An Organic Meal Kits Head-to-Head Comparison!
Finding time to cook dinner daily and taking the necessary trips to the grocery store can be challenging in our hectic lives. So how can you fit it all into your schedule?
That is where meal kits, which cater to busy families’ needs, can make a huge difference!
As this industry has expanded so rapidly in the last few years, with new and old companies – like Home Chef, Hello Fresh, Blue Apron, and Sunbasket – being valid options, it can be quite a challenge to work out which company is the best for your needs.
There Are Many Meal Kit Delivery Companies! So How Do You Choose?
We at the Meal Kit Review are here to help you navigate your way around the world of meal delivery services!
If eating healthy is your #1 goal, the two companies to consider are Sun Basket vs. Green Chef.
This review will take a closer look at these two companies specializing in organic and healthy diet meal kits with pre-portioned ingredients.
Both Sun Basket and Green Chef meal delivery kit services prioritize creating and delivering meal kits that use only the best organic ingredients with optimal nutritional values. Both also specialize in meals catering to specific diets like vegan, gluten-free, keto low-carb, etc.
These two companies have many similarities but also some notable differences.
Sunbasket Vs. Green Chef – Let’s Dive In!
Sunbasket Vs. Green Chef – Pros & Cons
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Sunbasket vs Green Chef- The Meal Plans On Offer
Winner: Green Chef
Sun Basket offers an extensive range of plans on a subscription basis for either two or four people. Sun Basket also provides single servings for oven-ready meals.
With Sun Basket, You can choose a specific dietary plan – Paleo, gluten-free, vegan, Mediterranean, carb-conscious, vegetarian, Diabetes-Friendly, or the Chef’s Choice meal plan.
Green Chef offers six subscription meal plans for different diets and eating habits needs:
- Paleo + Keto diet
- Gluten-free diet
- Vegetarian meals diet
- Vegan meals diet
- Fast & Fit – Calorie-conscious recipes designed with fast meal prep and ready in 25 minutes or less.
- Mediterranean meal plan – Mediterranean-style flavors with lots of vegetables and good fats.
All three Green Chef meal plans are offered for two, four, or six people (large family plan), with three or four meals per week.
The Variety & Style of Meals
Winner: Green Chef
Green Chef or Sunbasket are meal kit delivery services focusing on healthy organic foods. Dishes offered by both companies are filled with fresh organic ingredients and offer the most nourishing of meal kit options.
The two services not only provide the best organic meal kit options but also believe that ease of preparation is essential to their customers.
Sun Basket makes the promise that most of their meals will take only 15-30 minutes to prepare using easy-to-follow recipes. Their weekly menu also offers some “Fresh & Ready” prepared meals that only need heating and super speedy meal kits that take 15 minutes or less to cook.
Sun Basket offers a variety of over 30 dishes per week, plus lots of great add-on options for lunch, breakfast, protein packs, and healthy pantry items. Within their weekly meals, you will find selections suitable for many dietary requirements that you can choose from.
Green Chef offers an extensive menu featuring meals for different lifestyles, including paleo, vegan/vegetarian, gluten-free, keto, and balanced-living diets.
The culinary style of the meals is super diverse and ranges from Italian, Mediterranean, Mexican, Asian-style, and more.
Sample Recipes From Green Chef & Sun Basket
We take pride in tasting meals from every meal kit company we review at the meal kit review. That goes for Sun Basket and Green Chef, of course.
We have tried both companies several times during the last years, and feel comfortable to say the meals are generally delicious and satisfying. But for us, the winner in the taste battle is Green Chef!
Some of Sunbasket’s meals let us down in the taste test. Even the more complicated meals, described as “designed with extra innovation” had a pleasant taste, but not more than that.
Here are a few examples of Sun Basket and Green Chef dishes we tried:
SunBasket’s Meals We Tried
- Spanish-style chicken and quinoa with fire-roasted tomatoes
- Pork chops with pear mostarda and wilted kale
- Burmese salmon salad with lemongrass, cabbage, and apple
- Chorizo chili with tomatillos and black beans
Green Chef’s Meals We Tried
- Herb-seasoned meatballs & orzo with butternut squash, sautéed kale & roasted red peppers
- Chicken with Basil Pesto spaghetti squash noodles, parmesan, rainbow chard salad
- Pecan-crusted pork chops with braised butternut squash, red bell pepper & collards
- Paleo boom-boom shrimps bowl with green leaf lettuce, stir-fried cabbage & red bell pepper
Quality of Ingredients
Winner: Green Chef
Both Sun Basket and Green Chef offer meal kits that use great ingredients.
Sun Basket makes the reassuring promise that they only use organic and sustainably sourced ingredients. The company prioritizes suppliers who use environmentally-friendly methods when it comes to food production. This includes fishermen who use low-impact fishing methods, ranchers that respectfully treat the animals, and growers that are pioneers in sustainable crop rotation and water efficiency.
On the other side, Green Chef meal kit delivery service is a USDA-certified organic company, using only organic, non-GMO, and sustainably sourced ingredients. The company works with a trusted network of ranchers, farmers, fishermen, and artisans.
As part of the company’s mantra of keeping things simple for customers, many Green Chef quality ingredients arrive peeled and prepped for the cooking process.
Sunbasket and Green Chef Add-On Options
Winner: SunBasket
The Sun Basket menu offers a range of add-on options to your box to keep healthy eating throughout the week. The add-on options include healthy snacks, protein packs, breakfast, and fast lunch options.
Like the Sun Basket meals, all add-ons are made from quality ingredients, with many gluten-free, vegan, organic, and non-GMO options.
Add-Ons to Try From SunBasket
Breakfast – Overnight Oats, Dark Chocolate
Lunch- Chili Lime Bowl with Pinto Beans and Rice with Hemp and Quinoa Seeds
Lunch – pre-made combo of Green Curry Noodle Bowls with Salmon and Snap Peas
Fresh proteins – Sustainably Sourced and Wild-Caught Gulf shrimp
Pasta marinara sauce with sun-dried tomatoes
As for now, Green Chef does not offer any add-ons on the menu.
Subscription Flexibility
Winner: It’s a Tie For Us
Both companies provide a subscription service. However, this subscription comes with a large amount of flexibility. With both, you can skip weeks when needed, change plans and easily cancel your account online through the account management area.
Depending on your residential address, both offer flexibility in selecting your preferred delivery date. If you need assistance with your subscription, you can contact their customer support team online; they respond very quickly.
Both companies offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee. That means that if you are not satisfied with a meal or received some bad ingredients, the company urges you to contact them within a few days, and they will adequately handle your issue.
Sun Basket goes the extra mile in terms of flexibility. Even though they have many different plans, their 30+ per-week menu items are available, regardless of your plan. You can choose any meal you wish, which gives you many different culinary options!
Food Allergies Support
Winner: Green Chef
Both Green Chef and SunBasket are transparent about the risks of cross-contamination in their factory. They make it clear that their ingredients are processed in the same facility, and therefore they can’t fully guarantee that meals are free from major food allergens like milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, and soybeans.
We urge you to use your best judgment, especially if you have severe allergies to any of the above!
With that said, Green Chef is one of the only meal delivery services to receive a Gluten-Free Approved Certification from the Gluten Intolerance Group’s Gluten-Free Food Service program.
Both services publish the ingredient list per meal, so you can avoid any ingredient when placing your order.
Supporting Material
Winner: Green Chef
Even though both services include printed recipe cards in each delivery box, we found the Green Chef cards more comprehensive and easy to follow.
First, Sunbasket’s recipe cards are smaller than Green Chef’s, printed on 6-by-4-inch folded cards, with only a picture of the final dish and no photos of the cooking steps. Green Chef uses a large A4 double-sided colored card with helpful images of each cooking step.
Both services offer full recipes and extra info like calorie count and other nutritional values on the website and app.
The Packaging and Delivery Box – Is It Eco-Friendly?
Sun Basket and Green Chef strive to reduce carbon emissions and environmental impact.
Delivery boxes, ice packs, insulation, and other packaging materials are great for protecting the foods but are not precisely good for the earth. But know that using these materials to deliver fresh and safe ingredients saves the planet tremendously!
A study by the University of Michigan shows that grocery shopping generates 33% more greenhouse gases than meal delivery kits—even with its packaging.
On top of that, Green Chef and Sunbasket, the leading meal kit companies of healthy eating, constantly innovate to deliver the best eco-friendly packaging.
Green Chef makes all its packaging from recyclable, compostable, and reusable materials – unless it is impossible for food safety reasons.
Each weekly meal delivery is packed in an insulated box, and the ingredients per recipe are packaged together in a labeled paper bag for easy storage. All the paper bags, jars, and plastic clamshells are recyclable.
With Sun Basket, delivery also comes packed in a cardboard box, with each recipe ingredient separately placed in a paper bag. The Sun Basket packaging materials are innovative and almost 100% recyclable.
Curious About How To Best Dispose of your box?
Sun Basket and Green Chef offer a dedicated website page advising customers on reusing, composting, recycling, or disposing of the different packing materials.
Also, know that recycling and composting facilities can vary, depending on your location. To find your best local recycling options, visit earth911.org or www.plasticfilmrecycling.org.
Green Chef vs Sunbasket: App and Website Usability
Winner: Green Chef
Both Green Chef and Sun Basket offers a well-organized and easy-to-use website and app to manage your subscription online. You can register, select your meal plan, choose desired dishes, change your payment method and cancel your account within the account settings area.
However, we felt that the usability and navigation of the Green chef website and app are a bit better.
With both companies, the meal plans are pretty flexible – recipes on the weekly menus are available for order so that you can mix vegetarian and meat dishes, paleo and gluten-free, and so on. You can also define your dietary preferences in advance and be offered only recipes that match your preference.
The Delivery Area
Winner: It’s a Tie For Us
Sun Basket ships to most zip codes in the United States, excluding AK and HI, and parts of ND, MT, and NM. Deliveries are scheduled Monday through Thursday.
Green Chef delivers almost everywhere in the continental US. The company does not deliver to Alaska, Hawaii, and parts of Louisiana. Their meal kits are delivered Monday through Saturday, based on your address and day preference.
In our Green Chef Vs. Sun Basket Comparison– Green Chef Won!
Both Green Chef and Sun basket offer impressive organic and health-focused meal kit services! The services provide the best organic ingredients and chef-designed meals that give you the ultimate healthy experience for at-home dining.
From our experience up until now, Green Chef is our winner!
We base our decision on the high-quality ingredients we got in every delivery box and the easy-to-follow recipes.
We also loved the organized meal plans per diet (gluten-free, Paleo, Keto, Vegan, Vegetarian, and more), which allow you to enhance your healthy eating habits.
Lastly, but maybe most important – the flavors of the Green Chef meals have never disappointed us throughout the years.
If you are ready to try Green Chef, make sure to use our coupons to get free meals for weeks!
Methodology Of Our Review Process – Why Trust Us?
Our mission at The Meal Kit Review is to aid you in making informed decisions about various meal kit companies without purchasing each kit individually. We surveyed each meal kit service on the marketplace to find the best ones for singles, couples, families, and specific lifestyles.
We ensure an honest review based on purchasing and testing meal kits from popular meal kit companies and provide information on flavor, sustainability, pricing, and more.
Read more about our review process and why you should trust us here.
