For busy Malaysians, ready-to-eat meals have become a valuable addition to their lives. Long-lasting, preservative-free, nutritious and microwavable, you can prepare these dishes in minutes! Here, we take a look at some of the most affordable, ready-to-eat healthy meal delivery services available.
Planning to reduce your waistline and expenses in 2021? Great! However, we understand how easy it is for our New Year’s goals to get derailed.
In today’s pandemic-induced work-from-home climate, we have all used these excuses at some point:
“I don’t have time to prepare wholesome meals every day. I have work to do.”
“The food delivery service is slow! My lunchtime is almost over.”
“I don’t have time to go grocery shopping this week.”
“Let’s just have instant noodles today.”
Well, those days of making up excuses while your belly expands and your wallet shrinks are over. Now, there are healthy meal providers that will deliver affordable, ready-to-eat food to your doorstep.
Long-lasting, easy-to-cook, nutritious and delicious
From Cajun-style chicken chop and Moroccan beef salads seasoned with coriander to Barramundi fish in a spicy Thai lime sauce, you’ll be spoilt for choice when it comes to gratifying your taste buds. We had the time of our lives savouring some of these dishes, and the culinary experience left us wanting more. (Who says healthy eating has to be boring?)
The meal providers will also display nutritional information (such as the amount of calories, carbohydrates, protein and fat) alongside each dish, so you can plan your meals for a balanced diet.
Additionally, as these vacuum-sealed, reheatable meal packs can stay fresh in your freezer for up to three months, you can even order enough food to last the entire week, or more! Then, when it’s time for makan, all you have to do is microwave, boil or steam the dish for a time period between two and ten minutes.
What are ready-to-eat meals?
According to various ready-to-eat meal delivery services, their chefs will prepare the dishes without using preservatives, artificial flavouring or artificial colouring.
Once they are cooked, these meals are immediately vacuum sealed in customised packages and chilled to retain their flavour and nutritional value. The vacuum sealing process will deprive your food of oxygen, thus, preventing the growth of mold and bacteria as well as extending the meal’s shelf life.
How to order them?
It’s easy to order your food packs from ready-to-eat meal delivery services such as DIETMONSTA, Heaven Eat, Meals in Minutes, and Crops. You can shop at their websites via your mobile phone or PC.
- First, you will have to sign up for a free account. Enter your name, contact number and delivery address.
- Log in to your account.
- Select the meal pack/package that you want. Add them to your shopping cart.
- Once you have finished placing your order, select check out.
- You can choose to pick up the order on your own or have it delivered to your home.
- If you wish to have the meal packs delivered to your home, you can select a delivery time that is convenient for you.
- Choose your payment method. You can pay via online bank transfer, credit card or e-wallets like GrabPay.
- That’s it! Your healthy meal packs are on their way to you.
Some of these meals are also available on food delivery apps like GrabFood and foodpanda, so be sure to keep a lookout for them.
Just reheat your meal pack for a few minutes and voila, your dish is ready! (Source: DIETMONSTA)
How to reheat them?
Preparing your food is so easy when you have ready-to-eat meals stored in the freezer. Whether you are cooking for yourself or the whole family, just follow these steps to ensure a hassle-free experience in the kitchen:
- First, you will have to defrost the food by submerging the meal pack in water until it has thawed. Instead of submerging the meal pack, you can also place it in the fridge one day earlier.
- Before reheating the vacuum-sealed meal pack, you should cut a small opening in the pack by using a pair of scissors.
- Cook the meal pack in the microwave for about two to four minutes. (Don’t worry, the pack is microwavable.)
- If a microwave isn’t available, you can submerge the meal pack in a container of hot water for five to ten minutes.
- Next, remove the food from the pack and serve it on a plate or bowl. Enjoy your meal!
Ready-to-eat meal delivery service comparison in Malaysia
While searching online for ready-to-eat meal packs, these four delivery services caught our eye with their delectable menus, nutritious dishes, attractive meal packages and competitive prices.
Despite their diverse menus, these services share certain common features, including their prompt delivery time. For areas around the Klang Valley, their respective customer service team has assured us that the delivery time is between 24 and 48 hours after we have placed our order. In fact, some of the meals we have ordered arrived at our homes in KL within hours!
Besides that, in terms of portion size, each of the meal packs on offer here provides enough nutrients for a single adult meal. As for those meat-based protein packs, you also can add vegetables and healthy side dishes to your meal.
Their delivery fees also vary according to the distance of the customer’s location. For instance, when we ordered meal packs from the Petaling Jaya area, the delivery fee was about RM14.
| Ready-to-eat meal delivery service | Price range for vacuum-sealed meal packs | Delivery area and charges | Why it’s worth it |
| DIETMONSTA | Single meat-based protein pack: From RM12.00
Single dishes (with chicken/beef/fish, vegetables and rice/hummus/pasta): From RM15.00 10 meat-based protein pack: From RM100.00 Five-day ‘weight loss” meal package (with two daily servings of chicken/beef/fish and vegetables): From RM152.00 Five-day ‘muscle gain” meal package (with two daily servings of chicken/beef/fish and carbs): From RM143.00 |
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| Heaven Eat | Eight packs of vacuum-packed chicken breasts (available in classic, spicy mala and pesto variants): RM88.90
Five Mala Chicken Chop meals: RM79.50 Five Heaven Chicken Chop meals: RM79.50 Lean sausages: From RM38.00 High-protein chicken meatballs: From RM30.00 Four packs of rendang chicken breasts: RM50.00 Trial bundle (a combination of chicken breasts, meatballs and sausage): RM146.90 (Heaven Eat also offers other types of dishes and drinks besides vacuum-sealed meal packs.) |
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| Meals in Minutes | Healthy carb-based food (such as brown rice, cauliflower rice and quinoa): From RM4.00
Protein-based dishes (such as. butter parsley prawns, rosemary & thyme chicken and Joe’s Burger): From RM13.00 Healthy side dishes (such as charred cherry tomatoes, edamame beans and spinach): From RM3.90 |
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| Crops | “Toning & lean” package (10 low-calorie meals): RM149.00
“Fit & strong” package (10 high-protein meals): RM199.00 “Fusion lean” package (10 low-calorie meals according to a fixed menu): RM149.00 A la carte meals (such as tomyam chicken + vegetables + pasta and lime pepper dory + vegetables + pasta): From RM15.90 (Crops also offers Keto meals that can be delivered to customers daily or on alternate days.) |
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1. DIETMONSTA: Ideal for fitness buffs
DIETMONSTA’s chicken, beef and fish packs provide a convenient source of protein, especially when you’re looking to rebuild muscle tissue after a workout. (Source: DIETMONSTA)
If you are on a high-protein, low-fat eating regime, DIETMONSTA’s meat-based protein packs will suit your needs. Its chicken breasts, beef, tilapia, salmon and seabass packs provide an affordable, convenient source of protein, especially when you are looking to repair and rebuild muscle tissue after a workout.
By the way, the other dishes on DIETMONSTA’s menu are also quite delicious. Our favourites include the Asam Pedas Salmon Al-Raisin Cauli Rice and Black Pepper Seabass Vege with Hummus.
2. Heaven Eat: Chicken fiesta extravaganza
We were pleasantly surprised with the variety of yummy poultry-inspired dishes on Heaven Eat’s menu. (Source: Heaven Eat)
Wow, who would have known there are so many ways to prepare chicken-based dishes? We were pleasantly surprised with the variety of delectable poultry-inspired dishes on Heaven Eat’s menu. It’s highly recommended that you try the guilt-free chicken meatballs and sausages!
3. Meals in Minutes: When you wish to mix and match your food
Meals in Minutes offer a wide range of different meal packs, where you can mix and match your favourite dishes daily. (Source: Meals in Minutes)
You can have butter parsley prawns with brown rice and french beans for lunch on Monday, and then, Portugese fish with quinoa and charred cherry tomatoes the next day.
These dishes are available separately at Meals in Minutes. All you have to do is order the meal packs in advance and store them in your freezer. When it’s time to prepare your meal, just look into your freezer and select your heart’s desire!
You should also check out Joe’s Burger, which consists of a savoury yellowfin tuna patty, cheese, mushrooms, onions and garlic. If you occasionally partake in food indulgences just like Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, this burger is a must-try.
4. Crops: Low-calorie Asian fusion delights
On days where we feel like adding some Asian zest to our ready-to-eat meals, Crops’ low-calorie dishes will satisfy our appetites. (Source: Crops)
We like how Crops has spiced up its menu with tasty dishes like the Tikka Masala Chicken and Tomyam Chicken. On days where we feel like adding some Asian zest to our ready-to-eat meals, these dishes will satisfy our appetites. Each meal contains around 390 to 530 calories, so they are ideal for people who are following a healthy eating regime.
And the winning prize goes to...
The consumers! At the end of the day, people like you and I – who are always on the lookout for budget-friendly, convenient and healthy meals – will stand to benefit most from the growing number of ready-to-eat meal delivery services in Malaysia.
As each of the healthy meal providers featured above has its own advantages, we recommend that you try all of them. With the variety of dishes available, your taste buds are in for a real treat.
What about the rest of the competition?
Unfortunately, our tummies were already full before we managed to check out every ready-to-eat meal delivery service out there. So if you know of any other awesome, affordable delivery services that provide similar food packs, feel free to share them with us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. Keep in touch!
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