GoKawiilNot every meal was as good as that one, and Tempo could do with a bit more variety each week. But the fact remains: A mix of regional kitchens, multiparty shipping logistics, and modified atmosphere packaging had colluded to create a situation I still find a little bit marvelous. A week's worth of still-fresh meals arrived at my door from far away, ready to heat at my leisure as long as 10 days later—without resorting to a bunch of chemical preservatives. Wild! We should all be more amazed, more often.
Tempo stands among the best ready-to-heat, prepared meal subscriptions I've tried—and I've tried a lot of them. This can admittedly be a low bar. These remain reheated meals designed for maximum convenience. And at $11 to $13 a serving, they cost more than both frozen Stouffer's and cheap takeout.
But unlike cheap takeout, Tempo meals are composed in consultation with dietitians, and offer balanced macros that can be tailored to protein-forward and GLP-1 diets. Each is a simple and mostly wholesome meal portioned for a typical lunch. Most have a clearly delineated protein, starch, and veg. I and a colleague taking GLP-1 medication spent a week apiece tasting and testing a total of 14 Tempo meals. Here's how it went.
How Tempo Works
Photograph: Matthew Korfhage
First things first: Yes, Home Chef is the Kroger meal kit. Tempo's parent company, Home Chef, was among the early entrants to meal kit subscriptions, founded more than a decade ago in Chicago. The brand was snapped up by supermarket giant Kroger in 2018. But the production facilities remain independent, and lately I've noticed fewer Kroger stores stocking Home Chef in their deli departments.
Tempo is a spin-off brand and service from Home Chef, geared toward offering tailored mail-order diet plans. When you go to the Tempo website, after offering up your zip code and email address, you'll be asked a short series of questions about what you want out of life: whether diet plans or ingredients you hope to avoid.