Purple Carrot Plant-Based Meal Kit Review: Easy Vegan

100% plant based and 100% delicious too?

It’s true—after cooking and eating Purple Carrot’s vegan meal kit offerings multiple times over four years, we can confidently conclude that the recipes, ingredients, and company stand up to our testing and then some.

I’ve personally tested every meal kit company we could find for almost five years, from ordering and doing accounts to washing countless dishes and everything in between. From vegetarian and vegan kits to ready-to-eat and take-out, there’s a bag out there for everyone – and plenty for me!

How Purple Carrot Works

The purple carrot is quite simple to set up. The meal kit company offers the traditional weekly menu with corresponding plans, but has also introduced ready-to-eat meals, frozen meals sold at your local grocery store, and even an online marketplace with a variety of other plant-based brands to purchase. .

The brand offers vegan cuisine and only vegan cuisine, so if that’s your diet, you’re in luck! However, even if you choose to eat meat and fish like me, Purple Carrots can serve as a great way to get some plant-based options into your weekly rotation.

Traditional set meals include breakfast, lunch and dinner and also come in servings for two or four people. The party of one? While testing these meals, I saved the second portion of the two-person meals for lunch, and most of the recipes I tried reheated well.

Be sure to pay attention to the delivery window when planning your meals, as once you place your order, your box will arrive on Saturday, Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on your location. You can also freeze your account or skip deliveries if you’re out of town.

The price of the purple carrot

Like the meal menu, Purple Carrot varies in price.

For traditional meal kits, prices start at $11 per serving. Ready-to-eat meals cost $13 each, as they contain one serving. Food items are each individually priced and will add to your weekly box total.

Is shipping free? For orders under $100, there is indeed a $12 shipping fee, but orders of $100 or more are on the purple carrot! Vegan meal kit delivery currently ships to all 48 contiguous US states.

Food with purple carrots

Purple Carrot only carries plant-based foods, but that in no way limits the options you can choose each week.

The brand offers breakfast, lunch and dinner choices, but the biggest variety can be found in the dinner section. As I mentioned before, many dinner options also work for lunch.

While you’ll never find chicken or pork, you’ll actually find other plant-based protein sources in many recipes, including tofu, beans, chickpeas, as well as meat substitutes like crab and other goods for chicken, beef and pork. .

Purple carrot recipes include estimated cooking times, with some starting at 15 minutes for a quick dinner or simple lunch. Nutrition facts, ingredients, allergens and kitchen tools are also listed, so you know what’s in before you place an order.

Our review

I ordered several different options with varying levels of difficulty – difficulty to be relative, as all the recipes came pre-portioned and meal-wrapped. While it’s no longer durable, it made unboxing and preparation super easy.

Green Shawarma Burgers with Lemon-Sesame Yogurt and Cucumber Salad was a perfect reintroduction to the purple carrot, as it reminded me how easy a vegan meal can be to make, but also how fun and delicious. The cucumber salad took a little skill with just a peeler, and then the rest was just a little mixing or flipping in a pan.

For a more involved meal, Mafaldina with Red Pesto and Crispy Artichokes required a bit more cooking and equipment, such as a food processor and an oven in addition to the stove.

I don’t actually have a food processor so I used my blender and it worked perfectly. With meal kits, I’ve found that being flexible is key! It usually turns out well.

For my ready-to-eat option, I heated up Pesto Portobello Tortellini with Tofu Ricotta and Broccoli with some stock. Would the broccoli be soggy? Or worse, how does tofu make a delicious, flavorful ricotta? I was shocked and amazed that both my nerves were calmed down on the first bite. Cheese can be a tricky thing to make vegan and delicious, but somehow the Purple Carrot pulled it off, and my pasta and sauce was creamy and cheesy, just like the real thing.

The only drawback to note is the excess of plastic, as each of the ingredients, sauces and condiments come packaged in it. I personally don’t see how this could be improved, as having everything pre-measured made for a seamless cooking experience that would keep me subscribed to Purple Carrot, but still something to mention.

Final decision

Purple carrots are a perfect option for those who subscribe to a vegan diet and those who simply want more vegetable-based meals in their diet.

The price is comparable to other meal kits and there are many offers, including a la carte grocery shopping.

As a carnivore, the meals were as tasty as I would want from a meat-based dish, and I would certainly subscribe to a smaller plan to eat one or two meals a week.

How we tested it

• Ease of ordering: The online weekly menu is easy to navigate, allowing you to fill your box with meal kits and then add food items and see prices and shipping before you buy. You can also add any promotional code to the site when placing an order.
• Preparation, cooking and cleaning time: The preparation is the easy part, as each meal comes prepackaged for each meal. Cooking and cleanup times varied, adding up to an average of 15 to 30 minutes for many of the kits I tested.
• Taste and fullness: Taste was 5-of-5; a highlight for a vegan set. The meals were also filling, despite not containing traditional meat or dairy products.
• Durability: The box and ice packs are recyclable, but they wrap all the items in plastic, making it a little more wasteful than other meal kits.
• Price: With meals starting around $11/serving, this is comparable to other meal kits I’ve tested.

FAQ: What to look for when choosing a meal kit

Diet: Pay attention to the dietary options that each service caters for, from vegetarians and vegans to Keto and paleo.

House size: Count the number of people in your family and then calculate how much they eat to best calculate how many servings you need to feed everyone. Some of the kits detailed above have larger portions, while others are only for one serving.

Budget: Meal kits and services have a wide range of prices. Some offer free shipping, while others have a minimal charge. Specialty or health-related plans may cost more.

Time: Think about how long you want to cook each night. Some meals take 30 or more minutes to cook, not including cleanup. Others are microwaveable and require no cleanup time afterward.