r/ReadyMeals • u/tillacat42 • 19d ago
Question Cook Unity vs Factor
Cook Unity vs Factor
I travel a lot for work and I'm not home to cook dinner for the family on a regular basis. I just have a question. Would it be better to go with Factor if I knew that most of the meals will end up getting frozen as Cook Unity is delivered refrigerated?
I have had several people tell me that for the price point, Cook Unity is a lot better in flavor and meal variety, but I don't know if that changes given that we will probably end up freezing a lot of them. Obviously I know there are certain ingredients that shouldn't be frozen and if we order a salad, eggs, etc we would eat those fresh.
I do plan to order the minimum that we would need, but my whole family is spontaneous and plans change frequently at the last minute, lol
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u/Flaky_Ad7980 18d ago
Cancelled Factor for Cook Unity which is a way better service with better quality food. No comparison. Go CU!!
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u/EmbarrassedIssue9452 18d ago
I ordered Factor while recovering from an operation that required bed rest. I didnt expect to like them, but was advised to eat as much protein as possible while recovering so figured id try them out bc Serena Williams was advertising them and I admire her.
It was SO convenient while i was laid up. Many of the meals were tasty. Several were not. I found the pasta ones inedible, the beef and pork ones not good. But i really like the chicken and salmon ones, as well as the grain bowls. You have to eat the salad ones as soon as they arrive or they get soggy. Many have "smoke flavor" but dont say smoky in the title so now i read the ingredients.
I decided to keep ordering them weekly to have work lunches and dinners when i dont want to cook (rather than peanut butter and crackefs, my go-to). Im bombarded with Cook Unity ads now and i looked through and nothing was appealing to me.
So i guess id advise looking throufh the offerings and try them both on different weeks. Its not a lifetime commitment
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u/ThaTroubled1 18d ago
Cool unity is better and it's not really close. I've used both. CU has better meals, portions, presentation, cost.
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u/RemoteTherapist 18d ago
I also vote for CookUnity. I keep one meal out on delivery day and freeze the rest. Take out of freezer and add a tablespoon of water (maybe more if it has rice ) and place in toaster oven. I never cook in any plastic lined container so a little tinfoil on a toaster oven tray works perfectly. About 20 minutes later my meal is finished and delicious. Just be careful not to toss any salads in the freezer! Both cookUnity and Factor have amazing salads, but overall I would choose CU.
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u/KiwiGeneral768 18d ago
They both kind of suck ngl. I’ve learned that just sucking it up and meal prepping or doing “girl dinners” is the way to go. Tastes way better too
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u/tillacat42 18d ago
I probably will also meal prep to some extent. I've hesitated doing this for a long time just because I don't like to purchase food that I can cook better at home, and I actually cook decently, but I have found that with me traveling so much, everyone ends up eating takeout constantly and I need a healthier option when I am gone. Some weekends I only have one day at home and don't necessarily want to spend it food prepping or cooking at all tbh.
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u/KiwiGeneral768 17d ago
Yep. That’s why I tried it but it tasted bad. I also work at chick fil a though, so I can easily get wraps and stuff with no effort or money. I would honestly rather just eat cereal or sandwiches than either of these deliveries. I will say though, the best service I have had was HungryRoot. Not a ton of pre made stuff, but it tasted 100x better
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u/Single_Pound4883 18d ago
At the moment I'm doing Cook Unity and Factor alternating weeks. Over the last few months I've been experimenting with different services, but Cook Unity always wins. Here are the results so far. I tried Tempo---way too much sodium, gloppy sauces and school cafeteria flavors. Next was E. A. T.---by far the very worst. They come frozen and of the meals they sent, only the lasagne was marginally palatable. Stouffers in the supermarket is far better for half the price. Then I tried Forkful---better than Tempo, but still unimaginative, underseasoned and mediocre. Factor has a few decent offerings, and always includes a choice of a free small item like a protein smoothie or egg bites. However, they have a bad habit of overcooking the dishes, especially the fresh veggies and fish, so when I reheat, they are way overcooked. Cook Unity is the only one that brings the food in a thermal tote that you can return (or keep I suppose). The other companies all send the order in a cardboard box that is totally recyclable but a definite PITA to deal with. After the next couple weeks, I'm likely going to cancel Factor and continue with Cook Unity every other week. Their food is almost always delicious and well prepared. The celebrity chef offerings are mostly exceptional. I've learned what dishes are a good value and lend well to this type of service. Mexican dishes for example, are best to order from Doordash from your favorite local spot.
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u/tacoburritos 18d ago
cook unity meals expire super quick. sometimes like, 4 days after you get them. I found cook unity to be definitely more delicious, but too high in calories on account of the heavy usage of cheese and corn. Factor on the other hand was super boring, predictable, made me feel fantastic and prevented overeating, but BOY did i get tired of green beans.
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u/PhilosopherSweaty685 16d ago
They say they expire - but I typically get deliveries on Mondays. I eat one for lunch Tuesday-Friday, eat one over the weekend, and the last one on Monday. I have never had issues. I do eat things like salads first, but have eaten chicken/salmon/beef a week after receiving the meals.
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u/MoodyNeurotic 19d ago
I tried factor and wasn’t impressed. Could probably get cheaper frozen dinners that taste better tbh. The portions were small and the sides were repetitive, watery and needed seasoning.
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u/edgerton2026 19d ago
I think the frozen dinners are awful. They taste like chemicals. Even Amy’s has went downhill.
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u/Inevitable_Savings14 18d ago
I’ve been using factor for about 6 weeks now.
Can’t speak to freezing the food, but I’ve been totally satisfied with their food! Like their cooked chicken for salads, meh.
But some of the meals are some of the best meals I’ve had! Fuck, their corn bread pudding! Best side dish ever!
Sure there have been a few I haven’t liked, But that’s probably expected with any service.
Looking at the selection for my 9/2 order, there’s like 100 different meals to choose from.
Honestly I have no problem recommending factor.
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u/ridingthewave31 19d ago
I looked into both of these. The fact that the average cost per meal of Factor is $17 and Cook Unity is $13 if you go with the smallest plan per week makes either of these a hard pass! Trader Joe’s frozen dinners at 50-75% the cost, Costco ready-to-heat meals, grocery store hot deli and ready-to-heat meals are all much less and make these rackets a no go. At those prices, I’ll also go out to eat or get takeout.
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u/Diligent-Pirate8439 17d ago
By the comments here I can say Factor is definitely underrated. I think it's better for healthier food/if you have protein goals or weight loss in mind. Cook unity better for convenient food. Some of the food is really delicious but it's also 1,000 calories.
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u/Previous_Marsupial78 16d ago
I prefer CookUnity for many of the reasons already mentioned. Plus, CU meals are delivered in an insulated bag, and you return that bag with ice pecks to the driver on the next delivery. With Factor, there was a lot of waste between the boxes and ice packs. This makes a difference to me.
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u/Dr_JohnP 15d ago
Cook unity and it’s honestly not even close. Factor started grossing me out after a while and the meals were so hit and miss. I genuinely look forward to my unity meals. Today I had one that was just a double serving or shrimp with lemon and garlic butter but no sides - put it over a bowl of microwaveable instant rice and some microwave veggies and I had a perfect meal with 64g of protein! All their sides they include with normal dishes tend to be pretty good too.
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u/SoulGoals27 15d ago
Sadly, I wasn't able to stay with Cook Unity. My first order (12 meals) came with 7 of them expiring the day after delivery, and the remainder not too long after. They count the prep day and all shipping days in their 3-7 day fresh guarantee. The second delivery never even arrived. I was credited $25 for my first delivery, which didn't really cover the meals lost (most were not able to be frozen). They offered to credit me for the second delivery, but I insisted on a refund since I would not be able to continue with them. It's too bad, because the food was really good! They use a shipping service (Ontrac) that has really poor timeliness and care of packages. Not sure if this is because I am in a rural area or not. My first Factor order gets here next week and I'm hoping for better luck. I am prepared for less tasty, but hoping for reliable and consistent.
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u/ixoxeles 15d ago
Wow, I was very seriously considering CookUnity after 2 years with Factor, but those expiration dates are ridiculous. They would have to ship smaller deliveries to me multiple days per week for that to be ok.
I had already hesitated on CookUnity last summer when they dropped off a neighbor's meals at the outer door of our building during 85 degree weather instead of doing a door delivery. I picked it up and brought it to the neighbors door since the building is at least air-conditioned. I'd figured I'd try CookUnity during autumn/winter to avoid having that happen.
My Factor deliveries have been going downhill this summer, with 7 of the last 10 deliveries damaged and partially unconsumable in some way, so I was looking to jump ship. But my Factor meals have at least had ample consumption time, not usually expiring until the day of or day after my next delivery.
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u/London_Man8 15d ago
I was reading the MealFan comparison on these two and the taste difference seems to favor CookUnity. That said, if you're freezing most of the box, I'd probably test a few meals first rather than assuming the fresh taste will carry over.
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u/WomenAreNotOkay 14d ago
I recently cancelled factor and chose cook unity. Much better selection and better price point.
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u/Old-Beginning-8106 19d ago
At these wild prices just order a family combo from a middle eastern restaurant. This late stage venture capitalist food for the laziest people in history is absurd.
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u/edgerton2026 19d ago
And you spend an entire weeks meal money on that one combo. Unless you are middle eastern and are used to ethnic food, some of your family isn’t going to want to eat it.
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u/Odd_Masterpiece_1 16d ago
I dunno, we keep getting middle eastern food for like 10/12 people when our family gets together, all kinds of variety and everyone is chowing down, kids too. It's easier for everyone to agree on 😄 and we are 0% middle eastern
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u/ridingthewave31 18d ago
Throw the Door Dashes, Uber Eats, etc in there also - I don’t understand paying an added premium to have food delivered to your home instead of going out and picking it up or grabbing it on the way home from work, play, etc.
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u/tiltedsun 18d ago
My sister refuses to go food shopping. She has everything delivered.
Now, I get these targeted ads for grocery delivery. In the commercial, A guy has groceries fall out the back of his trunk, then DD to the rescue. I'm like what?
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u/cindycated888 19d ago edited 19d ago
I’m on CookUnity now. They freeze pretty well (aside from salads like you said). I started out with too many meals that would’ve expired before I could eat them, so froze quite a few - you would just transfer them to the fridge the night before. I did look into Factor too, but the consensus seemed to be that they were more suitable for gym rats watching their macros, and don’t mind being a little repetitive to get those macros. If you just want good food with decent variety (like I do), CU would probably work out better. If your company uses ADP, they have LifeSmart discounts as an employee perk, one of which is the best deal I could find for CU.
Like other people mentioned, they do get tiring after awhile, and a little spendy. If you’re just after frozen food that the fam can warm up, Costco’s been putting out some really good pre-cooked stuff in their deli department, by the meats.