Let’s face it, planning weekly meals, shopping at the grocery store, and cooking can take a lot of time. This is where meal delivery services can serve as your sous chef, taking some of the prep time off your hands.
Sunbasket offers pre-made meals and meal kits that include breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks to help you spice up your meal-planning routine. Getting meals delivered to your home can be a convenient way to eat healthier by providing pre-portioned proteins and fresh, organic veggies and fruits. (1) Read our Sunbasket review to see if this meal delivery service might work for you.
Key product features
What you should know
Sunbasket is a meal delivery service that offers fresh, not frozen breakfast, lunch, and dinner meal kits and ready meals, plus snacks and add-ons with vegan, paleo, soy-free, dairy-free, and diabetes-friendly options.
- Our tester enjoyed the fresh ingredients in her meals and especially liked the SoCal salmon with spring vegetables and green tahini sauce.
- The starting price for a meal starts at $9.99 for prepared meals and $11.49 for meal kits. These prices align with competitors in this market.
- Sunbasket is great for people who want to try new flavors and cooking techniques with sustainably-sourced, organic ingredients.
What is Sunbasket?
If you want to save time and prioritize fresh, healthy meals, Sunbakset may fit the bill. Sunbasket is a weekly meal delivery service. Its mission is to “empower people to live their healthiest lives, starting with what’s on their forks.”
They accomplish this by offering many organic foods from sustainable sources, being mindful of their impact on the environment. The company reports that it offers 98% organic food certified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Organic Program, which has a program to ensure farmers follow national standards. (2) Much of their packaging is also recyclable or compostable.
Sunbasket is one of the more customizable meal delivery options on the market, enabling subscribers to select high-fiber, high-protein, or leaving out certain ingredients like meats for people who favor a vegetarian diet. It has been found that cooking meals at home results in more nutritious consumption, such as more veggies, than when eating out. (3)
Sunbasket also donates food to food banks around the country to help people facing hunger.
Specs
| Starting price | $9.99 for pre-made meals; $11.49 for meal kits |
| Shipping cost | Free for first box; $9.99 |
| Shipping area | Continental U.S. except Montana, North Dakota, and parts of New Mexico |
| Meal type | Meal kits, prepared meals, and snacks |
| Number of meals per week | Up to five meal kits and up to eight prepared meals |
| Meal options | Carb-conscious, diabetes-friendly, gluten-free, paleo, Mediterranean, pescatarian, keto-friendly, vegetarian, and a few vegan options. |
| Cancellation method | Online |
How does Sunbasket work?
Sunbasket allows you to explore the menu before signing up for a subscription. You can select meal kits that come with easy-to-follow instructions on recipe cards to make meals that take between 15 to 40 minutes to prep and cook. You also have the option of buying single-serving pre-made meals. This gives you plenty of options based on what your lifestyle allows for when it comes to time in the kitchen.
These meal kits cost $11.49 per serving for a homey dish like meatloaf with garlic potatoes and greens up to $24.49 for an elevated dish like wild sea scallops with couscous and citrus beurre blanc. The single-serve, pre-made meals start at $9.99. Your first box ships for free and costs $9.99 in the following orders.
As you sign up for a subscription, the next step is choosing how many meals you want per week. Sunbasket meal kits are designed for two or four people. You can order two, three, four, or five meal kits or eight prepared meals each week.
If you want to take a week off you can pause your subscription at any time. If you want to change your order, make your updates before Wednesday at 12 p.m. PT (3 p.m. ET).
Customer service
If you have questions when ordering your weekly meals or after they are delivered, you can reach out to Sunbasket customer service via the website’s chat feature, text 208-960-6505, call 866-SUN-BSKT (866-786-2758), or contact them using a website form.
Sunbasket meal plans
Sunbasket lets you choose between dozens of meal kits and pre-made meals made from cuisines around the world. This meal service supports a variety of diets including carb-conscious, diabetes-friendly, gluten-free, paleo, Mediterranean, pescatarian, keto-friendly, and vegetarian, but only offers a few vegan options. All meals are prepared in the same facility, so you may want to choose a different service if you have a severe food allergy or celiac disease.
You can also select nutrition requirements like high-protein, high-fiber, low-calorie, low-added sugar, and low sodium. For added customization, you can select specific ingredients to exclude, such as beef, lamb, pork, fish, shellfish, poultry, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, sesame, egg, and soy. You can also decide how long you want to spend in the kitchen by selecting specific cook times.
Although you can select low sodium, as low as 240 mg per meal, we noticed some of the other meals were high in sodium, some as high as 1,630 mg per serving. This is almost more than half daily consumption recommendation. The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends eating no more than 2,300 mg of salt per day, or a teaspoon full. (4) We like being able to select for that when picking meals.
In addition, Sunbasket offers breakfast foods, lunch foods like salads and pizza, beverages like peach green tea, side dishes including black truffle macaroni and cheese, snacks, and extra proteins.
Sunbasket meals review
Our tester tried salmon with spring vegetables and green tahini sauce, ginger-scallion beef skewers with apple and cabbage slaw with ground beef, and spaghetti carbonara with pancetta and sweet peas.
The dishes were easy to prepare and didn’t take more than 30 minutes to make. The salmon was one of her favorites, and the recipe didn’t require much more than chopping and spooning lemon butter over the fish, which was easy to do. She needed to have basic seasonings like salt, pepper, and olive oil on hand, which she did, but everything else came with the meal kits. “This is important to note to make sure you have the extras to prepare the dish,” notes Victoria Burgess, PhD, CSCS, CISSN.
The spaghetti dish was also very good, according to our tester. She said the pancetta added a smoky, bacon-like flavor to the meal. The portion sizes were appropriate, as she felt satisfied but not stuffed after eating a whole serving.
Our tester noted that everything in her meal kits was organic unless marked otherwise. She was impressed with the freshness of the food and the company’s dedication to maintaining fair environmental practices.
Sunbasket’s seafood is either wild-caught or sustainably sourced. Meat and poultry are raised without antibiotics and are hormone-free. That said, their meat is sourced from Rastelli’s, a New Jersey butcher shop. In doing our research, we were unable to find a positive review of this business on Trustpilot or the Better Business Bureau, and we’d like to see Sunbasket source from elsewhere. For more information on meat delivery, read about the best 6 meat delivery services.
Sunbasket packaging
Sunbasket meals come in recyclable boxes with ice packs nestled in paper insulation made from 100% shredded recycled paper. Our testers received four meal kits (four servings each) with eight brown bags total. Two portions of ingredients come in each bag. Everything was sealed well and easy to open. Foods in the box had clear expiration dates.
Who is Sunbasket best for?
Sunbasket is good for people who prioritize eating organic food from sustainable sources. The company values eating food as close to nature as possible, and for people who want to eat healthier, this might be a good meal delivery option for you.
If you want to try dishes from around the world, Sunbasket offers Indian, Moroccan, Italian, Mediterranean, Thai, and more cuisines to choose from, and with options for vegan and meat eaters alike. The Mediterranean diet, full of fresh vegetables, fish, beans, and lean proteins has gained attention for its health properties, as it’s shown to lower the risk of cardiovascular conditions, diabetes, and has the potential to forestall cognitive diseases in the aging population. (5)
Sunbasket is also very customizable. You can select options like high protein, high fiber, low calories, low added sugar, low sodium, no dairy, no soy, as well as specific meats and fish.
Sunbasket may not be the best meal delivery service for vegans, as there may not be enough options each week. Meal kits and prepared meals are generally packaged in places where allergens may cross-contaminate your selections, so this also might not be the ideal service for someone with food allergies or sensitivities.
We’ve featured Sunbasket in:
How we test meal delivery services
Signing up for a healthy meal delivery service like Sunbasket can be transformative for your health and fitness goals and make it easier to eat nutritious meals when you’re busy. Delivery services can also provide meals that meet your dietary, caloric, and macronutrient needs. Sunbasket does a good job of allowing you to select specific diet plans including low-calorie or low-sodium to support your preferences.
Not every meal delivery service is a great fit for every person or scenario. That’s why Fortune Recommends™ aims to personally test every meal delivery service we review. Our goal is to provide unbiased, honest feedback to help you pick the right service for you.
Here’s why you can trust our meal delivery reviews.
Every Fortune meal delivery review features:
- In-depth analysis by testers and/or authors who are certified nutritionists and/or registered dietitians
- Testing for portion/ingredient accuracy, taste, and freshness
- Fact-checking and reviewing by qualified experts
At times, we may feature meal delivery services we haven’t yet tested. Until we can try them, we examine each service’s cost, meal variety, nutrition breakdown, and customization options. We then update our reviews once we’ve tested them to highlight everything we liked and didn’t like.You can read our full meal delivery program testing methodology here.
Meal choices—30%
A meal delivery service should provide numerous healthy, nutritious options for every meal of the day. It should also give you as much authority as you want over what you order. Here’s what we take into account in our meal choices rating:
- Multiple options
- Substitutions
- Guidance
- Label transparency
Food quality—30%
Our goal is to match you with companies that use delicious chef-designed recipes and have the dietary firepower of nutritionists and/or registered dietitians behind them. Here’s what goes into our quality rating. If the food doesn’t stand up to our standards, we will let you know.
- Flavor
- Healthiness
- Freshness
Value—20%
Meal delivery services run the gamut in price, but what you receive should feel reasonable for what you’re paying. Here’s what we factor into a program’s value rating:
- Fair price
- Multiple quantity options
- Customization
Customer experience—20%
Being able to reach someone in customer service is paramount when you have questions or if something goes wrong with an order. Sunbasket offers online chat, email, phone, and texting options for you to get in touch. We also visited Trustpilot and Better Business Bureau to see what other people have said about the company and its services.
- Packaging
- Ease of preparation
- Reviews
- Customer service
Compare Sunbasket
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| Sunbasket | HelloFresh | Marley Spoon | Hungryroot | Purple Carrot | |
| Rating | |||||
| Starting cost per meal | $9.99 pre-made, $11.49 meal kit | $9.99 | $10.99 | $9.69 | $11 |
| Type | Meal kits and pre-made meals | Meal kits, breakfast, snacks | Meal kits, pre-made meals | Prepared meals and groceries | Meal kits and pre-made meals |
| Delivery areas | Continental U.S. except Montana, North Dakota, and parts of New Mexico | Continental U.S. and select areas in Hawaii and Alaska | Continental U.S. | Continental U.S. | Continental U.S. |
FAQs
How much does Sunbasket cost?
Sunbasket’s single-serving pre-made meals start at $9.99 per meal. The meal kits start at $11.49 to feed two or four people. The first box is shipped to subscribers for free. After the first box, you may pay a flat rate of $9.99 per order.
What areas does Sunbasket deliver to?
Sunbasket delivers to most of the United States except for Alaska, Hawaii, Montana, North Dakota, and parts of New Mexico.
Is Sunbasket good for vegetarians?
At the time of this writing, we saw five vegetarian meal kits and one pre-made meal for this week. Vegetarian options range between 400 and 800 calories per serving with about 10 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber per serving.
Are Sunbasket meals healthy?
Healthy is subjective and everyone has a different definition. For the most part, Sunbasket meals could be considered healthy, as they’re made from organic meats and veggies. You can see the ingredients list and nutrition information, including calories, for each meal. This allows the consumer to plan their day based on calorie/macro goals, if this is a priority. One concern we had was that some meals are high in sodium, over 1,000 mg in some cases. You can view the nutrition information of each meal on the website or recipe card that comes with your order.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any diseases.
Our experts
Victoria Burgess, Ph.D., CSCS, CISSN
Victoria Burgess earned her Ph.D. in Health and Human Performance from Concordia University Chicago and holds her NSCA CSCS and Certified Sports Nutritionist (CISSN). She is an adjunct professor in the Human Performance and Nutrition department at Concordia University Chicago & Parker University, where she teaches undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral-level courses.
Swathi Varansi, PharmD
Dr. Swathi is a pharmacist with a passion about the intersection of personalized medicine and innovation. She received her Doctory of Pharmacy at the Medical University of South Carolina and a Bachelor of Arts at Carleton College. She also completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Medical Affairs in biotech and has training in nutrition from Cornell University.
Jessica Coulon
Jessica is a contributing editor and writer who specializes in fitness, health, nutrition, and science content. Previously, she was an editor for Popular Mechanics and Bicycling, where she covered pro cycling news, wrote how-to guides, and tested all the latest and greatest bike gear. She was also a regular shoe tester and contributor for Runner’s World. You can often find her skiing or riding her mountain bike, and racing with the F1RE female enduro team.
Lily Moe
Lily is a Brooklyn-based writer and editor with over seven years of experience in health media. As a former Fitness Coach, Lily’s editorial prowess has largely focused on fitness, nutrition, and weight management. She has also spent a fair share of time in testing labs, analyzing everything from protein powders to yoga mats. Her work has appeared in Verywell Fit, Verywell Mind, Health, and more.
Kelly Uhler
Kelly has a multifaceted background in elder care, health care, and copywriting. She has worked for organizations such as A Place For Mom and Homecare.com, which gave her the opportunity to work closely with families, providing reliable information to help them make informed decisions about their loved one’s health, safety, and quality of life.
Lauren Davis
Fortune Recommends Staff Writer
About Author
Lauren Evoy Davis is a health journalist with expertise in cancer and other chronic conditions. She holds a master’s degree in journalism from American University and a bachelor’s degree in English from Elon University. Her work has been published by the American Society of Clinical Oncology, National Council on Aging, HelpGuide, WebMD, Everyday Health, and Verizon. She tests meal kits, meal delivery services, and fitness apps. When not writing or reading, Lauren enjoys paddle boarding on the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, weightlifting, and gardening.