Purple Carrot review – vegan meal delivery kits & menu – 2023

We have all ordered groceries online and had them delivered to our doorstep. Just like we’ve all ordered a meal from our favorite takeaway. And we have all heard of, if not tried, meal kit delivery services. As the name of the service suggests, you get everything necessary to cook a specific meal delivered to you.

Purple Carrot is one of such services. But what makes it stand out next to all of the competitors? Purple Carrot is entirely focused on a plant-based diet – none of their meal kits or ready-to-eat meals contain animal-derived ingredients. Unlike Sunbasket for example, where is no dedicated vegan meal plan. Now the question is, are the meals any good and worth the cost? 

We have tried it out and are ready to share our experiences. You can decide for yourself.

What is Purple Carrot exactly?

So what exactly is Purple Carrot? As we said above, it’s a meal kit subscription service. You can look through many different recipes that change weekly and pick out the vegan meals that make your mouth water the most. After placing your order, you will receive all the necessary ingredients to make all the dishes you picked out – delivered right to your doorstep.

The meals that Purple Carrot offers are pretty quick and easy to make. However, what made Purple Carrot catch our attention, was their entirely plant-based selection of meals. There is no meat, dairy, eggs, or anything animal-derived found in their meal kits – everything is 100% vegan. There is no need to look through all the available options and search for a vegan logo. Or even worse, read through the ingredient list of every meal.

Do you find yourself ordering takeaway often? Maybe you discover that your fridge is empty and grocery shopping is too much effort after a long day. Or perhaps you just cannot decide what to cook. A meal kit subscription might be a healthier and cheaper solution for you. But how exactly does it work?

How does Purple Carrot work?

Getting started with Purple Carrot is as simple as it can get. You have to head over to their website and create a profile. Provide your name, address, and phone number – all the standard information that any delivery service would require.

Then it is time to decide which plan suits you best and the number of meals you would like to receive. If you choose to go for a 2-serving meal kit, you can pick between 3 or 4 dinners per week. For a 4-serving meal kit, the dinners are limited to 2 or 3. Alternatively, you could opt for their ready-to-eat meals – this 1-serving plan lets you choose between 6, 8, and 10 meals per week.

You can look through a selection of meals and get to choose what you will be eating throughout the week. If you’re indecisive or want to be surprised, you can let Purple Carrot’s culinary team choose your weekly meals. 

After completing the payment process, all you have to do is wait for the delivery day. Once your order has been shipped, you will receive the tracking information through email or text message. Your meal kits will arrive packaged in well-insulated cardboard with ice packs protecting your food from going off. With the boxes delivered straight to your doorstep, how much more convenient can it get?

Purple Carrot works on a weekly basis. Once you sign up, you will be registered to receive automatic weekly deliveries. However, you can always choose to skip a week or two if you would like to. Just like you can decide to cancel your subscription at any time. There are no hidden fees for skipping a week or canceling your subscription.

Purple Carrot – dinner menu review

Purple Carrot offers a rotating menu, meaning that their vegan meal options change every week. For dinner, you can find eight delicious recipes to choose from. 

The options for the upcoming week are the following: Spinach Artichoke Grilled Cheese, Vietnamese Seitan, Crispy Harissa Tofu, Lemon Braised Chickpeas, Scallion Mushroom Dumplings, Spicy Rajas Quinoa Bowl, Crispy Bombay Potatoes, and Chopped Antipasti Salad.

We love how diverse the available options are. For a moment, we were afraid that most of the dishes would be some sort of mediocre and stereotypical salads, but we were quickly proven wrong. The meals are well-balanced and rich in nutrients, many even high-protein.

You can see every detail of the vegan meals before ordering. That includes the recipe for the dishes with all the cooking instructions and time needed for prep and cooking. Dietary notes are also listed, and it is easy to identify gluten-free, soy-free, or nut-free meals. And Purple Carrot even provides the nutrition info for each meal. One of the best vegan meal delivery service for sure!

Purple Carrot – add-ons

While the company is primarily focused on meal kits for dinners, they offer a few extras that you can simply add to your weekly plan. Those extras are breakfast and lunch kits, snacks, and pantry options.

Purple Carrot’s available options for breakfast and lunch are a lot more limited than their dinner meals. We can usually see two meals for each category. For the upcoming week, our breakfast options are Strawberry & Cream Cheese Toast and Farmers’ Market Tofu Scramble. For lunch, they are offering Grape Leaf Mezze Bowls and Smokey Tempeh BLTS. The breakfast and lunch kits come with an extra cost, 4.5$ for breakfast and 9$ for a lunch meal.

You can also order some pantry items such as sauces, plant-based cheese, or pesto from Purple Carrot. Like their other extras, the Plantry options are limited to a few.

Our favorites from Purple Carrot

After receiving a few deliveries from Purple Carrot and spending a few hours in the kitchen, we have managed to taste quite a few of their dishes. While all the meals took us on a pleasant culinary experience, some were just a bit better than others and worth mentioning.

Mango Curry with Chickpea Dumplings and Spinach – We all love a good curry, but this one was on another level. The mango gave it a delicious fresh flavor, and the dumplings brought it all together. This dish is high in calories, with 700 kcal per serving. But it’s a perfect meal to treat yourself to now and then.

Piri Piri Tempeh – Tempeh can be a hit or miss, but it always turns out tasty and flavorful in this recipe. Try this one out if you are looking for a dish that fills you up but won’t make you feel heavy. Low in calories, yet high in protein.

Pumpkin Overnight Oats with Pecans & Vanilla Yogurt – Everyone who has tried overnight oats can agree that it’s one of the best things on earth. But this specific recipe is hands down the best we have ever tried. Not to mention, you only need 5 minutes for this delicious breakfast.

The costs

If you have decided that you would like to try out the meal delivery service, you might wonder about the cost of the subscription. The weekly cost depends on the plan and the number of dinners you choose to receive. Here is a breakdown of how much different weekly plans would cost.

• 2-serving plan, 3 dinners per week – 11.99$ per serving. Weekly price of 71.94$.
• 2-serving plan, 4 dinners per week – 11.99$ per serving. Weekly price of 95.92$.
• 4-serving plan, 2 dinners per week – 9.99$ per serving. Weekly price of 79.92$.
• 4-serving plan, 3 dinners per week – 9.99$ per serving. Weekly price of 119.88$.
• Prepared meals, 6 dinners per week – 12.99$ per meal. Weekly price of 77.94$.
• Prepared meals, 8 dinners per week – 12.99$ per meal. Weekly price of 103.92$.
• Prepared meals, 10 dinners per week – 12.99$ per meal. Weekly price of 129.9$.

However, Purple Carrot recently stated that they are making some changes. Starting from the 11th of May, you will see new prices on Purple Carrot’s website. Their 2-serving meal kit will be 13.25$ per serving, and the 4-serving meal kit will be 11$ per serving. Prepared plant-based meals by Purple Carrot will increase by one cent, making them 13$ per meal. 

Orders smaller than 85$ will have a shipping cost of 8$ added. You get free shipping on your first order and on orders bigger than 85$. After ordering 20 boxes, all your orders will qualify for free shipping.

There is no membership fee for the meal delivery service subscription. You can always skip over a week for whatever reason. Just like you can cancel your subscription at any time you want. 

Delivery area

If you live in the United States, you are in luck – Purple Carrot most likely delivers to your address. You can always go to their site and use the chat feature to check if they send their meal kits to your zip code.

Vegans living outside America are not that lucky. Unfortunately, Purple Carrot’s delivery is limited to the contiguous US for now. However, they have stated that they hope to expand their delivery area as they grow.

Pros & Cons

After trying out the plant-based meal delivery service ourselves, these are the things we loved the most about it. 

Pros:

• Constantly rotating menu of dinners, lunches, breakfasts, and snacks.
• Easy to follow healthy recipes.
• Meals are quick to make. Most dinners take around 30 minutes of your time.
• Everything is entirely plant-based.
• Meal kits are delivered straight to your doorstep.
• Fresh produce.
• Easy to skip weeks or cancel your subscription.

Our overall experience with Purple Carrot has been very pleasant. However, these are the few things that need improvements.

Cons:

• The breakfast, lunch, and snack options are limited.
• Gets quite pricey if you decide to add any extras such as snacks and Plantry products.
• Some of the meals are a bit bland but can be easily fixed with some spices. 

Purple Carrot’s reviews are mostly positive ovarall.

Purple Carrot – is it worth it?

Purple Carrot offers an adequate range of meals. And as the menu changes on a weekly basis, there is always something new and exciting to try. With easily identified allergen-free meals – it’s safe for people who cannot consume gluten, soy, or nuts. The meal kits arrive with all the necessary ingredients, the recipes are easy to follow, and the meals turn out tasty. 

It is incredibly easy to make any changes to your meal plans. Whether you want to skip a week or add any extras to your usual weekly meal kit. We recommend giving Purple Carrot a shot and seeing if it makes your day-to-day life more convenient. If It doesn’t fit you, check out our other meal-kit recommendation. Do you know another great meal delivery services? Do not hesitate to share with us!

Frequently Asked Questions