Cooking dinner at home doesn’t necessarily have to be complicated. Meal kit services like Sunbasket and Home Chef can make your life much easier! The tricky part is choosing which service is the best to suit your needs.
In today’s comparison, we will review two of our favorite meal kit delivery services and break down all components to help you better choose the service to match your needs.
On one side, we have Sun Basket, the Californian based company that promises to make healthy cooking easier and more accessible. On the other side of the comparison, we have Home Chef, promising to make home cooking fun and diverse.
Meal Variety of Sunbasket Vs Home Chef
Sunbasket offers two different plans:
- The Classic Menu – provides two or three dishes per week for two or four people.
- The Family Menu – offers two to four dishes per week for four people.
They also offer a large selection of unique dietary plans that include paleo, lean & clean, gluten-free, vegetarian, Mediterranean, diabetic-friendly, etc. If you follow one of these nutritional diets, it’s a big plus!
On the other side of the coin, Home Chef offers even more flexibility with deliveries available for two, four, or six people, with a minimum selection required of 2 dishes per week with no maximum limitations. The company also offers a dedicated plan for
Sunbasket offers a good selection of 24 dishes weekly, plus many add-on options for light breakfast and healthy snacks!
Within the Sunbasket menu, choices cater to special dietary requirements, such as paleo, gluten-free, low-calorie, vegan, vegetarian, and Mediterranean diets. You can mix and match the dishes as you desire. You can also select the type of protein in most meals, giving you maximum flexibility.
Regarding the variety of dishes, the Home Chef menu offers 30 meals per week. Those include options for low-calorie meals, 15-minute meals, oven-ready meals, vegetarian meals, and more.
With Home Chef, you can also change or double the protein portion in most of the selected meals. Regardless of the number of people your plan covers, you can choose from all Home Chef meal selections per week.
Sun Basket has the upper hand when it comes to variety, with a fantastic selection of 24 dishes every week, plus many add-on options for light breakfast and healthy snacks! Within the Sun Basket meals, you will find choices that cater to special dietary requirements such as paleo, gluten-free, low-calorie, vegan, vegetarian, and the Mediterranean diet. You can mix and match the dishes as you desire. You can also select the type of protein in most meals, giving you maximum flexibility.
The fact that they have such an impressive selection of dishes catering to dietary requirements is an appealing and unique part of the Sun Basket Service.
When it comes to a variety of dishes, the Home Chef menu offers 20 meals per week. Those include options for low-calorie meals, 15-minutes meals, oven-ready meals, vegetarian meals, and more. With Home Chef, you can also change or double the protein portion in most of the selected meals. Regardless of the number of people your plan covers, you can choose from all of Home Chef meal selections per week.
Style and complexity of dishes for Sunbasket and Home Chef
We can honestly say that every meal cooked and tasted from both Sun Basket and Home Chef was delicious! Our general impression of the two companies is that Sun Basket is more focused on healthy food and organic ingredients. Their meals include lots of super healthy ingredients, like greens, vegetables, gluten-free pasta, whole rice, etc. a new and exciting addition to the Sun Basket menu is the “Fresh and Ready” – pre-cooked meals that are ready to just heat and eat!
On the other hand, we would say that Home Chef tries to focus more on family dinners, yet offer some twist or new interest into it. Their recipes tend to be well known and do not require any knowledge of sophisticated cooking techniques. The dishes from Home Chef are appropriate for families, in that they are suitable for adults, kids, and teenagers.
A few examples of dishes we tried from Sun Basket:
Shrimp Tacos Diablo with Pickled Cabbage & Lime, Greek Shrimp, or Sichuan Dan Dan Noodles with Pork and Braised Greens
A few examples of dishes we tried from Home Chef:
Corn and Black Bean Burrito, Salmon Tacos with Queso Fresco and Crispy Jalapeños, or a more classic dish like Steak au Poivre
Quality of products
Both Sun Basket and Home Chef consistently provide very high-quality products. Sun Basket has a one of a kind promise that all their ingredients are organic and sustainably sourced. This is a promise that, from our point of view, really makes them stand out from the other companies in this market!
Home Chef has partnered with some high-quality farms such as Paysan Breton Butter, ‘World Wide farms’ for farm-fresh herbs and vegetables, and ‘Sea to Table’ for sustainably sourced seafood.
Home Chef Vs. Sunbasket popular meals:
Sun Basket:
- Butter chicken with basmati rice pilaf
- Shrimp diablo tacos with roasted peppers and queso fresco
- Chicken larb lettuce cups with carrots and fresh mint
- Pappardelle with wilted spinach, sweet peas, and fresh ricotta
Home chef:
- Smoked Almond Butter Chicken Breast with Chipotle Cinnamon Butternut Squash
- Swiss Smothered Turkey Burger with Mushrooms and Slaw
- Salmon and Brown Butter Hollandaise with almondine risotto
- Beef Empanada Rice Bowl with jalapeño chimichurri and crispy tortilla strips
Sun Basket and Home Chef Box
Both companies use a specifically designed and labeled carton box for their deliveries. Both companies ensure that the ingredients for every dish are separated and labeled in individual bags when it comes to organization. This makes opening the deliveries so easy, as no sorting is required. Both companies place the cooled proteins on the bottom of the box with a large amount of ice. That way, the box can be left outside for a few hours.
In regards to being eco-friendly, Sun Basket makes this issue a top priority. Their team, which includes the most innovative designers in the business, is committed to developing fully recyclable and compostable materials for the delivery box and the packaging materials inside the box.
The app and website
Both companies offer a well-organized and easy to use website and app. You can register, select and change your plan and desired dishes, define your eating preferences, change your payment method, etc. – all online in an effortless and user-friendly way
Plan terms
The service in both companies is a subscription service, with the option to skip weeks easily if necessary. They both also offer some flexibility in picking your preferred delivery day. To cancel your account with both companies, you need to contact their customer support, and they then reply to you very quickly.
Add-ons and special features in the menu
Home Chef offers a useful extra section with a selection of protein packs (with a mix of chicken and meats), bandle packs that are great for lunch or light dinner, breakfast, and some desserts.
Sun Basket has many special diet meals on its weekly menu, such as Paleo, vegan, vegetarian, Meditteranean, gluten-free, low-calorie, and more. Sun Basket also offers many add-on options to your box, at extra cost, including light breakfast and lunch, snacks, signature sauces, and protein options.
Sun Basket and Home Chef delivery area
Sun Basket currently offers its meal kit service to most zip codes in the United States, excluding Alaska and Hawaii, and parts of ND, MT, and NM. Their deliveries can be scheduled Monday through Thursday between 8 am and 9 pm, depending on your delivery area.
Home Chef delivers currently deliver to 98% of the United States. To ensure the company provides to your area, you can enter your zip code during the online sign-up process.
Bottom Line – Our winner is Home Chef
When looking at Sun Basket vs. Home Chef, Both companies offer excellent meal kit service, but they appeal to different audiences.
If you’re looking for organic, healthy, new-age food or following a specific diet like paleo, Sun Basket is your go-to choice – but with a much higher price tag.
If you are looking for excellent quality classic meal options yet easy to cook and taste incredible – then the Home chef meal delivery service is the right option for you!
After conducting this detailed review, our winner is Home Chef, due to several factors.
- The price!
- The variety and style of meals
- The focus is on excellent fast and easy meals.
- The many add-ons for breakfast, fast lunch, and extra proteins
