Frequently asked questions

Our weekly cutoff is Wednesday at 10am for deliveries made on Sunday, (or Monday pickups).

We often extend this deadline to later in the evening, but it isn’t guaranteed, so it’s best to plan to get your order in by 10am.

This allows our team the time to source from our local purveyors and farmers so that we are delivering the freshest food possible each week, while also reducing food waste by only ordering what we need for production.

At the moment we deliver once a week, every Sunday. Deliveries are made by our in-house drivers, (we do not use UPS, FedEx or any 3rd party carriers. It is important to us that your meals are delivered with care).

ETA’s (estimated time of arrival) are texted/emailed every Saturday evening.

Generally speaking, our deliveries are made between 2:30pm-9pm on Sunday evenings, but for a more specific breakdown of our routes & zones, see below:

  • Hudson County, NJ: 2:30pm – 7pm
  • Manhattan (between 42nd st & 200th st): 2:30pm – 7pm
  • Manhattan (below 42nd st): 3pm – 8pm
  • Brooklyn: 4pm – 8pm
  • Queens (LIC/Astoria areas): 2:30pm – 6:30pm
  • Queens (central/western areas & Nassau County): 6pm – 9pm
  • Essex / Passaic / Bergen Counties: 3pm-7pm
  • Middlesex / Union Counties: 2:30pm – 7pm
  • Monmouth County: 4pm-8pm

(These time frames are not promised, as we are at the mercy of traffic, accidents, etc… But we try our best to deliver in these windows).

We also offer pickup at several locations – mostly gyms with fridges. For pickups, meals are placed in fridges by Sunday evening, and are available for pickup on Monday during the gym’s hours of operation. (To find this information, Google the gym and view their hours).

Yes! Our mission is to help busy people eat more mindfully while supporting local & responsible agriculture. To us, this means sourcing from local farmers and purveyors that use organic and humane practices whenever possible. For produce, this means no pesticides, herbicides or chemicals. For meat, this means pasture-raised, grass-fed and humanely-treated. For seafood, this means wild-caught or sustainably farmed, (usually this means from sustainable cold Aquaculture operations that have zero carbon footprint, like Bakkafrost out of the Faroe Islands).

Generally, we recommend eating meals by Thursday night. This is because we don’t use any air-modification or vacuum seal equipment.

More specifically, our meals are good in the fridge for 3-5 days, depending on the item. (We suggest eating seafood items first. Some vegan items and soups will last 5 days). “Eat By” dates are listed on each item.

Some customers freeze meals that they plan on consuming Friday – Sunday.

(Many of our customers utilize our service as their ‘Sunday night through Thursday night solution’, while spending Friday through Sunday enjoying time with loved ones and eating out).

You are welcome to keep any cooler bags & ice that you receive (if you’d like), but you can also return them for account credit in the form of rewards points! (For each cooler bag returned, you’ll get a $3 credit to your account. There are no credits for returned ice packs, but we happily accept them, as it helps us recycle and produce less overall waste as a business!)

For more information about how rewards points work, see here: https://www.mademeals.co/reward-points/

Yes! We regularly rotate in new menu items based on seasonality and what our customers’ favorites are. We monitor our orders each week, rotating new options in to replace meals that may not be as popular. We do not have a specific cadence for our menu rotations, but we try to do them as often as possible while maintaining consistency in the quality of our meals!

Yes! Navigate to “My Account” > “Refer a Friend” > then “click to copy” your unique referral URL and share with your network. When someone places an order using this link, you both get $30.

If you are logged in, here is a direct link: https://www.mademeals.co/my-account/myreferrals/

You do not need to subscribe! Many of our customers order a-la-carte each week. (This means simply adding items from our “All Menu Items” page to your cart, and then checking out).

You will receive reminder texts/emails each week, and order whenever you need support with your weekly nutrition.

However… there are many benefits to subscribing:
1. You get a discount on your entire order
2. You save time by avoiding manually checking out each week
3. You can change meals in your subscription at any time
4. You can pause, skip, or cancel at any time – no strings attached

Subscribers receive 2 texts/emails every week reminding them to make any changes, skip or cancel before orders run on Wednesday at 10am.

Meal packs & plans are one time “bulk” purchases of meals that get you a discount. (While still not as much of a discount as you get on subscription plans).

We are proud to use Chosen Foods Avocado Oil in our operation, (which is one of the brands that has been independently tested and verified to be 100% pure avocado oil). We also use pure olive oil, as well as extra virgin olive oil for some of our sauces. We do not use canola, soybean, or any other seed oils in our cooking.

Orders are a la carte, so each week before our deadline (Wed. 10am), you can add/remove meals from your cart and checkout when you are ready.

If you are on a subscription, simply go to our website, click “Manage Subscription” on the top bar, and edit your selections using the drop-down menus. Selections will be auto-saved, (no need to click “save” or anything).

If you need any help, simply live chat with us on our website, or email us at happy@mademeals.co

At the moment, all of our meals are available in a “regular” carb option (like rice or potatoes), or a low-carb option (like cauliflower rice or spaghetti squash).

You can also create custom meals at home by purchasing any variety of our By The Pound items, and mixing & matching as you see fit!

We hope to explore more customization in the future

If you do not expect to eat eat a meal in the first 3-4 days, you can freeze it. Simply thaw in the fridge for 12-24hrs before you plan on eating it and follow normal heating instructions on package! (Please be thoughtful about which meal(s) you choose to freeze. Some sauces do not freeze great, and uncooked greens like salads should not be frozen, and should be eaten earlier for peak delectability).

Also, we recommend vacuum sealing meals before freezing, or putting them into a ziploc bag to keep as much air out as possible.

Our compostable containers are oven and microwave safe. Please review the packaging for meal specific heating instructions. (Be sure to remove sauce containers before heating!)
If you are heating in the oven, we recommend gently mixing the food, loosely covering the meal with tin foil, then heating. Be sure to use an oven mitt as the container will be hot.

You can also heat up your meal in a pan on the stove-top, if you wish.

You can navigate to “My Account” (top right hand of screen) and go to “Order History” tab to see your past orders.

Direct link: https://www.mademeals.co/my-account/orders/

Mademeals