Synopsis of the App: Real Plans is customizable meal planning that provides healthy and seasonal recipes.
Price and Platform: Free. Apple and Android.
RDN Score: 5/5
Pros
- Includes more than 2,000 seasonal recipes with options for traditional meals and those following vegetarian, pescatarian, paleo, autoimmune and other diets.
- Include or exclude specific food groups or ingredients and set your hemisphere to determine ingredient seasonality in search function.
- Includes a meal planner with shopping list that updates as you make selections.
- Select which meal(s) you want to plan each day to customize your schedule, including allowances for eating out and planning for leftovers.
- Includes a weekly timeline that tells you what to do when, such as defrost the chicken the night before based on what’s on the menu.
- Completely customizable list, timeline and plan.
- Easily adjust serving sizes or measures to metric units.
- Use the recipe importer to add your own recipes or print the meal plans for hardcopies.
- Each recipe includes the cooking and prep time and nutrition information, and recipes include ratings from the Real Plans community.
- Select a recipe to easily add to the timeline for a week or month at a time.
- Include personal options like recipe measures, time zone and email frequency and even the stores you typically shop for food.
- Access your account via mobile or desktop for easy set up and reference anytime.
- 24/7 chat support with a real person.
Cons
- Food photography styles vary with each recipe.
- Cannot preview the app without a recurring subscription, unlike many meal-planning apps that allow at least a 7-day trial. (Real Meals includes a 30-day money back guarantee.)
- Cost may be a deterrent for some with plans at $69.99 per year or $13.99 per month.
- Includes recipes from popular food bloggers, so some may be easily available online without the subscription.
Bottom Line: Real Plans may be most useful for those people starting a new diet regimen seeking new recipe ideas and structure.