Sun Basket is a meal kit delivery subscription dedicated to good-tasting, clean foods. According to their site, Sun Basket is committed to sustainability, low-impact responsible farming and fishing methods, organically grown produce, and giving back to the community via food banks and other programs. Award-winning San Francisco chef Justine Kelly lends her culinary know-how to developing Sun Basket‘s simple, seasonal recipes, which feature pre-portioned ingredients and signature pre-made sauces and spice blends.
Check out all of our reviews of Meal Delivery Services to see every meal kit subscription box option!
Sun Basket offers two menu options: the Classic Plan (3 “inspired, farm-to-table recipes” for 2 or 4 people per week) for $11.99 per serving, and the Family Plan (2 or 4 “family friendly meals that kids will love” for 4 people per week) at $10.99 per serving. The Family Plan was co-created by Tyler Florence from Food Network!
Within each plan, there are options for vegetarians, paleo eaters, gluten-free diets, and even breakfast-lovers (Classic Plan only). According to the Sun Basket FAQs, these are the options for the Classic Plan, which I’ll be reviewing today:
Chef's Choice: Healthy favorites from our chef. Fresh, seasonal recipes feature top-quality meats and seafood, organic and sustainable produce, and flavorful housemade sauces.
Paleo: More meat & veggies, less carbs. Paleo recipes feature plenty of lean meats and seafood, organic and sustainable produce, and housemade sauces. No gluten, grains, soy, corn, or dairy. (This is the one I subscribe to!)
Gluten-Free: No gluten, just delicious. Gluten-free recipes feature top-quality meats and seafood, organic and sustainable produce, gluten-free grains and pasta, and housemade sauces.
Please note, Sun Basket meals are prepared in a facility that handles wheat, and while the Gluten-Free meal plan follows a gluten-free diet, due to risk of cross-contamination, meals are not suitable for people with severe gluten intolerance.
Lean & Clean: Around 550 calories per serving, loads of flavor. Manage your weight and feel great with delicious meals high in protein and fiber, with no gluten, dairy or added sugars.
Vegan: Organic produce & plant-based protein. Creative meatless recipes with seasonal organic produce, plant-based proteins, and our house-made signature sauces.
Vegetarian: Balanced dinners full of organic veggies. Vibrant, creative recipes starring fresh, organic producer, responsibly sourced dairy, and organic pasture-raised eggs.
Pescatarian: Plant-forward with a healthy dose of seafood. Combine the benefits of a vegetarian diet, rich in seasonal organic produce, with an added dose of wild-caught, sustainably sourced seafood.
Mediterranean: Seasonal produce, lean meats, & healthy grains. Enjoy seasonal produce, lean meat & wild-caught seafood paired alongside whole grains, healthy fats, and fresh herbs.
Regardless of the plan you choose, you can always log into your Sun Basket account and hand-pick what meals you’d like to receive. If you don’t go in and curate things for yourself, Sun Basket will just choose meals for you based on your plan/preferences. Keep in mind that folks with special diets will always have a bit more limited options.
This is a review of the Paleo version of the Classic Plan for 2 people per week ($11.99 per serving).
My Subscription Addiction paid for this box. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
About Sun Basket
The Subscription Box: Sun Basket Classic Paleo Plan
The Cost: $11.99 per meal with free shipping on your first delivery. (That’s $71.94 per week for 2 people or $143.88 per week for 4 people.) After your first week, shipping is $6.99. If you’re serving a family (especially a family with kids), check out their Family Plan for pickier eaters priced at $10.99 per serving.
ACTIVE DEAL: Get $90 off and 4 free gifts on first-time order of $65 or more. No coupon needed - just use this link.
The Products: Farm-to-table-inspired recipes and the pre-portioned, high quality, non-GMO, organic ingredients you need to make them. Some items, such as signature sauces and spice mixes, come pre-prepared for you.
Ships to: AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, KY, MA, MD, ME, MI, NC, NH, NJ, NV, NY, OH, OR, PA, RI, SC, UT, VA, WV, VT, & parts of AK, AL, MI, MS
Sun Basket Paleo Meal Kit May 2018 Review
Inside Sun Basket's weekly brochure is a letter from their co-founder and executive chef, Justine Kelly. It offers a great personal touch and is written for all meal plans—not just Paleo! This week's letter elaborated on Sun Basket's special Mediterranean theme for the month. It pays tribute to both the Mediterranean Diet itself, as well as the regions and traditions that go along with it.
Even more mouth-watering information about the Mediterranean Diet!
Each meal comes bagged separately, with all ingredients organized in their respective brown meal bags. Simply snaggin' a bag from the refrigerator and diving straight into cooking is so very convenient. It's grab-and-go in your very own kitchen.
Shredded Chicken and Sweet Potato Hash with Soft-Cooked Eggs
Calories per serving: 540
Time to prepare according to Sun Basket: 35-50 minutes
Actual time to prepare: 55 minutes
The split second I saw that soft-boiled eggs were a part of this recipe, I knew I had to make it part of this month's meal plan. They're so pretty! I'd never made one before, and I knew Sun Basket would have the digestible instructions to help me do it well.
First up was veggie prep. I like to take my time and do all my veggie peeling, dicing, and chopping first, even though most of Sun Basket's recipes call for quick multitasking while meat cooks, for example. A huge selling point of boxes like Sun Basket is the speediness of each meal, but I think I just get too easily overwhelmed!
Once the sweet potato was peeled and diced, I moved onto the peppers and other veggies.
Bada bing bada boom! All vegetables had to be chopped into equally-sized pieces to allow for even cooking.
Now, for the chicken:
This was easy as can be! (And shockingly it was my first time ever boiling chicken?!) I simply covered the chicken with lightly salted water and brought it to a boil in a medium saucepot. It was fully cooked within about 6 minutes. I then removed it from heat and transferred it to a plate to be shredded.
A few stabs and pulls of my fork, and voila! I really could not get over how easy this meat prepping was.
Next, the eggs! I wish this photo could express how exciting it was to cook these! It was insanely simple, but I'm sure the specific timing (they cooked in boiling water for exactly 5 minutes) was an integral part of their success. I removed them with a slotted spoon and placed them both in ice water to let them cool.
While they cooled, I chopped the garlic and scallions that could come into play shortly after.
Now, for the veggie-sizzlin'. I basically just threw everything into a big pan and let them cook together!
The scallions and garlic were added towards the end, along with what I really think were the stars of the show: thyme and balsamic vinegar. The balsamic gave everything an amazing dark color and flavorful marinade, and it mixed together with the thyme WONDERFULLY.
Picture-perfect! And it tasted incredible. This meal took a lot of work—probably more timely preparation than any other Sun Basket meal I've had before—but it was worth it. It looks like a simple fry-up, yes, but the herbs, balsamic vinegar, and high-quality organic chicken made it taste like a restaurant meal. And that egg! Truly a thing of beauty!
Mediterranean Turkey Meatballs with Red Pepper-Cashew Crema and Wilted Greens
Calories per serving: 550
Time to prepare according to Sun Basket: 30-45 minutes
Actual time to prepare: 45 minutes
Just the picture of this recipe had me salivating. It has such an amazing mix of spices and flavors, I couldn't wait to dive in.
Once again, I took care of all the slicing and dicing first to set myself up for leisurely cooking. Currants were soaked, onions were diced, and the parsley was chopped up.
For the meatball mixture, a whisked egg was mixed up with the soaked currants, meatball spice blend, flaxseed meal, onion, parsley, and Marash chile. (I used all the Marash chile they gave me, 'cause more spice is always better than less.)
I then added the organic ground turkey and mixed just until combined.
I used a tablespoon measure to scoop out an adequate amount of mixture to form 1-inch meatballs—I had just enough for twelve!
Now, to cook 'em up: it took longer than Sun Basket said it would to get all the meatballs completely cooked. I had to turn them a few times to make sure all the sides were browned and no pink, raw meat remained.
Using the same pan the meatballs were cooked in, I added the thinly sliced onion, garlic, and the chard. (And, as always, a hefty sprinkling of salt and pepper!)
The last step of the recipe was to spoon the Sun Basket red pepper-cashew crema sauce over the cooked meatballs. Here was the final plate! It was... magnificent. An EXPLOSION of flavors and spices! The meatballs were perfectly tender, and the flaxseed meal allowed them to hold together well despite the large currants inside them! I sprinkled a lot of lemon juice over the whole plate, which brought out all the right flavors with a lot of bright zest. The chard was also perfectly cooked! I would eat this once a week, I swear.
Lamb Siniya Casserole with Cauliflower and Coconut Tahini
Calories per serving: 770
Time to prepare according to Sun Basket: 40-55 minutes
Actual time to prepare: 50 minutes
This was my least favorite dish of the week, unfortunately. Sun Basket included an insert that let me know they substituted broccoli in place of the originally-intended cauliflower for peak freshness, which was slightly appreciated, but it confused me a bit. They're such different textures! Cauliflower would have created a soft, rice-like effect when cooked, which would have been much more satisfying than broccoli's firmer texture. The cauliflower was very missed.
To start, I quickly diced up the needed herbs and veggies and whipped up the Aleppo chile oil and coconut tahini. Creating the oil was awesome—Aleppo chile powder just soaked into olive oil while I prepared the rest of the meal, essentially creating a spicy oil blend on its own!
I then diced up and de-stemmed the broccoli to get it ready for cooking.
Once the broccoli was thoroughly cooked and slightly softened, I added the chopped onions, parsley, seven-spice blend, tomato paste, and lamb.
Once the lamb was slightly browned, but not all the way cooked through, I transferred the mixture to a baking dish.
See how much better the cauliflower would have looked with this mixture?! Alas. I moved onward.
I poured a hefty drizzle of my coconut tahini blend over the mixture and popped it in the oven!
Here was the final result, after a quick drizzling of my Aleppo chile oil. The coconut tahini mixture was mixed with a whisked egg, which allowed it to fluff up and stiffen a bit while cooking, which was cool! It created a hearty top coating, just like shepherd's pie. As for the taste itself, it was just...eh. The seven spice blend was too heavy, so it was really all I could taste—especially the cinnamon. There just wasn't enough wow-factor to this meal, sadly. I think it could have used a lot more lemon and fresh herbs to lighten up the taste a bit.
Verdict: All in all, I was ultimately pleased with this month's Sun Basket. The first two recipes blew me AWAY, and consistently reminded me how much I adore Sun Basket's creative flavor combinations. They really give me a lot of ideas for future meals I can make on my own! While the Lamb Siniya Casserole wasn't a winner, I appreciated trying something unique and traditional to the Middle East.
This week, more than ever, I realized the value of prepping vegetables first rather than in the middle of recipe steps. If you have the extra 10 minutes to spare, cutting out the multitasking factor definitely makes the whole process less stressful!
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? Since Sun Basket menus change weekly and you must choose them ahead of time, you won’t be able to order these dishes unless they are offered again in the future.
Coupon –Get $60 off ($40 off your first order and $20 off your second order) with this link!
Value Breakdown: At $71.94 for this box, you’re paying $11.99 per meal.
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Which has been your favorite Sun Basket recipe so far?
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