Sun Basket Meal Kit Review from a Registered Dietitian
Sunbasket meal kit - they have a higher pricepoint than others. Are they worth it? My honest opinion as a Registered Dietitian and nutrition coach.
Disclaimer: I was not paid for this reviews, or given free product; I do have an affiliate code if you decide you’d like to try Sun Basket, which would get you $40 off your first order.
Overview:
Sun Basket is a meal delivery service that has both meal kits and heat/eat meals. All produce is organic, and meats are raised without hormones or antibiotics. Organic meats are available for a slight upcharge.
Meals tend to be mostly protein and vegetables with a sauce. Most are fairly low in carbs, although not keto by any means. I found most of the meals were roughly in line with Whole 30 and Paleo but could always be tweaked a bit for specific needs.
Nutrition is huge here. Each meal has a TON of vegetables (easily 2-3 servings). Most meals have 10g of fiber, half of the recommended 20g in a day for the average person. This would make a big difference for the average American who does not get enough vegetables in their day.
Ginger-scallion skewers with apple-cabbage slaw
Loved this meal! This took under 20 minutes to put together. One thing I like about the Sunbasket meals is that they have the sauces and seasonings premixed for you so its fast.
We really liked the flavor of this dish; it was unique. To make his more substantial, Clint had rice with his (as he did with many of the meals) to make it enough calories for him.
480 calories per serving, with 22g protein, 7g fiber, and 35g carbs.
Price Breakdown:
Pricing recently increased due to rising food costs as of November 2021, so this might be higher than you’ve seen on other reviews.
For 2 people, 4 meals a week: $12.49 per serving plus $9.99 shipping. So for the week, that was about $110 for our meals.
I’ve noticed several credit card companies have a deal for cashback with Sunbasket which stacks with any other promotion codes. They don’t always have it - but I often see 10% extra cash back.
Snap pea and radish salad with fennel, mint, and lemon vinaigrette
This meal was originally served with pork tenderloin, but I thought it would be good with scallops instead. Switching to a different protein is easy. There was a small upcharge per serving for scallops (about $3 each) but they were very good sized scallops.
My only complaint about this meal is it had a bit too much onion for me.
410 calories/serving. 30g protein, 10g fiber, 26g carbs.
Other Costs:
Sunbasket lets you substitute proteins which is great if you want a different choice or if you are vegetarian/vegan. Some of the proteins have a higher price, some do not. For example, usually swapping pork for chicken is free, but fish is an added cost.
There are usually a few “chef’s choice” options each week that have a higher add on price per meal, so meals end up being $20 per serving or similar for snapper or fillet mignon or lamb chops. I haven’t done any of these - if I’m spending that kind of money I’ll eat out.
There are also add ons available. We really liked the crab cakes, they were AMAZING and worth the money. They have continued to expand this line, including salads and soups as well as egg bites, pasta and sauces. I could see getting all of your weekly food from Sunbasket if you wanted to.
Pumpkin seed–crusted sole with warm carrot salad
Another meal ready in under 20 minutes. This was one of our favorites - and the pre mixed seasoning is something I wouldn’t have made normally
410 calories, 22g protein, 6g fiber, 18g carbs
Ordering Process and Menu
The menu is pretty varied compared to other services. 20 meal options for meal kits, and then another dozen or so heat/eat options. Combine that with the option to choose a different protein to change things up, there is ample variety.
Vegetarian/Vegan? Lots of options. You can even take an option with meat and sub tofu instead
Gluten Free? Most meals are gluten free
Dairy Free? Very few meals have dairy
Skipping is pretty easy. I tend to skip all future weeks so that I don’t get surprised by a charge and order I didn’t expect.
Menus are available to select up to 3 weeks in advance, so you could go in once every 2-3 weeks and make your selections easily for several weeks at a time. You can skip weeks further ahead than this (another 3 weeks) so you can skip weeks without a meal plan ahead of time if you are worried you’ll forget.
Lemongrass beef over “zoodles” with pickled radishes and carrots
We thought this meal was just ok. The cabbage seemed SUPER out of place and we didn’t eat it. The beef was really well seasoned, but you just can’t quick pickle something in 15 minutes.
There have been some duds with some of the meals. Out of 16, there have been 2 we really didn’t like, and then another 3 or so like this one that were just ok
There is a system to leave your ratings on meals, so if this meal comes around again I know not to get it.
420 calories per serving, 36g protein, 6g fiber, 24g carbs
Packaging:
There is a lot of room for improvement here, lots of plastic as with most meal kit services. This is something that Sunbasket says on their website that they aim to improve with more compostable packaging.
Each ingredient comes in its own little plastic bag with the name on the label
Each meal comes in its own paper bag
Then there’s the gel ice packs that are starting to stack up. I don’t know what to do with them!
Then there’s the insulation. In the winter that was a paper thing that was easily recyclable. But last week it was warm, and the insulation was made of old jeans. That’s great - but what am I supposed to do with it now??
That’s all inside a cardboard box.
I really wish I could leave a box on my porch with the ice packs and insulation to be re-used.
On the plus side, so far I have not gotten any rotten or moldy produce. Everything has been very fresh.
Mediterranean turkey kebabs with carrot and squash ribbon salad
This one took about 20 minutes. We have a spiralizer which made it easier to get the cute zucchini spirals! But you can use a peeler which is what they recommended in the instructions
The dressing was pre-mixed, and there were some interesting spices (baharat and sumac) included.
We loved this one, would definitely make it again!
Calories per serving: 410. Protein 25g, Fiber 5g Carbs 18g
Ease of Cooking:
Nothing fancy here. They spell everything out, and only expect you to provide salt, pepper, water and cooking oil. Recipes take the time that is advertised which is refreshing from some other services that like to fib.
There are instructions for ways that kids can help with cooking (for example for the recipe above kids can scrub the carrots, stir the dressing, assemble the salad, and dollop the dressing on the kebabs)
The one thing that is confusing is that there are cooking instructions for each type of protein that could possibly be included in the meal. This can lead to meandering directions.
I have only tried one fresh and ready meal (heat and eat) and it tasted really good! That was the spicy southwestern turkey and sweet potato skillet.
Blazin’ Balinese chicken with cucumber-cabbage salad
This was probably our favorite meal yet. I still don’t know what Balinese chicken is - but I liked it! This meal took about 15 minutes to make. We would definitely get this one again
540 calories/serving. 29g protein, 9g fiber, 31g carbs
Grading Time!
Customization…….A
Delivery/Packaging…….C
Nutritional Value…….A
Price…….$13.75/serving (inc shipping)
Flavor…….B
Texture…….A
Ease of Cooking…….B
Meal Variety…….A
Final thoughts: I really like Sunbasket. I’ll continue to order it a few weeks a month. This is, at the moment, my go to meal service. Meals are fairly quick to make, taste great, and have a high nutritional value.
I will be trying more of Sunbasket’s heat and eat meals since I didn’t try too many of them for this review, so be on the lookout for that!
If you liked this review and want to try Sunbasket, use my referral code to get $40 off your first box.
Check out my other reviews for Freshly, Hello Fresh, and Gobble
I didn’t take pictures of all the meals we got. For those I didn’t, here are my brief ratings:
Yucatecan salmon with tomatillo verde sauce and zucchini—4.5/5
Mu shu bowls with shiitake mushrooms, cabbage, and hoisin sauce. AMAZING! —5/5
Curried pork with roasted root vegetables and apple-ginger mostarda. I think we overcooked the pork—3.5/5
Eggs in purgatory on spicy mushroom and kale hash. This one was better than I thought it would be!— 4/5
Yucatecan sopa de lima with shredded chicken. We didn’t like this one at all, got partially thrown out—1/5
Larb lettuce cups with carrots, tomato, and fresh mint. I still don’t know what larb is but it was good.—4/5
Egg roll in a bowl with stir-fried mushrooms, carrots, and cabbage. I never like egg roll in a bowl meals I don’t know why I thought it would be different this time.—3/5
Curry noodle bowls with broccoli leaves and bell pepper. This would have been way better with half the noodles because the sauce got stretched too thin— 3.5/5
Spicy Southwestern turkey and sweet potato skillet. So good!— 5/5
