Daily Harvest vs. Splendid Spoon
Comparing Two Vegan Meal Delivery Subscriptions
Personally, I'm about as non-picky an eater as you'll find. I've tried just about every weird food I've ever come across, and I don't have any dietary restrictions that keep me from eating pretty much whatever's put in front of me. My husband, however, prefers to follow a vegan diet. He does it for ethical reasons and isn't always super strict, but I like to limit my use of animal products whenever I'm cooking meals that we'll share. Sometimes, I have plenty of time to plan out menus, shop for groceries, and prep our meals, but certain weeks are tougher than others. Healthy, vegan meals aren't always easy to rustle up when I'm in a hurry and short on time to run to the grocery store. Sometimes it's helpful to lean on the convenience of meal delivery kits, and Daily Harvest and Splendid Spoon both offer a wide variety of snacks, meals, and smoothies that are all 100% vegan. Today, I'm going to compare these two subscriptions to look at what they have in common and how they're different. Hopefully, by the end, you'll have enough info to see which one is right for you!
Introduction
Daily Harvest has been on my radar for quite a while now. I first started seeing their ads a few years ago, but it wasn't until fairly recently that I realized they offered more than just smoothies. They actually provide everything from smoothies and drinks to flatbreads and ice cream! I'll lay out their full product offerings below. Splendid Spoon has a similar selection, and I thought it might be useful to look at these two companies to see how their smoothies (and more!) compare. I'm going to start by looking at Daily Harvest and Splendid Spoon individually, and then I'll weigh them up side-by-side. Let's dive in!
Daily Harvest
Image from our review.
Daily Harvest is a 100% vegan food subscription service that specializes in healthy snacks and meals that are built around fruits and vegetables. Their menu is stacked with a wide variety of foods, so expect to see superfood smoothies, satisfying soups, and more filling options, like flatbreads. Everything comes pre-portioned and is easy to prepare, which makes clean eating a breeze.
Plans & Pricing
When you sign up for Daily Harvest, you pick how many items you'd like to receive per week (or per month). Items are priced individually, but you'll receive a discount if you order a medium or large box. Here are a few sample orders I put together to showcase pricing for a small, medium, and large box:
Small Box: 9 items with free shipping. Sent weekly.
Medium Box: 14 items with a $10 discount and free shipping. Sent weekly.
Large Box: 24 items with a $20 discount and free shipping. Sent monthly or weekly.
You can fill your box with whatever items you like. (Want all smoothies? No problem.) Items are priced individually, as follows:
- Oat Bowls and Chia Bowls are $5.99 each.
- Smoothies, Soups, Bites, and Lattes are $7.99 each.
- Harvest Bowls, Scoops, and Flatbreads are $8.99 each.
ACTIVE DEAL: Use code ADDICTION40 for up to $40 off your first box
CODE: ADDICTION40
The price of your box will depend on which items you choose, but hopefully, the above sample orders give you a rough idea of how much each size box will cost. For a variety of items, you're looking at around $68.91 for a small box, $102.86 for a medium box, and $171.76 for a large box.
Daily Harvest ships to 95% of the U.S. Check to see if they deliver to you here.
Meal Categories
There are a lot of different types of foods to choose from, and the way they showcase the ingredients is super cool. Here's a look at the different categories:
Smoothies: Packed with fruits & veggies. Just fill the provided cup to the top with your liquid of choice (water, milk, tea, etc.), blend, and enjoy.
Harvest Bowls: Full of beans, greens, veggies, seeds, and the like. Heat up on the stove on in the microwave.
Flatbreads: Made from whole grains and gluten & dairy-free. Just like a frozen pizza, when you're ready to eat you just heat these up in the oven for about 20-25 minutes.
Soups: Made with farm-fresh veggies and lots of unique ingredients to keep things interesting. Soups can be enjoyed chunky (by heating with broth or water), puréed (by blending until smooth with water or broth and then heated), or chilled (simply blended smooth with water and eaten cold).
Oat Bowls: Oats mixed with whole fruits, veggies, and superfoods. To serve, just add your milk of choice and heat up on the stove.
Chia Bowls: I love me a chia bowl and these are just pretty as pie. You can prep them by pouring over your favorite milk and then letting them sit in the fridge for 6+ hours. (Best done the night before so breakfast is waiting the following morning.)
Scoops: This is a creamy, frozen treat (vegan ice cream, essentially) made without fake fillers, gums, or refined sugars. Like everything else on the menu, these are gluten- and dairy-free.
Bites: Superfood balls with a touch of sweetness. They may look like cookie dough, but there's no need to bake these. You can pop them right in your mouth.
Lattes: Daily Harvest's lattes come in a variety of flavors (not just coffee), and offer a pick-me-up that's powered by plants.
The Food
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Everything from Daily Harvest is vegan and gluten-free, and 95% of the ingredients are organic. Everything is prepped, packed, and frozen. (Boxes are shipped cold with lots of dry ice to keep things from thawing.) You can pack your shipments with whatever items you like. You can pick all smoothies, if you want, or go for a mix of everything. There are over 80 different menu items to choose from (25 smoothies alone), spanning breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks.
But is the food any good? Yes! The meals are tasty and the flavor combinations are exciting. It's important to keep in mind though that this isn't your average meal kit subscription. (Read: don't expect large portions of stodgy comfort foods.) These meals are healthy and some items (like the soups) are a little on the light side. This is great, in my opinion, but it's something to keep in mind when ordering. If you plan on cooking up some of these meals for dinner, you may want to supplement with an additional side dish.
If you avoid certain foods or have food allergies, you can filter the available items to see what works for your diet. Here's more info from the Daily Harvest site:
Daily Harvest crafts food and provides plans to seamlessly fit diverse lifestyles, preferences, and needs. We offer a variety of food that fits all types of flavor preferences and dietary needs. To find exactly what fits your dietary preference, visit daily-harvest.com/app/browse and filter based on "Dietary Needs" or "Likes and Dislikes." For example, we offer over 30 items that are nut-free. Please note that all Daily Harvest is made in a facility that processes dairy, nuts, soy, and gluten.
Good to Know
Image from our review.
- There are over 80 different menu items to choose from.
- Choose your box size: small (9 items), medium (14 items), or large (24 items).
- You can fill your box with whichever items you like. (Want all smoothies? No problem!)
- Items cost between $5.99-$8.99 each, shipping is free, and medium and large boxes receive a discount.
- Meals are vegan, gluten-free, GMO-free, and made with 95% organic ingredients.
- Items are shipped frozen and kept cold en route with dry ice.
- Daily Harvest is moving toward 100% recyclable and compostable packaging. Pretty much everything can be recycled. (More specific details are available on the website.)
- You can pause or cancel your subscription online.
- Ships to 95% of the U.S. Check to see if they deliver to you here.
Visit the Daily Harvest directory page and check out our Daily Harvest Reviews to learn more.
Splendid Spoon
Image from our review.
Like Daily Harvest, Splendid Spoon is a healthy meal delivery service that's vegan, gluten-free, and made with non-GMO ingredients. They also specialize in smoothies and other easy to prepare meals. But the messaging is a little different. Splendid Spoon is all about mindful eating and healthy cleansing, so while both subscriptions support a healthy lifestyle, I think Splendid Spoon sits a little bit further in the "health & wellness" category with their focus on detox.
Plans & Pricing
Splendid Spoon offers a variety of different plans that are built around which meals you'd like covered. Let's take a look:
Breakfast: 5 smoothies for $65 per week
Lunch: 5 bowls for $65 per week
Breakfast + Lunch: 5 smoothies & 5 bowls for $95 per week
Breakfast, Lunch + Reset: 5 smoothies, 5 bowls, and 1 full-day reset (4 sippable soups + 1 hearty bowl) for $135 per week
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner + Reset: 5 smoothies, 5 soup & grain bowls, 5 noodles, 5 light soups for $185 per week.
Shipping is included for all plans.
Splendid Spoon ships to the lower 48 U.S. states. (They don't currently ship to Alaska or Hawaii.) Check to see if they deliver to you here.
Meal Categories
Smoothies are the core offering here, but there are a lot of other things available. Let's take a look:
Smoothies: Bottled blends of fruit, veggies, and superfoods that are low on sugar and require zero prep. (Packed with antioxidants and made with everything from cacao and acai to spirulina and dragon fruit.)
Bowls: Veggie-loaded soups and grain bowls. (Expect to see things like Moroccan Lentil, Sweet Potato Quinoa, Chickpea Harissa Tahini, and Tuscan White Bean & Tomato.)
Noodles: Rich & saucy noodles that are plant-based and gluten-free.
Wellness Shots: A quick boost of nutrients that help support immune function.
Resets: Light soups designed to help your digestive system reset itself.
The Food
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Once you sign up for a plan, you'll be able to choose from over 50 different menu items. Everything from Splendid Spoon is plant-based, vegan, gluten-free, and non-GMO. 95% of the smoothies are organic. The boxes are packed up frozen, and everything will arrive either frozen, partially frozen, or chilled.
So what about the food? First of all, everything comes ready-to-eat, so you can't really get more convenient than that. Smoothies are the cornerstore of Splendid Spoon, but there's a lot more on offer. Many of the bowls draw inspiration from global flavors, and fun combinations of superfoods and exotic fruits and veggies abound. One thing to note is that many of the recipes provide a delicious, but light, meal. There's no doubt that this is a subscription offering healthy meal choices; expect fresh meals that won't weigh you down.
If you have allergies, Splendid Spoon allows you to avoid certain ingredients by making them known when you sign up:
We can make substitutions to accommodate allergies. When you first place your order, we ask you to first select from a list of common allergies or avoidances provided. Note that meals on our menus that contain these items (i.e., tree nuts, mushrooms, etc.) will then be flagged. You can then go in and edit your menu and remove these flagged meals. If you do not remove the flagged meals we will substitute for you with an allergen-free meal. If your allergy is not listed, please refer to the flavor profiles of each meal to view the full list of ingredients and nutritional information. Remove and replace meals accordingly to accommodate your restrictions.
And here's a bit more info about how ingredients are processed:
All of our products are gluten-free and vegan, which means that we don’t use any animal products, including eggs or dairy. However, our products are processed in a facility that sometimes handles common allergens including but not limited to: dairy, eggs, fish, peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, peanuts, and soy.
Good to Know
- There are over 50 different menu items to choose from.
- Different plans are available depending on which meals you'd like to receive.
- Individual items cost around $13 each.
- Meals are shipped in recyclable, insulated packaging, so the foods arrive frozen, partially frozen, or chilled.
- You can skip weeks and cancel online.
- Boxes, plastic bottles, and pints are 100% BPA-free and recyclable.
- Bowls are microwave-safe.
- Meals are all vegan, low-sugar, plant-based, and gluten-free. Note any allergies you have upon signing up, and products that contain potential allergens will be flagged in the menu.
- Splendid Spoon ships to the contiguous U.S. (lower 48 states) only
Check out our in-depth Splendid Spoon review here.
How They Compare
Daily Harvest and Splendid Spoon have a lot in common. They both offer smoothies and meals that are plant-based, vegan, and gluten-free, and they'll both make eating clean and healthy a breeze. Still unsure which to go for and need a way to break the tie? Let's take one final look at these boxes side-by-side and compare some hard facts:
Cost
With Daily Harvest, you pick how many items you'd like to receive and how often you'd like to receive them. There are discounts for larger orders, but the base price for items is between $5.99- $8.99.
Prices from Splendid Spoon are higher (depending on your meal plan, items cost between $9-$13), but the portion sizes are also larger. Smoothies, for example, are 16 oz. and two servings each. Daily Harvest smoothies are single-serving and 7 oz. each.
Types of Meals
Daily Harvest offers 80+ items in the following meal categories:
- Smoothies
- Harvest Bowls
- Flatbreads
- Soups
- Oat Bowls
- Chia Bowls
- Scoops
- Bites
- Lattes
Splendid Spoon offers 40+ items across these categories:
- Smoothies
- Bowls: Soups & Grains
- Noodles
- Wellness Shots
- Resets
Ingredients
Nothing to see here but plant-based offerings that are vegan, gluten-free, and non-GMO. Daily Harvest and Splendid Spoon are very similar in this regard.
Convenience
Both Daily Harvest and Splendid Spoon make clean eating super easy, but Splendid Spoon sends smoothies that are pre-blended and ready to go (whereas Daily Harvest smoothies need to be blended up with your liquid of choice). You really can't get more convenient than that.
My Final Verdict
There's no denying that these two subscriptions have a lot in common, and I think they both have a lot to offer to those looking for vegan meals on the quick. It's hard to pick an outright winner, but here are my final thoughts. If you're looking for convenience and appreciate larger portions, I think Splendid Spoon is the way to go. Their smoothies arrive pre-blended so you can grab one on your way out the door, and the soups and bowls are ready in the microwave in about 3 minutes. If you're looking for variety, on the other hand, you'll find more with Daily Harvest. (Personally, I love that I can buy vegan ice cream with my weekly smoothie order, and with over 80 different items to choose from I'm never bored!)
Have you tried Daily Harvest or Splendid Spoon? Hop down to the comments to tell us all about your favorite flavors and recipes!
Want to dive down the meal subscription rabbit hole?
Check out these additional pages to learn about other meal delivery services:
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