An Honest Review Of Territory Foods, From A Meal Delivery Skeptic

As someone who unwinds by making an elaborate dinner after a long day of work, I'm not your standard candidate for a meal delivery service. Aside from being a vegetarian, I'm a fairly adventurous eater, so most of the meals I've seen offered by delivery services sound, frankly, uninteresting. Put simply: I'm just not a meat-and-potatoes kind of girl. All that considered, it's hard for me to justify the extra packaging and cost just to have my carrots pre-chopped and my spices pre-measured.

But when I found out that Territory works with local chefs and registered dietitians to develop its recipes, and the opportunity came up for me to try meals like miso pesto ramen and cashew kale caesar, I couldn't turn it down—especially when I saw the number of vegetarian options!

Territory foods is a meal delivery service that works with registered dietitians to source premade meals from local chefs, small businesses, and restaurants in the area. The menu available in my Brooklyn ZIP code included options from Springbone Kitchen, a health-focused bone broth company with several restaurants in New York; LP's Kitchen, a New Jersey–based meal prep small business; and The Well, a trendy, integrative medicine spa.

There's no subscription or commitment required for Territory's meal programs—just choose between two, four, six, or 12 single-serve meals per week. The meals are delivered to your door, requiring just a minute or two in the microwave before they're ready to eat. Deliveries occur twice per week to ensure the freshest ingredients.

Prices vary by meal, which range from $14.95 to $16.95 per serving (less for à la carte items, like carrot cake muffins and cold brew). Delivery is a flat fee of $7.95 with a $1 upcharge if you live in New York or San Francisco.

Territory has one of the most robust offerings I've seen in terms of dietary restrictions. The meal options can be filtered for paleo, low carb, plant-based, keto-friendly, Whole30, Mediterranean, pre/postpartum, and under-500-calorie meals. Regardless of your selection, every menu item is made without gluten, dairy, or refined sugar.

Territory packaging is made from recycled materials, and the preassembled selection needs less packaging than most meal kit delivery services.

I also loved seeing familiar businesses on the menu because it made me confident that my food was local—as opposed to other companies that source ingredients from one centralized location, regardless of where the meals are traveling. To go the extra mile, Territory purchases carbon offsets supporting projects for reforestation for all their local deliveries.

I tried the quinoa bean chili and the ginger-peanut chickpeas with braised sesame cabbage and garlic broccoli. The chili was flavorful and fresh, and the chickpeas were served in a silky sauce that I will definitely be attempting to recreate at home. Some premade meal services can be skimpy on serving size, so I doubted that I'd walk away full, and fully prepared to supplement my meals.

I had my roommate try the cauliflower gnocchi primavera with broccoli pesto, and she said it surpassed her favorite Trader Joe's cauliflower gnocchi by a long shot.