| WIRED | TIRED |
|---|---|
| Short prep times. Meals that appeal to most people. Grocery options. Mostly paper, without tons of plastic packaging. | Limited options for vegans weekly. Produce arrived on the decline and was not always organic. |
Besides Purple Carrot, Sunbasket was my favorite of the vegan meal kits I tested. Sunbasket has both premade, heat-’n’-eat meals and meal kits that you need to prepare, along with marketplace items you could buy from the grocery store, like fish and bread. Most weeks there are only two to three vegan dinner options, so this isn’t going to be a meal plan that vegans can eat all week, but it’s a super tasty and quick way to supplement meals. If Sunbasket had more vegan choices, I’d be subscribing weekly. During my week of testing, everything I had was delicious and took about half an hour to prepare. (Unlike the meal kit norm, meals that promised to take 20 minutes stayed within that range.) A fresh black bean and quinoa Buddha bowl was topped with seared zucchini, bell pepper, and caramelized onion for a warm umami flavor, and fresh avocado for creaminess; a cold udon noodle salad with gingered tofu and pickled vegetables had the right balance of crunch and acidity (I still dream about this dish); and a quick pre-prepped chop suey with shishito peppers, carrots, and mushroom was a solid stir-fry.
Is the brand completely vegan? No. You’ll need to use the vegan filter for dinners, and look for the vegan tag on all other meals and food items.
Availability: Ships to most zip codes in the US, except Alaska, Hawaii, Montana, North Dakota, and parts of New Mexico (and not all delivery days are available in all areas).
Plan details: Servings are two to four, or one if it’s a premade meal, with three, four, or five meals per week. You can filter options for vegans on the menu page, but for some reason, it only filters the rotating weekly dinner options. You’ll have to sift through the breakfast and snack options and look for the vegan tag. Depending on your zip code, most can choose delivery any day Sunday through Thursday, but delivery is only once a week.
Cost: At the time of writing, meals start at $10 per serving, with free delivery on your first order (after that, delivery is $10). Prices go up to $30 for the premium “Chef’s Table” meals, with the majority of vegan meals hovering at about $12 to $15. Unlike a lot of meal delivery services, Sunbasket’s prices don’t change depending on servings, and there’s a $45 order minimum. Like many brands, Sunbasket offers heavy discounts, like $90 off spread across your first four orders. You’ll need to make changes or cancel at least a week before the next billing period.
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