Everything you need to know about vegan subscription meal services
For your health and the planet’s, it’s beneficial to eat a few vegan meals each week. Or more than a few. Because plant-based foods —vegetables, fruits, grains, beans, nuts, and seeds — are high in vitamins, minerals, and fiber. They’re also low in fat and less damaging to land, water, and air than meat production. Vegan meals, which don’t have meat, fish, poultry, eggs, and dairy, aren’t complicated, but they may require ingredients you’re not as familiar with, as well as a bit more planning and prepping.
Maybe you need a little push to get started. Consider subscribing to a vegan meal delivery service, which may be the best approach for eating and enjoying plant-based foods. The variety the companies offer is wide, creative, and healthful. Ready-to-eat meals can complement your weekly routine and provide extra plant-based nutrition conveniently and easily.
We sampled an assortment of vegan meals from six companies: Mosaic, Purple Carrot, Sakara, Splendid Spoon, Sprinly, and Thistle. The foods were flavorful,
varied, and packed with nutritious ingredients. In any one box, you might find Thai, Mexican, Indian, Moroccan, and Italian-style dishes. While you might not love everything they send, each company offers sufficient seasonal selections to keep you from getting bored.
If delivered-to-your-door convenience is what you’re looking for, these services offer good value.
They do the planning, shopping, preparing, and cooking for you. All of the services require a subscription, without fees, and deliver weekly, but they’re easily adaptable to your schedule: you can adjust, skip, or cancel as needed. You choose a plan — the number of meals per delivery — that works for you and the specific meals (or types of meals) you want. The food is sent refrigerated or frozen, to be eaten
fresh, in the case of salads, snacks, smoothies, and juices, or after heating. Purple Carrot offers both prepared meals and meal kits; the latter are boxes of ingredients, with recipes, for you to cook. (Meal kits are fun if you’re in the mood to cook . . . and clean up.)
In all cases, the meals offer good nutrition. Vegetables, grains, and legumes are the stars here. Portion sizes are reasonable, with targeted levels of protein, calories, fat, carbs, and nutrients. Some of the services allow you to set your dietary preferences to exclude allergens; with others you simply choose foods that meet your needs. The selections also offer plenty of inspiration, featuring ingredients, flavors, and combinations you might not have considered. Many are dishes you can replicate when you feel like cooking.
Make sure to have ample refrigerator or freezer space, plus a microwave, stovetop, or oven.
What kinds of foods can you expect? Vegan “meatballs,” vegetable Bolognese, mac and (nondairy) cheese, tofu in all kinds of sauces, grain bowls, noodle dishes, edamame, beet burgers, kimchi fried rice, black bean enchiladas, pesto tortellini, hearty soups, and salads full of nutritious ingredients. A few meals might contain tempeh, a soybased product like tofu, or seitan, made from wheat gluten, as these have firm, chewy consistencies that mimic meat. Mosaic, Sakara, Splendid Spoon, and Thistle offer breakfast items, such as muffins, snack bars, oats and puddings, smoothies, coldpressed juices, and detox shots.
These companies offer good value. They’ve streamlined their food ordering, cooking, and shipping processes to run efficiently, including minimizing food waste, to provide customers with the advantage. Dining at restaurants or ordering takeout with added tip and delivery fees is more expensive. Meal prices range from $10 to $18 for lunch and dinner entrees. In most cases, the more you buy, the less expensive each meal costs. Plan choices typically include small boxes (about 6 meals), medium (8-12), and large (15-21).
One drawback is that, over time, the meals may start to taste alike. While the selections are diverse — some company menus change weekly, others offer a sizeable selection that adjusts seasonally — many are essentially vegetable and grain dishes that, when heated, tend to have similar, slightly mushy, stew-like textures. If you’re a textural eater, fond of chewy foods, some of the meals may not appeal. Flavor-wise, the foods are generally very pleasing.
The boxes, plastic, and paper required for the shipments may turn people off. Some of the packaging can be recycled or composted, but not all. A few of the companies provide canvas bags with their first delivery for you to return freezer packs and containers.
Overall, the services are a boon for folks who don’t like or have time to cook but want to eat more plant foods. The companies’ missions are not just about providing healthful meals, but having a positive impact on society, both as it relates to maintaining a sustainable food supply and improving people’s wellness goals. “Most Americans don’t eat enough vegetables and dietary fiber,” says Ray Lui, cofounder of Sprinly. “You don’t have to be vegan to eat more plants.” In fact, he says that about 75 percent of Sprinly’s clients are omnivores who “want to eat more plant-based.”
Mosaic co-founders Sam McIntire and Matt Davis, both meat eaters who wanted to eat more plants, say their goal isn’t to convert people to veganism or vegetarianism. They just want folks to eat a little less meat. Mosaic offers some vegetarian meals (with cheese) as well as family-size dinners.
At Thistle, too, “most customers don’t identify as vegan,” says president and co-founder Shiri Avnery. While its meals are all plant-forward, some can be customized to include a small amount of animal protein. The company has sustainability initiatives that guide its sourcing of ingredients for all of its meals, salads, juices, and shots.
Splendid Spoon founder and co-CEO Nicole Centeno says that for her, food needs to taste good, be good for you, and be easy to make and consume. The mother of three says that consuming more plant-based foods with vitamins and fiber is fundamental for better health and better energy.
Sakara likes to be known as a plant-rich nutrition program; a lifestyle, not a diet. The company has vegan (organic, glutenfree, and dairy-free) options for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Purple Carrot also promotes vegan foods for health, which can help lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of diabetes, and for the earth.
So why try a vegan meal delivery service?
■ You’re an omnivore who wants to eat more plant-based foods.
■ You’re a vegan or vegetarian and want to spend less time prepping and cooking, and expand your meal choices to support your chosen diet.
■ You want the convenience of having healthful meals delivered to your door.
Everyone can benefit from adding more plant-based foods to their diet. The planet will thank you, too.