Paleo Brands came about when its founder saw his mother reverse many serious medical conditions by simply eating paleo. He was motivated enough to start a company based on the concept. Can't say as I blame him.
But, does motivation equal a tasty product? Well that's what I'm here to let you know! Do bear in mind, that this is my opinion, and mine only. My palette may not be as refined as others' out there.
I finally broke down and ordered the sampler pack for $29.75 with free shipping, which includes one of each of their offerings:
- Almond Crusted Cod with Spicy Vegetables and Cauliflower Leek Puree
- Beef Meatballs with Spaghetti Squash
- Beef with Curry Pistachio Stuffing and Broccoli
- Fish Patties with Spaghetti Squash
- Roast Beef with Creamy Butternut Squash
Avoid:
I was skeptical of exactly how good the fish offerings could possibly be. It's one thing to get fish sticks with all their yummy gluten laden carby breading, quite another to attempt to make "good fish". And as expected, I was right on this. The Almond Crusted Cod was barely edible. The vegetables included with this meal were equally unpalatable. I hoped against all odds that somehow this was going to be good, because I really do love a good Cod, but it just wasn't meant to be.
Barely Passable:
On a brighter note, the Fish Patties with Spaghetti Squash were much better than their Cod counterpart. They weren't outstanding by any stretch, and not likely something that will be a repeat purchase for me, but they weren't terrible.
Passable:
Making the passable category is the Meatballs with Spaghetti Squash. The downfall of this dish is the fact that spaghetti squash doesn't really seem to microwave from frozen very well. Even dousing it in the marinara from the meatballs and mixing the two together didn't turn this into an outstanding dish. I normally eat my spaghetti squash in a marinara sauce, so I expected this to taste as near to that as a frozen dinner can, but my expectations were not met. Overall, it wasn't bad, but there are better options.
Good:
The beef dishes are certainly the stars of the lineup. The Roast Beef with Creamy Butternut Squash was a delicious serving of roast beef with squash that had a surprising spiciness to it. Not enough to light my world on fire or anything, but certainly not what I'd expect when eating squash.
Outstanding:
The creme de la creme here is the Beef with Curry Pistachio Stuffing and Broccoli. This was the one dish where both the meat and the vegetables were something that I'd eat again without hesitation. The beef, much like the roast beef dish from earlier, was absolutely fantastic. The broccoli was the tastiest of all the vegetables included in any of the dishes. Maybe because it was the most "normal" of all of them?
Conclusion:
It seems like they may be trying to get too fancy with a lot of the meals. The vegetables miss more than they hit, while on the meat side of things the non-fish meat offerings appear to be just fine in all cases. It would be interesting to see if they could come up with a chicken offering maybe paired with a sweet potato for the veggie. Overall, they've got a promising concept that sadly falls short more often than not in execution. Combine this with the fairly steep cost at $5.95 per meal, and it makes it exceedingly difficult for me to recommend anything other than the Beef with Curry Pistachio Stuffing and Broccoli. Hopefully they can refine some of these recipes, or add more recipes to their roster to bring up the overall quality of their brand.
