Trifecta Review 2023: Are These Organic Meals Worth Trying?

Overview 

Muscle building and losing weight can be a meticulous game of packing in protein and counting carbs and calories day in, day out. Cue meal delivery services like Trifecta, whose goal is to facilitate a healthier lifestyle by offering prepared, macro-balanced meals made from organic ingredients. 

There are tons of reviews from men and women who’ve lost weight, got ripped, or since become athletes with the help of Trifecta. There are even professionals – like strongman Brian Shaw – who recommend this company.

But this is why I had mixed feelings about it. I’ve reviewed a lot of meal delivery services, and I was worried Trifecta would only be suitable for athletes with very active lifestyles. I wanted to know if these healthy, chef-prepared meals were worth the price tag for normal people who just wanted to get (or stay) fit.

After a lot of research, I found that Trifecta makes sticking to a healthy diet really easy. The sense of community and in-house nutrition experts are also big draws for anyone who needs help hitting their goals. Gotta hand it to you, Trifecta. You won me over! 

Pros

• All meals are organic and gluten-free

• Caters to a range of diets, including vegan and keto

• Ships all over the US (including Alaska and Hawaii)

• Current deal – Get $120 off your first 6 boxes with code DR120

Cons

• Lack of control over the meals you receive

• Can get expensive

• No customizations

What’s on the Trifecta Menu

Since Trifecta’s single-serving meals are fitness-focused, expect plenty of lean meats, seasonal vegetables, and wholegrains to support a healthy lifestyle. You’ll also find that many of the dishes are free from gluten, dairy, and soy. 

In addition to using organic produce, the company promises high-quality ingredients sourced from family-run suppliers across the board, including grass-fed meat and sustainably sourced seafood. 

Most meals sit within the range of 300 to 500 calories per portion and there are six main plans to choose from: 

• Clean – healthy, macrobalanced meals high in quality protein, organic veggies, and wholegrains

• Paleo – dairy- and grain-free meals high in grass-fed protein and veg

• Keto – low-carb dishes packed with healthy fats 

• Vegetarian – macro-balanced meals packed with plant protein 

• Vegan – 100% plant-based meals made with organic ingredients 

• Whole30 Approved – balanced, portion-controlled meals made without dairy, soy, grains, and legumes

All these meal plans are chef’s choice – which means the dishes are chosen for you based on your dietary preferences. The menus for each of the plans rotate weekly. 

If you’re picky, or the idea of not being able to choose your meals doesn’t really appeal, there’s always the Classic menu, which features the same nine meals every week and you can add these to your order at any time. Look out for dishes like Chicken Breast with Sweet Potato and Mixed Vegetables, or Salmon with Brown Rice and Mixed Veg.

There’s also the a la carte Meal Prep option, where you can assemble your own meals (for half the price!) with your choice of protein, veggies, and carbs. 

Trifecta touts this as its most affordable option – but of course, it means you have to do the calorie- and macro-counting yourself, so the convenience isn’t quite the same. 

The options can get a bit repetitive though, so if you don’t have specific preferences and enjoy surprises, there’s really nothing to fear with the set meal plans.

After selecting a plan, you choose the five-day or seven-day option, as well as the meals you want – whether that’s breakfast, lunch, dinner, a third entree, or all four. This means you can add up to 28 meals to your cart. The price will update with every change you make.

At this stage, you can also choose up to two ingredients you’d like to avoid from a list that includes shellfish, mushrooms, red meat, tree nuts, and pork, among others.

If you’re not entirely sure which meal plan is the right one for you, you can take a two-minute quiz that asks about your health goals and food preferences. You can do this without being signed in, but annoyingly you have to enter your email address at the end of the quiz to get your results.

This quiz is part of the online coaching Trifecta offers. The rest comes in the form of free online tools and resources. You’ll get access to lots of calculators (like macro and keto) and downloadable “toolkits”, which include meal planning templates and clean-eating food lists, workout plans, shopping lists, and more.

Download the app to start keeping track of everything, from calories and water intake to exercise. The app also allows you to manage your subscription and track your orders.

Unboxing 

Trifecta prides itself on how eco-friendly the packaging is, so I had great expectations. Each delivery comprises a cardboard box, ice packs, ClimaCell® panels, and plastic trays.

The plastic trays and the lining of the ice packs can be recycled in most local facilities, while the box and panels are entirely curbside recyclable and biodegradable. The company is striving to have fully biodegradable packaging in the next year (it’s currently at 98%) – which may be a first when it comes to meal delivery services!

In fact, one of the only similar prepared meal delivery services I can think of right now that has completely recyclable packaging is BistroMD. But Trifecta is close behind and perhaps will soon surpass it.

Trifecta’s meals will always arrive fresh – never frozen – and thanks to the technology of the ClimaCell® panels and ice packs, they’re kept cool during transit.

After unpacking your box, keep all your meals in the fridge, where they’ll last up to seven days. Otherwise, they’ll last up to three months in the freezer. 

Cooking with Trifecta 

Since all of Trifecta’s meals are pre-cooked and prepared for you, all you need to do is heat them up on either the stovetop, in a microwave, oven, or air fryer. 

For best results in terms of flavor and texture, the company recommends heating on the stovetop by preheating a non-stick pan and adding a little oil, cooking the protein first (for one to two minutes) followed by the rest of the ingredients. 

Otherwise, if time is of the essence, the quickest way to reheat your meals is to throw them in the microwave for as little as two minutes. 

If you’ve chosen to freeze your meals, aim to put the ones you want to eat in the fridge the day before to thaw out. If you’re in a hurry, you can also thaw them under cold running water for about 15 to 20 minutes before following the heating instructions on the packet. 

Trifecta also suggests adding a touch of finishing salt to taste (a flaky finishing salt is best) since its meals are seasoned in a more calculated way to keep sodium levels in check. It also suggests low-cal sauces such as sriracha or tabasco to give the dishes an extra kick.

Shortlist of My Favorite Meals

Trifecta promises clean, calorie-controlled meals that don’t taste like diet food, but considering the company’s conservative-seasoning policy, I had some doubts! 

Still, I really liked the sound of the Sustainably-Caught Salmon, Wild Rice, Dried Cranberry, and Rosemary which comes as a lunch dish on the Clean plan. The addition of rosemary with the dried cranberries is a great touch.

It’s hard to deny that the breakfasts also seem delicious, from the tasty-sounding Pineapple Coconut Loaf to the savory Turkey Bacon Cheddar Frittata with Spinach. All the loaves are gluten-free, just like the rest of the meals. 

When I looked into the Vegetarian plan, I noticed that as well as offering some great veggie protein, the company is partnered with Beyond Meat for those who enjoy plant-based meat alternatives.

The Beyond Beef Skillet with sauteed seasonal veg had to be my pick. Seasoned with oil, salt, pepper, cumin, paprika, and garlic, it packs in tons of flavor while being macro-balanced.

Shipping & Delivery 

Trifecta delivers to all 50 states, including Alaska and Hawaii, which is a rare thing among meal delivery services. However, there is a huge surcharge for those, which I’ll cover in the pricing section below. 

The delivery day is usually Friday or Saturday (depending on your zip code) between 8 am and 8 pm – a pretty big window but you can rest assured your food will stay cold even if you’re not home to receive it.

As soon as your package arrives with the courier (FedEx, UPS, or GSO) Trifecta sends out tracking via email.

Subscription

Signing up for Trifecta is easy. You can create an account using your email or social media login. I used my Apple account, as it was quicker. In two clicks, I was looking at an empty dashboard that was encouraging me to add a plan or a la carte options to my cart.

How to Sign Up for Trifecta 

1. Visit the homepage and click on Get Started in the top right-hand corner. You might also choose to Take The Quiz before you sign up.

2. Choose your plan. This includes how many entrées you want per week, plus any ingredients you want to exclude (you can exclude up to two).

3. Create your account by filling in your details. Log-in with Google or Apple, or enter your email address.

Shipping will be calculated once you’ve entered your address info, though in most cases it’s a flat rate of $9.99, unless you’re located in Hawaii or Alaska when it’s much more (sorry, guys). The final step is entering your billing information. 

Managing Your Subscription

If you want to amend your order, you’ll need to do it by the Friday before your next delivery to give Trifecta a week to adjust it. This week-long notice also applies if you want to skip a week or close your account entirely. 

Though your account will be set to the default of weekly deliveries when you sign up, you can set the frequency of your orders to biweekly, every three weeks, or once a month, which is flexibility many other weekly services don’t offer. 

And you might find that spreading out your deliveries works better for you, particularly if you prefer to order a la carte. 

Customer Service

It’s pretty easy to get in touch with Trifecta’s Customer Success Team, as it's called on the website. As well as contacting them via email or phone, you can type into the live chat. You can use it seven days a week, 8 am to 5 pm PST, and get any answers you may need.

However, note that you’ll be required to state your full name and email address before asking a question via chat – as I found out when I wanted to ask about delivery charges! Unfortunately, the chatbot is unable to help you otherwise, so keep that in mind if you’re wary about giving out your information. 

That said, there’s also a pretty robust FAQ section on the Trifecta website that might be able to answer any questions you have before signing up. I’d prefer it if there was a search bar to easily find answers, but the categories are straightforward enough to navigate. 

If you need to cancel your account, however, you’ll need to call the customer service team. I hate having to pick up the phone, so I’d prefer it if there was an online option. Be sure to call at least seven days before your next delivery date, otherwise, your food will be in the process of being prepared and you won’t be able to cancel that order.

Our blog on how to cancel Trifecta walks you through the process in three simple steps. 

Prices

The price you pay for your Trifecta meals depends on a lot of factors, like the plan you choose or how many meals you want to order. You can opt for just dinners or lunches, or any other variation, or you can go for the full four meals a day, seven days a week, which makes the cost per serving drop a little. 

Using our exclusive coupon is a great way to bring down costs even further: Get $120 off your first 6 boxes with code DR120. This can bring the price down to as little as $6.00.

Here’s an idea of what you might be paying at full price. The Vegan plan with just lunch seven days a week costs $99.99. This comes in at around $14.29 per serving. Adding breakfast and dinner gives you a weekly total of $239.99, which brings the meals down to $11.43 per serving. It’s even less if you add the third entree.

If you choose the Keto, Paleo, or Clean plan, the cost is higher, likely because of the high-quality meat and fish used.

The a la carte meals are cheaper, starting at $11 per serving – but the minimum order is $119, which gets you around 10 meals. I think that’s still a pretty good deal for the convenience.

Elsewhere, shipping is a flat fee of $9.99, unless you live in Alaska or Hawaii where you’ll pay a hefty $49.99.  

The Bottom Line: Is Trifecta Worth It? 

Reaching health and fitness goals requires effort and consistency. Trifecta can help you get started if you’re new, and it can help you stay on track if you’re already well on your fitness journey.

Healthy eating (and health diets like keto and paleo, in particular) can be time-consuming to maintain. With Trifecta, you spend less time planning and prepping meals, so you have more time to enjoy those hard-earned rest days. 

And, it turns out, even people like me, who don’t necessarily want to become athletes, can reap the benefits of having healthy meals delivered to their door. You’ll spend less time in the kitchen, and more time doing what you love – even if that’s not exercising!

FAQ 

How much does Trifecta cost?

It depends on which meal plan you choose and how many meals you order, but prices at Trifecta start from as little as $6.00 per portion when you purchase a la carte and take advantage of our current coupon. 

If you want to choose from one of the set meal plans, the cheapest is the Vegan Plan at $99.99 per week for seven meals, while the Keto, Paleo, or Clean plans will set you back a little more. Don’t forget, the more meals you order, the lower the price per serving.

Is Trifecta organic?

Yes, all Trifecta ingredients are certified organic, ethically sourced, and environmentally responsible. They’re also non-GMO and gluten- and peanut-free, and the meals contain low sugar and salt levels, and are low in saturated fat.

Does Trifecta let you set calorie limits?

No, but that won’t be necessary since all Trifecta’s meals are calorie-controlled. Each meal comes in at less than 500 calories and is designed to be macronutrient-balanced.

You can calculate your optimal calorie intake using Trifecta’s online resources. And if you want even more control over what you eat, you can build your own meals using the a la carte menu.

How do you cancel Trifecta?

You just need to call the customer support number and tell them you want to cancel your account. Our guide shows you how in three easy steps.