code ASSIST50FG.