Thistle Is the Best, More Affordable Sakara Life Alternative We’ve Tested

Whether you’re looking for a healthy meal delivery service or one that caters to vegans and those on a gluten-free diet, it can be overwhelming to find the best company for your needs out of the dozens available. However, if you want prepared meals that are fresh — not frozen — and require minimal prep, that narrows down the selection.

Thistle is a healthy, prepared meal delivery service that hand-delivers fresh meals right to your door. With over 50 menu options refreshed each week, you can choose from bowls, pastas, breakfasts, smoothies, salads, snacks, desserts and juices. With each meal, you get between 20g and 40g of protein and 10g and 15g of fiber, plus superfoods and antioxidants, with no refined sugar, gluten, dairy or dyes. Those with certain food allergies can also customize their meals.

To see if Thistle was worth its price (cheaper than its competitor, Sakara Life), I tried a few days’ worth of its healthy meals. My delivery showed up on time, and the meals were healthy, tasty and took just seconds to prepare. It’s the best option for anyone seeking truly fresh meals delivered, but there are still other healthy meal services I rank above Thistle.

I also reached out to our wellness editor, Anna Gragert, who has been a vegetarian for 21 years and often eats plant-based foods, to have her try Thistle for a few days. She tried two breakfasts, three salads, three stir-fries, one snack, two desserts and one smoothie.

Where does Thistle deliver?

Thistle delivers to select cities on the East Coast, West Coast and Midwest. 

West Coast: San Francisco Bay Area, Napa and Sonoma, Sacramento, Davis, Reno-Tahoe, Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange County, Inland Empire, Ventura County, Palm Springs, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Monterey, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Tucson, Portland, Salem, Seattle-Tacoma, Olympia, Salt Lake City, Park City and Denver.

East Coast: New York City, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Arlington, Raleigh, Atlanta, and parts of New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Hartford.

Midwest: Chicago metropolitan area, Madison, Milwaukee and Minneapolis.

To see if you are in Thistle’s delivery zone click here.

How does Thistle work?

After entering your email and zip code, you’ll create your plan by selecting how many weekly snacks and meals you’d like for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Then, you choose your protein: plant-based only (with at least 20g of protein per meal), meat only (add $3 per meal with at least 30g of protein) or a mix of plant-based protein and meat (add $3 per meal with meat) for flexitarian diets.

If you have food allergies, you have the option to select whether you’d like to avoid the following ingredients: peanuts, tree nuts, soy, shellfish, fish or pork.

Based on your chosen plan, Thistle will assign you meals, but you can add, remove or edit them. You can also skip or pause deliveries and cancel your subscription at any time. Just make sure you do so by 11:59 p.m. PT on the Thursday before the week you plan to skip. For a reminder before billing occurs, text MENU to 1 (855) 525-0580.

After adding your delivery information, choose your drop-off window and whether you’d like the delivery left unattended.

Meals are delivered by hand in an insulated bag via messenger on the day or days of your choosing. If you sign up for text alerts, you’ll be cued into the arrival, down to the minute, so you don’t miss them. You can leave last week’s insulated bags outside, and the delivery person will pick them up during their next meal drop. 

Because the fresh food is not meant to be frozen, Thistle delivers food either once or twice per week, depending on the number of meals you choose. 

One thing that separates Thistle from the rest of the pack is that they deliver only fresh food; nothing is frozen, premade or vacuum-sealed. Everything can be eaten as is, or you can heat certain meals in a skillet and mix in the sauce if you prefer a hot lunch or dinner. 

Thistle’s meals are healthy, made with whole ingredients and gluten-free, including the pasta. The food has minimally processed foods and contains lots of superfoods, such as sweet potatoes, ancient grains, nuts, fruit, veggies and lean meats. 

What we ate and how we liked it

I tried two full days’ worth of thistle meals, including two salads, two stir-fry meals, two breakfast meals and three snacks. Anna tried two breakfasts, three salads, three stir-fries, one snack, two desserts and one smoothie for three days.

I thought everything was good and some were better than good, but nothing blew my socks off. The produce was fresh, but by day three, some of the greens weren’t as crisp and the veggies lost a little of their snap. The stir-fry meals, which I heated in a frying pan along with the sauce, never lost their oomph.

Kale Caesar pasta with garlic and garbanzo beans:  This meal was tasty with a knife, light Caesar dressing and lots of garlic.

Crispy chickpea, Greek salad with pulled chicken: The salad also had quinoa and toasted garbanzo beans. I thought the Greek dressing was sharp and delicious and the salad overall was good but the chicken was dry.

Butternut squash and pear pasta salad with garlic and garbanzo beans: This meal was just OK. The pasta was a little mushy and garbanzo beans could have been cooked more. The dressing was a simple balsamic vinegarette.

Panang peanut curry with togarashi seeds: This panang curry was more tangy and less sweet but all the flavors worked for me. My favorite meal of the lot.

Clean crunch salad with lentils: Anna enjoyed this salad and the variety of greens, veggies and seeds it offered. Paired with an Italian dressing, it was flavorful and filling.

Togarashi pop salad with sesame edamame: This was another hit with our wellness editor. She especially loved the tangy gochujang sauce as a dressing along with the togarashi seasoning, which includes sesame seeds, poppy seeds, chili flakes and nori.

Baharat sweet potato salad with Moroccan chickpeas: A good source of fiber and plant protein, our wellness editor thought this was another delicious salad paired with a lovely garlicky tahini sauce and sweet potatoes nicely seasoned with cinnamon, clove and cardamom.

Harvest stir-fry with baked tofu: This low-calorie stir-fry had a nice mix of fresh-tasting veggies, tofu and a tangy, spicy sauce. It only took our wellness editor 3 minutes on the stove to prepare.

Pad thai with sesame baked tofu: Our wellness editor found this low-calorie dish to be a good source of protein and iron. She enjoyed the freshness of the cabbage and spinach and the crunch offered by the peanuts. The sauce was also very flavorful.

TMP primo pesto pasta with lemon spring peas: Made with no gluten ingredients, this vegan pasta was extremely tasty and offered a great variety of veggies and greens. The chickpea pasta was also comparable to regular pasta and had a nice bite to it.

Snacks and breakfast: smoothies, protein bars and crudite: The peanut butter and banana smoothie was tasty but on the small side. I make smoothies most mornings for breakfast and they are about twice the size of this one. 

The steel-cut oat bowl with granola and dulce de leche was fine but the sauce was a little sweet for me. The granola meant to be put on top of the smoothie was very good. Also included was a vegan crudites platter with gherkin pickles, carrot sticks, tomatoes and vegan cheese dip. 

My favorite of the snacks were Thistle’s homemade protein bars. One was peanut butter and chocolate ganache and the other a mango-granola bar. Both were excellent and they gave me a solid energy boost around mid-afternoon. 

Smashed Sonoma chickpea snack plate: Our wellness editor loved this snack plate. It came with grapes, seed crackers and a chickpea salad that was like a plant-based chicken salad. She plans to try to re-create it in the future.

Tahini-java smoothie: This was a flavorful, filling smoothie that came with plantain chips and puffed quinoa as a topping. While the chips were too big for the smoothie, the puffed quinoa added a nice crunch. Our wellness editor loved the combination of banana, tahini and chocolate.

Lemon berry oats: Our wellness editor enjoyed this tasty breakfast after heating it for 40 seconds in the microwave with a few tablespoons of water. She especially enjoyed it paired with the vegan coconut cream.

Strawberry-rhubarb crumble with vanilla cashew buttercream: This recipe calls for heating in a toaster oven, but our wellness editor doesn’t have one, so she resorted to placing the crumble in the microwave for a few minutes until it was hot. She also enjoyed this breakfast, but went light on the cashew buttercream so it wouldn’t become too sweet. The strawberries were a nice touch on the side.

Chocolate caramel muesli bar: This is a great healthy dessert that could be split into two servings. Our wellness editor liked the combination of dates and tahini to create a healthier caramel.

Millionaire bar: Our wellness editor found this to be a great, plant-based, healthier replacement for an actual millionaire bar. Instead of caramel, tahini, maple syrup and date syrup were used. She also liked the cassava flour shortbread layer at the bottom.

How much does Thistle cost? 

The more meals you order, the lower the price for each meal. However, these are the base prices for each type:

• Breakfast: $13 per meal, but as low as $10 per meal
• Lunch and dinner: $16 per meal, but as low as $12.50 per meal
• Snacks: $7 each

Depending on your location, the delivery fee starts at $5 per delivery. If you get two deliveries per week, you’ll be charged for each one, totaling $10.

Is Thistle eco-friendly?

Thistle’s meal containers are plastic, but can be rinsed and recycled. However, as with all recycling, you’ll want to check to see what your provider accepts.

Thistle bags and their 64-ounce white ice packs are reused. Simply leave them where your new delivery will be dropped off, and the delivery person will collect them for use in your next order.

Note that the blue or white 16-oz ice packs aren’t reused by the company, but the inner gel is 100% biodegradable and can be composted, while the poly-bags can be rinsed and recycled if your provider accepts #4 plastic.

Is Thistle healthy?

Our wellness editor found Thistle to be a healthy meal service. However, she recommends checking the nutrition facts for your chosen meals to ensure they align with your diet and health goals. She also found the meals to have a great variety of fresh ingredients and healthier substitutes. If you struggle to prepare healthy meals for yourself, this could be a good option.

Who is Thistle good for?

If you’re looking for easy lunches and dinners but don’t care for fully premade food cooked days before and frozen or vacuum-sealed, Thistle is a good bet. The service focuses on healthy, whole foods, with lots of salad greens, nuts and roasted vegetables. While some meals include meat, most are plant-based, and all can be made vegan, so this is a good option for someone cutting down or eliminating meat from their diet. 

Our wellness editor agrees that this is a great service for prepared vegan meals that taste fresh, offer a variety of greens and veggies and are easy to grab and heat up. Because Thistle’s meals do not contain gluten, they could also be great for someone on a gluten-free diet. However, they are not gluten-free certified.

Who is Thistle not good for? 

Even if you choose the largest (cheapest per-meal) meal plan, Thistle meals are still an expensive way to eat, so this is not a good option for anyone on a tight budget. Thistle is also not great for those with unpredictable schedules. Because the food doesn’t freeze well, you’ll want to eat your meals within a few days of delivery. Portions are on the small side, so this probably isn’t the right meal subscription for those who prefer large portions.

Final thoughts on Thistle 

I thought Thistle’s healthy meals were often good but rarely great. The produce was fresh and the sauces and dressings were light and flavorful. In comparison to other wellness-focused meal subscriptions, I’ve tested in the $12 to $15 range, there were a few I liked better overall, including Fresh N Lean, CookUnity and Mosaic Foods. 

Our wellness editor, on the other hand, loved all the Thistle meals she tried. While it can be on the pricier side, if you’re vegan or gluten-free and don’t have time to cook, this would be a great option for fresh-tasting, flavorful food that is either ready to go or takes a few minutes in the microwave or on the stovetop.

If you’re interested in having truly fresh food — not frozen or vacuum-packed meals — delivered weekly, including preassembled salads and stir-fries, Thistle is your best option. If you choose one of the larger meal plans, the price per meal for lunch and dinner is a reasonable $12.50. Choose a smaller meal plan, and you’ll pay more like $16 per meal, which doesn’t seem worth it. 

Thistle vs. Sakara Life: Which is better?

Thistle and Sakara Life operate with similar business models, delivering fresh food for your week, while Sakara’s meals are of a higher quality. The price for Sakara — $28 per meal for five lunches and five dinners — is astronomical, and Thistle offers a more approachable version of fresh-food delivery, with meals as low as $12.50 for lunch and dinner if you choose one of the larger plans. 

If money is no object, go for Sakara, because the food is better and more interesting. If you like the concept of Sakara Life but don’t want to spend hundreds every week, Thistle is the better pick.