If you are a vegan, stressing to find what to cook at home to divers your dinners – you have reached the right place!
More and more meal kit services and meal delivery services are now providing meals and recipes that cater to a plant-based diet while also focussing on being more environmental and saving you trips to the grocery store. Some of these are Sunbasket, Green Chef, Veestro, and Purple carrot.
We know it can be hard to know which is the best vegan meal delivery service. So in this article, we will be looking at two of the leading vegan meal kit competitors – Sun Basket and Purple Carrot.
Sun Basket is one of the first meal kit delivery services in the market. The company’s priority is to create a diverse menu with easy-to-cook recipes, including many vegan plant-based meals, using the best fresh organic products.
Purple Carrot is a meal delivery service focused on providing plant-based only meals suitable for vegans and non-vegans alike!
Continue Reading to See Our Full Comparison!
Purple Carrot Vs. Sun Basket Offered Meal Plans
Sunbasket provides two different subscription meal plans – a classic two-person plan and a family plan, and you also have the option for a one-time purchase.
The classic weekly menu includes several dishes that have been designed to cater to a vegan plant-based diet. The menu also includes meals to cater to other diets such as gluten-free, paleo, vegetarian, Mediterranean, and more.
With Purple Carrot, you have a choice of two different plans that cater to two people or four people per meal (family plan). You have the option to choose the number of meals you desire every week as part of your subscription.
Both companies’ plans offer complete flexibility, so you can change your meal plan, skip a delivery, or pause your account at any time!
Variety of Meals
Sunbasket is known for its incredible variety of 30+ dishes per week, catering to many dietary requirements.
Does Sunbasket Do Vegan Meal? The answer is yes! Some meals out of the vast menu are 100% plant-based and suit the vegan diet. The menu also offers recipes to suit other dietary requirements, such as Paleo, Low-Carb pescatarian, gluten-free, diabetes, soy-free, and vegetarian. Moreover, most meals can be customized, meaning you can switch meats to plant-based proteins.
You have the option to mix meals from different diets so that you could get two vegan meals and one gluten-free meal, for example.
All of Sunbasket’s meals are created with health and balance in mind, and the quality of their organic ingredients is notably high. It is also notable that the service design most meals to be quick and easy to cook, with some menu items that are even ready to heat and eat.
Another great thing to note about the Sun basket menu is the add-on options for breakfast, lunch, and snacks. You can find fresh pasta and unique sauces, grain bowls, healthy smoothies, and more.
Purple Carrot is a 100% plant-based service providing a weekly eight dinners plant-based menu suitable for vegans and anyone who would like to increase their consumption of plant-based ingredients. Also, the service offers a few breakfast and lunch options.
Purple Carrot offers a categorized menu with meals for a gluten-free diet, a high protein diet, a low-calorie diet, and quick and easy meals.
Style and Complexity of Meals
Sunbasket offers a diverse menu with all-organic ingredients. Our experience has shown that the ingredients they send in their meal kit boxes are always organic and of the highest quality.
While they cater to a diverse range of dietary requirements, convenience and ease of use are also priorities with Sun Basket. Most of their meals take 15 to 30 minutes to prepare, with easy-to-follow recipes that anyone can manage. Plus, the service offers many oven-ready meals as part of their menu, marked as “Fresh & Ready”.
Purple Carrot’s weekly menu comprises eight plant-based dishes that you can mix and match from the different plans. Their menu has International influences, including American, Mexican, Mediterranean, and Italian. The company also offers the option of three recipes per week on the TB12 plan, which are high in protein and calories and designed for those with a physically demanding lifestyle.
Sample Vegan Menu Meals:
Sunbasket:
When looking at the Sun basket menu, you see the vast diversity of the tempting vegan meals, ranging from Asian-style meals to Mexican, Mediterranean, and more.
Check out the following meals to know what to expect when using this meal kit service:
- Eggplant and potato moussaka with lentil-walnut Kima
- Oven-ready Spicy yuba noodle japchae with kale, mushrooms, and pickled carrots
- Pineapple fried rice with tofu, water chestnuts, and shichimi togarashi
- Black bean–cauliflower tostadas diablo with tangy cabbage slaw
- Oven-ready Spicy Sichuan mapo tofu with mushrooms and kale
- Meditteranean pitas with potato-cauliflower fritters and spicy chile-mango sauce
Purple Carrot:
When looking at the purple carrot menu, you can also see the diversity of plant-based meals:
- Italian cannellini bean stew
- Tandoori spiced tofu with apricot quinoa pilaf & mango chutney
- Crispy quinoa cakes with roasted brussels sprouts
- Mushroom cheddar black bean burgers with garlic aioli & carrot fries
- Roasted red pepper shakshuka with Za’atar tofu & crispy shallots
- Buffalo tempeh tacos with celery radish slaw & lettuce cups
Quality of Ingredients
When it comes to the quality of ingredients, Sunbasket meal delivery is an industry leader by making the fantastic promise that all its components are organic and sustainably sourced. Their ingredients come from a trusted network of suppliers, including fishermen, farmers, and fresh produce growers who adhere to sustainable, responsible, and eco-friendly practices.
Purple Carrot did leave some question marks for us regarding the consistency and quality of their ingredients. Some of the ingredients we received, such as the lettuce, carrots, and radishes, appeared excellent, but others were somewhat disappointing.
Two of our dishes had cucumbers as an ingredient, but they were soft and inedible after a day or two in the fridge. Likewise, with the avocado, it remained stiff and inedible, and these ingredients needed to be replaced with items we purchased from the supermarket.
There is very little information available about where Purple Carrot sources its ingredients from. So, you do not know if they use local suppliers, sustainably sourced ingredients, non-GMO ingredients, meats free of preservatives, etc. This is something we would expect to be very transparent.
The Delivery Box – Is It Eco-Friendly?
The meal delivery box used by both Meal delivery services is a joy to receive! They have been specifically designed for food delivery, with inbuilt insulation in the box itself, and contents are packed with ice or gel packs.
Both boxes are well organized, with all ingredients being individually wrapped, labeled, and arranged. With the package, you also get the recipe cards with complete instructions for preparing your meals.
Regarding how eco-friendly the packaging is, it is notable that both Sunbasket and Purple Carrot go the extra mile in offering packing solutions that ensure as little environmental impact as possible.
The majority of the packaging materials are fully recyclable – like the box itself, the insulation liners, and the plastic jars and bags. The ice packs are half recyclable – you do need to empty the contents of the packs in the trash and recycle the plastic packaging.
Are Purple Carrot and Sunbasket Vegan Meals Healthy?
Both meal kit delivery services put supplying customers with healthy food as a top goal. Generally, when you eat a balanced and healthy plant-based diet, you can lower your risk for many health conditions like heart conditions, diabetes, and more.
Subbasket makes sure that each one of the recipes on the vegan meal plan contains only organic fresh produce and tofu made from non-GMO soy. The meatless meals are in a good balance of healthy and delicious eating – to keep you both satisfied with tastes, and stoked with the proper nutrition. In-house dietitians approve all meals, so you know the meals are balanced and good to go.
Purple Carrot has been clinically proven to help people lose weight and lower cholesterol levels in only a few short weeks. From looking at the Purple Carrot meals, it seems pretty balanced. Each meal contains fresh veggies, carbs, and plant-based protein.
But – we could not find any information if the meals are designed or approved by professional dieticians to make sure they are nutritionally balanced.
The App and Website
Both Sunbasket and Purple Carrot offer attractive, well-organized, and easy-to-use websites. Sun Basket also offers a very easy-to-use app.
Your subscription can be easily managed online. You can register, select your plan and desired dishes, stipulate payment methods, and update your details.
Plan Terms
Both Sunbasket and Purple Carrot offer a subscription service. Their services come with a fair amount of flexibility in that you can skip weeks whenever required. With both, you can easily cancel your account online, so you don’t need to talk to customer service.
Sunbasket goes the extra mile when it comes to flexibility – the company offers the option to make a one-time purchase with your choice of sample meals.
Bottom Line – Which is Better for Vegan Diet? Our Vote Goes For Sun Basket!
When it comes to plant-based options, Sunbasket and Purple Carrot offer a diverse range of options, but our winner, without a doubt, is Sun Basket!
Sunbasket not only offers vegan options, but they provide a diverse menu that caters to many different dietary needs, and they allow the option to mix and match between plans. The company designs the meals to be very easy to cook, so it would be fun to become the home chef you always wanted to be without stressing it.
Moreover, the quality of products Sun Basket uses is second to none. The company guarantees that all its ingredients are organic or come from a trusted network of suppliers that follow eco-friendly and sustainable farming practices.
Unfortunately, we found inconsistencies with the quality of the vegan ingredients provided by Purple Carrot, and we also could not find specific information regarding the sourcing of the food.
