Redefine Meal Prep simplifies dinner in Riverhead

Redefine Meal Prep, a Long Island-based chain offering healthy prepared meals, has opened a new location on Old Country Road in Riverhead. Over 60 ready-to-eat dishes are created with balanced nutrition in mind, made with fresh ingredients and proteins like chicken, beef, salmon and shrimp.

Owners Matthew Riss and Mark Ciaburri of Lake Grove founded the business in 2016. “Mark and I started Redefine Meals while at Stony Brook University with a mission to make healthy eating simple and affordable,” said Mr. Riss. 

The Riverhead location opened Aug. 17 and is one of over 20 Redefine stores across Long Island (the newest of which just opened in Astoria, Queens, in mid-September).

The business has grown to a team of over 300 employees producing tens of thousands of meals weekly. Mr. Riss said, “Our success comes from an obsession with quality, consistency, and taking care of our customers.”  

The meals, made in the company’s headquarters in Ronkonkoma, range from $10 to $12, while frozen meals are $6.50. The dishes are served fully cooked in microwave-safe containers, with a microwave available in-store to heat up your meal immediately (something many local first responders take advantage of).

As employee Nastasia Henze explained, “The way our meals work, is they’re all already macro-counted, meaning that all the meals that we have are the perfect lunch or the perfect dinner because they have the perfect [amount of] calories.”

“We don’t follow any specific diets … it’s all going to be minimal fat and high protein. All the ingredients are very clean — we don’t use any preservatives; we cook everything with avocado oil,” she said. “Everything is either baked or pan-fried; we don’t do any deep-frying. Everything here is very much directed towards being a healthy, convenient option.”

Customer favorites are the chipotle steak bowl, baked vodka chicken parmigiana, and the Redefine power bowl, which contains grilled chicken, brown rice, arugula, roasted sweet potato, feta cheese and dressing.

Three to four new meals come out per month. “We just came out with a General Tso’s Chicken, which a lot of people have been loving,” said Ms. Henze.

Other selections are a hibachi salmon bowl and a grilled shrimp vodka sauce ravioli. Low carb options include a Greek salad and a Caesar chicken wrap. There are even a few breakfast items, like a breakfast burrito and peanut butter banana overnight oats.

For those who prefer to create their own recipes, the store carries pre-cooked food in bulk: grilled chicken, steak, sweet potato and white rice to combine as you please.

A subscription service is available too, with packages of seven, 10, 15 and 20 meals for delivery weekly, biweekly, triweekly or monthly, or for pick up at the store. 

In the sparkling-new storefront you’ll also find a selection of grocery items on the healthier side: avocado oil, sauces, cereals, and chips and snacks cooked with avocado or coconut oil, as well as whole-milk yogurt and low fat/reduced sugar ice cream.

Redefine offers discounts to police officers, firefighters, EMT and military personnel, both in-store and online.

“We’re proud to be a Long Island business that’s deeply involved in the community — partnering with schools, hospitals, and local organizations to fuel healthier lifestyles,” says Riss.

Redefine’s hours, recently expanded, are 8 a.m.-10 p.m. seven days a week.