With busy schedules and hectic lives, many turn to the convenience of prepared meals and meal kits to simplify things. Finding the right one to fit your lifestyle can be even more difficult when you want a healthier option that caters to your specific dietary needs.
Today, we will look at two different meal delivery companies – Sun Basket and Factor.
They both offer healthy and convenient options for eating nutritionally balanced meals but cater to slightly different needs.
SunBasket is an organic California-based company that promotes healthy eating for those who want to cook delicious meals at home. Factor is a popular, fully prepared, health-conscious meal delivery service that is dietician-supported and caters to many dietary needs.
So, which one is better for your needs? Our team at The Meal Kit Review tested Sun Basket and Factor in a two-week head-to-head review to bring you this updated 2024 comparison to reflect the latest offerings from both services. So, which one took the title this year? Read on to find out who is our winner!
Short on Time? Here’s Why We Think Factor Is Better
Factor takes the winning title for 2024! Although both services offer great value, Factor stands out for several top reasons:
- Easy and Fast Prepared Meals: All options are microwave-ready meals that you can heat and eat in two minutes.
- Health Focused: Recipes are designed by nutritionists and dieticians and prepared by gourmet chefs.
- Great Variety: The larger variety of rotating recipes that are familiar with crowd-pleasing favorites.
- Lots of Add-Ons: The large selection of add-ons includes breakfasts, healthy drinks, and snacks
- Taste: Every meal we have had tastes amazing and is packed with flavor.
What is Factor?
Factor is a gourmet, fully prepared meal delivery service designed to make it easy to eat healthy and nutritious meals without the hassle of grocery shopping or cooking. The chef-prepared meals arrive fresh and are made with high-quality ingredients that meet strict selection standards and are designed by professional nutritionists.
The diverse menu supports a wide variety of dietary and lifestyle preferences, such as keto, vegetarian, high-protein, and more, to make it easier to meet your health goals. You select the number of meals you want each week, plus you can add on lunches, breakfasts, snacks, and more.
What is Sun Basket?
Sunbasket offers gourmet meals and quick and easy meal kits featuring ingredients sourced from organic and sustainable suppliers. Recipes are ready to eat in minutes, and meal kits are meant to fit into busy lives with quick 15-minute prep times.
The company caters to numerous dietary preferences, such as vegan or vegetarian, Mediterranean, gluten-free, Paleo, and more. They offer a diverse weekly menu of 24+ meals plus an extensive add-on list of pre-made breakfast items, side dishes, prepared lunches, snacks, proteins, and even beverages.
Pros & Cons
Factor Pros & Cons
Pros:
- 35 rotating recipes and more than 60 add-ons each week
- Supports a large variety of dietary preferences
- Meals arrive fresh and fully prepared
- Recipes are designed by nutritionists and prepared by gourmet chefs
Cons:
- There are not as many organic choices
- Some meals can contain high amounts of sodium
SunBasket Pros & Cons
Pros:
- At least 98% of their ingredients are USDA-certified organic
- Quick healthy meal kits and fully prepared meals with 24 weekly choices
- Supports a nice variety of different dietary preferences
- Market selection of drinks, breakfasts, and snacks
Cons:
- More pricey than other meal kit services
- Not as many weekly options as other services
- Many of the meals require cooking at home
Variety of Meal Plans
SunBasket Meal Plans
Select from 24 weekly options of ready-to-heat individual meals or easy-to-prep meal kits. The meal kits come in two or four servings; you can choose between two and five meals per week. Mix and match any of the recipes or meal plans to create a customized weekly delivery.
They offer paleo, low-carb, gluten-free, diabetes-friendly, vegetarian, pescetarian, Mediterranean, and keto meal plans. You can also add market items like breakfasts, snacks, drinks, and specialty meats.
Factor Meal Plans
Factor focuses on health and wellness eating habits, with fully cooked chef-prepared dinner or lunch meals delivered straight to your door. Choose between 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, or 18 meals each week, plus the option to add extra add-ons like snacks, breakfasts, and smoothies.
You can also select meals to fit specific diets, including keto, low-calorie, flexitarian, high-protein, vegan, and vegetarian. You can always view the full menu, no matter which preferences you select.
Meal Variety
Factor
Factor offers a diverse rotating menu of 35 weekly options plus over 60 delicious add-on options, such as lunches, breakfasts, desserts, snacks, and more. All the meals arrive fully prepared, with fresh, never-frozen ingredients, and are easy to reheat in minutes.
Nutritionists and dieticians designed the recipes to be healthy and well-balanced, and gourmet chefs prepared them. The meals feature quality lean proteins, fresh vegetables and fruits, and balanced complex carbohydrates.
Sun Basket
Sun Basket caters to those who lead busy lives but prefer to have the option to cook gourmet and healthy meals at home. They also offer premade meals that can be reheated when you are short on time and a large selection of market items.
The pre-made meals arrive individually packaged with fresh ingredients and are reheated in minutes. The meal kits are designed to be ready in under 15 minutes to fit into your schedule and feature fresh, high-quality ingredients and lean proteins. The recipes are unique and exotic and feel upscale and high-end.
Our Experience – Is It Tasty?
Our team has extensive experience with SunBasket and Factor over the past seven years, and they have always delivered fresh, quality ingredients and great flavors. That’s why we re-tested these services for two weeks in 2024 to reflect the most up-to-date information on what they offer.
We enjoyed both services, but our team preferred the taste of the Factor meals to the SunBasket ones!
The delivery boxes were well-insulated and easy to organize, but the Sun Basket box required extra sorting time. Most ingredients are loosely packed, and you need to figure out which recipe they belong to.
The Factor meals arrived separately packed and labeled, so they were simple to store in the fridge (we even froze some of the meals for later use). The SunBasket ingredients were also separated by meal, with proteins well insulated in ice packs.
We Tried SunBasket’s Chicken Tikka Masala
This healthy meal tasted lovely and was ready to heat in the microwave or oven. However, our team felt that they had better options for prepared meals. The chicken was a bit too dry, and the portions were smaller than we would have liked. The creamy coconut milk sauce was flavorful, and the basmati rice and vegetables were tender and enjoyable.
We Tried Factor’s Peanut Buddha Bowl
This dish was packed with flavor and full of nutritious ingredients that tasted like comfort food but were nutritionally well-balanced. Ready in under two minutes from the microwave, it featured crunchy broccoli, roasted sweet potato, and protein-packed chickpeas served over quinoa and topped with a decadent peanut sauce. The portions were large and could have easily served as two meals. It was a quick lunch that tasted like takeout but a healthier macro-balanced option.
Other Top Meals to Try
Here are some additional favorite recipes that are worth trying from SunBasket and Factor:
Factor Meals To Try
- Hearty Beef Chili And Macaroni With Roasted Zucchini, Corn & Toasted Garlic Butter
- Chicken And Mushroom Cauli Rice Risotto With Roasted Green Beans And Pearl Onions
- Smoky Gouda Chicken With Roasted Red Potatoes & Parmesan Green Beans
- Chicken Pot Pie Pasta With Cauliflower And Broccoli
- Blueberry Pancakes With Cinnamon Butter And Chicken Sausage
- Everything-seasoned Gravy And Bacon Scramble With Paprika-roasted Zucchini And Pepper Medley
- Honey Mustard Chicken With Roasted Rosemary Potatoes And Garlic Green Beans
- Queso Fundido And Ground Beef With Cilantro Cauliflower Rice And Roasted Peppers
SunBasket Meals To Try
- Pappardelle With Artichokes, Butter Beans, And Pistou
- Deconstructed Samosas With Chickpeas, Potato, And Peas
- Sichuan Glass Noodle Bowl With Pork, Cabbage, And Carrots
- Chicken And Egg Donburi Rice Bowl With Kimchi-lime Vegetables
- Petite Broccoli And Cheddar Quiches
- Chili Verde Breakfast Burrito
- Chicken Breasts With Mediterranean Artichoke And Green Bean Salsa
- Fresh Penne With Italian Sausage, Tomato Sauce, And Pecorino Romano
Style and Complexity of Dishes
Both companies offer chef-designed meals that feature fresh, high-quality ingredients. Sunbasket caters to those looking for convenient ways to include clean eating and home-cooked recipes that feature organic produce. They make healthy recipes for meal kits and convenient ready-made meals when time is short. The large variety of recipes is unique, with rotating exotic ingredients and flavors that appeal to the more adventurous.
Factor recipes are designed for the health-conscious and those short on time. They feature gourmet ingredients designed with your health in mind by licensed nutritionists and dieticians. The meals feature familiar ingredients that are packed with flavor and don’t focus as much on exotic ingredients. Each meal tastes amazing, and the large rotation of recipes keeps things from feeling repetitive.
Quality of Ingredients Used in The Meals
After receiving meals from Sunbasket and Factor, we can confidently say that we were impressed by the freshness, quality, and best practices in sourcing the ingredients in the meals.
Factor Quality of Ingredients
Factor chefs take their ingredient selection process a step further than most meal kits. Each ingredient undergoes a five-step analysis to determine its suitability for their meals. Only the highest-quality whole-food ingredients with proven health benefits make the cut.
SunBasket Quality of Ingredients
Sunbasket sources its proteins from ethical and sustainable sources. It is unique because 98% of its ingredients are USDA-certified organic. If an organic ingredient cannot be provided, it will be substituted for a non-organic one, and you will be notified in these instances.
The Delivery Box
Both service’s delivery boxes are easy to sort and come with ice packs and dividers to keep everything cool during transit. SunBasket and Factor have reduced their carbon footprint and used recyclable and sustainable resources in their delivery boxes. Almost all shipping materials and food containers can be reused or recycled, although the gel inside the ice packs should be discarded before recycling.
Sun Basket ships its frozen protein for the meal kits, separated by dividers and ice packs from the other fresh ingredients. The meal kits arrive pre-portioned and easy to sort.
Subscribing & Managing Your Account
We found both services easy to manage through the app or online. You can swap out your meals, skip a week when needed, and manage any of your account details. Both services are flexible and allow you to pause, skip, or cancel anytime.
To subscribe to Factor, you will select your preferences and the number of meals you want before checking out:
To subscribe to Sunbasket, you will pick your dietary preferences, number of meals, and serving sizes before selecting your delivery preferences and checking out:
What Do Customers Say About Factor and SunBasket?
Factor Reviews:
Factor customers love the convenience of ready-to-heat meals and the savings on food waste and time grocery shopping. They make meal prep and meal time easy.
One customer shared on Reddit, “I’ve been ordering Factor for about 9 weeks now and I love it. I feel like I’m actually saving money considering I was buying groceries from multiple stores. Not to mention, I’m not throwing food away, which is great. So far, I’ve been happy with the selections. It did take a bit to get used to the smaller portions, but honestly, I’m happy about that part, too. I THOUGHT I knew what a correct portion size was…turns out, not so much.”
Another subscriber shared on Reddit, “Delicious. Love that I don’t have to meal prep for work anymore.”
Subscribers rank the Factor app 4.8 out of 5 stars with over 158k ratings.
Sun Basket Reviews:
SunBasket subscribers love the healthy organic meal kits and the convenience of ready-made meals for work and easy lunches. The meals freeze well but sometimes offer small portion sizes.
One customer shared on Reddit, “The meal kits last us the whole week for dinners, each meal kit is enough for two people for two meals (so 4 meals total per meal kit!). We use the fresh & ready microwave meals for lunches at work, so easy and good! And several have made two meals out of one container. They also freeze well so I have them kind of stockpiled at this point.”
Another customer stated, “I like their kits and their meals, I often get a mix in each order. I don’t trust that thin plastic to a freezer. I’ve had a few open in transit so, I always check the contents when they arrive now.”
Subscribers rank the HelloFresh app 4.6 out of 5 stars with over 16k ratings.
Customer Support
As part of the Factor meal subscription, you can access their team of certified dieticians if you ever need additional diet support. They are available to answer questions, design a meal plan, or keep you motivated and on track with your specific goals.
Both companies have great FAQ sections with answers to the most popular questions. If you have any issues regarding your subscription and need to contact the customer service support team, you can do so as follows:
Factor Customer Support
- FAQ section on the website: https://www.factor75.com/faq
- Online Chat: https://www.factor75.com/contact
- Phone number: 888-573-5727 Monday to Friday between 6 am-11 pm EST and 7 am – 7 pm EST on Saturday and Sunday
SunBasket Customer Support
- FAQ area on the Sunbasket website: https://sunbasket.com/faq/
- Chat: https://sunbasket.com/help/
- Phone number: (866) 786-2758
- Email them here: https://sunbasket.com/help/
- Text them at +1 208-960-6505
Delivery Areas
Factor delivers to all 48 contiguous states, excluding Alaska and Hawaii. Sun Basket currently offers its meal kit service to most zip codes in the United States, excluding Alaska and Hawaii, as well as parts of ND, MT, and NM.
Bottom Line
Our winner for 2024 – Factor!
Our team at The Meal Kit Review loves both of these services and recognizes that they cater to different groups.
If you are looking for pre-portioned organic meal kits to cook at home and prepared meals that are simple to reheat and enjoy, SunBasket is a good fit. They cater to many different dietary preferences, making healthy eating simple and convenient.
If you are looking for great-tasting healthy meals that are fully prepared and ready in a few minutes, Factor is the right choice!
We love the large variety of dietary support options—from vegetarian to keto and high-protein diets—and the add-ons available. Everything always tastes amazing, making Factor our winner!
