Sunbasket Review: This Meal Delivery Service Makes Healthy Eating a Breeze

If you’re looking to eat healthier but don’t know where to start, you’re not alone. My Sunbasket review is the result of trying to improve my eating habits – as someone who often turns to takeout or makes the same dish over and over again, I’m impressed with this delivery service. But let’s not skip! Here’s everything you need to know about Sunbasket and whether it’s good value for money

How does Sunbasket work?
Sunbasket is a meal delivery service that specializes in organic ingredients and simple, practical recipes to please foodies and picky eaters alike. Its menu is updated weekly and includes basically any dietary option you can imagine, including gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, Mediterranean, low-calorie and ancient diets. (It’s kind of like Blue Apron or Hungryroot’s cousins who live in California.)

You choose at least two meals a week from Sunbasket’s lineup, but there’s no limit to the number of meals you can order. Most offerings are meal kits, which contain pre-measured ingredients that can feed two or four people. If cooking isn’t your thing, you can choose single servings of fresh and ready-made meals that just need to be heated. Plus, you can add fresh and frozen market items like yogurt and falafel to your box, which means you can shorten your trip to the grocery store.

Meals start at $10 per serving – cheaper (and healthier) than most takeout and upscale groceries, but more expensive than simple ingredient entrees at the supermarket. Two meal kits cost about $23 to $33 each, and shipping is free on your first order. (Shipping costs for subsequent orders vary by region.)

The box has everything you need for the week, and you can pause or cancel your subscription at any time. Because everything is pre-allocated, Sunbasket helps reduce food waste. Its packaging is also nearly 100% recyclable, adding to its sustainability bona fides. Most contiguous U.S. zip codes are covered, except for parts of Montana, North Dakota and New Mexico.

My Sun Basket Review
At first glance, I’m not exactly the target audience for Sunbasket: it’s a well-known fact that I hate following recipes. Refrigerator cleanup meals are my favorite weekly challenge. I buy ingredients at the corner grocery store almost every day. But I’m also pretty old-fashioned about my staples, especially plant-based ones. I also like to eat out, and I’m doing my best not to raise my hand to order takeout at the end of the day. Sunbasket sidesteps both of these issues and allows me to try new menus that don’t interfere with my dietary preferences.

I sampled three meals from Sunbasket, two of each, and I was impressed with how easy it was to find options that fit my dietary preferences. I don’t eat – or more accurately, try not to eat – dairy products, and I tend to avoid meat when cooking. From about 20 set menu options, I chose the Rainbow Quinoa – black bean tacos, grilled salmon and fennel, and smoked tempeh nachos with cucumber and grape salsa.

Almost all of the meal delivery services claim to be an easy experience; not everyone sticks to it, especially if you find yourself pulling out a second cutting board or looking up words on Google. (What’s the difference between a julep and a chiffonade, anyway?) But Sunbasket actually delivers – I spend no more than 25 minutes per meal, and my most stressful task is cutting cucumbers.

Better yet, each meal left me feeling completely satisfied, but not overly so. I struggle with this balance when I’m cooking for myself or ordering at a restaurant. Here’s a breakdown of my experience, one recipe at a time.

Rainbow Quinoa – Black Bean Tacos
My first tanning meal was also the easiest. The entire process took less than 10 minutes, most of which was just microwaving the pre-cooked quinoa bean filling. Partly because the recipe was vegan, the frittata didn’t have the typical frittata flavor you’d expect from ground beef. But the result – along with juicy tomatoes, a bright acidic slaw and a surprisingly good guacamole – is a welcome change. It’s a serving for two, but there’s enough for three. Nice way to start.

Grilled salmon and fennel
In the past, fennel has always disappointed me. But the vegetables here were delicious (along with the perfectly grilled salmon and crispy zucchini) and I was a freshly minted fennel stan. While making this meal, I began to appreciate all the thoughtful details I missed in my first recipe: the easy-to-open plastic bags, the clearly marked ingredients and the parchment paper in the bag. All I had to do was provide salt, pepper and oil and I was done with all the preparation in less than 10 minutes. I ate almost everything on my plate as soon as I sat down, and in the process I discovered a new way to cook salmon. Good job, Sun Basket!

Smoked tempeh nachos
Vegan cheese is a tricky subject. When it’s done well (which, frankly, isn’t often), it’s a miracle; when it’s done poorly (which is most of the time), it’s a mess that makes you question your diet in the first place. But to its credit: Sunbasket’s dairy-free nachos are actually delicious and only require a little chopping. Seasoned edamame, fresh cucumber grape salsa, pickled jalapeños and a really good “cheesy” cashew sauce make a great meal when served over fries. This is also a great recipe for summer, considering I don’t even need to turn on the oven. I’m now a Sunbasket devotee.

Sunbathing Subscription

Is sunbathing worth it?
If you want to cook more at home, be health conscious, or follow a specialized diet, Sunbasket can help. I had zero problems and every meal was achieved in less than half an hour with minimal effort; so good that I’m even reconsidering my hostility to recipes.

The service isn’t cheap, and you should consider how (or if) it fits into your food budget before you start planning your weeks. But for people like me, who often spend more per takeout and find themselves falling into a cooking habit, Sunbasket is like an investment in myself – a promise that I’ll eat healthier, home-cooked recipes instead of greasy takeout meals or the same old pasta plate week after week. In the end, this delicious, healthy food is worth every penny and worth the price.