Sunbasket Review

Saturday, June 25th

2022 Meal Delivery Company Reviews

Sunbasket

• Cost: $8.99 to $11.99 per serving

Where else but California would you expect to find the headquarters of a company that has "sun" in the name and focuses on healthy eating? Sunbasket features nutrient-dense produce, whole grains, high-quality protein and "good fats", with as little added sugar and processed ingredients as possible in their meal delivery programs.

As with some of the services we reviewed, Sunbasket assumes that you would like to spend a little time in the kitchen; their deliveries all come with ingredients and recipes for you to prepare, not a TV dinner-type reheat-and-eat meal. They also expect that your kitchen has the following:

• Olive oil, grapeseed, or sunflower oil
• Salt and freshly-ground pepper
• Basic pots and pans
• Knife
• Vegetable peeler
• Grater
• Zester
• Cooking spoon, spatula, and ladle
• Measuring cups
• Wine and/or butter as optional recipe items

Sunbasket breaks their meal delivery plans down into two main choices: the best value Family Menu, or the Classic Menu with more choices. Sunbasket is one of the few services that offers a menu plan geared towards kid-friendly favorites that include the children in the meal-making process. And, if your little ones are vegetarian, there's a plan for them too.

But, if you want more meal choices, the most robust menu is the Classic. Sunbasket does an incredible job of offering variety, with these plans:

• Chef's Choice
• Paleo
• Lean & Clean
• Gluten-Free
• Vegetarian
• Mediterranean
• Vegan
• Pescatarian
• Diabetes-Friendly
• Quick & Easy

With the Classic Plan, you can mix and match recipes across cuisines - so if two of you are gluten-free and the rest of the family goes paleo, your delivery can include meals that meet all of those preferences.

The pricing is straightforward: you'll pay $8.99 per serving with the Family Menu; you decide if you want 2, 3, or 4 recipes each week, and all recipes make a total of four adult-sized portions. Otherwise, you'll pay $11.99 on the Classic plan, which gives you 3 recipes per week and your choice of 2 or 4 servings per recipe.

Although all Sunbasket meals are carefully packaged to ensure freshness after delivery, you'll want to get them into the refrigerator as soon as you take them out of the box. They recommend that you eat any meals with seafood or shellfish within 3 days, and meat/poultry/delicate greens/mushrooms within 5 days of delivery. Sunbasket does not deliver to Alaska, Hawaii, Montana, and some parts of New Mexico.

When it comes to customer experiences, Sunbasket's reviews are a mixed bag. We found praise from long-term clients who say that 95% of what they've gotten has been an absolute hit, and that the customer representatives were very responsive with getting replacements for any less-than-awesome ingredients or recipes. That's in line with Sunbasket's 100% guarantee, with a no-questions-asked refund if you're not completely satisfied. But, we also found customers who didn't have an easy time getting a replacement, credit, or refund when ingredients were wilted or spoiled. Also, some customers said that, in comparison with other meal delivery services they tried, Sun Basket was more money for smaller servings.

We give Sunbasket high marks for having such a wide variety of menu options, and for including kids in their meal plans. Just be prepared to spend time in the kitchen actually making the recipes and know that you might come away not feeling completely full (which could be an advantage, if weight loss through healthy eating is your goal!).