NutriSystem Food Reviews

On the NutriSystem diet plan, you don’t have to worry about measuring portions, counting calories, or hunting all over town for the specific foods suggested by the dieting book you just bought. No, NutriSystem takes care of everything for you.

About once a month, if you are using the regular plan, 28 days worth of meals (for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks) are delivered right to your home. And each meal is not only low in calories, but designed to help your body burn fat faster. Dieting and losing weight doesn’t get much easier than this.

But exactly how good are the NutriSystem meals? I decided to go ahead and order a month's worth of meals just to check some of them out. So if you are looking for some honest Nutrisystem food reviews, here are my conclusions. For a review of the program overall, check out my NutriSystem diet review for more details.

Jjust as with any company that offers a wide variety of food dishes, there are both hits and misses. Previously, the biggest complain about NutriSystem meals is that for many dieters, they just taste too salty. This tends to be a hazard of shelf stable foods that is hard to avoid. But with the new NutriSystem Select program, there's a lot more variety offered and in addition to the regular NutriSystem meals that don't require refrigeration or freezing, you now have the option of selecting some great freshly frozen meals.

In my opinion, foods that are cooked and then immediately flash frozen before delivery tend to taste a lot better than foods that are designed to sit on your shelf for several weeks before you get around to throwing them into the microwave.

While I have not tried every NutriSystem Select item, they are a big improvement over the regular NutriSystem foods, in my opinion. So far, I have not hated any of them, with the exception of the Shrimp Alfredo. And that really is probably more about me. I just can't deal with frozen little shrimps. I love shrimp, but they have to be extremely fresh and I prefer nice giant shrimp!

It is too bad that you can only get a week's worth of the NutriSystem Select items with your full monthly supply of food, but then the cost may get a bit prohibitive otherwise. And honestly, I don't mind most of the regular NutriSystem meals and they sure are quick and easy. But let's talk about NutriSystem Select's menu.

When you first order, you get an extra week's worth of the ice cream sandwichs. And oh yes, are they tasty. But for me, they led to a bit of cheating, as eating just one is not really enough. So I can definitely recommend these, as long as you have more will power than I do.

As for the regular meals, I definitely have a few faves. Topping the list is the meatball parmesan melt, the chicken quesadilla and the glazed chicken tenders. I recommend cooking the chicken tenders in the oven if you have the time as I think they taste better that way rather than microwaved.

I also have a few breakfast faves – the ham and cheese omelet is surprisingly tasty for a packaged egg product and I like the toasted ham and cheese. Okay, is that really breakfast? It is for me! If you like to carb load for breakfast, then you have your choice of homestyle pancakes and golden French toast. I'll be sticking to protein however.

Now for the regular menu.

Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes

This dish is a favorite amongst those following the NutriSystem diet. This is another comfort food many diets force you to give up. And, when you are eating this NutriSystem meal (with its wonderfully seasoned meatloaf, thick mashed potatoes, and creamy tomato sauce), you might have to remind yourself that you aren’t cheating on your diet. The meatloaf in this dish can taste a little bit salty and I strongly recommend that you not add any more salt until you taste it. Overall though, I thought this was pretty decent and would eat it again.

Macaroni and Cheese

Who doesn’t love macaroni and cheese? It is probably one of the major comfort foods. And, while most diets force you to give it up, NutriSystem has its own version of macaroni and cheese. And opinions on this one are mixed.

Some people love this dish of pasta and rich cream sauce. Others don’t. A lot might depend on the macaroni and cheese they grew up eating. This will probably not taste like the macaroni and cheese your grandma used to make. However, you might find it tasty in its own right. Me personally? Not a fan. My favorite macaroni & cheese is made from Alton's Brown's Stovetop Mac & Cheese recipe and as far as I'm concerned, I'd just rather go without if I can't have that.

Cranberry Orange Pastry

If there’s one thing you don’t have to worry about giving up on the NutriSystem diet, it’s dessert. NutriSystem offers many different kinds of sweet treats, and one of them is their cranberry orange pastry. This is the perfect snack for between meals. Get yourself a cup of coffee and a good book, and you’re set.

Chocolate Cake

Any chocolate lover will be glad to know that NutriSystem’s chocolate cake is a hit. Having to give up things like chocolate is one of the big reasons people find it difficult to stick with other diets. But, with the NutriSystem diet, you can keep your sweet tooth, and love of chocolate, satisfied. The truth is, sweets and desserts are probably one of the easiest things for any company to get right when they are trying to make a diet product. But since the taste is quite close to the "real thing" you may want to avoid the chocolate cake if it triggers cravings. I generally try and avoid most desserts on any diet, even if it is a low calorie or low fat dessert. I find that instead of providing satiety, they make me want to eat a whole box full of them.

NutriChocolates

They can’t all be winners, and NutriChocolates prove that old saying true. The idea behind it is definitely a winner. Chocolate candies that you can eat while on your diet? That is definitely not a bad idea. But NutriChocolates don’t quite fit the bill. Not that they are inedible. Some people will probably like them, especially if they aren’t expecting it to taste like fine chocolates. To me, they taste like dusty cocoa powder. Blech.

When it comes to NutriSystem meals, this is just the tip of the iceberg. NutriSystem offers a wide variety of meals and snacks. As you taste each one for yourself, you will find that some taste better than you imagined, while others don’t taste as good as you had hoped. But most find that the number of dishes they enjoy far outweighs the number of dishes they don’t care for. And the ones they like are more than enough to keep them satisfied, on their diet, and losing weight.