When meal kits first arrived on the scene, there were little to no options when it came to diet-specific plans. Today though, there are more options than ever and that’s especially so when it comes to vegetarian meal delivery services.
Not only can you find vegetarian meal options in most meal delivery services, many also have their own vegetarian meal plans and some are even fully plant-based.
With all these options now available at your fingertips, it’s important to consider what type of vegetarian meal delivery service is right for your lifestyle. Would you prefer to eat vegetarian for every meal? Only dinners? Would you prefer to make your own vegetarian meals or have them pre-made for you?
Here at Food Box HQ we’ve spent years testing and reviews hundreds of different vegetarian meal delivery service boxes. Today we’re going to walk you through our top picks.
Food Box HQ Note: If you are looking for vegan meal delivery services, you can view our top picks here.
Best Overall
Mosaic Foods
What It Is: Mosaic Foods is a pre-made, frozen plant-based meal delivery service. They offer a pretty wide variety of meal categories. These include veggie bowls, family meals, soups, and oat bowls. The family meals are really what make Mosaic Foods stand out among the rest of the meal delivery service options on this list. These are larger serving vegetarian meals for 3-4 people.
Our Experience: Mosaic Foods surprised me. I originally thought they were going to taste similar to the frozen foods I see at the grocery store. They come in the same type of box and the meals even look similar in their trays. However, once I heated them up and tasted them, I was taken aback by their flavors. These are definitely not like the traditional Annie’s frozen meals I thought they were going to taste like. First, they have a lot more meal options than many other similar frozen pre-made vegetarian meal delivery services. They also range in the cuisines offered. For example, some of my favorite meals that Mosaic offers are traditional Asian and Indian meals such as Ginger Sesame Noodles and Coconut Curry. I personally love their family meals on days when I’m super hungry but want to eat more than just a tray of food. While their family meals can feed up to 4 people, when I’m really hungry I can split one with my wife.
Types Of Vegetarian Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Lowest Price Per Meal: $4.99
Our Favorite Mosaic Foods Vegetarian Meals:
- Ginger Sesame Noodles made with Snow Peas, Napa Cabbage, Corn, and Buckwheat Soba
- Tangy Thai Stir Fry
- Spinach Saag & Tofu
Why It Made The List:
- They have many allergen-friendly meals, such as nut-free and wheat-free vegetarian meals.
- They’re one of the few vegetarian meal delivery services on this list that has multiple high-protein options (20g and more).
- They’re one of the few options on this list that covers breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Best Fully Plant-Based Meal Kit
Purple Carrot
What It Is: Purple Carrot is a fully plant-based meal kit. They send you the vegetarian recipes and ingredients for you to make the meals. They also have pre-made plant-based meals that can be heated and ready to eat within 5 minutes. Each week there are around 12 meal kit meals to choose from and 12 pre-made meals to choose from. In addition to vegetarian meals, Purple Carrot also offers a few vegetarian snack options such as almond butter, soups, hummus, and more.
Our Experience: We’ve tried multiple Purple Carrot boxes over the years and one of the aspects that I enjoy is that they go all out with their vegetarian recipes. For example, in one of our boxes we made tofu dumplings from scratch and they actually came out delicious. I found Purple Carrot to be a great way to learn how to make very tasty vegetarian meals. Do keep in mind that these aren’t the easiest meals to make so if you aren’t that proficient in cooking, you may want to consider their pre-made meals instead.
Types Of Vegetarian Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and some snacks.
Lowest Price Per Meal: $9.99
Our Favorite Purple Carrot Vegetarian Meals:
- Mapo Tofu Dumplings with Bok Choy & Sweet Chile Sauce (Meal Kit Meal)
- Brussels Sprouts & Black Bean Tacos with Chipotle Crema & Pickled Onions (Meal Kit Meal)
- Thai Peanut Noodles with Sweet Chile Squash & Shiitakes (Pre-Made Meal)
- Spicy Red Curry Roasted Vegetables with Tofu & Coconut Spelt
Why It Made The List:
- Purple Carrot is the only fully plant-based meal kit on the market.
- I found them to be one of the more filling vegetarian meal delivery services, when compared to others on this list.
- Based on my experience, they’re a great way to learn more advanced vegetarian recipes. We’ve kept multiple Purple Carrot recipe cards so that we can make their meals in the future.
Best For Plant-Based Alternatives To Traditional Meals
Veestro
What It Is: Veestro is a plant-based, frozen and pre-made meal delivery service similar to Mosaic Foods. They offer an impressive 50+ different vegetarian meals to choose from on their menu. These can be filtered by gluten-free meal options, low-calorie meal options, nut-free meal options, and more. In addition to their a la carte menu, Veestro also has a weight loss menu with plant-based meals meant to help customers lose weight.
Our Experience: Let me start by saying that I wasn’t impressed with every meal that we tried from Veestro. Some did taste a bit bland and some of our readers commented similar things. That being said, Veestro does do a great job of taking traditional meat-based meals such as lasagna and making them plant-based. For example, they make a delicious meatless lasagna that uses Impossible Foods meat and I have to say it does taste pretty close to the real thing.
Types Of Vegetarian Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Lowest Price Per Meal: $10.80 per meal after subscribing or $12 per meal ordering a la carte.
Our Favorite Veestro Vegetarian Meals:
- Meatless Lasagna
- Golden Chickpea Stew
- Chick’n Milanese
Why It Made The List:
- Veestro is one of the few vegetarian meal delivery services on this list that gives you the ability to order once or subscribe. Most other meal delivery services on this list make you subscribe.
- They offer more traditional meals with a vegan twist. Many other vegetarian meal delivery services lean into cuisines that are already mainly vegetarian (such as Indian).
- They’re one of the only vegetarian meal delivery services available that has a weight loss plan.
Best For Big Portion Vegetarian Meals
MamaSezz
What It Is: MamaSezz is a pre-made vegetarian and plant-based meal delivery service. They offer a la carte ordering as well as vegetarian meal bundles. Their bundles range from seasonal offerings such as Christmas “feasts” to protein bundles and more. On their a la carte menu, they offer around 45 different meals as well as around 10 different snacks and drinks to choose from. They do rotate in new vegetarian meals from time to time. Most of their meals tend to have large serving sizes. For example, the “Mama’s Baked Beans” serves 6 people.
Our Experience: We first tried MamaSezz back in 2018, when they were more of a small meal delivery operation, and I remember being really impressed with the quality. Fast-forward to today and they still have very high-quality meals but now ship nationwide and compete with the biggest vegetarian and plant-based meal delivery services out there! I found the meals to not only be very tasty but also have huge portions when compared to others on this list that could feed a whole family. Like Veestro, they do a great job of putting a plant-based spin on classics like lasagna and burgers.
Types Of Vegetarian Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, desserts and drinks.
Lowest Price Per Meal: Depending on whether you order a bundle or a la carte, the price per meal/serving ranges from $5 to $10.
Our Favorite MamaSezz Vegetarian Meals:
- “Lazy Lasagna” made with brown rice elbow noodles doused in non-dairy cashew cream and tomato sauce
- “Millie’s Chili” made with beans, chickpeas, peppers, corn, carrots, and onions
- “Mama’s Burger” made with oats, sweet onions, chickpeas, zucchini, mushrooms, red peppers, spinach, tomatoes, carrots, garlic, and walnuts
Why It Made The List:
- MamaSezz has the biggest portions when compared to any other options on this list, making them great for families and big eaters.
- They offer a great satisfaction guarantee that says: “MamaSezz guarantees to offer refunds if your products were damaged during shipping”.
- They do a good job of sticking to clean, whole ingredients in every meal they offer. That means they’re non-GMO, oil-free, gluten-free, wheat-free, refined sugar-free, preservative-free, and peanut-free.
Best For Picky Vegetarian Eaters
Fresh n Lean
What It Is: Fresh n Lean is one of the most popular pre-made meal delivery services on the market. They have 7 different meal plans to choose from, 2 of which are plant-based (Standard Vegan and Low-Carb Vegan). Technically, both of these plans fall under the “vegan” diet but since veganism is basically the strictest form of vegetarianism we decided to include them in this list. Both of their plant-based plans have around 16 meals to choose from each week. You can order meals for 5 days per week or a full 7 days.
Our Experience: Fresh n Lean has consistently made it on our top picks list for the best pre-made meal delivery services around. This is because they not only have so much variety (between 2 plant-based meal plans) but they also care about quality. From my many years of reviewing different meal delivery services, I saw that they were the first to vacuum-sealed meal trays in order to lock in freshness. Plus, they’re also USDA certified. When it comes to their plant-based meals, Fresh n Lean is one of the few that really leans into plant-based meats such as Beyond Meat and “chick’n” (plant-based chicken). I found that they incorporate these plant-based meats into their dishes in a very smart way. They don’t try to simply replace traditional meat-based dishes with them but rather use them to create really interesting and delicious “bowl” style meals. But my personal favorite aspect of their plant-based plans is that I was able to exclude ingredients prior to ordering. For example, I’m not a huge fan of cilantro so I simple selected that ingredient to exclude from my meals upon signing up and now they won’t make my meals with any cilantro.
Types Of Vegetarian Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and desserts.
Lowest Price Per Meal: $7.83
Our Favorite Fresh n Lean Vegetarian Meals:
- Glazed Noodle Bowl With Beyond Meatballs
- Herb Roasted Potatoes With Green Beans And Plant Based Chick’n
- Coconut Curry Spinach And Garbanzo Beans With Quinoa
Why It Made The List:
- Fresh n Lean allows you to exclude multiple ingredients from your meals (bell pepper, beyond meat, chia, cilantro, curry, eggplant, garbanzo beans, mushrooms, nuts, quinoa, rice, sesame, soy, squash, vegan chicken, olives, and soup).
- They’re one of the few meal delivery services on this list that is USDA certified.
- They vacuum seal their packaging, which I’ve found helps to keep the meals tasting fresher for longer.
Best Frozen Vegetarian Meals
Daily Harvest
What It Is: Daily Harvest originally started out as a smoothie delivery service but over the years have transitioned to become one of the most popular frozen meal delivery services around. They offer 11 different categories of vegetarian food and drinks – smoothies, plant-based milk, harvest bowls, flatbreads, soups, forager bowls, oat bowls, chia bowls, scoops, bites, and lattes. They occasionally will rotate in new and seasonal plant-based options but, for the most part, their menu stays the same throughout the year. They have 3 different plans: small (9 items), medium (14 items), and large (24 items). They price each food they offer individually so you can technically go over your plans meal quantity if you want to order more. However, you do have to order the minimum quantity per week depending on the meal plan you chose.
Our Experience: We’ve reviewed Daily Harvest multiple times over the years and what I love most about their meals is the convenience. I find all of their meals are perfect to grab and go. Whether I’m heading out to the office or want something to take with me on the road, they’re very quick to make and easy to eat. The one downside to this is that I don’t find most of their meals to be super filling the way pre-made meal delivery services such as Fresh n Lean’s is. That being said, their flatbreads are one of my favorites out of all the meals they offer and they are one of the more filling meals they offer.
Types Of Vegetarian Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, desserts, and drinks.
Lowest Price Per Meal: $5.99
Our Favorite Daily Harvest Vegetarian Meals:
- Sweet Potato + Wild Rice Hash Harvest Bowl
- Kale + Sweet Potato Flatbread
- Tomato + Zucchini Minestrone Soup
- Mint + Dark, Melty Cacao Chips “Scoops” Ice Cream
- Hazelnut + Chocolate “Bites” (delicious frozen balls of avocado, hazelnut, cacao, chia, reishi mushroom, and vanilla bean)
- Cacao + Avocado Smoothie
Why It Made The List:
- Daily Harvest has one of the largest selections of plant-based meals on this list with over 100 different options between their smoothies, bowls, snacks, and desserts.
- Having so much variety while also being frozen makes them a great option for those looking to have backup vegetarian meals in their freezer.
- Many of their meals are more affordable than other options on this list ($5.99 compared to most other meal delivery options coming in around $7 or $8).
Best For Vegetarian Salads
Sprinly
What It Is: Sprinly is a pre-made plant-based meal delivery service. All of their meals are also gluten free. Their meal plans are broken up into 6 meals, 8 meals, or 12 meals per week. Each week they rotate their menu with 6 different meals to choose. This means if you choose the 8 or 12 meal plan you will have to double up on some of their meals.
Our Experience: I was pleasantly surprised when we first tried Sprinly. Their meals taste very fresh for being pre-made, especially their salads. Not only that, but these meals are unlike many of the other options on this list. Sprinly focuses on more bowls and salads than any other vegetarian meal delivery service that I’ve tried. Their meals are very heavy on fruits and vegetables, and don’t use any plant-based meats. Being gluten-free, they also don’t have any traditional pasta dishes. What I enjoyed most about trying their service is that they’re one of the few options on this list that offers hearty salads such as their Royal Beet Medallions with Ancient Quinoa and Greens (a personal favorite of mine). I found all of their meals to have a nice balance between greens and more filling ingredients such as grains, nuts, and potatoes.
Types Of Vegetarian Meals: Lunch and dinner.
Lowest Price Per Meal: $16.05
Our Favorite Sprinly Vegetarian Meals:
- Citrus Detox Salad with Beet, Pumpkin Seeds and Fresh Oranges
- Royal Beet Medallions with Ancient Quinoa and Greens
- Mediterranean Veggie Kofta Crumble with Vegan Tzatziki and Cucumber Tomato Salad
Why It Made The List:
- Sprinly’s meals are consistently some of the freshest tasting that we’ve had over the years. This is worth noting since their meals are not frozen and most are veggie bowls or variations of salads, which sometimes tend to not fare well being shipped in a box.
- They’re one of the few plant-based and gluten-free options on this list.
- They do a great job of giving back by donating to multiple non-profits, including Hunger Network, Ocean Conservancy, ACLU, NAACP, and more.
Best For A Plant-Based Diet “Reset”
Splendid Spoon
What It Is: Splendid Spoon is a pre-made plant-based meal delivery service best known for their pre-blended smoothies. In addition to smoothies they also have a variety of soups and bowls. Their service works a bit differently than others on this list in that they operate more like a diet reset than a traditional vegetarian meal delivery service. They offer 3 plans — “Breakfast”, “Breakfast, Lunch + Reset”, and “Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner + Reset”. The reset meals are only for certain days during the week in which you focus on lighter eating. They have around 70 meals to add to your box every week (not including some extras like desserts, snacks, and juice shots).
Our Experience: Splendid Spoon is a meal delivery service that I tend to gravitate towards when I find that I’m snacking too much or I’ve been on a sugar-binge for a while. I’ve found that their meal plans provide the perfect structure to get back into healthy eating since everything is plant-based and pre-made. The hardest days for me were the reset days since you can only eat their soups. While they tasted good, I was definitely hungry. But then again, that’s part of the “reset” process.
Types Of Vegetarian Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks.
Lowest Price Per Meal: $7.50
Our Favorite Splendid Spoon Vegetarian Meals:
- Butternut Squash Ratatouille Soup With Tomatoes & Kale
- Broccoli And Hempseed Soup With Chickpeas & Scallions
- Cumin Sweet Potato Puree Soup With Cashews & Cilantro
Why It Made The List:
- Splendid Spoon’s meals are much more diverse than others on this list. You can probably tell this by some of the options listed above but they use more unique ingredients. For example, hempseed, tamarind, and okra are featured in many of their soups and bowls.
- They’re the only vegetarian meal delivery service on this list that offers pre-blended smoothies. Their smoothies also include a great mix of vegetables, fruits, and proteins such as nuts flax seeds, and pea protein.
- All of their meals are very portable. The smoothies and bowls are perfect for a grab-and-go meal.
Best For Big Eaters
Trifecta Nutrition
What It Is: Trifecta Nutrition is a pre-made meal delivery service most known for crafting meals for athletes, bodybuilders, and others in the fitness industry. They have an extensive vegetarian meal plan which can be built out with as little as 5 meals per week or as much as 28 meals per week. They are one of the only vegetarian meal delivery services on this list that allows you to order a 3rd entree. All of the meals in their vegetarian plan are both USDA inspected and certified as well as gluten free.
Our Experience: While they use clean and whole ingredients, I found Trifecta Nutrition’s meals to be more pared back in terms of flavor when compared to others on this list. That’s not to say they’re bad, the recipes are a just a bit more basic when compared to others like Territory Foods or Purple Carrot. I found the meals to be very filling and they do a great job balancing veggies with protein. Because this plan is vegetarian and not 100% plant-based (vegan), they use more eggs than other options on this list.
Types Of Vegetarian Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Lowest Price Per Meal: $10.29
Our Favorite Trifecta Nutrition Vegetarian Meals:
- Harissa Sweet Potatoes With Brown Rice
- Teriyaki Brown Rice And Broccoli
- Beyond Beef Skillet
Why It Made The List:
- Like Fresh n Lean, Trifecta Nutrition also vacuum seals their meals to lock in freshness.
- They have a great money back guarantee where they say they will refund up to ten meals from your first order if you’re not satisfied.
- They use some plant-based meats, such as Beyond Beef in their meals.
Food Box HQ Note: Trifecta Nutrition does not allow you to choose the meals on their vegetarian plan, it is chef’s choice, meaning the meals will be chosen by Trifecta each week.
Best For The Occasional Vegetarian Meals
Sunbasket
What It Is: Sunbasket is one of the most popular meal delivery services on the market. They also consistently rank as a top pick on our list of the best meal kits on the market due to their wide variety of meals and cuisines offered. Sunbasket does not have a specific vegetarian plan, rather they have a large menu which includes upwards of 5 to 6 plant-based meal options each week. This does not make them the best option for those who are fully vegetarian but rather a good option for those who prefer to eat vegetarian meals on occasion. What’s more is that Sunbasket also has a marketplace where, in addition to meal kit meals and pre-made meals, you can also stock up on snacks, pastas, and drinks.
Our Experience: Sunbasket is one of my personal favorite meal delivery services. I love the fact that beyond the meals, I can add dozens of snacks to my box such as my favorite vegetarian snack bars, nuts, chips, crackers, and cheese. They even offer plant-based chicken as a marketplace add on. I found their vegetarian meals to be more unique than the others on this list. For example, while many meal delivery services listed here tend to offer more salad-style bowls, Sunbasket leans into cuisines that are both authentic to the nationality they come from and truly unique. For example, their Moroccan-spiced chickpeas and lemony chard on garlic toasts is bursting with flavor and a meal that tastes like none I’ve ever had before.
Types Of Vegetarian Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, desserts, and drinks.
Lowest Price Per Meal: $11.49
Our Favorite Sunbasket Vegetarian Meals:
- Moroccan-spiced chickpeas and lemony chard on garlic toasts
- Spicy yuba noodle japchae with kale, mushrooms, and pickled carrots
- Eggplant and potato moussaka with lentil-walnut kima
Why It Made The List:
- Sunbasket offers some of the most unique vegetarian meals that I’ve ever eaten. The majority of their meals are inspired by cuisines around the world, including Asia, Morocco, India, and more.
- Being one of the few vegetarian meal kits on this list with unique and interesting recipes, I found that Sunbasket is a great way to learn new vegetarian recipes.
- They have one of the most extensive marketplaces out of all the meal delivery services on this list.
Best For Organic Vegetarian Meals
Green Chef
What It Is: Green Chef is the only meal kit on the market that is both USDA certified organic and gluten free. They have a Plant-Powered plan that offers both vegan and vegetarian options. This plan gives you the ability to have as little as 6 meals per week or as much as 24 meals per week. Their menu consists of around 9 vegetarian meals, which rotate each week.
Our Experience: What I love most about Green Chef is that they have very well designed recipe cards. This may seem like a small aspect of their service to point out but when you’re cooking a new meal, you want to make it as easy to follow as possible. The vegetarian recipes we cooked did take a bit longer than what the estimated time was on our recipe card but not by much.
Types Of Vegetarian Meals: Lunch and dinner.
Lowest Price Per Meal: $11.99
Our Favorite Green Chef Vegetarian Meals:
- Ancho-Lime Sweet Potato Bowls Zesty Rice, Bell Pepper, Corn, Pepitas, Creamy Chimichurri
- Refried Bean & Pepper Quesadillas Cilantro-Lime Aïoli, Tomato-Scallion Salsa, Guacamole
- Sriracha-Tamari Mushrooms Bowls Jasmine Rice, Cabbage & Snap Pea Slaw, Cashews, Sesame Seeds
Why It Made The List:
- What I found most impressive about the Green Chef meal kit is that they are certified gluten free, making them the only meal kit option on this list for vegetarians with celiac disease.
- I found their portion sizes to be a bit larger than many other meal kits that we’ve reviewed.
- They have some of the most eco-friendly packaging out of any meal kit we’ve reviewed.
Best For “Luxury” Vegetarian Meals
Sakara Life
What It Is: Sakara Life is a plant-based pre-made meal delivery service. They offer a range of plant-based meal plans, which they call “Programs”. Each program is designed for a different dietary result. For example, they have detox program, reset program, and even a bridal program which combines their meals with a fitness regimen. With all of their programs you have the option to order once or subscribe. You can order meals for as little as 2 days per week or as many as 5 days per week.
Our Experience: Let me start by saying that Sakara is not a cheap meal delivery service. In fact, at over $20 per meal, it may be one of the most expensive meal delivery services I’ve ever seen. That being said, their meals are very high quality and are presented in a way that made me feel like I was eating at a hip LA restaurant. The meals themselves are nothing extraordinary. Most lunches and dinners are just fairly simple salads and breakfasts are usually granola, a muffin, or avocado toast.
Types Of Vegetarian Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks.
Lowest Price Per Meal: $28
Our Favorite Sakara Life Vegetarian Meals:
- Soothing Butternut Squash Soup with Black Tahini Swirls
- Sunshine Curry Bowl with Purple Coconut Sticky Rice, Purple Potatoes, Seasonal Veggies, and Warming Curry
- Wild Mushroom Pasta with Sauteed Spinach and Black Truffle Oil
Why It Made The List:
- If you’re looking for a specific program to follow, such as a short-term detox diet, Sakara is the only option on this list that has multiple customizable program variations.
- They give you the ability to order one box prior to subscribing, which allows you to try their service before committing to a recurring order.
- In addition to their meals, Sakara also offers a full range of snacks and even supplements.
Best Customizable Vegetarian Meal Delivery Service
Territory Foods
What It Is: Territory Foods is a pre-made meal delivery service that works a bit differently than most of the other vegetarian meal delivery services listed here. Rather than having a central location where they prep and cook all of their meals, they work with chefs around the country who do all of the cooking. This allows the meals that Territory sends to be fresher, since they’re being sent from a location closer to you. Territory doesn’t have any fixed meal plans. They simply have a menu of new meals each week, all falling into different dietary categories. They offer around 6 vegetarian meals each week.
Our Experience: Territory Foods is one of my newer favorite pre-made meal delivery services. They took a while to expand to serve the entire country but it’s clear to me that they expanded slowly so that they could control quality. The first thing that impressed me about their meal delivery service is the fact that, when choosing my meals, I can directly see the key macros for the meal right on the menu page (without clicking into the meal page or searching for nutrition facts). This includes calories, fat, carbs, and protein. Second, I found that Territory does a great job of balancing their vegetarian meals with enough protein to keep me satiated and not leave me hungry an hour after eating. This is a problem I’ve had with some other vegetarian meal delivery services, where they just aren’t filling enough. Last, and most importantly, Territory’s meals are unique compared to the others on this list in that they feel restaurant quality. Their vegetarian meals are not simple veggie bowls or salads like many of the other options on this list. They’re unique cuisines from around the world such as Ethiopia and Greece.
Types Of Vegetarian Meals: Lunch, dinner, and snacks.
Lowest Price Per Meal: $10.95
Our Favorite Territory Foods Vegetarian Meals:
- Veggie Enchiladas in Salsa Roja with Black Beans and Peas
- Falafel with Mediterranean-Style Quinoa and Lemon Tahini Sauce
- Shakshuka with Roasted Potatoes
Why It Made The List:
- As a pre-made meal delivery service, Territory Foods has some of the freshest tasting meals that I’ve had. In addition to sending meals that were cooked closer to your location, they also allow you to split your weekly order into 2 deliveries. Splitting them into 2 deliveries means they can be prepped and cooked closer to the time when you’ll actually be eating them, rather than just sitting in your refrigerator.
- Their vegetarian meals are some of the most unique and distinct out of all the others on this list. I can tell that they put a lot of effort into crafting these recipes.
- Since there are no set minimum order quantities, you have the ability to order as many or as little meals per week as you’d like. This makes Territory a good option for vegetarians who are not always eating at home.
Best For Learning New Vegetarian Recipes
HelloFresh
What It Is: HelloFresh is one of the most popular meal kits in the world. Along with Blue Apron, they’re credited as the meal kit that really kicked off the whole industry back in 2012. HelloFresh offers 6 plans, one of which is their “Veggie” plan. Each week they have around 10 vegetarian meals to choose from. You can order as little 4 meals per week or as much as 24 meals per week. In addition to their meals, they also have a full marketplace of grocery items where they’ve partnered with other brands such as Pillsbury, Intelligentsia Coffee, Annie’s, and other brands that offer vegetarian options.
Our Experience: HelloFresh consistently makes our list of the top meal kits for a reason—they nail every aspect of what makes people want to use a meal kit in the first place. Their vegetarian meals are simple to make due to the fact that they focus on crafting recipes that are manageable for every level cook. They also give you a range of options, for beginners to more advanced cooks, so I never felt like I was lost cooking any HelloFresh meals. The vegetarian meals that we’ve had from HelloFresh have been unique and fun to cook. From my experience, I would say that they fall somewhere between homestyle and hip restaurant. To give you an example, we recently whipped up their BBQ Pineapple Flatbreads. This isn’t something we’ve ever cooked before but came out surprisingly delicious. Something else I love is that HelloFresh throws in little surprise goodies and treats in many boxes. These little extras make receiving their meal kit more of a fun experience.
Types Of Vegetarian Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, desserts, and other grocery items.
Lowest Price Per Meal: $7.49
Our Favorite HelloFresh Vegetarian Meals:
- BBQ Pineapple Flatbreads with Caramelized & Pickled Onions
- Pasta Primavera with Lemon Parm Sauce, Bell Pepper, Zucchini & Peas
- Shawarma Chickpea Couscous Bowls with Roasted Veggies, Pickled Onion & Harissa Yogurt
Why It Made The List:
- HelloFresh is one of the most widely available and widely known meal kits on the market. They’re one of the only vegetarian meal delivery services on this list that can also ship overseas. They’re available in many European countries.
- I’ve found HelloFresh’s vegetarian meals to be both fun to cook and delicious to eat.
- They’re one of the few options on this list that has a full marketplace of grocery items you can add to your box each week.
Best For Restaurant Quality Vegetarian Meals
Cookunity
What It Is: Cookunity is a pre-made meal delivery service that works similarly to Territory Foods (listed above). They do not have a central kitchen where they cook their meals. Rather, they work with chefs across the nation to cook and ship out their meals. Where they differ though is that Cookunity has set meal plans where you can order as much as 16 meals per week or as little as 4 meals per week. Also, Cookunity has a much wider network of chefs across the country. This means that they can offer much more variety with dozens of vegetarian meals to choose from each week.
Our Experience: When Cookunity first came on to the meal delivery scene, they were one of the first companies I had seen that works with individual chefs rather than having their own location. I was taken aback at how it might work but once I tried their meals for the first time I was shocked. They taste like they came from a restaurant (because they did). One drawback is that the meals don’t have the best presentation. This is likely due to them using an open tray (without sections) and the meals getting a little thrown around in transit. However, what they lack in visuals, they make up for in deliciousness. What’s more, Cookunity has been expanding their service like wildfire over the years. This means more chefs to choose from and more meal variety.
Types Of Vegetarian Meals: Lunch and dinner.
Lowest Price Per Meal: $10.49
Our Favorite Cookunity Vegetarian Meals:
- Mushroom Cavatelli with Mascarpone and Chives
- Spiced Chickpeas and Kale with Rice and Vegan Herb Yogurt
- Butternut Penne with Creamy Plant-based Mushroom Sauce
Why It Made The List:
- Cookunity’s meals are, in my opinion, the most similar to the meal quality you’d see at a high-end restaurant. This is one of the main reasons they consistently make our list of top pre-made meal delivery services.
- Like Territory Foods, by working with chefs closer to you and not at a central kitchen, it allows your meals to be sent quicker between when they were first cooked and when they make it to your doorstep.
- I found their packaging to be very eco-friendly. It’s both recyclable and compostable.
Best Grocery Delivery For Vegetarians
Hungryroot
What It Is: Hungryroot is a unique grocery delivery service. They sell hundreds of vegetarian foods—from fruits and vegetables to pastas and snacks. What makes them stand out among all of the other grocery delivery services out there is that they also allow you to shop by recipes. This means you can browse any of their thousands of vegetarian recipes, find meals you like, and order all of the ingredients right on the Hungryroot website.
Our Experience: We first tried Hungryroot back when they used to be a meal kit. Today I think of them as more of a hybrid between a meal kit and a grocery delivery service (since I’ve used them both ways). The grocery delivery aspect of Hungryroot is very simple and straightforward to use. While there are hundreds of different vegetarian foods to choose from, I found that Hungryroot does a great job of allowing me to filter in order to narrow down based on my needs. For example, I can filter by serving size, protein (tofu, tempeh, beans, lentils, and plant-based meat), heat/spice tolerance, cook time, and many other options. We’ve tried about a dozen of their meals and I’ve been impressed with how simple the prep and cook time has been with them. Not every single one of their meal kit meals was a winner in terms of taste but since I use them more as a grocery delivery service than a meal kit, that’s okay by me.
Types Of Vegetarian Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, desserts, and many other grocery items.
Lowest Price Per Meal: Since they act as a vegetarian grocery delivery service that offers meal kits, Hungryroot meals are priced based on the cost of the ingredients of the meal kit recipes you choose. They can range in price but be as little as $5.50, depending on the recipe.
Our Favorite Hungryroot Vegetarian Meals:
- Guac’d Up Veggie Cheeseburger Made with Black Bean Burger Patties
- Spinach Artichoke Beyond Burger with Romaine
- Hearty Vegan Chorizo, Black Bean + Butternut Plate
Why It Made The List:
- Hungryroot has the most extensive variety of vegetarian foods out of any of the grocery delivery services that I’ve tried.
- The way they’ve designed their online grocery shopping experience makes it super simple to filter foods to find exactly what you’re looking for rather than having to continually scroll through each section.
- They have over 3000 recipes to choose from, giving you a huge variety of vegetarian meals to make.
What Does A Vegetarian Diet Consist Of?
The term “vegetarian” actually encompasses a variety of different types of vegetarian diets:
- Lacto-vegetarian: Those who abstains from eating meat and eggs, but do eat dairy products.
- Ovo-vegetarian: Those who do not eat animal-based foods except for eggs.
- Lacto-ovo vegetarian: Those who eat vegetables, eggs, and dairy products but who does not eat meat.
- Pescatarian: Those who exclude meat, poultry, dairy, and eggs from their diet, but allow fish.
- Vegan: A diet that fully excludes all meats as well as foods with any byproducts such as dairy and eggs.
When most people say the word “vegetarian” they’re referring to lacto-ovo vegetarian or vegetarians that refrain from eating meats but will eat foods with animal byproducts in them such as dairy and eggs.
What you eat on a vegetarian diet will depend on the specifics of the vegetarian diet you’re following. However, it’s important to make sure that the meals you do eat on a vegetarian diet are well balanced.
Based on the Dietary Guidelines For Americans from the USDA, vegetarians should be following this nutritional guide (from page 148 of the PDF linked above):
What Are The Benefits Of Eating A Vegetarian Diet?
Eating a balanced vegetarian diet can have a number of positive effects on your health, as well as the environment. Here are some of the most notable ones…
- Research indicates that vegetarians are 1/3 less likely to die or be hospitalized for heart disease. This is based on a vegetarian diet that consists of high-fiber whole grains, legumes, nuts, vegetables, fruits, and other low-glycemic vegetarian foods.
- Studies have shown that following a healthy and balanced vegetarian diet can prevent and even treat type 2 diabetes (as well as associated complications).
- Research indicates that those who follow a vegetarian diet may have lower blood pressure. This is also so for vegans.
In addition to the health benefits, a vegetarian diet can also be more beneficial for the environment. This is because it leads to less carbon emissions than a meat-based diet, uses less water, and reduces the amount of land needed to create the food we need to eat.
What Are The Negatives Of Eating A Vegetarian Diet?
While there are many benefits to eating a balanced and healthy vegetarian diet, there are also some downsides to be aware of:
- The biggest con of eating a vegetarian diet is not getting the nutrients only found in animal meats since there are many vitamins and nutrients you can’t get from plant. For example a vegetarian diet may be lacking in taurine, vitamin b-12, vitamin D3, and omega-3s (DHA).
- Some of the food choices may be limited as well as not as filling as meat-based dishes. This is something I personally struggled with when following a vegetarian diet—I rarely felt full after eating.
- Vegetarian dishes can be heavy on carbs and calories, which can lead to weight gain.
Which Vegetarian Meal Delivery Service Is The Best?
No one meal delivery service is going to be perfect for every single person. This is the main reason we prefer to include many different types of meal delivery services in our top pick articles.
That being said, we do like to make a recommendation on which is our favorite based on value, convenience, and variety. In evaluating all of the services on this list, our top pick is Mosaic Foods.
They have done an exceptional job of growing their plant-based meal delivery service over the years. Here’s why we chose them…
- They are one of the more affordable vegetarian options on this list at around $7 per meal, on average.
- They have a wide variety of meals that include breakfast, lunch, dinner, and family meals.
- Their meals are pre-made and flash-frozen, which means they’re very easy to heat up and eat. All of our Mosaic meals were made in under 5 minutes.
- Their foods are filling and nutritionally balanced.
What To Consider When Choosing A Vegetarian Meal Delivery Service
The best part of meal delivery services, especially today, is that there are so many different types of services that fit into different lifestyles. However, with more to choose from, you want to make sure that you make the choice best for your needs.
Here’s what to consider before making your final decision…
Which Vegetarian Diet Are You Looking To Follow?
As mentioned above, there are multiple variations of the vegetarian diet. Depending on which you’d prefer to follow, you’ll want to make sure that the meal delivery service you go with has meals that fall within that type of vegetarian diet.
The best way to do this is by contacting customer support but you can also view the menu yourself and browse the ingredient lists before signing up.
Do You Want To Follow A Vegetarian Diet For Every Meal Or Only Some Days?
Some people prefer to follow a vegetarian diet on occasion, rather than all the time. For example, my wife and I practice “meatless mondays” where we don’t eat meat every Monday of the week.
Regardless of whether you’re a full-time vegetarian or not, you want to make sure that the meal delivery service you go with has enough options to support you. For example, while HelloFresh offers plant-based meals, they do not have enough breakfast, lunch, and dinner options to support a week’s worth of vegetarian meals.
How Many Meals Do You Need?
Every meal delivery service has different meal plans whereby you can order different quantities of meals each week. Some only go as low as two servings (meant for couples) whereas others offer single serving meals (for one person households).
As a general rule of thumb, most meal kit meal plans go as low as two servings whereas pre-made meal delivery services offer single serving meal plans. However, be sure to find a meal delivery service that best fits the amount of mouths you need to feed and for what meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner).
Do You Have Any Food Allergies?
One of the great things about meal delivery services is that most give you the ability to narrow down your meal selection by ingredients and allergens such as nuts, shellfish, dairy, and more.
If you do have any allergies, before signing up for any meal delivery service, I would highly recommend reaching out to the customer support of your top picks beforehand. Let them know about your allergies and ask if their meals can accommodate your needs. Some meal delivery services are very allergen friendly (for example, Trifecta and Hungryroot) but others are not (for example, Purple Carrot and Sakara Life).
Do You Want Your Meals Pre-Made Or Would You Like To Make Them?
If you enjoy cooking and have the time to do so, a vegetarian meal kit is the best option. They’ll send you the recipes and ingredients needed to make the meals you select.
On the other hand, if you aren’t the best cook or you’d prefer to spend to less time in the kitchen, you’ll want to look into pre-made vegetarian meal delivery services.
What Is Your Budget?
In my opinion, the most important aspect to consider is budget. There are a lot of different vegetarian meal delivery services out there, each with their own associated costs. These costs can range widely.
For example, Sprinly and Sakara’s meals are both over $16, making them some of the most expensive I’ve ever seen when reviewing meal delivery services.
However, there are some less expensive options, such as Mosaic Foods and Daily Harvest. Both have vegetarian meals around $5.
Our Methodology For Selecting These Vegetarian Meal Delivery Services
All of the vegetarian meal delivery services listed in this article have been vetted personally by me as well as my team. This includes, but is not limited to, purchasing the product, reviewing the service in its entirety, taste tests, and more. You can read more about our review process here.
Below are the specific guidelines we used to evaluate every vegetarian meal delivery service we researched…
- The meal delivery service has to offer a variety of vegetarian meals to choose from.
- The vegetarian meals that are offered have to strictly adhere to a vegetarian diet.
- The ingredients used in all of the meals have to be as high-quality as possible (organic, seasonal produce, etc).
- The meal delivery service or food box must be able to ship to every state and town within the United States.
Have a question about any of the vegetarian meal delivery services listed? Have you tried any of them? Let us know in the comments below!
I think Purple Carrot is the one we are going to go with but I would just like to know if their meals are hard or easy to prepare?
I definitely found Purple Carrot recipes to be a bit more involved than other meal kits we’ve tried in the past. Here’s a video review we made of us cooking tufo dumplings from Purple Carrot. It wasn’t easy but it was definitely fun and interesting to learn how to make them by hand.