FOOD REVIEW: I replaced 1 meal each day with Insane Meals for a week

Chances are, if you have been working from home for the past 18 months give or take, you're probably sick of taking away from nearby food places or cooking at home. Even choices from food delivery apps might seem the same old, same new by now.

How about introducing another option that's potentially better for the environment? Plus, you can let someone else decide for you what to eat so you can free up some of that brainpower to think about more important stuff.

Enter Insane Meals. The new meal subscription service brings ready-to-eat plant-based meals right to the door, two times a week. Meals can be refrigerated and reheated in three minutes via the microwave or steamer, so you can pace out your vegetarian and cheat days accordingly.

Partnering with the region’s largest plant-based companies like TiNDLE, Impossible Foods, KARANA, abillion, OmniFoods, Innovate 360 and more, the meal plan aims to bring convenience and sustainability to its subscribers.

Insane Meals’ menu is curated and developed by head chef Justin Seah and team, guided alongside a certified dietitian. It is refreshed every week to keep it interesting for its subscribers.

With the above in mind, I decided to replace one meal each day with Insane Meals for a week. After all, it ties back together with trying to lead a more sustainable lifestyle.

Let me preface it by saying that it was a lovely change not to think about what to eat for lunch every day. Here's an honest review of the meals I had.

Sunday - Beetroot Tartar

I chose the least exciting of the list to start off in order to keep expectations low. The ingredients listed are beetroot, spinach, pine nut, black olives, edamame, Japanese cucumber, capers and lemon dressing. With this salad, my expectations sort of stayed at a low bar because the entire thing was too vinegary for my liking with the tangy beetroot and lemon dressing combination. I can imagine the salad improving with a less vinegary dressing.

In hindsight, out of the six meals I received, this was also the least hearty one.

Rating: 6/10

Monday - Sambal Not So Chicken

Next up, I decided to open up the Sambal Not So Chicken. It's generously portioned, with a fragrant sambal chicken with eggplant, mushrooms, cabbage and a serving of brown rice. I decided to make my husband, an obligate carnivore, try the chicken. He'd shrugged it off initially with a confidence that he would not enjoy the protein nor the meal, and commented that he could taste that it's not chicken.

Minutes later he came back for a second and third serving, which I think says more about the sambal "chicken" more than anything I type can.

I enjoyed the meal, and it's satisfying in the way a good cai png is.

Rating: 8/10

Tuesday - IMPOSSIBLE Cottage Pie

I was pretty excited to try the IMPOSSIBLE Cottage pie because I've had nothing but good experience with IMPOSSIBLE "meats", even if they're on the pricier side. In this cottage pie, however, the potato was baked with a potato, almond milk, flour, nutmeg, margarine mixture that was not a winning combination in my opinion. The meat also took on a pate like texture and taste like bland luncheon meat. It also did not help that the presentation was the sloppiest (quite literally) of the six meals.

Side note, cherry tomatoes were mentioned on the packaging, but I couldn't find any trace of it in the package and ended up slicing some of my own tomatoes to complete the meal.

Rating: 3/10

Wednesday - Plant Based Pork with Fried Firm Tofu

After yesterday's disastrous cottage pie (there, I've said it), I wasn't expecting too much from the plant-based pork with tofu. Of course, in true opposite-of-what-you-expect fashion, it blew my tastebuds out of the water.

The tau kua (firm tofu) has been lightly fried and greatly complements the "pork", which has a pulled pork texture. Absolutely divine. I couldn't help but finish up every bit of the sauce with the brown rice.

Rating: 10/10

Thursday - Sweet and Sour "Fish"

Brand new day, a new item on the menu. This looks similar to what you can get from vegetarian stalls, and honestly, the taste did not fell far. The "fish" did take on a more beancurd texture than the other plant-based meats featured thus far, but it did not affect my overall enjoyment of the dish.

Rating: 7/10

Friday - Saffron Risotto

It's more forgettable than I expected, with nothing truly standing out or falling short. It's sealed in a way to retain its freshness, but I believe risotto just do not age well overnight, much less for days in the fridge. The risotto might have benefitted from having more mushrooms to go with every bite. I ended the meal hoping for something meatier, even if it's not real meat.

I wished that there were more of the mushroom to go with the risotto!

Rating: 6/10

Conclusion

With six meals, it's kind of a 50/50 hit and miss. But, seeing that they just launched and are making a point to bring back popular meals with enough feedback, it's just going to get better. All in all, it's a guilt-free and efficient way to farm out your decision-making process for several meals every week. Plus, you get to do your part for the environment and support the companies bringing sustainable options to the masses.

Meal plan options include ‘Everyday’ at 12 meals a week from S$204; and ‘Flexi’ at six meals a week from S$108. Menus are refreshed weekly. To find out the week’s menu, please visit insanemeals.com. For a limited time, Insane Meals is offering 20 per cent off of its meal subscription plans with code Launch20.