Introduction
The Purple Carrot meal kit delivery service is just what vegans, vegetarians, and plant-based lifestyle lovers have asked for – a really good, wholly plant-based meal kit service which doesn’t break the bank or the taste buds. While they only cater to vegans and their weekly offering of meals is slim, it does not really impact the service. With their offering of 2-serving and 6-serving meal plans, plus the exciting TB12 performance meals (yes, you can eat like Tom and Giselle) the choice is simple, however, the quality of the meals each week is excellent and the variety keeps you interested.
Pros
- Simple meal serving plans
- Option to add extras for breakfast and lunch
- Purple Carrot blog has excellent information
- TB12 performance meals collab with NFL Quarterback Tom Brady
Cons
- Limited meal choices each week
- Meals might not all be kid-friendly
Purple Carrot is Perfect For
- Vegans or vegetarians
- People who are gluten-free
- High energy people looking for performance-based meals
- Anyone wanting to eat a plant-based diet but doesn’t have time to plan and prepare
Purple Carrot is Not For
- Anyone that wants more than just plant protein in their meals
- Anyone that prefers more control and choice over the available weekly meals
Bonus Offer
- $20 off your first box with code PURPLE20
Purple Carrot Meal Plan Menu Examples
Although there are a lesser number of meals to choose from each week, you do have the ability to add meals if necessary. For singles or couples, you need not worry, and for families, it is more of a case of how fussy your children are.
This might sound like a big deal but it didn’t have much of an effect on me or my children – and they are both very, very fussy eaters! Each of the meals I prepared had also been well above the standard I expected – in both taste and eatability.
You can get an idea of what to expect from your Purple Carrot meal kit with 5 of my favorite recipes from their meal plans.
Fall Vegetable Ramen with Red Miso Broth & Smoked Nori Spice
Tasty ramen noodles within a bed of hot broth and vegetables, topped with roasted butternut squash, scallion greens, finished with sliced Thai chile and smoked nori spice.
- 30 minutes preparation time
Nutritional Information:
- Calories 580
- Fats 10g
- Carbohydrates 107g
- Protein 20g
General Tso’s Tofu with Quinoa & Steamed Broccoli
Crispy tofu in a sticky ginger garlic sauce and served a bed of quinoa, served with broccoli florets and a sprinkling of sesame seeds.
- 35 minutes preparation time
Nutritional Information:
- Calories 720
- Fats 20g
- Carbohydrates 94g
- Protein 37g
Butternut Squash Gnocchi with Cranberries & Hazelnuts
Fluffy gnocchi tossed with broccoli, butternut squash, dried cranberries and topped with toasted hazelnuts for texture.
- 30 minutes preparation time
Nutritional Information:
- Calories 570
- Fats 18g
- Carbohydrates 95g
- Protein 10g
Pumpkin Walnut Chilli with Avocado & Sour Cream
A warming bowl of chili with pumpkin, kidney beans, walnuts, and fire-roasted tomatoes. Served with a dollop of sour cream and sliced avocado.
- 30 minutes preparation time
Nutritional Information:
- Calories 580
- Fats 25g
- Carbohydrates 63g
- Protein 23g
Crispy Potato Skillet with Snap Pea Slaw and Jalapeno Sour Cream
Smashed potatoes tossed with cooked lentils and marinated snap pea slaw and jalapeno sour cream – served straight from the skillet.
- 35 minutes preparation time
Nutritional Information:
- Calories 610
- Fats 33g
- Carbohydrates 67g
- Protein 16g
What’s Unique About Purple Carrot?
The unique thing about the Purple Carrot meal kit delivery service is that they are offering another option for vegan or plant-based meal lovers in the meal delivery market. While this might not seem like much of a change to the limited offerings that services offer, it does provide customers with an option for competition.
While their vision is about empowering people to eat more plants and take part in improving the environment and sustainability of the world – one plant-based eating lifestyle at a time.
What I loved about their website and service was that it had (to an extent) a science-based approach to the plant-based lifestyles. It wasn’t focused on broadcasting that eating meat is bad and eating plants is great, their website is very informative and shares plenty of information and research about how plant-based lifestyles can improve your health and the impact it has on the world.
What was truly unique about Purple Carrot is that they provide customers with the preference of selecting a variety of different menu types i.e. high protein or easy-to-prepare, which is what helps to select the meals available each week. This keeps the costs down for the customers because they are not needing to prepare and source such an extensive range of ingredients – a big positive in my books!
Taking this a step further, it was really cool to see that they had teamed up with the GOAT (greatest of all time) of the National Football League himself, Tom Brady. Offering a meal plan that aligns with the TB12 method (which you can find more information about the TB12 approach here) for a performance-based meal plan.
While next-level quarterback skills do not come included, the performance-based approach for a plant-based lifestyle is very attractive for just about anyone that lives an active lifestyle, not only for athletes.
In terms of shipping and delivery, it is great to see that shipping is always free, with Purple Carrot delivering to just about everywhere in the United States. When you enter your zip code during the account registration you will find out whether you are outside of the delivery areas.
One last thing by the way, when you get a chance, you have to taste avocado flavored ice-cream.
How to Get Started with Purple Carrot
1. Select your plan
Get started by selecting your plan. There are few options to choose from, with a 2-serving plan ideal for singles and small families, or a 6-serving plan perfect for families or meal preppers.
2. Save preferences
Purple Carrot will automatically include meals that match your preference in your plan each week. You can always customize your box or change your preferences, but you will need to choose from either no preference, high protein, quick & easy, or gluten-free.
3. Register
Enter your shipping address details and payment information prior to confirming that your meal plan summary is correct for your first box. Be sure to take advantage of the introductory offer for $20 off your first box.
4. Customize
Time to customize your meals and include any additions like breakfast or lunch that you may want to add to enjoy your plant-based lifestyle throughout the day!
Meal options & Specialty diets
So, I’ve mentioned that there is less move-around when it comes to the meals each week because they are largely selected for you based on your preferences, however, the smaller plan provides 8 unique options available – whereas the larger plan has just the two. Believe me when I say this is not a problem thanks to the quality of food. Also, their serving sizes seemed a little bigger than other services which made it easier for us to eat as a family of 4 and have a little leftover for a light lunch the next day.
In terms of meal plans, there are two standard meal plans to choose from but all this really affects are serving sizes. You are either cooking up with a 2-serving plan for singles or smaller families, or a 6-serving plan for families or professionals that like to prep meals ahead and freeze.
When it comes to getting meals that you will enjoy suggested for you each week – this is where your preferences come into play. You let the Purple Carrot team know what your preference is from high protein, quick & easy or gluten-free, and this will determine what meals you automatically receive in your box – but you can customize.
How Much Does Purple Carrot Cost?
Very competitive with costs especially considering that vegan and vegetarian meal kit services are generally higher on the costs spectrum. Before we look at the costs though, it is worth noting that shipping is also free for all plans – which is valuable. The 2-serving plan with 3 recipes per week will cost $71.94, which is $11.99 per serving. The 6-serving plan with 2 recipes per week will cost $95.88, which is a low $7.99 per serving.
On top of these standard costs, you have the option to add extra meals which are charged on the same cost-per-serving basis etc.
How Long Do Purple Carrot Meals Last?
The ingredients in your Purple Carrot meals arrive at your door fresh and perfectly portioned, however, for optimal freshness, be sure to prepare your meals within 72 hours as the ingredients will begin to reduce in quality after this time.
What Comes in the Purple Carrot Box?
When your meal kit box arrives at your door, you will receive fresh and pre-portioned ingredients with added easy-to-read recipes and helpful tips and tricks to up your kitchen game, plus this meal delivery service is known for slipping in occasional special offers from other vegan-based brands.
While the delivery kit box offers you a great way to experience new vegan recipes and ingredients each week, the box itself is pretty cool too. Their team takes the recycling process seriously and while there is no perfect system, you can tell they are on it. Break down the box and recycle it without any dramas, the plastics are even-numbered to make it much easier to sort.
When it comes to recycling your Purple Carrot meal kit box just remember that not all community recycling programs accept all recyclables. It is a good idea to check out your state or city website to first learn more about recycling in your area.
Apart from your fresh ingredients, you will also find the recipe cards which show you how to create your tasty Purple Carrot meals. Your Purple Carrot box is completely recyclable too, so it can end up in the curbside recycling.
Check out this genius video with 7 tricks to giving your meal kit box a new life.
Purple Carrot Customer Support
Looking to get in touch with Purple Carrot? If you have a question or feedback, the first place you should head to is their frequently asked questions page to search from over 65 articles covering answers to their popular customer questions.
If you have no luck, get in contact with their team by telephone on 1-857-703-8188 during standard business hours – which are 9 am to 5 pm EST. For those that prefer to reach out by email, contact Purple Carrot customer support at [email protected]. Their team is available through the live chat function on their website, but this is only available during business hours.
Alternatively, consider reaching out on social media at:
Purple Carrot Conclusion
Well, after enjoying a month of Purple Carrot plant-based meals I would like to say that I loved having another month of hardly any food preparation each night, but the real winner was being on a plant-based ‘diet’. I am a lover of animal proteins, however, I found I was never really disappointed to not have meat on the plate.
The meals are excellent in variety and the tastes match how they look. I know that I saved a lot of time not having to stress over what to cook for dinner or get out of the freezer and defrost – honestly I couldn’t have come up with the recipes for the meals we had in our Purple Carrot box if I tried!
It did feel good knowing that we had ordered a meal kit that was quite affordable, but to then cook up a storm and see that after we prepared dinner there were still leftovers to box up was awesome. While I did not get to try as much of the TB12 meals as I had hoped we would (my wife thinks Tom Brady is annoying), I will certainly be putting in another Purple Carrot meal kit order to taste more of their meals and the TB12 performance plan dinners.
