Megan CurtinI am not one to promote a brand, service, or product unless I am in love with it and have personally tried it out.
And trust me, I have tried out just about every food delivery service, and Purple Carrot by far stands above its competition.
Purple Carrot did not ask me to review or try them out; I did this independently.
Being vegan, it’s hard to find a meal delivery service that offers meals I can eat. So when I saw Purple Carrot, I was very intrigued, to say the least.
Purple Carrot is hands down the best vegan meal delivery service. Every meal tastes as if you got it from a five-star restaurant and is hands down easier to make than following any recipe on Pinterest.
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What Is Purple Carrot?
Purple Carrot is a vegan meal delivery service. They offer breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and sweet treats.
Purple Carrot is not a fully prepared meal delivery service in the sense that these aren’t premade frozen meals precooked that you throw in the microwave.
They send you premeasured ingredients that you have to only prep and assemble to create your meals.
What kind of prep work? It’s the most effortless prep that one can imagine with meals. Peeling, chopping, and sauteeing are the main steps involved with any of these meals, and you don’t need to be an iron chef to complete these.
Since everything is premeasured and they give you the exact amount of the ingredient needed, you don’t even have to worry about measuring cups or spoons.
Do you have to pay a subscription fee for Purple Carrot?
You do sign up for a subscription, but it is FREE, and you can cancel anytime.
Signing up for your subscription means you’ll be registered to receive automatic weekly Purple Carrot deliveries.
If you are going to be on vacation or don’t want to order meals for that week, you can skip a week as well, and you won’t be charged a single thing!
If you want to cancel a meal, make sure you toggle the skip button by the required date.
When are the boxes delivered?
Our boxes are delivered on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday each week. The day of your delivery is based on your regional location and proximity to our packing facilities. Please know that at this time, we cannot customize a specific delivery day.
Is there a membership fee?
No, and as I said, you can cancel at any time.
What is included with the Purple Carrot box?
The box is packed with large ice bags, which are indeed reusable!
As you can see, the box is also lined with insulating material. For cripes sake, this stuff looks better insulated than my old-school Milwaukee apartment. I should move into the box itself!
The reusable ice bags are a clutch thing to have! I use them in the summer when I go to the beach, tailgate, or even transfer food on long drives.
They also provide a cookbook for all recipes. I LOVE that the cookbook has step-by-step pictures, which can be a bit helpful if you are new to cooking or are more of a visual learner.
No worries if this book gets dirty or wet; you can also find the directions online!
Of course, the box also contains all the ingredients needed to make the food. Each meal is in its bag and labeled. What doesn’t fit in the big (like bags of arugula or green onions etc.) they label with a sticker saying what dish it is supposed to go in.
I love that they give you everything, including spices, butter, dressings, etc.
Having each bag come with premeasured items makes putting together the easy meals peasy.
I love cooking, but I hate getting so many measuring utensils dirty. They are a pain to clean and put away, so Purple Carrot truly takes all the stress out of cooking.
What Are Kitchen Tools Required For Purple Carrot?
It would help if you had simple, essential kitchen tools that you most likely already have.
Suggested Kitchen Tools:
- Small/medium saucepan
- Large pot
- Large non-stick skillet
- Large oven-safe skillet
- Baking dish/baking sheet
- Cutting board/set of knives
- Strainer
- Blender/food processor
- General kitchen tools (spatula, spoons, whisk, etc.)
- And a heat-safe mixing bowl set
I typically don’t use a heat-safe mixing bowl set and do all the mixing right in the pots or pans.
Each recipe comes with its card, and you can see instructions and what tools will be needed before you even order the meal.
How Long Do The Meals Last?
If stored properly, many ingredients will stay fresh for up to a week, just as everyday groceries would. Therefore, we recommend storing your ingredient bags in the fridge to achieve the longest possible shelf-life.
I have cooked meals past the week mark, and if I don’t get to it, I save all the nonperishable stuff and use it randomly throughout the week.
If you’re not planning on cooking your meals right away, it is recommended that you prioritize recipes that include delicate items, such as fresh leafy greens, as these will typically have a shorter shelf-life.
If I got super busy or had to travel for work out of nowhere, I would once again keep the nonperishable stuff and go to the store to pick up any items that may have gone bad.
Do I Have To Be Home To Receive My Order?
Not a problem! They don’t require a signature to deliver your order, so if you aren’t home, you’ll still receive your box!
All orders are thoroughly insulated and packaged with ice packs (as you saw above), which keeps them stable and temperature-safe at your door (except in extreme weather conditions).
If you live in an area where a large box cannot easily be left, here are a few suggestions:
- Speak with a neighbor or friend willing and available to accept the package for you.
- If possible, have the package delivered to your workplace (Keep in mind the delivery window set by our shipping partners may cause the box to arrive after business hours).
- If needed, you can input easy-to-follow delivery notes in the “Special Delivery Instructions” section of your delivery address under your account settings.
For instance: In my delivery instructions, I tell them how to use the call box for my apartment building and ask them not ever to leave my box outside. I live in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and if something is left outside, it WILL get stolen.
What Kind Of Meals Does Purple Carrot Offer?
Purple carrot is super inclusive when it comes to meal type and variety. They offer a bit of everything from Italian to Asian and everything else in between.
What are some meal examples?
- SMOKY TWO BEAN CHILI with Tortilla Chips & Cilantro Ranch Drizzle
- CREAMY MISO RISOTTO with Roasted Winter Vegetables
- BLACK PEPPER TOFU with Chinese broccoli & brown rice
- GNOCCHIwith Dilly-Fried Cabbage & Apple Arugula Salad
- DAL MAKHANIwith Brown Basmati Rice & Tomato Chutney
- CREAMY TAHINI NOODLES with Crispy Shiitakes & Quick Pickles
- HAZELNUT BARLEY PILAF with Pan-Roasted Root Veggies & Harissa Butter
- ITALIAN BUTTER BEAN STEW with Crispy Sausage & Parmesan Kale
They do a great job planning out the meals to get a different cuisine daily. Having variety like this means you don’t get sick of the meals and look forward to them each day.
How Much Is Purple Carrot?
 You can choose two different Purple Carrot plan sizes!
The first is a 2-Serving Plan, ideal for singles and small families. It contains three dinners, each serving two people, for a total of 6 weekly servings. This Plan starts at $71.94 per week, which equates to $11.99 per serving.
The second Plan is our 4-Serving Plan, which is perfect for families and meal preppers. It provides your choice of 2 or 3 dinners, each serving four people, for 8 or 12 weekly servings. This Plan starts at $79.92 per week, which equates to $9.99 per serving.
Both of our plans offer complete flexibility, so you can always change your meal plan, skip a delivery, or pause your account at any time! There are also no additional shipping costs!
My fiance and I do the 2-serving Plan, and we typically have some food left over. If there are outstanding deals that I love, I will add on to my three orders, and it’s only an extra $11.99.
Can You Add To The Meals?
Yes! You can do whatever you want.
The way the meals are put together is genius, and you don’t need to add anything.
Sometimes I’ll add small stuff to bulk it out, like onions, peppers, or extra rice/noodles.
For instance, I added extra arugula to make it a more filling salad.
I LOVE arugula, so I probably eat considerably more than I should. I add to meals on days I don’t eat lunch or breakfast. Sometimes working from home will do that to you, and I don’t eat till dinner.
Do You Save Money Using A Meal Delivery Plan?
Obviously, there will be a few factors at play with this. First, where you live will dramatically affect how much groceries will cost you per week.
I live in the city, where I typically pay more for grocers than my family who lives in the suburbs.
Even trying to eat simple and easy, I find we aren’t getting out of the grocery store under $30 per meal.
Having a meal delivery service not only saves time, but it saves money per week. This is great for anyone who loves budgeting or those like me who need to adult more and starts budgeting.
In one study, I went to the grocery store, got three important meals, and noted the total price per person. From Purple Carrot, three meals for two people come out to $11.99 per person vs. the lowest grocery shopping at my local store at $15 per person.
Is There Variety In This Meal Delivery Service?
I noticed that when you compare, the variety of the meals I was picking out was nowhere near as fun as the ones I got from Purple Carrot.
I enjoy cooking and always have, but life gets busy, and I find myself making the same types of meals week in and week out. A few of my go-to meals include vegan soups, sandwiches, and pasta.
Using this meal delivery service introduces new dishes in my life that I would otherwise not ever think to make.
They make being vegan easy and take all the thinking out of it.
I hate looking up vegan recipes, and they are way over complicated, like soaking cashews overnight or having to food process just about everything in the meal.
They don’t just give you basic raw vegan meals or super leafy ones. Instead, they do an excellent job mixing green meals with more hearty ones.
What Kind Of Vegan Meals Can You Pick?
They do a great job at offering various meals to fit them into your lifestyle.
Purple Carrot Meals Are Offered In:
- High-Protein
- Nut-Free
- Chef’s Choice
- Under 600 calories
- Gluten-Free
- Soy-Free
- Quick-and-easy
I have noticed as of late that the meals sell out fast. If you are picky with your food or simply need to alter your order to make sure it fits your health needs, I suggest changing up meals weeks ahead.
New Fresh Prepared Meals
Purple Carrot now offers freshly prepared meals that are ready in the microwave in 1 – 2 minutes.
Like the other meals, each week offers different prepared meal options that change weekly.
I ordered a few to try them out, which are what you expect from a microwaved meal. It’s hard to enjoy these when I have been getting their everyday meal kits for so long.
I will say that these heated up are way better than the standard microwave meals you would get from a store.
Nothing to me will compare to fresh ingredients used to make a meal, and I think the OG meal kits are the way to go, but I also enjoy cooking and don’t mind the time it takes to make the meals. If you are super busy and crunched for time, then prepared meals will be the best option.
 The prepared meal kits are just $12.99 per serving.
Megan Curtin
