Sun Basket Meal Delivery Review

If you're anything like me, you've been bombarded with meal delivery talk lately.  They seem to be everywhere:  commercials on TV, friends posting their discount links on Facebook...  Have you gotten one of the coupon flyers in the mail, too?  Where they come with a gift card glued on that you feel wrong throwing away?  I've stuck at least a few of those in a kitchen drawer, telling myself I'd eventually check it out or pass on to a friend...

And if you're really like me (as of about a month ago), you still haven't tried out any of the services.  Because what's the big deal anyway?  I kept wondering how good of a deal it was, whether or not the food would spoil as it sat on our porch waiting for us to get home from work, and why I would pay to get low-quality meats and produce that probably wouldn't lend themselves to a grain & dairy free meal anyways.  The Paleo struggle, right?

Well about a month or so ago, I started seeing some of my favorite social media influencers mentioning "Sun Basket" - and my interested peaked.  I did a little research, and noticed that they pride themselves on organic & non-GMO ingredients, with responsibly sourced meats and seafood (right up my alley).  Also noticed that they had gluten-free options (getting closer), vegetarian options (that's cool), and finally:  Paleo options (what!?)

I figured that I couldn't be the only one here in search of a Paleo-friendly meal delivery service, and decided to reach out to the company.  They kindly offered to send me a kit of 3 meals of my choice to serve 2, that I could try out at home and share with you all.  So here I am, with my honest experience & review!

Let's start with some deets...  First, the website:  www.SunBasket.com

How does it work?  

Choose 3 recipes from the week's menu.  Fresh, pre-measured ingredients are delivered weekly for the recipes of your choice, with step-by-step instructions.


What's the cost?  

• Classic Menu ($11.49 per serving) + $5.99 shipping
• Family Menu ($9.99 per serving) + $5.99 shipping

(Here's my link for 3 Free Meals with your first purchase!)

Is this a lifetime commitment?  

Nope!  You can skip a week (before the weekly cutoff date) or cancel at anytime.


Do they deliver everywhere?

Unfortunately, not yet - but they are constantly expanding!  The folks at Sun Basket are big on local ingredients, which means they would need access to local farms in your area to source ingredients.  Currently, they ship to most zip codes in the United States, excluding AK, HI, KS, MN, MT, ND, NE, & SK.

Now, a quick run-down on my experience...

Everything you need for all 3 recipes arrives in one big, insulated box.  This baby sat on my porch until I arrived home to bring it inside.  And everything was still perfectly fresh and super cold.  The packaging is legit, but is also eco-friendly & recyclable: a plus!

There's a pretty recipe card for each meal, which you could keep if you plan on recreating a dish in the future!

The three meals we chose were:  

Lamb Merguez Patties with Roasted Carrot Salad

Thai Steak Panang Curry with Jasmine Rice

Cajun Blackened Sole with Cauliflower Dirty "Rice"

While the Thai Curry was not labeled as a Paleo option, we gave that one a try!  Dathan eats grains occasionally to bulk up his meals, so he ate the rice.  The rest of the dish was grain & dairy free, though- so perfect for me!  I thought this was a good choice because it fit us both (and would be great if you feed grains to your kids!)

The recipe I chose to feature was the "Cajun Blackened Sole with Cauliflower Dirty 'Rice'".  My favorite part of this dish was actually a "mishap" that I thought you guys would appreciate hearing about.  

While the recipe was based on a cauliflower rice, I noticed immediately upon unboxing that there was no cauliflower in my box.  Instead, they included riced broccoli (had never tried before) with a note stating that their local farmer supplying cauliflower was experiencing a shortage, so they made an ingredient substitution to stay within their quality standards.  I totally appreciated that!

Each of the ingredients came pre-measured, with most already prepped (only the mushroom & lemon needed knife work).  They came together easily with simple methods that most any home cook could manage, but yielded amazing flavor with fun, bold spices and ingredients (black garlic?!  who knew).

One thing I get a little Type-A about is knowing EXACTLY what's in my food.  I read all my labels.  So it bothered me a bit that I didn't know just what was in the spice blends or dressings (from the lamb salad).  However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the detailed ingredient lists are available on the Sun Basket website.  Love that!

Another issue we often run into is portion size.  I like to eat, so I enjoy a solid adult portion.  Dathan loves to eat, and eats a lot to maintain his activity level, so he generally eats at least twice what I do.  Thankfully, we were fully satisfied by each of the meals, with leftovers from 2 of the 3 we chose!  (The salad was demolished by us in one sitting.)

Overall, I highly recommend this service to anyone who is interested in a meal delivery system.  Know that there will still be cooking to do, but you will save much time in recipe finding, grocery shopping, and prepping ingredients.  I also think this is an excellent way to incorporate new & exciting flavors into your diet, without investing in tons of oddball ingredients that add up.

Every dish we tried was flavorful, fresh, and something I would eat again & again.  And I was left with recipe ideas that I could continue to recreate (I'm looking at you broccoli dirty rice!)

If you're ready to give Sun Basket a try, check out their website through my link to get 3 free meals with your first purchase!

Please note that links I used are affiliate, and while you get a freebie, I will get a small compensation if you do choose to use them.  It does not cost you anything additional, but supports my blog immensely, and makes me happy knowing you get something for free!

If you have any questions about Sun Basket, don't hesitate to comment below or send me an email!  I'd love to answer whatever I can, or point you in the right direction.