If only we could all live next door to a vibrant farm stand chock full of sun-kissed produce. Unfortunately for most of us, finding fresh, flavorful fruits and veggies is more of a scavenger hunt, especially in the depths of winter. Sunbasket aims to solve for this issue by delivering a box full of organic produce—and the recipes for cooking them up—to your doorstep every week.
I’ll level with you: These days there’s a seemingly infinite number of meal kit delivery services that purport to provide “easy to make,” “healthy” meals with “clean” ingredients. Each one claims to help you get a delicious and nutritious meal on the table in less time with less hassle. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned in my years of testing meal kits, it’s that not all of these services match their own hype.
With that in mind, I tested Sunbasket for three weeks to figure out if it was worth the premium you inevitably pay for the convenience these services provide. Read on for my full Sunbasket review, or head to our full list of the best meal delivery services, including Home Chef, Green Chef, and HelloFresh.
In this story
What’s the Sunbasket ordering experience?
Like most meal delivery services, Sunbasket’s ordering process starts by having you make a few choices. You’ll select which dietary preferences apply to you (Sunbasket has options for Carb-Conscious, Gluten-Free, Vegetarian, Pescatarian, Mediterranean, Diabetes-Friendly, Paleo, or Keto-Friendly), how many servings you want per meal (two or four), and how many dinners you want each week (three, four, or five).
After entering your delivery and payment information, Sunbasket will automatically select meals for you based on your preferences. But if you don’t like what they pick, you can opt to choose for yourself from a menu of 18 options. Prices for the traditional meal kits can range from $9.99 to upwards of $30 for the more premium “Chef’s Table” offerings, with the majority landing in the $13–$16 range. Unlike some other meal delivery services, those prices don’t shift based on how many servings you’re ordering. You’ll need to hit a $45 order minimum for each box, which can typically be accomplished by ordering at least two two-person meals.
Regardless of how many servings and meals you selected at the start of the ordering process, you’ll be able to add or subtract meals and servings as you please (so long as you hit the order minimum). Meals are available in servings ranging from two to 16 servings.
You can edit your meal selections via the website or app until the weekly cutoff, which was 3 p.m. the Wednesday prior to my week of meals for me.
What to expect in a Sunbasket box
Each of my Sunbasket orders arrived on time, in an insulated cardboard box with ice packs at the bottom. Everything was neatly packaged into separate paper bags by meal, with any meat at the bottom of the package directly under the ice pack. This made it super easy to stash the ingredients in my fridge and pull out everything I needed for each meal when I was ready to cook.
As is the case with most meal kits, there was a decent amount of plastic packaging, but I appreciated that individual produce items like peppers and limes were packed loose. Premade sauces and the like were packaged in plastic jars that I now reuse for salad dressings and snacks I pack for the office.
Alaina Chou
How are the Sunbasket ingredients?
Sunbasket meals are made up of a combination of fresh (usually organic) produce, pantry ingredients and/or seasonings, proteins, and often a premade element (think sauces, simmer bases, or compound butters). Produce tends not to come pre-prepped.
