Do you have questions about Sun Basket meal kits? Is the cost worth it? Are the ingredients fresh? How do the meals taste? Are the directions easy to follow? Get the answers in My Sun Basket Review.
This is not a sponsored post. This is my honest opinion and I received no compensation from Sun Basket.
Other posts in this series include Meal Plan Like A Boss, Meal Prep Like A Boss, My Blue Apron Review, Easy Slow Cooker Whole Chicken, Hello Fresh Review
As part of my Back to School Meal Planning and Meal Prep Series, I have been reviewing several meal kit delivery services that I recently tried.
Some of the members of the SGM community have found meal kit services to be helpful with meal planning. Prior to this series, I had not tried any. I was curious to see how they worked and wanted to let you know the pros and cons that I found. This week I am reviewing Sun Basket.
Sun Basket was the third and final delivery service that I tried. It is a subscription-based service that you can cancel at any time. Like other meal kit services, you are able to skip weeks, and first-time subscribers receive a discount.
The meal kits come with everything you need for your meal except for salt, pepper, and oil. All of the ingredients are pre-measured, and Sun Basket offers a 100% money-back guarantee.
My Sun Basket Review
Cost
Sun Basket has a classic meal plan and a family meal plan. I ordered 3 meals for 2 people from the classic plan. There is not a 2 meal option on the classic plan. In fact, the classic plan only has 2 options. 3 meals for either 2 or 4 people. After the first time subscriber discount was applied, my total was $28.78. A pretty good deal for 3 meals. There are no shipping charges with any of the plans.
Classic Plan
- $11.99 per serving
- 2 Person – 3 Meals = $71.94
- 4 Person – 3 Meals = $143.88
Family Plan
- $10.99 per serving
- 4 Person – 2 Meals = $87.92
- 4 Person – 3 Meals = $131.88
- 4 Person – 4 Meals = $175.84
The cost is more than I would pay to purchase the ingredients and cook the meals myself, but less than it would cost to have dinner out.
Menu Selection
Sun Basket has 18 new recipes on their menu each week. Family Menu subscribers have a limited choice of 6 family-friendly options. Classic Menu subscribers have access to all 18 recipes.
You can customize your meal plan by dietary preference. Choices include chef’s choice, paleo, lean & clean, gluten-free, vegetarian, Mediterranean, vegan, pescatarian, diabetes-friendly, or quick & easy.
Sun Basket will recommend recipes based on your dietary preference, but you are able to mix and match recipes across the full menu, regardless of your meal plan.
Selecting a preference is perfect if you have special dietary needs. For example, if you choose gluten-free, you will only be given choices that are gluten-free. You won’t have to sort through all of the meals on the menu.
I selected the Mediterranean plan but mixed and matched. I chose Quinoa Fritters with Arugula-Strawberry Salad, Simple Salmon Salad with Quinoa, Dill, and Dijon Dressing, and Greek Lettuce Cups with Lamb and Mini Sweet Peppers. All of these choices sounded delicious and interesting to both me and my husband.
Packaging
Finding huge meal kit boxes on my front doorstep never gets old. Receiving everything I need to make a few meals without planning, prepping, and shopping makes me happy. 🙂
The Sun Basket box contained shredded recycled paper filling between two sheets of craft paper and two ice packs. The ice packs were still frozen and everything in the box was cold.
Most of the ingredients were in labeled paper bags that contained the name of the meal on them. The meat was in vacuum-sealed packages.
The box also contained a recipe book that had all 18 recipes from the week’s menu in it. More new recipes! Hooray!
Yes, there is a lot of packaging! But really, how else can you get everything you need to make 3 meals delivered to your door? The Sun Basket website gives a detailed description of how their packaging is made and how it can be recycled. I kept the ice packs and recycled everything else.
Ingredients
According to the Sun Basket website, their food is the freshest farm-to-table food. They use organic produce, responsibly raised meats, and sustainably sourced wild-caught fish.
The produce I received was all fresh and organic. The eggs for our fritters were also organic. Almost all of the ingredients were whole foods. The few packaged ingredients were clearly marked and measured with the exact amounts needed.
All of the nutrition information was included with the recipe and additional information for each recipe is given on the website. There were no highly processed ingredients. I did not have to sub any ingredients. Yippee!
Recipe Directions
The recipe book was very impressive. As I stated earlier, it included all 18 recipes from the weekly menu. Each recipe included some bonus tips and a list of things that kids can do to help with the meal.
The step-by-step directions were easy to follow and the prep was quick and easy. None of the meals took more than 30 minutes to complete from start to finish. Perfect for weeknight meals!
Portion Size
The quinoa fritters and lettuce wraps were perfectly portioned. The greens for the salmon salad were a little skimpy. I added some mixed greens that I had on hand. We did not have any leftovers from any of the meals.
Taste
We chose the meals because the flavor combinations sounded good, but how did they taste? The only meal I was a little skeptical about was the quinoa fritters. I love quinoa, but I wasn’t too sure about forming it into a patty and having it for our main dish.
The radishes that were supposed to come with our salad were substituted with fennel. I have never cooked with a whole fennel before. We have fennel seasoning, but we rarely use it because I am not a fan.
I almost did not use it but since it was there I decided to try it. There were directions that told how to cut and cook it. I am so glad I tried it. Sooo yummy! It did not have the strong black licorice taste I was expecting.
Everything was delish! The quinoa fritters were my favorite! All of the meals will definitely be added to our menu rotation.
My Overall Impression
Having 3 meals from Sun Basket delivered right to my door, made my weekend meal planning and meal prep super simple. The ingredients being divided into individual bags by meal was helpful. Delicious, healthy meals prepped and ready in 30 minutes or less on a weeknight was ahhhmazing!
I loved that all of the meals were made up of mostly whole, organic ingredients. This is the way that I eat 85-90 percent of the time, so I did not have to compromise my clean eating habits.
Would I order from Sun Basket again?
It’s not something I would do on a regular basis. The cost to feed my family is way more than I spend on our meals and there were no leftovers. Our lunch most days is our dinner from the night before. Ordering on a regular basis would mean we would have to figure something else out for lunch on 3 weekdays.
I will use Sun Basket again, if I know we are having a busy weekend, and I don’t have time to plan our meals. I will also use the service again every once in a while just to change things up. Oh, and of course if I had another discount or coupon. 🙂
Speaking of discounts and coupons…Sun Basket does have a referral program. If you refer a friend, you both get a discount. The discount changes, but right now it is $40 off for new subscribers. Here is my Sun Basket referral link for $40 off your first order.
What do you think? Will you be giving Sun Basket a try?
If you want to know more about how all of the services I tried compare, check out my post Meal Kit Delivery Services: How Do They Compare? Who Are They For?
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