In my Purple Carrot review I deep dive on this vegan meal delivery service and look at taste, pricing, recipes, shipping, packaging & more.
Purple Carrot is a meal delivery service focused on healthy, plant-based meals.
While popular among vegans and vegetarians, Purple Carrot has broad general appeal to the growing number of people who understand the benefits of more vegetables, fruits, legumes, grains, nuts and seeds in their diet.
Purple Carrot offers carefully crafted recipes through a varied menu that changes theme each week.
If you're too busy to cook but want to eat healthy, or lack inspiration in the kitchen this review will give you a solid insight as to what to expect from PC.
Here's an overview of the service, including how it works, the cost, portions, preparation, and my experience with a few of the recipes.
How Does Purple Carrot Work?
Purple Carrot is a plant-based meal kit subscription service that delivers pre-measured ingredients to your door on a weekly basis.
You can select recipes from the website based on your preferences, and you can further narrow down meal choices using filters for high-protein, gluten-free, and easy-to-cook recipes.
The site provides information on preparation time, number of calories, and other nutritional facts too.
You can choose from serving plans for two or four people, and meals are tagged as dinners, while small add-on meals are labeled as breakfast and lunch.
You can also have the option to have recipes pre-selected for you, making each delivery box a surprise.
The box contains labelled ingredients measured to the exact amounts needed for the recipe. All you have to do is throw it together and serve.
A recipe booklet is included in each box, outlining the steps to follow and the utensils required.
Unlike most companies whose box contents need to be unpacked and placed in the fridge immediately, Purple Carrot boxes hold their freshness for up to 72 hours.
The main reason for this is that meal kits delivered by Purple Carrot are purely plant-based (vegan), so therefore less perishable.
Purple Carrot ingredients stays fresh for up to 72 hours. That said, refrigeration is always best.
Where Does Purple Carrot Deliver?
Purple Carrot delivers to most parts of the US except Alaska and Hawaii.
You can check your zip code on the website to find out if your area is included.
Is Purple Carrot Healthy?
A plant-based diet is proven to be good for overall health; capable of reducing the risk of cancer, heart disease and diabetes.
It's these health benefits that drive the Purple Carrot vision. The recipes aren't just delicious but also well-balanced and nutritious.
A typical recipe example.
Is Purple Carrot Organic?
The majority of food items are organic, including the tofu, beans, vegan yogurts, vegan cheeses, nut milks, and tempeh.
It isn't always clear if all produce is organic; however, since the company was acquired by Japan's largest meal kit and organic delivery service, Oisix, it is likely that the majority of items are now organic.
How Much Does Purple Carrot Cost?
The cost for the two-serving meal plan is $11.99, and $9.99 for the four-serving plan.
Per week, the two-serving plan (for 3 dinners) costs $71.94, though with the first purchase discount this works out at $51.94.
On the four-serving plan (for 2 dinners), the cost is $79.92, and $59.92 with the first purchase discount.
If you like, you can opt for 4 dinners per week on the two-serving plan, and 3 dinners per week on the four person plan.
Cooking at home is cheaper, but Purple Carrot is cheaper than eating out 3-4 times a week – that's for sure!
+ Click here to visit Purple Carrot
Are the Purple Carrot Portions Big?
Purple Carrot is impressive when it comes to servings.
To say that each serving in the dinner kit is generous is an understatement. I like big portions and The Carrot doesn't disappoint.
Indeed, two-serving dinners can sometimes be stretched to three servings per meal, depending on how hungry you are!
Examples of Purple Carrot lunches.
How Long a Meal Take to Prepare?
Each recipe gives you information on the preparation time, but allow for 30-45 minutes. Some recipes are made in as quick as 15 minutes. It depends on the menu that week.
The add-on recipes for breakfasts and lunches can be whipped up in 5 to 15 minutes.
Example of Purple Carrot breakfasts.
Are There Any Add-Ons?
Purple Carrot offers small recipes for breakfast, lunch, and snacks for an additional cost, and the menu changes weekly.
Examples of breakfasts are puddings and tofu scrambles, while lunches include salads and poke bowls.
Ready-to-eat snacks such as chocolate chunks, straw-peary, and nut blends are also available depending on the week.
Add-ons are super tempting, but be careful as they can really increase your weekly spend.
Examples of Purple Carrot snacks.
My Purple Carrot Experience
I thought it would be useful to share my personal experience of Purple Carrot.
The recipes do change each week, but this will give you insight as to the type of meals they do, and most importantly how they taste!
Here's a few meals I've had recently.
Vegetable Panang Curry with Jasmine Rice & Cashews
I really enjoy eating Asian foods such as Thai curries and stir frys, so seeing this recipe on the roster tickled my tastebuds.
The rich and creamy texture of the coconut milk poured over the fluffy jasmine rice was heaven.
Add to that the soft-to-bite cashews for some extra protein and I was duly impressed.
My wife is a great cook of Thai food, and this even had her blessing too.
Lemon Miso Pasta with Broccoli & Chile Pepita Parmesan
I have never tried using miso paste in pasta before, and the combination sounded strange at first. But I'm always looking for a new taste sensation and decided to give this a whirl anyway.
The miso paste was a good flavoring for the rotini and adding more red chile flakes to the Parmesan definitely spiced up the dish.
The lemon and nutritional yeast is designed to create the parmesan effect, which is rounded off with garlic and a little salt and pepper.
I added additional lemon juice on the broccoli florets; just for extra bite. I find lemon gives vegetable a nice tang and gives them some moisture.
Thumbs up for this recipe; I never thought that an Italian and Japanese fusion could exist in this way.
Fresh Peach Poke Bowls with Macadamia Nuts & Nori
The peach, nuts, and tamari seriously piqued my interest, and seeing nori in the ingredients was a bonus (getting my iodine fix).
You can't go wrong with a rice dish, and what I loved about this recipe was how easy it was to prepare – it took just 12 minutes.
The nori, tamari, and lime enhanced the flavor of the fruits and nuts, and the rice tempered the slightly tangy taste. This curious blend of sweet and tangy was greatly appreciated by the Mrs and myself.
I'd have never come up with recipes like this on my own. Now I can copy the ideas to cook at home.
Food Quality
The Purple Carrot food quality is superb.
The ingredients look and taste fresh and the attention to recipe design and balance is impressive.
My meal experience has been a great one, thanks to the recipe booklets and how easy it all is to put together.
If you had asked me a few years ago whether I thought meal delivery services could be this good, I'd have said no and stuck to home cooking. It really is incredible how far we have come.
Note that all the condiments needed for the recipes are provided except for salt and pepper.
One thing I'd also like to note is that Purple Carrot is generous when it comes to the garlic; they provided a whole head, even though just a few cloves were needed.
It's great when a company provides unexpected value in this way.
+ Click here to visit Purple Carrot
Taste and Flavor
My results were great and I have enjoyed all my dishes to date. That said, if you deviate from the instructions or start adding in your own ingredients, expect something different – which stands to reason.
Tweak depending on your preferences, but stick to the measured portions and cooking times.
I’m not highly skilled in the kitchen, but just by following the detailed recipe books my meals turned out very tasty.
Purple Carrot Shipping
First-time users get a $20 discount. Shipping is always free.
Note that Purple Carrot selects a fixed day for your delivery because they have to consider your zip code's proximity to the distribution center.
Delivery times will vary depending on your location, and delivery may be made early morning or late evening.
Change, Pause & Cancel
It's really easy to make changes to your orders. If the dishes aren't to your liking then you can skip deliveries, but only up to 10 consecutive weeks.
Skipping deliveries is considered pausing your subscription, and if you plan to skip deliveries for more than 10 weeks you can simply cancel your subscription.
Payment is taken weekly and you won't be charged for any weeks that you skip.
When you pause for a week, you'll be sent an email reminder that your subscription is going to start again.
The deadline for making changes to your orders is 11:59 PM EST – on the Tuesday prior to your next shipment.
If the steps are not followed to cancel or pause your account before this time, you will receive one final delivery.
Customer Service
You can reach the Purple Carrot customer service via phone, chat, or email. Purple Carrot operates on Eastern Time.
FAQs are also available in the help section of the site, which I found pretty comprehensive and easy to follow.
Live chat is available during business hours and generally someone answers after a couple of minutes.
Packaging
Many meal kit services are shifting to mostly-sustainable packaging, and Purple Carrot is no exception.
Each meal kit uses a recyclable cardboard box lined with recycled-cotton insulation. A plastic wrap is used to encase the insulation, along with gel packs to keep the temperature cool.
Plastic bags are used for ingredients, and some small ingredients such as herbs are individually packed in smaller plastic bags.
Vegan yogurts come in screw-top containers made of plastic, which can be reused or recycled.
The plastic wrap and bags may be recyclable in some areas, so it is best to check with your local service if these can be recycled.
Purple Carrot has a recycling page where you can identify the types of material used and recycle accordingly.
Pros & Cons
Positives:
- Healthy food made from fresh ingredients
- Professionally curated recipes
- Fully vegan
- Ingredients labelled and measured
- Recipe booklet instructions provided with every meal
- Large servings – sometime servings can be rolled over into another meal
- Pause or cancel at any time
- Free shipping
- $20 discount for first time orders
Negatives:
- Not as cheap as cooking at home
- No filtering by allergy (allergy info is available under the recipe)
- Packaging not yet fully sustainable
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