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When it comes to a meal delivery service that excels in every category, Green Chef consistently rises to the top of the pack. A first-of-its-kind CCOF-certified organic meal kit company, the brand prioritizes using organic and seasonal produce, organic proteins, cage-free eggs, and sustainably sourced ingredients. The meal kits are delivered in color-coded bags and recycled or reusable packaging, some of which is compostable. There are nutritionist-approved recipe options for nearly every type of diet, including keto, vegan, protein-rich, and gluten-free, so you can easily craft a plan that suits every member of your family. While there is some prep work involved, many components of the meals are already prepared (especially things like sauces or marinades), so plating up a restaurant-quality dinner is feasible, even on the busiest of nights.
During our testing, we were quickly impressed by Green Chef’s huge range of menu options, which rarely repeated recipes. Sourcing for ingredients — especially proteins and vegetables — was clear. Green Chef also offers a diverse range of flavors and cuisine varieties, so you’ll never feel like you’re in a rut or stuck eating the same type of meal each week. The service also allows you to swap proteins, add proteins, or make meals vegetarian or vegan, helping you easily cater to every type of eater.
Meals We Tested
- Spiced chicken with lemon yogurt sauce
- Roasted garlic and fennel flatbreads
- BBQ sweet potato tacos
- Chicken and mushroom ramen with fried egg
- Harissa chicken with apricot pan sauce
- Cumin-spiced shrimp
- Peruvian-style barramundi and chimichurri
- Cheesy pesto chicken bowls
- Tamari turkey and broccoli bowls
- Garlic-thyme pork chops
Starting Price: $13 per serving | Shipping: $11 | Delivery Area: 48 states | Products Arrive: Fresh
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Pros
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Purple Carrot offers a surprising number of cuisines, including Mexican, Indian, and Mediterranean, as well as both prepared meals and meal kits.
The brand’s slogan is “Eat More Plants” and Purple Carrot delivers with a wide selection of meals and cuisines that help maintain variety and nutritional value. If you’re worried that plant-based eating will be complicated, Purple Carrot has you covered: Most of the meals offered require just basic cooking knowledge and a small kitchen (plus minimal cookware, like a nonstick pan and a chef’s knife), making it an excellent option for just about any household.
During testing, it quickly became evident that Purple Carrot was a great meal delivery service for households focused on organic eating, whether or not every diner is vegan. Each week, you’ll receive chef-designed recipes with a bevy of different plant-based protein options, such as legumes, nuts, and seeds. The veggie-heavy dishes help you up your nutritional intake, and almost every meal can be paired with meat or fish if someone at your table prefers that. The recipes were easy to follow and we liked that Purple Carrot lets you narrow down your menu options based on how much time you want to spend cooking. Above all, we were impressed by the ingredients, which were always fresh and delicious — it never felt like we were sacrificing flavor to eat organic or vegan.
Meals We Tested:
- Banh mi bowls with broccoli and pickled veggies
- Lemony grain bowls with Swiss chard and za’atar carrots
- Chipotle sweet potatoes and lentils with citrus-pecan salad
- Elote bowls with lime, chickpeas, and quinoa
Starting Price: $11 per serving | Shipping: Free shipping on orders over $100; For orders under $100, shipping is $15 | Delivery Area: 48 states | Products Arrive: Fresh
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Pros
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Sunbasket caters to the largest number of dietary restrictions, including paleo, keto-friendly, gluten-free, diabetes-friendly, vegetarian, pescatarian, and more.
Cons
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Weekend delivery is not available, and you cannot select a specific delivery time window, so your box may be left outside for part of the day.
If eating organic isn’t the only consideration you have to factor in when feeding your household, Sunbasket can help you achieve a delicious meal without the mental gymnastics of multiple dietary restrictions. The delivery service — which offers both meal kits and premade selections — caters to an enormous amount of dietary needs, including paleo, keto, vegetarian, gluten-free, and more. You’ll also enjoy generous portions, with plenty of variety when it comes to the type of cuisine, meal category, and level of cooking. You can also complete your weekly delivery with a selection of grab-and-go goodies, like premade lunches, specialty meats, and breakfasts.
While testing Sunbasket, we appreciated the diversity the brand offered when it came to diet-specific meal plans — the selections never felt redundant. Even on the week when we forgot to select personalized suggestions, dishes were not repeated. The recipes provided were simple enough to please picky eaters but mostly still had plenty of flavor and interest to keep foodies satisfied. That being said, some recipes skewed a bit simplistic and others took longer to cook than the recipe cards suggested. Another perk of Sunbasket: The packaging your meal kits arrive in is almost entirely recycled — the insulation is made of reclaimed denim, and the ice packs can be recycled.
Meals We Tested:
- Salmon panzanella salad with crisp lettuce, salsa verde, and Parmesan
- Harissa sweet potatoes and your choice of protein with chimichurri
- Blueberry BBQ chicken with warm Dijon-horseradish potato salad
- Salmon with balsamic strawberries and farro–sweet pea salad
- Baharat chicken over wilted kale with tzatziki salad
- Fajita lettuce wraps with New Mexican chile salsa and guacamole
- Fettuccine Bolognese with garlic-sautéed baby broccoli
- Seared steaks with green goddess mashed potatoes and porcini pan sauce
Starting Price: $11 per serving | Shipping: $10 (First box is free) | Delivery Area: 46 states | Products Arrive: Fresh
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Pros
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Groceries, snacks, and other pantry staples are available through Hungryroot, so you can skip the store entirely.
Cons
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The initial intake, which includes a quiz that helps identify your taste preferences, can be a bit time-consuming.
For families looking for organic meals and a lot of customization options, Hungryroot is a great choice. With a plethora of choices for vegan diners, as well as meals centered around animal proteins, Hungryroot makes healthy eating simpler and quicker while supporting a multitude of diets along the way. The meals came together quickly and incorporated a wide variety of organically sourced vegetables, proteins, and pantry staples. We loved having access to responsibly sourced ingredients, including pantry staples from brands like Unreal, Banza, Annie’s, Beyond Meat, and more. Also, everything is shipped in recyclable boxes with biodegradable ice packs and portioned to minimize food waste.
Testing Hungryroot brought a little something different to the table. Because the brand acts primarily as a grocery service, it builds your meals around your grocery list. The meals required some baseline cooking knowledge, and many needed an extra touch of seasoning or a bit more cooking time beyond what was mentioned in the provided recipes. Meals span a number of different cuisine categories, including Indian, Thai, Mexican, and Mediterranean.
Meals We Tested
- Grass-fed burger with avocado and bean salad
- Roasted salmon and sweet potato with Brussels sprouts
- Korean BBQ seitan and spinach rice bowl
- Mama’s chicken and rice soup
- Bangers and mash with onion pan sauce
- Salmon avocado Caesar wrap
- Creamy chicken taquitos
- Lemony pasta with hot sausage and asparagus
- Spinach artichoke Buffalo tempeh sandwich
- Pepperoni naan pizza
- French onion “tuna melt” stuffed mushrooms
- Seared halloumi citrus chopped salad
Starting Price: $11 per serving | Shipping: Free for orders over $70; For orders under $70, shipping is $7 | Delivery Area: 48 states | Products Arrive: Fresh
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Cons
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Daily Harvest doesn’t offer a wide variety of cuisines or preparation methods. Some items can thaw overnight, but the rest are either blended, blended then heated, or heated in the microwave or oven.
A slight variation on the typical meal delivery service, Daily Harvest focuses its attention on breakfast and lunch, which is when most of us tend to be busiest and therefore more likely to make less healthy choices. With Daily Harvest, you can choose from a selection of protein smoothies, breakfast bowls, soups, harvest bowls, or snacks to deliciously satisfy every craving, all made with organic and vegan ingredients. Ideal for diners on the go, Daily Harvest is prepared using only an oven, microwave, or blender; there is no assembly or preparation required.
When testing Daily Harvest, we were immediately impressed not just by the quality of the organic ingredients but also by the freshness. Even though the meals were frozen, it was easy to see that all the ingredients were frozen at peak freshness, resulting in a flavorful and satisfying bite that isn’t exactly typical for frozen food. We really loved the brand’s smoothies, which included unique ingredients that we wouldn’t have typically found ourselves throwing into the blender together. That said, many of Daily Harvest’s “dishes” are on the smaller side (around 300 calories) and don’t include a ton of protein, so you may need to supplement in other ways in order to hit your nutrition requirements and goals. Ultimately, Daily Harvest is a great addition to a balanced meal plan and the ideal choice for someone looking to make breakfast and lunch an easier and less time-consuming process.
Meals We Tested
- Sweet potato and black bean chili
- Butternut squash and rosemary soup
- Cilantro brown rice and black bean grain bowl
- Blueberry and lemon breakfast bowl
- Butternut squash and cauliflower mac ‘n’ cheeze pasta
- Broccoli and cheeze harvest bowl
- Beet and wild rice hash harvest bowl
- Black sesame and banana smoothie
- Cacao and date smoothie
- Carrot and cinnamon smoothie
- Blueberry and cacao smoothie
Starting Price: $7.99 per serving | Shipping: $9.99 | Delivery Area: 48 states | Products Arrive: Frozen
Other Meal Delivery Services We Tested:
Strong Contenders
With a wide variety of prepared meal options in a range of cuisine categories, Eat Clean impressed us during testing. We enjoyed the flavors and easy preparation of the meals, and found the portion sizes to be impressively large; there were even a few meals we were too full to finish. Perks aside, the service didn’t provide as many vegetarian and vegan options as other brands on our list, and not everything was organically sourced or described as such.
Unlike many meals in the prepared foods category, Factor’s dishes arrive fresh, not frozen, making this service the closest you can get to at-home preparation without actually lifting a knife. The meals we tried were generously sized and flavorful, with an emphasis on proteins and a modest array of vegetables. That said, meal plans with Factor are pricey, canceling or modifying your subscription is difficult, and not everything is organic.
Factors to Consider When Choosing the Best Organic Meal Delivery Service
Ingredient Quality and Sourcing
As a whole, the organic food category can be confusing. The term “organic” is not one-size-fits-all, which is why it’s important to educate yourself before seeking out an organic meal delivery service. For instance, an item labeled USDA Organic must be made from at least 95 percent organic ingredients, while the term “Made With Organic [Ingredient]” simply means that an ingredient is (or ingredients are) organic, but the entire food product is not organic. Other phrases that you’ll see in the organic food category, such as “grass-fed” or “wild-caught,” indicate how an ingredient was procured or raised, but do not automatically mean they are organic.
Menu Variety and Customization
Beyond choosing a meal delivery service that offers high-quality, organic ingredients, you’ll want to seek out a company that caters to the specific dietary needs of you or those in your household. Many of the winners on our list boast a wide variety of options, including meals that cater to vegans, vegetarians, gluten-free diners, and more. Beyond that, it’s also helpful to choose a service that allows you to customize your meal plan, whether that’s selecting the number of people you’re feeding per meal or adding on extra protein where necessary.
Price
As with any grocery service (or traditional grocery shopping), the price of your chosen meal delivery service is a strong consideration. You’ll want to weigh the cost of organic ingredients, delivery, and convenience against the perceived value of your chosen service to ensure you’re getting appropriate portion sizes and adequate ingredient quality to justify the service’s price point.
Our Expertise
Alyssa Longobucco is a freelance writer, editor, and stylist with a background in food, interior, and lifestyle content. She has over a decade of experience in the digital and magazine industry, creating unique and innovative content for storied brands such as Food & Wine, House Beautiful, HGTV, The Knot, Domino, Apartment Therapy, Real Simple, Food52, Good Housekeeping, and more. She has tested numerous food delivery services for Food & Wine, including Gobble, Little Spoon, and Nurture Life.
