For people who prioritize green-minded, organic ingredients, a company that shares their ideals is a major selling point. Here, we’re taking a look at two companies, Green Chef Vs Sun Basket, who both focus on clean, wholesome, and nutritionally optimized meals.
If you search for meal kits that are healthy, organic, and as clean as possible, this comparison should assist in helping you make a decision.
Green Chef
Pros
- Green Chef is the first USDA-certified organic meal kit delivery service
- Satisfying portion sizes
- Meals feature classic but elevated flavors
- Strong commitment to the environment and sustainable farming/fishing practices
- Green Chef works to offset all their carbon emissions
Cons
- You’re limited to about 6 meal choices per plan
- Limited flexibility in choosing plan size
- No ability to mix and match between plan specific menus
Sun Basket
Pros
- Sun Basket offers a wide range of dietary options
- More than 30 dinner options that include a la carte proteins and pasta
- Breakfast, lunch, and snack options available
- Sun Basket only uses antibiotic-free and hormone-free meats and eggs
- Family plan includes meals that are kid-friendly both for taste and preparation
Cons
- Difficult to find current pricing and shipping cost information on their website without signing up for a plan
- Sun Basket has received some not so great reviews for their customer service practice
- Compare to Green Chef, Sun Basket is the less economical option
Dietary Options
Green Chef
Sun Basket
check check check check close check check check check close
Green Chef and Sun Basket share a focus on clean, healthy ingredients. For those following a special dietary protocol, clean ingredients are important but not all meal kit delivery services provide options for special dietary needs.
Green Chef offers 5 different dietary plans for their customers. These include options for Paleo, Keto, Balanced Living, Plant Powered, and a Family Plan that includes a variety of dishes to accommodate a range of tastes and preferences. Green Chef is also certified gluten-free.
Sun Basket also offers meals that are aligned with specific dietary needs. When you sign up with Sun Basket you have the option of choosing Paleo, low-carb, low-calorie, gluten-free, vegetarian, pescatarian, and Mediterannean meal preferences. Sun Basket also offers diabetic and soy-free meal options.
Dietary Options Winner
Both Sun Basket and Green Chef do a good job of providing customers with meals that are well-suited for a range of dietary needs. Sun Basket wins here simply because they offer a few more categories of dietary options.
Meal Prep & Variety
Green Chef
- 6-8 in each plan
- 3 meals for 2 people
Sun Basket
- 20+
- 2 meals for 2 people
Meal delivery kits should add variety and simplicity to your life. You’re sure to find a few favorites that you order every chance you get but you also don’t want to get stuck in a rut with a service that falls short on variety. Both Green Chef and Sun Basket do a good job of keeping things interesting and simple.
Green Chef offers about 6-7 meals in each for each of their 5 plans. Depending on the meals, there may be some overlap between the menus. If you’re ordering two or three meals per week, which is what’s included with Green Chef’s plans, this should be enough variety as long as you or anyone in your home isn’t a truly picky eater.
One thing to note about Green Chef is the number of meals in their plans is predetermined. Their regular plans include three meals for two people and their family plan includes two meals for four people. If you want more than this, you have to order additional boxes.
Sun Basket offers so much variety that it can almost feel a little overwhelming if you’re not following a specific dietary plan. They offer more than 30 meals in a variety of categories. They also offer breakfast options, snacks, and a selection of a la carte proteins and pasta.
Sun Basket and Green Chef are on similar ground with meal prep. Both offer meals that take anywhere from 20-45 minutes to make it from the chopping board to the table.
Meal Variety Winner
Sun Basket wins for their incredible variety of dishes, along with a la carte options that can be used to customize meals. They also offer grab and go options for an easy, quick breakfast or lunch.
Ingredients
Green Chef
- Non-GMO
grass Organic- Grass Fed
- Wild-Caught
Sun Basket
The quality and integrity of ingredients are what Sun Basket and Green Chef are built off. Both focus on clean organic and non-GMO ingredients. It’s interesting to take a look and see how they compare to each other.
Green Chef is the first USDA-certified organic meal kit service. They take their commitment to ethical sourcing and sustainability seriously. They claim that all their proteins come from animals that have been raised with high animal welfare standards.
Sun Basket also has high standards when it comes to choosing and sourcing their ingredients. They only use the best hormone-free and antibiotic-free meats and eggs. They’re also committed to only using wild-caught or sustainably raised seafood.
Ingredients Winner
When two companies are devoted to using sustainable, organic, and environmentally friendly ingredients, it’s hard to choose a clear winner. Considering that Green Chef is the first USDA-certified organic meal kit service, it seems fair to give them the highest marks in this category.
Taste & Sample Meals
Green Chef
- Sweet Chili Chicken Thighs
- Shaves Steak Fajita Salad
- Shrimp With Ginger Lime Aioli
Sun Basket
- Chicken and hummus flatbread “tacos”
- Mediterranean turkey meatballs with red pepper–cashew crema
- Korean chicken japchae with glass noodles and vegetables
Both Sun Basket and Green Chef do an excellent job of making meals look mouth-watering on their website but what matters is how it tastes when it reaches your lips. After all, a meal kit is only a good option when you absolutely love the quality and taste of your meal.
Green Chef offers meals that with a bit of worldly flair and spins on classics. It’s safe to say that you’re probably going to find something that you like on Green Chef’s menu.
To give you an idea of what they offer, the menu of Green Chef’s Balanced Living plan (one of their most diverse) features entrees like Shaved Steak Fajita Salad and Creamy Truffle & Mushroom Linguine. Overall, customers rave about the flavor of Green Chef’s meals.
Sun Basket offers a lot of diversity in their flavor profiles. Their meal kits are great for showing you new ways to use ingredients you might normally have around your house. Think along the lines of sole with red pepper vinaigrette or flatbreads topped with feta and cucumber. Sun Basket’s breakfast and lunch options feature more common, well-liked flavors.
Taste Winner
This category is close to call but we have to give the honor to Green Chef. While a smaller selection of meals is going to mean a bit less diversity in taste, their customers have very positive things to say about the final outcome of their Green Chef meals.
Pricing
Green Chef
MEALS PER WEEK | 2 PEOPLE | 4 PEOPLE | 6 PEOPLE |
2 Meals | N/A | $12.99 | NA |
3 Meals | $13.49 | $12.49 | $11.99 |
4 Meals | $12.99 | $11.99 | $11.99 |
Sun Basket
MEAL | SERVING | COST/SERVING |
Meal Kits | 2 | $11.49 - $24.49 |
Fresh & Ready | 1 | $9.99 - $14.59 |
When you order a meal delivery kit, you’re paying not only for quality but also the convenience. Someone has taken on the work of meal planning, shopping, and even some prep-work so that you can enjoy a healthy delicious meal at home. This is worth a lot but you don’t want to break the bank, so how do Green Chef and Sun Basket stack up in the price department?
The price of a Green Chef meal is dependent on which plan you choose. On average, you’re going to pay about $12 but Green Chef frequently offers discount incentives that significantly reduce the price per meal.
Sun Basket’s price range is similar to Green Chef’s, although you have to dig a little further to find out how much one of their plans will cost. Both companies charge a small flat rate shipping charge per order, although there are times when free shipping is offered.
Pricing Winner
This is another category where Green Chef and Sun Basket are neck and neck but the top spot goes to Green Chef for a couple of reasons. First, they frequently offer nice discounts to reduce your overall costs and they’re more transparent about all related charges on their website.
Packaging & Recycling
Green Chef
Sun Basket
Green Ched and Sun Basket are two companies with a great commitment to providing great meals while minimizing their ecological footprint. It’s impossible to offer the type of service that they do without packaging but how do their packaging standards measure up against their ideals.
Both companies package and ship their meal kits in a similar fashion. Meal kits are packaged to maintain quality and freshness to the fullest extent possible. Contents are well organized, meaning less time spent sorting out all the ingredients before preparing your meal.
Sun Basket’s boxes and packaging materials are 100% recyclable and/or compostable. If you have any questions on how to recycle or even reuse Sun Basket’s packaging materials, they offer a guide on their website.
Green Chef has a similar approach to using as many recyclable materials as possible in their packaging, and they also offer an online guide to recycling their packaging components. Green Chef also goes the extra mile in making an effort to offset 100% of their carbon emissions and plastic packaging.
Packaging Winner
To be fair, this could be a double trophy category but Green Chef goes above and beyond by not only committing to recyclable packaging materials, but they also make an effort to offset the carbon footprint of any plastic packaging they do use.
Customer Service
Green Chef
play_circle Skip a Weekpause_circle Pausestop_circle Cancel
Sun Basket
- Up to 4 weeks
- Online or Phone
Certain customer service details are important when choosing a meal kit delivery service. You want a company to be responsive and provide the type of flexibility that will simplify your life. On most fronts, Green Chef and Sun Basket are similar in how they provide customer service.
Where these two companies stand apart is in their online reviews for customer service. Both Sun Basket and Green Chef take a few hits. A few negative reviews are unavoidable, and you should always look at what the majority of the customers are saying.
When looking at customer reviews, people are overwhelmingly happy with the service provided by Green Chef. The same can’t be said for Sun Basket that has more than a few glaringly negative reviews for their attention to customer service.
Customer Service Winner
We have to take people’s word for it. When comparing customer service reviews for Green Chef and Sun Basket, Green Chef comes out as the clear winner.
Winner
Sun Basket
Green Chef emerges as the winner in the duel of Sun Basket Vs Green Chef but both companies have something great to offer. Green Chef won for their quality, commitment to clean, green nutrition, pricing, and positive customer service standing. Still, there’s plenty to love about Sun Basket.
Choosing a meal kit service can be difficult. Here are a few things to consider before you decide.
Choose Green Chef if you:
- Follow one of today’s popular diets, like Paleo or Keto
- Are using a meal kit service to feed an entire family
- Aren’t too picky about flavors and feel that 6-7 options per week are enough to find meals you’ll love
- Value a commitment to the environment and health
Choose Sun Basket if you:
- Want more diversity and a larger selection of meal options
- Have special dietary needs, such as being diabetic or avoiding gluten or dairy
- Want breakfast and lunch options in addition to just dinner
- Like the idea of ordering meats, fish, and pasta a la carte to enhance your meals