{"id":605986,"date":"2026-09-04T20:04:17","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T20:04:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/605986\/"},"modified":"2026-09-04T20:04:17","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T20:04:17","slug":"sunbasket-review-the-best-meal-delivery-for-gluten-free-eaters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/605986\/","title":{"rendered":"Sunbasket Review: The Best Meal Delivery for Gluten-Free Eaters"},"content":{"rendered":"

Because I have a few dietary restrictions, I often get stuck in what I call the \u201csafe zone\u201d when it comes to cooking \u2014 I have the tendency to make the same dishes over and over again because I know they align with my gluten-free<\/a>, pescatarian diet. Even when I\u2019m sick of them, I\u2019ll revert back to the handful of recipes I know best, especially because it makes grocery shopping easy. Meal delivery services<\/a> always seem like an ideal solution, but I was discouraged after trying a few and feeling limited by their two or three \u201cspecial diet\u201d options. That is until I tried Sunbasket<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sunbasket develops its dishes for people with dietary restrictions like me \u2014 it has over a dozen gluten-free, paleo, vegan<\/a>, dairy-free and soy-free meal kit options to choose from each week. I tried it for a week and felt empowered to cook with flavors I do not typically gravitate toward, plus I was less stressed about cooking dinner overall. <\/p>\n

Below, learn more about my experience with Sunbasket, including what to know about pricing, delivery schedules and menu options.<\/p>\n

Want more from NBC Selected? Sign up<\/a> for our newsletter, The Selection, and shop smarter.<\/p>\n

What is Sunbasket?<\/a><\/p>\n

Sunbasket is a meal delivery service that caters seasonal-ingredient focused meals to those who follow specific diets like gluten-free, paleo and diabetes friendly. The company offers meal kits and prepared meals<\/a> (which it calls fresh and ready meals), both of which you can add to your weekly delivery. You aren\u2019t tied to hitting a quota for either \u2014 for example, there\u2019s no rule about choosing at least one meal kit per delivery. The meals ship fresh inside a box with ice packs so they stay fresh in transit.<\/p>\n

Meal kits serve two or four people, and come with pre-portioned ingredients, including some organic produce and seasonings, and recipes that walk you through the cooking process.Fresh and ready meals are single-serve prepared dishes you pop in the microwave or oven before eating them.\"Sunbasket\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Sunbasket also somewhat functions as an online grocery store<\/a>. It sells a la carte products like meat, seafood, pre-packaged snacks, soups and bottled smoothies you can add to your order, helping you cross a few items off your grocery list that you might usually shop for at your local market.<\/p>\n

Sunbasket operates on a subscription-based model. It delivers meals weekly and most customers can schedule delivery on any day from Sunday to Thursday, but there may be restrictions based on your zip code. By Wednesdays at 3 p.m. ET, you have to select the meals \u2014 either meal kits, prepared meals and\/or a la carte grocery items \u2014 you want to receive for the upcoming week. <\/p>\n

You also can skip weeks at any time or change your delivery address from one week to the next. For instance, if you want to have meals delivered at your home one week and a family member\u2019s home while you\u2019re there for the holidays, you just have to update your delivery address before the Wednesday deadline. It\u2019s free to cancel your subscription at any point.<\/p>\n

How much does Sunbasket cost?<\/a><\/p>\n

Meal kits start at $11.49 a serving, and fresh and ready meals start at $9.99 per serving, but each one is priced differently. That means instead of paying a flat fee each week, you\u2019re charged based on the individual prices of the meals you choose \u2014 each order has a $45 minumum. Meals with meat or seafood are typically a few dollars more than vegetarian and vegan meals. Shipping is free for your first box, but costs $9.99 per box for subsequent orders. <\/p>\n

How I tried Sunbasket<\/a><\/p>\n

To try Sunbasket, the brand sent me three meals: two meal kits, salmon with pistachio-herb dressing and warm potato salad<\/a> and blackened sole with turmeric cauliflower and artichoke-spinach dip<\/a>, and one fresh and ready meal, sichuan glass noodle bowl with plant-based Impossible beef<\/a>. I tried everything over the course of a week, and cooked the meal kits in my small New York City apartment kitchen. I warmed up the premade meal for dinner in my microwave and since I don\u2019t have a dishwasher<\/a>, I hand-washed all my dinnerware<\/a>, cookware and kitchen utensils by hand.<\/p>\n

I follow a gluten-free, pescatarian diet and chose Sunbasket dishes that align with it. I live alone, usually just cooking for myself, and am confident in the kitchen from my many years of cooking experience. I typically meal prep<\/a> a low-effort dinner for the work week on Sunday or Monday nights, and cook something a bit more elaborate at least once during the weekend.<\/p>\n

\"Sunbasket\u2019sSunbasket\u2019s meal kits are packed inside brown paper bags, which helps me keep ingredients organized in my refrigerator.Courtesy Zoe MalinMy experience trying Sunbasket<\/a><\/p>\n

From start to finish, or, in other words, from selecting my meals all the way through cooking and actually eating them, my experience trying Sunbasket was seamless. Here are some of my main takeaways from each part of trying the meal kit delivery service.<\/p>\n

Selecting meals<\/a>\"SunbasketSunbasket allowed me to choose from many pescatarian-friendly dishes, including blackened sole with turmeric cauliflower and artichoke-spinach dip.
\nCourtesy Zoe Malin<\/p>\n

The week prior to receiving my Sunbasket shipment, I chose what meals I wanted to receive via the company\u2019s website. As someone with dietary restrictions, I expected this process to take a while. With other meal delivery services, I usually have to scroll through the menu, click on each meal individually and read through its ingredient list to make sure it didn\u2019t include any meat or gluten. This was a straightforward process thanks to the website\u2019s detailed filters. I selected \u201cgluten-free\u201d from a dropdown menu so I only saw meals that matched the specific diet I follow, and I could easily tell which ones had seafood or were vegetarian based on the pictures and names of each dish. I also used the \u201cunder 20 minute\u201d filter to find dishes that don\u2019t take much time to cook, which helped me identify options I could quickly whip up after a work day.<\/p>\n

I browsed through the two dozen-or-so options, and I clicked on ones that looked appealing to get a summary of how many people it serves, how many calories it contains and how long it takes to prepare. All of these details helped me select my meals quickly.<\/p>\n

Delivery<\/a><\/p>\n

My Sunbasket box arrived on a Wednesday afternoon, just as I expected it to. The box was insulated and packed with dry ice, so all the food inside was cold to the touch when I opened it. Meal kits came packed in individual labeled brown paper bags with recipe cards. The bags made Sunbasket\u2019s meal kits easy to store and organize in my refrigerator, and it kept the ingredients for each dish separate so I didn\u2019t mix them up. I appreciated that the seafood for each meal kit was not included inside the bags. Instead, it came packed underneath the bags, closest to the dry ice, keeping it the coldest out of everything in the box. Sunbasked packed my fresh and ready meal separately from the meal kits \u2014 it looked like a prepared meal I\u2019d grab from the grocery store.<\/p>\n

Meal kits<\/a><\/p>\n

Cooking usually feels like a production since it can involve so many steps and pans, including prepwork and cleaning. But Sunbasket\u2019s meal kits made cooking feel hassle-free and doable even after a long day.<\/p>\n

The recipe cards each meal comes with have specific directions for every step of the process, and I found them easy to follow. It felt like they were written for home chefs of all levels \u2014 Sunbasket recipes didn\u2019t use technical language or ask me to do any complex slicing and dicing. There\u2019s also a section of the recipe cards that told me what ingredients I\u2019d need to grab from my pantry (usually just salt<\/a>, pepper and olive oil<\/a>) and what kitchen gadgets<\/a> I should have handy. This served as a checklist for me and I made sure I put everything on my counter prior to cooking so I didn\u2019t have to go searching for it later on. Recipe cards also provide estimated cook times for each dish, which I found to be accurate for both dishes I made.<\/p>\n

\"Sunbasket\u2019sSunbasket\u2019s meal kits come with a recipe card with step-by-step instructions and all the ingredients I need to cook a dish.Courtesy Zoe Malin<\/p>\n

The ingredients that came in my meal kits were fresh and in great condition. Everything was pre-portioned, so I didn\u2019t have to measure a single ingredient, which was one of my favorite parts of the Sunbasket experience. Not having to use measuring cups or a kitchen scale saved me time and reduced the number of dishes I had to clean afterward. It also meant I could cook with ingredients I love but don\u2019t always want to buy a full container of at the grocery store. For example, the salmon dish I made came with just enough capers for the dish but didn\u2019t leave me with extra that would go to waste. Some of the ingredients I used came pre-prepped, too. The salmon dish, for instance, came with roasted pistachios so I didn\u2019t need to roast them myself. This eliminated a step of the cooking process, saving me a lot of time and making the recipe much simpler. Fresh and ready meals<\/p>\n

Both dishes I cooked were delicious, flavorful and were filling \u2014 each one was portioned for two servings. The particular recipes I chose forced me to use ingredients that aren\u2019t in my regular rotation, like turmeric and artichoke dip, and make foods that aren\u2019t typically top of mind for me, like potato salad. I live alone, so I ate one portion the night I cooked and saved the second portion to eat the next day. The meals I made reheated well, plus not having to cook two days in a row was an added bonus.<\/p>\n

Fresh and ready meals<\/a><\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t know much about Sunbasket\u2019s prepared meals prior to trying the meal delivery service, and they ended up being what I was most surprised by. Their main perk is convenience \u2014 all I needed to do to get dinner on the table was peel off the container\u2019s lid, transfer the prepared food to a bowl and microwave it. My meal was ready in less than five minutes, and knowing that it was waiting for me inside my refrigerator made me less stressed about the evening ahead. I did not dread coming home, standing over a pot for half an hour and then spending double the amount of time cleaning up like I sometimes do.<\/p>\n

\"SunbasketThis gluten-free noodle bowl is one of Sunbasket\u2019s fresh & ready meals, which come fully prepared so you can warm them up in the oven or microwave before eating.Zoe Malin<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a smaller selection of fresh and ready meals for customers to choose from compared to the meal kits, but still plenty of options for those with varying dietary restrictions. I opted for a noodle bowl with Impossible Beef<\/a>, which in the past I\u2019ve felt intimidated to try because I do not know how to cook with it. Since Sunbasket did the cooking for me, it felt more accessible and allowed me to try a food I probably wouldn\u2019t have otherwise.<\/p>\n

My noodle bowl came in what looked like a paper takeout container with a sealed lid. It wasn\u2019t greasy, heavy or oily like some prepared meals can be, and felt better than ordering takeout because its container had a detailed nutrition label on the back, ensuring I knew exactly what ingredients it was made with. The label also directed me to eat the dish within three days; knowing this was helpful so I could plan when to eat it. While I ate the noodles for dinner, I could have easily thrown the container in my lunchbox<\/a> and microwaved it at the office for lunch.<\/p>\n

Who is Sunbasket best for?<\/a><\/p>\n

Based on my experience, Hands down, Sunbasket is best for individuals or two-person households with dietary restrictions. You can easily filter meals by your specific dietary preferences, which makes choosing options quick and easy. Since the dishes are largely centered around seasonal produce, anyone looking for a meal delivery service that has healthy options and hassle-free cooking would benefit from a Sunbasket subscription.<\/p>\n

\"OneOne of Sunbasket’s recent options included salmon with pistachio-herb dressing and a warm potato salad.
\nCourtesy Zoe Malin<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re just feeding yourself, you can go with the single-serve prepared dishes or select meal kits that make two servings so you have leftovers for the next day. If you\u2019re feeding yourself and one other person, the meal kits make enough food for two filling portion sizes. You can double up on meal kits if you need to feed four people instead of two, but that makes your weekly delivery double the price.<\/p>\n

How does Sunbasket compare to competitors?<\/a><\/p>\n

When it comes to cost, Sunbasket pricing can be on the more expensive side compared to competitors like Purple Carrot<\/a>, Blue Apron<\/a> and HelloFresh<\/a>. The price per serving for meal kits is about $11.00 for Purple Carrot, $10.99 for Blue Apron and $9.99 for HelloFresh \u2014 with Sunbasket, the price per serving for meal kits can be anywhere from $11.49 to $24.49. If you\u2019re shopping on a budget, you can be particular about which dishes you choose by paying attention to the price listed under each meal\u2019s name on the menu.<\/p>\n

Why trust NBC Selected?<\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019m a reporter at NBC Selected<\/a> who covers the food and beverage space, including stories on chocolate<\/a>, salt, olive oil, honey<\/a>, nonalcoholic wine<\/a>, nonalcoholic spirits<\/a> and coffee subscriptions<\/a>. For this article, I tried Sunbasket\u2019s meal delivery service for a week. The brand sent me three meals to try.<\/p>\n

Catch up on NBC Selected\u2019s in-depth coverage of tech and tools<\/a>, wellness<\/a> and more, and follow us on Facebook<\/a>, Instagram<\/a>, X<\/a> and TikTok<\/a> to stay up to date.<\/p>\n