Tempo

Tempo is a weekly subscription for fully prepared, single-serving meals, run by Relish Labs LLC according to the footer on every page. Nothing here needs cooking: the company describes "fresh, chef-designed, ready-to-heat meals crafted to be microwaved in just 2 minutes," and when the box arrives you put the meals in the refrigerator rather than the freezer.

That last point matters more than it sounds. A lot of prepared-meal services ship frozen trays that sit in the freezer for weeks. Tempo's FAQ describes a fresh product you eat through the week, so it suits someone who will actually work through a box in the days after delivery. The site's own page title calls it "Fresh Weekly Meal Kit Delivery", but there is no kit in the cooking sense: no raw ingredients, no recipe cards, just finished meals.

How ordering works

The sign-up flow starts with your tastes. In the company's words, "Tell us what you like to eat and what your needs are and, every week, we'll build a custom menu made just for you." Tempo then recommends meals from that week's menu, and you can edit or swap them at any point before the menu closes. The homepage says you choose from "20+ dietitian-approved meals every week," and the menu pages let you step through several upcoming weeks, since menus are posted up to 5 weeks in advance.

There are 7 plan sizes: 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14 or 16+ meals a week. Delivery does not have to be weekly. The FAQ says you can skip any delivery for any reason from the Upcoming Orders page of your account, or set the subscription to bi-weekly or monthly. The deadline is specific and worth writing down: skips or cancellations have to be in by 12 PM CT on the Wednesday before the scheduled delivery day. The closing banner on the menu pages puts it plainly: "Try Tempo with no commitment. Skip or cancel anytime."

Beyond the main dishes, the menu has add-on sections for breakfast, "Morning Bites", "On-the-Go" drinks and snacks, "Snacks and More", and dessert, so a box can cover more than lunch and dinner if you want it to.

What it costs

Tempo is unusually open about pricing, and the price drops as the plan grows. The homepage FAQ lists the per-serving rate for each plan size:

• 4 meals: $15.98 per serving
• 6 meals: $13.48 per serving
• 8 meals: $12.98 per serving
• 10 meals: $12.48 per serving
• 12 meals: $11.98 per serving
• 14 meals: $11.48 per serving
• 16+ meals: $10.98 per serving

Shipping is $10.99 per order, and sales tax is not included. The menu pages lead with "Meals starting at $10.98 per serving," which is the 16+ rate, so a small 4-meal week costs noticeably more per plate once shipping is spread across only 4 meals.

Those are the ongoing prices. New customers are shown a separate introductory offer: the homepage banner reads "30% off your first month," and the fine print spells it out as 30% off your next 4 boxes, with a maximum discount of $53 per box. It is for new customers only, the full balance expires 10 weeks after sign-up, it does not apply to the shipping charge, it is limited to one per household, and it is "Not eligible in all states." Budget on the table above, and treat the first month as a discount on it rather than the real price.

The food

The main menu leans on familiar American comfort dishes with lighter labelling. Recent weeks list Herby Grilled Chicken with summer vegetable orzo, a Pork Carnitas and Rice Bowl with corn, salsa and guacamole, Sunday Sauce Meatballs with farro and green beans, Spinach and Artichoke Salmon, Katsu-Glazed Beef Meatballs with bok choy, Garlic Filet Mignon with mashed potatoes, Red Wine Chicken Cacciatore, and a Creamy Roasted Vegetable Couscous with feta. Spicy dishes carry a chili marker.

Each meal carries badges, and the menu can be filtered by them. The nutrition badges are "30g+ Protein", "< 500 Cals", "< 25g Net Carbs" and "20% DV Fiber"; the filters at the top of the menu are Protein-Packed, Calorie-Conscious, Fiber-Rich and GLP-1 Smart. Other labels on individual dishes include Mediterranean, Gut Support, Anti-Inflammatory, Weight-Watchers, Pescatarian, Vegetarian and Brain & Mood Support. These are the company's own labels, and the homepage frames the whole range as "protein-packed, nutrient-rich meals." Vegetarian choices are thin: each week's menu carries a single main labelled Vegetarian among a long run of chicken, beef, pork and salmon dishes.

The add-ons are a different kind of product. Breakfast includes protein pancakes with sausage and scrambled eggs and a Greek-Style Breakfast Scramble. There are waffle sandwiches and breakfast burritos packed 2 to a pack, egg white bites in 4s, a Pumpkin Spice Latte, a Hydration Variety 10 Pack, turkey jerky, a Chicago-Style Deep Dish Cheese Pizza, chicken gyoza dumplings, and desserts such as a Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake sold as "2 high protein cheesecakes".

On heating time, the marketing says 2 minutes in the microwave, while the menu tags each main as "<5 Min". Some extras take longer: the pizza is marked 15-20 Min and the ready-to-bake cookie skillet 20-30 Min. The FAQ says nutrition and allergen information is listed for each meal on the website, but tells you to check the facts panel on the package you receive for the most current ingredients and allergens.

Where it delivers

Tempo says it delivers to 98% of the United States. You find out whether your address is covered by entering your zip code during sign-up. You pick the delivery day that suits you, though the options depend on where you live, and the delivery time depends on the carrier in your region: the company says it cannot request a specific delivery window for you. The introductory offer is excluded in some states, which is separate from delivery coverage.

The site does not describe how the box is kept cold in transit. The footer links to pages on packaging and recycling and on food waste, but the homepage and menu pages themselves say nothing about insulation or ice packs.

What the site leaves open, and who it suits

A few practical questions go unanswered. The site does not say how many days a meal keeps in the fridge after delivery, which is the thing to know with a fresh rather than frozen product. It does not name which states the discount excludes, and it does not say where the meals are cooked. The "2 minutes" headline and the "<5 Min" menu tags also sit side by side without explanation, so expect somewhere in that range.

Tempo suits someone who wants a steady supply of heat-and-eat lunches and dinners, likes seeing protein and calorie markers on every dish, and will order enough meals to get the per-serving price down. The published price list and a clear Wednesday cutoff make it easy to budget and plan around. It suits vegetarians less well, and a household that only wants 4 meals a week pays the highest rate plus the full $10.99 shipping. Anyone who wants to cook from a kit should look at a different kind of service altogether.