Purple Carrot Review 2024: We Tried Purple Carrot Meal Delivery and Here's How It Went

If you’ve ever fancied the idea of having fresh, healthy meal kits arrive on your doorstep, you’ve likely stumbled across at least one Purple Carrot review. Whether you've been wondering how to start eating healthy or how to incorporate more plant-based meals into your diet, Purple Carrot’s fresh meal kit delivery service could be the answer. 

I’ve eaten a meat-free diet for over 13 years and adhered to a vegan diet for the last six years, so it’s safe to say I’ve tried my fair share of vegan foods — some delicious and some not-so-great. Curious to see how a Purple Carrot review compared to other popular options, I was very excited to receive a complimentary box full of meal kits and prepared meals from Purple Carrot! Here’s how my experience went, my honest Purple Carrot review and everything you need to know before giving Purple Carrot a try for yourself. 

 Jump to Section

• What Is Purple Carrot?
• How Does Purple Carrot Work?
• How Much Does Purple Carrot Cost?
• Purple Carrot Meal Delivery Review
• Purple Carrot Benefits
• Purple Carrot May Not Be for You If...
• Is Purple Carrot Worth It?

What Is Purple Carrot?

Purple Carrot is a meal delivery service that offers entirely vegan meal kits, prepared meals, snacks and more. While the service caters to vegan and vegetarian customers, plenty of omnivores, pescatarians and other Purple Carrot reviewers still enjoy having the brand's fresh and healthy plant-based meals delivered right to their doorstep. 

As a brand, Purple Carrot is passionate about providing delicious vegan meals that have a positive impact on people, animals and the environment. With Purple Carrot, there are no expectations to live a perfect vegan lifestyle. As their website states, they just hope to encourage everyday folks to eat more plants. 

One thing to note is that while Purple Carrot allows you to select an overall meal preference, there is not a specific low-calorie option. Purple Carrot isn’t intended as a weight loss diet service, but many Purple Carrot reviews do mention that the delivered meals and meal kits can help you learn to incorporate more plants into your diet, which may support a weight loss journey and boost your physical health overall. 

Is Purple Carrot Vegan?

Yes, Purple Carrot is an entirely vegan meal delivery service. This means that none of the meal kits, prepared meals or Plantry (plant pantry) items will contain meat, fish, eggs, dairy or honey. Everything on offer is entirely made from plant-based ingredients, including rice, lentils, legumes, squash, mushrooms, greens and more. 

If you’re not a vegan or vegetarian, don’t let that discourage you! Plenty of positive Purple Carrot reviews come from omnivores (or even meat lovers) who still rave about Purple Carrot’s delightful meals. In other words, many Purple Carrot reviews claim that you won’t even miss the meat.  

How Does Purple Carrot Work?

Sign Up Online

One aspect that many Purple Carrot reviewers appreciate is the service’s easy sign-up. While customization is nice, some other companies can overcomplicate things by asking too many questions. Purple Carrot’s sign-up is quick and simple, with the ability to select recipes and Plantry items that appeal to you later.

Start your sign-up process by selecting what type of meals you’d like and how much food you want to receive every week. During the sign-up process, Purple Carrot reviewers value that they can choose between prepared single-serving meals or make-it-yourself meal kits with either two or four servings per meal. 

Another great feature is that when choosing a Purple Carrot meal plan, you can decide whether you’d like to receive two, three or four meals per week, depending on your needs and the type of meals chosen. Once you’ve made all of your decisions, add your personal information to complete the signup process. 

Customize Your Account

After creating an account, you can also choose the type of meals you’d prefer from the following options:

• High protein (20+ grams per serving)
• Less prep (easy steps and fewer dishes)
• Gluten-free
• No preference

At this point, you can also choose to add an extra meal, such as an additional breakfast, lunch or dinner kit to your box each week. Purple Carrot reviewers feel that this option is brilliant for households who don’t necessarily need more servings, but want to make each box stretch a little further. 

Purple Carrot Menu Options

Purple Carrot has a rotating weekly menu to ensure only the freshest ingredients arrive in your box. Each week, they will automatically select meals for you, which you can easily view on the “My Dashboard” page of their website. 

Purple Carrot reviewers appreciate that you can either take a chance on their weekly picks (which all look incredible!) or edit your cart each week to select meals that seem the tastiest to you. Ingredients, allergens, nutrition and even the entire recipe with steps can be easily viewed online, so you know exactly what to expect from each meal. 

Options will vary week to week, so some Purple Carrot reviewers may feel disappointed that they can’t receive their favorite meal every week, but it’ll eventually come back into the menu rotation. If you’re traveling or need to skip a box for any reason, you can easily put your deliveries on hold for up to six weeks at the click of a button on your dashboard  — no struggles, no fees and you’ll have your meals delivered again when you’re ready.

Some of Purple Carrot’s yummy meal kit examples include:

• Black pepper tofu with gai lan and brown rice
• Roasted sweet potatoes with spicy frijoles and cumin crema
• Thai vegetable corn chowder with basil and lime
• Roasted broccoli flatbreads with cashew cheese and arugula

Prepared meals include options like:

• Creamy peanut noodles with tofu and edamame
• Pesto nourish bowl with roasted butternut and almond apple pilaf
• Elote-style creamed corn with roasted plantains and mojo verde potatoes

One of the great things discovered while trying the meal kits for this Purple Carrot review is that the service offers breakfast meal kits and handy Plantry items, such as plant-based milk, quick pasta meals, healthy snacks, cookies, candies, juice and more — all vegan! 

How Much Does Purple Carrot Cost?

While most Purple Carrot reviews are very positive, some of them feel that the cost is higher than other options. Purple Carrot’s cost per serving ranges between $11 and $13.25, not including sales tax or delivery fees  — which amount to roughly another $10 per box. The exact price of your servings will depend on the meal type you’ve chosen (meal kits or pre-made), portion sizes and quantity of meals per box. 

The breakdown looks something like this: 

• 4-serving meal kit with three meals per week: $132 per week ($11 per serving)
• 4-serving meal kit with two meals per week: $88 per week ($11 per serving)
• 2-serving meal kit with four meals per week: $106 per week (most popular plan) ($13.25 per serving)
• 2-serving meal kit with three meals per week: $79.50 per week ($13.25 per serving)

Prepared meals are always a single serving, so their cost breakdown looks like this:

• Six prepared meals per week: $78 ($13 per serving)
• Eight prepared meals per week: $104 ($13 per serving)
• 10 prepared meals per week: $130 ($13 per serving)

Do note that Purple Carrot frequently offers great discounts for new sign-up members. Be sure to take advantage of the new member discount if you’re curious about checking them out or writing your own Purple Carrot review.

Purple Carrot Meal Delivery Review

Packaging

Ordering meals via the mail can come with risks, so Purple Carrot meal delivery reviews can be mixed, although my experience was pretty good. As soon as my Purple Carrot review box shipped out on a Monday, it was available for tracking through UPS. My Purple Carrot shipment arrived on time on Wednesday right to my front porch, and the box looked to be in perfect condition. Just judging a box by its cover already, Purple Carrot’s logo on the side of the box is a charming color that made me feel excited to see what was inside. 

One aspect that many Purple Carrot reviews (as well as other meal service reviews) note is the sustainability of the packaging. Luckily, Purple Carrot’s packing is quite environmentally friendly. The cardboard box and ClimaCell insulating material are all recyclable. The ice packs themselves can even be cut open and used to hydrate your houseplants after they thaw. 

Other than the shipment packaging, however, Purple Carrot reviewers feel that there are a lot of single-use plastics contained in each meal kit order. In some ways, this is simply the nature of the beast and happens with any meal delivery service. Still, I and many other Purple Carrot reviewers would love to see this company make more efforts towards 100% reusable, recyclable or compostable packaging.

After unpacking everything and laying it out on the table, here’s what we discovered inside our box:

• Three pre-portioned and bagged meal kits.
• Two premade microwavable meals. 
• Fresh produce: Arugula, teen spinach, portobello mushroom caps and garlic.
• A Purple Carrot recipe booklet.

Freshness and Quality

How fresh were the items in this Purple Carrot meal delivery review? Items on the top of the Purple Carrot review box were only slightly cooler than room temperature upon arrival. This seemed a little warm for the fresh produce like portobello mushrooms and spinach leaves, but they still looked to be fine and firm. 

As I unpacked further down into the Purple Carrot review box, the rest of the items were definitely still cold, and the two large ice packs at the bottom of the box were a little slushy, but still frozen. All in all, I could see where shipping delays or hot summer weather might be concerning for some, but everything in my Purple Carrot review box looked cold and delicious.

Additionally, because Purple Carrot’s meals are always vegan, subscribers can feel more at ease about the food safety of their meal kit, as opposed to meal kits with high-risk items, such as raw meat or dairy. As I was preparing each meal throughout the week, I took special note of the quality and freshness of any raw produce used in the recipes. 

My Purple Carrot Recipes

The recipes I received in my Purple Carrot review box included: 

• Stuffed portobello mushrooms with roasted red peppers and tzatziki
• Tofu sloppy joes with charred shishito peppers and ranch
• Crispy butternut squash dumplings with hazelnut sesame butter and apple arugula salad
• Pesto portobello tortellini with tofu ricotta and broccoli (single-serve)
• Cauliflower palak with curried chickpeas and carrot biryani (single-serve)

Some recipes were a bit more time-consuming (and dish-dirtying) than others. However, my and many other Purple Carrot reviews will note how Purple Carrot does more than just toss some vegetables on a plate and call it vegan. Instead, they take extra care to ensure that each meal is unique, flavorful and fun to make.

Meal One: Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms With Roasted Red Peppers and Tzatziki

I chose to make this recipe first because I wanted to ensure that I used the mushrooms before they could spoil. When I first unpacked them from the Purple Carrot review box, the mushrooms seemed a little warm for my liking, but after taking a closer look, they were perfectly firm and fresh, not slimy at all! It’s tricky enough to find fresh mushrooms at my local grocery, so for a Purple Carrot meal delivery review, I was already impressed. 

The bulgar wheat was a little tricky to cook correctly, and the recipe in general seemed like a lot of effort for something that wasn’t very photogenic. I think it could’ve been simplified into a bowl or salad, but the results were still good. The bulgar wheat had a comforting, hearty texture, the stuffed mushroom cap turned out very tender, and the breadcrumbs added a nice toasty flavor. This definitely tasted like a healthy and earthy dish, which may not appeal to everyone, but was yummy in my opinion — a good start for the Purple Carrot review still to come.

Meal Two: Pesto Portobello Tortellini With Tofu Ricotta and Broccoli

This was the first of two prepared meals I selected for this Purple Carrot review. I decided to enjoy it as a quick weekday lunch, which was perfect because it only took two minutes to heat in the microwave. Immediately, the tortellini smelled wonderfully fragrant and lemony.

While it wasn’t the most photogenic meal I’ve ever had, it was very tasty; the pasta was tender and fresh and the broccoli was perfectly crunchy, with a little tofu “ricotta” to round out the flavors and add a boost of protein. On the downside, the dish was a little oily and the portion was a bit small, but still a quick and comforting lunch overall, another good sign for my Purple Carrot review as a whole.

Meal Three: Tofu Sloppy Joes With Charred Shishito Peppers and Ranch

By the time Friday night rolled around, I was looking forward to cooking a quick and easy meal for my Purple Carrot review, and these tofu sloppy joes fit the bill perfectly. Making the tofu filling was a breeze, and the charred shishito peppers and oven-warmed buns made me feel a little less lazy about this super casual meal. 

The sloppy joes were so good that even my meat-loving partner approved. However, we both agreed that the tofu filling lacked some flavor and wasn’t very spicy. The pickles and bun were awesome, though, and the sandwich was much better once we added a little of our own barbecue sauce. I would make this meal again but, while still good, it was my least favorite of those tried during this Purple Carrot meals review.

Meal Four: Cauliflower Palak With Curried Chickpeas and Carrot Biryani

I’m a big fan of Indian food, so I was delighted to find this premade meal inside my Purple Carrot review box. Based on appearance alone, this Purple Carrot prepared meals review looked like it was off to a better start than the tortellini, and the portion size was much larger — almost enough for me to split into two meals. 

Like the tortellini, this one heated up in just two minutes, making it a perfect quick and filling lunch. Both parts of the meal tasted excellent! The cauliflower was firm and tender with the right amount of bite, the spices were aromatic and enticing, and the carrot biryani was downright addicting. This meal really tasted like some of my favorite Indian takeout. 

Meal Five: Crispy Butternut Squash Dumplings With Hazelnut Sesame Butter and Apple Arugula Salad

Out of all the meals in the Purple Carrot review box, this one had the longest estimated cooking time, which I still managed to double by the time it was finished. This recipe was awesome for a lazy self-care Sunday, but may not have worked well for a tiresome weeknight. 

Although it was a little time-consuming, the pre-diced butternut squash and pre-made dumpling wraps made this Purple Carrot review recipe quite easy. Stuffing, folding and sealing the dumplings was fun and meditative after a while, and I could see it being a great way to employ little fingers in the kitchen. 

In the end, this labor of love was absolutely worth it — the results tasted like something you’d order at a swanky vegan restaurant. The dumplings were wonderfully crispy and tender with a creamy and comforting squash filling. The arugula salad with vinaigrette cut through the indulgent squash but sweetened the deal with a slice of crisp apple. Even my veggie-phobic partner liked the dumplings. All in all, this was an excellent meal that would definitely impress dinner guests. My favorite meal in the whole Purple Carrot review box! 

Purple Carrot Benefits

Other Purple Carrot reviews are overall rather positive, and I must say, I agree with them. While not every meal was perfect, all of them were enjoyable to make and just as delightful to eat. Clearly, Purple Carrot reviews show that this is a great service for you if you’re vegan or vegetarian. After trying my own Purple Carrot review, I think that even if you’re not vegan, but want to try new things and discover more veggie-forward recipes, this meal kit service is a great value option to test out.

Aside from the fresh recipes, one of the best parts of this Purple Carrot review experience is the time I saved on shopping, meal planning and cooking, plus the valuable cooking skills I learned along the way. Purple Carrot is super generous with its recipe information and the included recipe booklet is a very nice touch.

Where other delivery services just send a soggy print-out or ask you to look online for the recipe, Purple Carrot reviewers love that this company goes the extra mile to include a sturdy and professional-looking booklet, which contains all of the week’s available recipes — not just those that came inside your box. The beautiful photos and easy-to-follow instructions make this recipe book something you’ll want to hold onto and use in the future, even if you end up canceling your subscription.

Purple Carrot May Not Be For You If...

While I and many others have shared great Purple Carrot reviews, I understand that this meal kit service may not be for everyone. For example, if you don’t like vegetables or you have a house full of picky eaters, finding Purple Carrot recipes that work for you could be a challenge. If you’re on a very tight budget or you’re looking for low-waste or zero-waste packaging, Purple Carrot reviewers state that this company may also miss the mark for you. In general, however, I believe this is a great meal kit service for anyone who enjoys eating healthy foods and expanding their culinary horizons. 

Is Purple Carrot Worth It?

At roughly $11-13 per serving, Purple Carrot reviewers aren’t always thrilled by the prices. However, I feel that the quality and flavor I experienced in my Purple Carrot review more than compensate for the few extra bucks each week. This is especially true when some two-serving meals have portions large enough to stretch for three meals or more. 

My Purple Carrot meals review taught me that this is an all-around excellent meal kit service, with fast delivery, high-quality produce, generous portions, thoughtful recipes and good customer service. While I didn’t love every recipe, all of them were good, and I learned some new cooking skills. After this Purple Carrot review experience, I would definitely remake any of these recipes or order from Purple Carrot again.

To conclude my Purple Carrot review, I believe that this service really is setting the bar high compared to other meal kit services. The fresh ingredients and flavorful, easy-to-follow recipes make Purple Carrot a brilliant choice for anyone looking to incorporate more plant-based meals into their weekly routine.

For even more ways to explore your favorite foods, check out other experiences happening on Cozymeal.