Here’s where MyBalanceMeals stood out — the meals were so easy to prepare. On top of having very little time to cook, I also don’t particularly enjoy cooking and am easily overwhelmed by complicated recipes. With MyBalanceMeals, I just had to press a couple of buttons on the microwave and wait a few minutes, then dinner was ready.

The cardboard sleeve for each meal displayed the microwave instructions. For almost all of the frozen meals, the instructions suggested thawing in the fridge overnight, then cooking on high for three to four minutes. Planning what I’m going to eat that far in advance defeats the convenience I’m after. I want meals that I can grab and make quickly if the circumstances call for it; I don’t want these to be my planned dinners.

Fortunately, there were also instructions for reheating from frozen. For most meals, I only had to remove the plastic film, pop the tray into the microwave, cook on high for four to five minutes, let the meal sit for a minute to cool, then eat — quick, easy, and no advance planning necessary.

The sole exception was the 7-Grain Waffles With Strawberry Compote, which had multistep instructions. I had to toast the waffles in the toaster and separately microwave the compote for 20 seconds, stir it, and put it back in the microwave with the turkey sausage for another 20 seconds. Next, I removed the compote, heated the sausage for an additional minute, then let everything cool for a minute. For a frozen breakfast, this seemed like a lot of steps.

Tasting the Meals

Before trying MyBalanceMeals, I hadn’t eaten frozen meals since I was a kid, when TV dinners were all the rage, so I was skeptical that they’d taste good. Overall, the meals were better than I expected, especially for frozen dinners, but some were definitely better than others.

Indian-Inspired Buttered Chicken My husband ate this dish and was impressed by the flavor and texture. The cumin-infused basmati rice was delicious, and it didn’t have the stiff texture that a lot of microwaved rice can have. While the chicken was slightly chewy, its texture overall was good, and the meat was well seasoned. He felt satisfied after finishing the meal and said he’d definitely it order again.

Chicken, Rice, and Cheddar Casserole This was a miss for me. Since it’s a casserole, I expected a soft texture, but it came out very mushy. Combined with its lack of seasoning, I ultimately ditched the meal and resorted to a bowl of cereal.

Grilled Salmon With BBQ Sauce I was surprised by this dish. I had low expectations for microwaved fish, but this was tasty and had just the right texture. The BBQ sauce was good, and I found the meal to be filling (I wasn’t stuffed, but I wasn’t hungry either).

Eggplant Lasagna Casserole I love homemade eggplant lasagna, but I never have time to make it, so I was excited to try this meal, which was favorite from the delivery. It wasn’t mushy, the eggplant had just the right amount of crunch, and the cheese was gooey in all the right ways. I would absolutely eat this again.

Mama Mia! Pasta With Beef Marinara This one did not reheat well. While the sauce had good flavor, the noodles were soggy and too soft. I would rather spend five minutes boiling spaghetti on the stove after my kids are asleep than settle for this reheated meal.

Four Cheese Ravioli Of all the meals I tried, this was the one that was as expected. I’ve reheated leftover cheese ravioli plenty of times, and this meal had the same results. I wasn’t a huge fan of the marinara sauce, which lacked flavor, but overall this was about what you’d expect for microwaved pasta.

Cheese Omelet With Turkey Sausage My husband tried this one and was pleasantly surprised by how much he liked the sausage. The omelet was decent — not bad but not great. He walked away satisfied by a good, quick breakfast that was nice on a busy morning.

7-Grain Waffles With Strawberry Compote Even though this was complicated to prepare, the work was worth it. The waffles were a step up from typical frozen waffles from the grocery store. The compote was delightful, although I added syrup because the compote alone wasn’t giving it the flavor I wanted.

Overall, these meals were just okay. They’re frozen meals, so they don’t deliver the same flavor as a fresh meal, but they’re much, much better than the frozen dinners of my youth. The portion sizes were adequate, but my husband and I were both hungry within an hour or so. In the future, I’d supplement the meals with a side of some sort (though that would throw off the nutritional balance of the meal, which would be a drawback).