There are typically plenty of vegetarian and vegan options available, whether you’re dining out or grocery shopping.There is no exception for meal delivery services: Numerous well-known meal kits and prepared meals provide customizable programs to accommodate the majority of dietary requirements, such as vegetarian, gluten-free, and dairy-free diets. You may avoid running to the grocery store every week by using meal delivery services that provide vegetarian and vegan plans. These services can also give you ready-made meatless meals that are quick to prepare.
These days, there are meal delivery services designed especially for people with more difficult dietary requirements. When you can’t always rely on new restaurants, they can help you find meals you can safely eat, says Lisa Moskovitz, a registered dietitian and CEO of NY Nutrition Group.
If you’re prepared to sign up for a meal delivery plan but are unsure where to begin, I asked recipe developers and dietitians about services they believe are worthwhile and collated their top picks, which include vegetarian and vegan plans. Additionally, I compiled a list of meal delivery providers that I and other NBC Select employees have used and found to be excellent.
GO Ahead and SkipHow did I choose which vegan and vegetarian meal delivery services were the best? Why should I trust NBC Select?
Selected.
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Best overallSunbasket
$undefined$68.00Sunbasket
Learn more
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Best plant-basedPurple Carrot
$79.50$79.50Purple Carrot
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Best budget-friendlyHelloFresh
$undefined$70.93HelloFresh
Learn more
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Best splurgeSakara
$undefined$237.00Sakara
Learn more
How I picked the best vegan and vegetarian meal delivery services
Our experts advise considering the following aspects when looking for a meal delivery service that is suitable for vegetarians or vegans:
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Plant-based plans:
Look for services that offer plant-based or fully vegan meal plans. Many services will offer several vegan and vegetarian options within their weekly menu, and you can update your preferences to automatically show these meals. -
Serving size:
If you re feeding multiple family members who follow a vegetarian or vegan diet, you ll want to consider meal kits with multiple serving sizes (typically ranging from two to eight servings). If you re just feeding yourself, it s probably best to select a single-serve prepared meal. -
Customizability:
Browse services that provide a weekly rotating menu with several vegan and vegetarian options that you can select or swap in. -
Delivery dates and times:
Many services will offer customizable plans to choose which days (and sometimes times) you want to receive your kit. Most will also let you pause plans or skip weeks as needed.
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Best vegan and vegetarian meal delivery services
Our cuisine experts and/or NBC Select editors suggested each of the following meal delivery providers. They all provide vegetarian or vegan services that are entirely plant-based, or they provide plans tailored to one of these lifestyles. I’ve included each service’s beginning pricing, serving size, and number of meals to make browsing easier.
Best overall:
Sunbasket
Sunbasket
- Both meal kits and pre-made
- Nine meal plan options
- Good vegetarian variety
- Additional shipping fee
Sunbasket offers pre-made, non-frozen meals as well as meal kits, though you can freeze some of them to prepare at a later time by following the brand’s cooking guidelines. Zoe Malin, an NBC Select reporter, tested Sunbasket for a week and enjoyed the variety of alternatives for her pescatarian and gluten-free diet. “Typically, I can only consume one or two items from the weekly menu of a meal delivery service. However, she claims that Sunbasket offered an almost overwhelming selection of delectable foods. Malin also adores the service’s prepared meals, which she claims taste just as good as handmade food without requiring any effort.
Depending on whether you eat meat or exclusively follow a plant-based diet, Sunbasket offers a range of options, according to Moskovitz. One of the service s nine meal plans is thevegetarian plan, which comes with a variety of meal kits to choose from that are focused on protein, good fats and fiber, according to the brand. If you don t feel like committing to just one type of plan, Sunbasket lets you mix and match its Fresh & Ready plan with over a dozen meal kits from its weekly rotating menu.
Cost:starting at $12 for meal kits and $10 for the Fresh & Ready meals with an additional $6 for shipping |Serving size:single-serve, 2 or 4 for meal kits |Number of meals:4 to 10 per week
Best for beginners:
Blue Apron
Blue Apron
- Good for beginners
- Single-serve available
- Good variety
- Not for very large families
Depending on the meal plan you choose, Blue Apron offers a variety of weekly menu options. Itsvegetarian planoffers nutritionist-approved recipes made with fruits, vegetables, grains, seeds and more, which can be created with or without dairy products, honey and eggs, according to the brand. The plan serves two people and includes two to five meat-free recipes per week (depending on your plan preferences), most of which you can prepare in 25 to 35 minutes, according to Blue Apron.
Cost:starting at $8 per serving with an additional $10 for shipping |Serving size:2 or 4 |Number of meals:2 to 5 per week
Best budget-friendly:
HelloFresh
HelloFresh
- Budget-friendly
- Ability to swap proteins
- Easy to follow recipes
- Nothing to note at this time
I recently reviewed HelloFreshand it quickly became one of my favorite services I love that the recipes are easy to follow (which, as a non-cook, is key for me) and the meal options are both tasty and varied. HelloFresh offers quick and easy chef-curated recipes, they use fresh, sustainably sourced ingredients and [they] offer vegan and vegetarian options, saysLisa Young, adjunct professor of nutrition at New York University.
The meal kit service has over 30 recipes to choose from each week, and you can customize your plan with protein-specific preferences: beef-free, pork-free, seafood-free and veggie. Though choosing theveggie preferencedoesn t change the weekly rotating menu HelloFresh provides, it does ensure that you automatically receive meat-free meals for that given menu week.
The brand offers 10 veggie meals (including one vegan meal) within its Classic Plan each week vegetarian recipes can also be made vegan by opting to remove certain ingredients like cheese or yogurt, according to the brand. The veggie and vegan meals are labeled under each recipe, so you can see which recipes fit your dietary needs when crafting your menu each week.
Cost:starting at $9 per serving with an additional $11 for shipping |Serving size:2 or 4 |Number of meals:2 to 6 per week
Best health-conscious:
Splendid Spoon
Splendid Spoon
- Choose frequency of meals
- Snacks available
- Healthier
- Additional shipping fee
- Vegan only
Splendid Spoon has more than 50 healthy, ready-made vegan meals and snacks, including smoothies, soups and entrees, that have no meat, dairy or animal byproducts.
I recommend Splendid Spoon for anyone who wants healthy meals in a flash they taste as healthy as they are, which is a downside for some and a bonus for others, saysAriane Resnick,a special diet chef and certified nutritionist. The brand sent me a few options of their smoothies, entrees and soups to try out, and I loved the variety of flavors and how easy they were to prepare. The smoothies, which come in more than a dozen delicious flavors, kept me full throughout the day, so I didn’t find myself binging on unhealthy snacks in the afternoon. The soups were my favorite part of the service: Not only were they delicious, but they also come in fairly large portions, so they were filling and served as a healthy alternative for lunch or dinner.
Your cart will automatically fill with the service s bestsellers, or you can manually swap in your favorites. Splendid Spoon lets you choose how often you want to receive your meals: weekly, biweekly or monthly.
Cost:starting at $10 per meal and $82 for the plan with $13 shipping (free if you order 10 or more meals) |Serving size:single-serve |Number of meals:5 to 20 meals per week
Best all plant-based meals:
Purple Carrot
Purple Carrot
- Plant-based
- Ready-to-serve meals
- Can’t choose delivery day
Purple Carrot has bothprepared mealsandmeal kits, both of which are fully plant-based and vegan. The meals are a perfect mix of familiar and innovative, says Resnick, who adds that, it s an easy way for people to add more plant foods into their diets without having to fully convert to veganism. You can customize the number of prepared dinners you get per week which range from six to 10 frozen meals or choose three or four recipes from its weekly rotating menu for meal kits each week. Depending on where you ship, deliveries are made on Mondays, Tuesdays, or Wednesdays. You can also opt not to have a delivery during any particular week.
Cost:starting at $11 per serving for meal kits and $13 for prepared meals with free shipping |Serving size:2 or 4 servings for meal kits and single-serve for pre-made meals |Number of meals:2 to 4 for meal kits and 6 to 10 for pre-made meals
Best ready-made vegetarian meals:
Factor
Factor
- Quick and easy
- Pre-made meals
- Choice of 5 plans
- Options can be overwhelming
Get $130 off, plus free wellness shots for life with code NBCSELECT130 throughFactor s website.
Factor has a weekly rotating menu of over 27 pre-prepared meals designed by dieticians you can choose the service sVeggie + Veganplan for plant-based recipes that are free of all animal products, including meat, fish, eggs and dairy, according to the service.I tried Factor for a weekand found it quick, convenient and tasty, which is great for busy weekdays when I don’t have time to cook. Young also recommends this service specifically because it caters to a number of diets and dietary needs, including keto, paleo, low-carb, vegetarian and high-protein. You can choose from five plans, ranging from four meals per week up to 18 meals per week.
Cost:starting at $11 per serving with free shipping |Serving size:single-serve |Number of meals:6 to 18 per week
Best splurge:
Sakara
Sakara
- Goal-specific programs
- Multi-day plans
- Plant-based and gluten-free
- Expensive
- Can’t choose delivery day
All of Sakara s ready-made meals are vegan, plant-based and gluten-free, as well as organic and dairy-free, according to the service. Sakara is very popular among my clients because of [its] varied menu, top-quality ingredients and delicious taste, says Moskovitz. Programs include theSignature Nutrition Program, which comes with up to three meals per day and your choice of two, three or five days, and theMetabolism Reset, a one-, four- or eight-week program that sends you a specifically curated menu for up to five days per week. You can choose to do a one-week trial program if you re just getting started, or you can pick a recurring subscription program that automatically renews each week with a set menu of meals that rotates weekly and seasonally.
Cost:starting at $28 per meal with free shipping |Serving size:single-serve |Number of meals:2 to 15 meals per week
Meet our experts
At NBC Select, we work with experts who have specialized knowledge and authority based on relevant training and/or experience. We also take steps to ensure that all expert advice and recommendations are made independently and with no undisclosed financial conflicts of interest.
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Lisa Moskovitz
is a registered dietitian and the CEO ofNY Nutrition Group
. She is the author of The Core 3 Healthy Eating Plan, a program that focuses on simple and sustainable ways to lose weight.
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Ben Leonard
is a chef and educator for companies and brands nationwide, including Sur La Table, Greenpan and more.
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Lisa Young
is an
adjunct professor of nutrition in the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies at New York University.
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Ariane Resnick
is a special diet chef and certified nutritionist. She s also a recipe developer and has written about nutrition, health, wellness and identity for a variety of platforms, including The Kitchn, Livestrong and Simply Recipes. -
Abby K. Cannon
is a dietician and the founder ofAbby s Food Court
, a private nutrition practice that focuses on women s health and eco-friendly lifestyles.
Why trust NBC Select?
I’m anupdates editorat NBC Select who has written about meal delivery services for the past three years. For this article, I spoke to chefs and nutritionists about what to look for in a vegetarian and vegan meal delivery service, and gathered their recommendations for the best ones to try out.
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