Purple Carrot and Green Chef are two meal delivery services aimed at making healthy eating easy and enjoyable.
Both provide an assortment of simple recipes to choose from and include everything you need to start cooking at home.
However, there are a few factors that set these two services apart.
This article will compare and contrast Purple Carrot and Green Chef to help you decide which one might work for you.
Purple CarrotGreen ChefBasics• Provides plant-based meal kits• 2-Serving and 4-Serving plans available, with 2–4 dinner recipes per week
• Optional add-ons, including breakfasts, lunches, and snacks• Provides organic meal kits
• Several plans available, including Balanced Living, Plant-Powered, and Keto + Paleo
• 2, 4, or 6 servings with 3–4 meals per weekMenu options• Rotating weekly menu
• Low calorie and high protein meals available, as well as recipes without gluten, nuts, or soy• Rotating weekly menu
• Heart-healthy, gluten-free, and vegan options availableCost• 2-Serving Plan: $11.99 per serving
• 4-Serving Plan: $9.99 per serving
• Breakfasts: $4.49 per serving
• Lunches: $8.99 per serving
• Prepared snacks available for an extra fee
• Free shipping for all orders• Keto + Paleo: $12.99 per serving
• Balanced Living: $11.99 per serving
• Plant-Powered: $11.99 per serving
• Shipping costs $8.99 per boxWeight loss• Focused on plant-based meals, which could support weight loss
• Low calorie meals available
• Cooking at home could improve weight control and diet quality• Caters to eating patterns that may promote weight loss
• Encourages eating nutrient-dense whole foods
• Promotes cooking at home, which could support weight lossBenefits• Plant-based diets may improve heart health, brain function, and blood sugar levels
• Lower environmental impact
• Mostly recyclable packaging
• Offers breakfasts, lunches, and snacks• Uses mostly organic ingredients free of GMOs and added steroids, hormones, and antibiotics
• Uses eco-friendly packaging and offsets 100% of carbon emissions from operations
• Keto + Paleo Plan is certified gluten-freeDownsides• Not suitable for certain eating patterns or food allergies
• Limited information on ingredient sourcing
• Some meals may contain conventional ingredients• Relatively expensive
• Additional fee for shipping
• Not suitable for severe food allergies or sensitivities
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Here’s how these two meal delivery services compare at a glance.
Purple Carrot
Purple Carrot is a service that delivers plant-based meal kits directly to your door.
Each week, you can choose from various dinner recipes to create your own custom menu and supplement your order with plant-based breakfasts, lunches, and premade snacks.
You can choose a 2-Serving Plan with 3–4 dinners per week or a 4-Serving Plan with 2–3 dinners per week.
All meals are accompanied by detailed recipes with step-by-step instructions and preportioned ingredients.
Green Chef
Green Chef is an organic meal kit service that provides healthy recipes and premeasured ingredients each week.
You can choose from plans tailored to several diet patterns, including:
- Balanced Living. This plan provides a selection of nutritionally balanced meals that contain meat, seafood, and plant-based proteins.
- Keto + Paleo. This option includes meals high in protein, rich in healthy fats, and low in carbohydrates.
- Plant-Powered. This plan offers a variety of plant-based recipes, including both vegan and vegetarian options.
You can select 3 or 4 meals per week with 2, 4, or 6 servings in each recipe.
Menu options
Here’s a closer look at the menu for each service.
Purple Carrot
Purple Carrot has a rotating weekly menu with an array of meals and snacks to choose from.
Depending on which plan and how many servings you select, Purple Carrot offers 4–8 dinner options each week.
There are also two breakfast and lunch recipes per week, along with an assortment of fully prepared snacks.
Here are a few examples of meals on the menu:
- Smoky Two-Bean Chili with Tortilla Chips & Cilantro Ranch Drizzle
- Vegetable Panang Curry with Jasmine Rice & Cashews
- Blood Orange Chia Pudding with Pumpkin Seeds & Vanilla Yogurt
Items that are low calorie, high protein, and free of nuts, gluten, or soy are marked on the menu, making it easy to navigate if you have food allergies or intolerances or specific dietary preferences.
You can also view the nutritional value, list of ingredients, and preparation instructions for each recipe before ordering.
Green Chef
Green Chef boasts a rotating weekly menu for each meal plan, with each meal featuring a range of healthy, organic ingredients.
Most plans provide around nine recipes to choose from each week, which you can use to build your own menu.
Here are some of the meals Green Chef offers:
- Greek Beef & Feta Patties with Kale, Squash, Artichokes, Red Peppers & Creamy Caper Sauce
- Southern Chicken with Dijonnaise, Cheesy Sautéed Broccoli, and Jasmine Rice with Tomato
- Bulgogi Noodle Bowls with Pad Thai Rice Noodles, Broccoli, Creminis, Red Peppers & Cashews
Items that are heart-healthy, vegan, or gluten-free are marked on the company’s website, allowing you to customize the menu to your dietary needs and goals.
All recipes also include nutritional information as well as details on the ingredients and preparation time required.
Cost and shipping
Here’s how much each service costs.
Purple Carrot
Purple Carrot plans vary in price depending on how many servings you select and whether you select any optional add-ons.
In addition to breakfasts or lunches, you can purchase a variety of plant-based snacks from the menu.
Here’s how much Purple Carrot costs:
- 2-Serving Plan: $11.99 per serving
- 4-Serving Plan: $9.99 per serving
- Breakfasts: $4.49 per serving
- Lunches: $8.99 per serving
Shipping is available throughout the contiguous United States, and delivery is free for both the 2-Serving and 4-Serving plans.
Green Chef
The cost of Green Chef can differ depending on which plan you select.
Here’s the price for each plan:
- Keto + Paleo: $12.99 per serving
- Balanced Living: $11.99 per serving
- Plant-Powered: $11.99 per serving
Delivery costs $8.99, and shipping is available throughout most of the contiguous United States.
Effectiveness for weight loss
Purple Carrot provides a variety of plant-based foods, which may be beneficial for weight loss. Similarly, Green Chef caters to several diet patterns that could help improve body composition.
Purple Carrot
All recipes from Purple Carrot are vegan.
Studies suggest that plant-based diets could be beneficial for weight control and may even decrease body fat (1, 2).
Other research has found that those following a vegan or vegetarian diet are less likely to have overweight or obesity and tend to have a lower body mass index (BMI) than those following a more traditional eating pattern (3, 4).
Purple Carrot also provides several low calorie meals, clearly labeled on its menu, that could help support weight loss.
Furthermore, Purple Carrot promotes eating more healthy meals at home, which could be linked to improved diet quality and reduced body fat (5, 6).
Green Chef
Green Chef makes it easy to add more nutritious whole foods to your diet, which can contribute to weight loss and improve overall health.
Although Green Chef doesn’t offer a specific meal plan for weight loss, it does provide information on the nutritional value for each recipe, including the number of calories in each serving.
Green Chef tailors meals to several eating patterns that have been linked to weight loss, including plant-based, Paleo, ketogenic, and low carb diets (1, 7, 8, 9).
Like Purple Carrot, Green Chef encourages members to enjoy more home-cooked meals and provides portion- and calorie-controlled recipes, which may support weight management and improvements in body composition (5, 6).
Other benefits
Here are some of the other benefits associated with each service.
Purple Carrot
Plant-based diets have been linked to many powerful health benefits and can help support brain function, enhance blood sugar levels, and improve heart health (10, 11).
Switching to a plant-based diet may be a way to decrease your carbon footprint, as studies show that plant-based foods typically have a lower environmental impact (12).
Purple Carrot is also committed to promoting sustainability and uses mostly recyclable packaging.
What’s more, it can be a convenient alternative to other services, as it’s one of the few companies that offers options for breakfast, lunch, and snacks as well as dinner.
Green Chef
Green Chef meals are made with mostly organic ingredients and are free of steroids, growth hormones, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), and antibiotics.
The company also partners with local suppliers whenever possible to source the highest quality ingredients available.
Plus, all the packaging is made from recyclable, reusable, or compostable materials, and the company can offset 100% of carbon emissions from operations.
Green Chef is also one of the few meal delivery services offering options suitable for a gluten-free diet.
In fact, all recipes on its Keto + Paleo plan are grain-free and certified gluten-free. That means they’re safe options for people with celiac disease or non-celiac gluten sensitivity (13, 14, 15).
Downsides
Here are a few of the drawbacks to consider with each service.
Purple Carrot
According to Purple Carrot, although most non-produce items are organic, many recipes do contain conventional ingredients due to sourcing constraints. So, Purple Carrot may not be ideal if you prefer to eat mostly organic foods.
There’s also limited information on where Purple Carrot sources ingredients, which could be a key consideration if you prefer to eat locally grown foods or support local businesses.
Because of the risk of cross contamination, you may need to be cautious when ordering meal kits from Purple Carrot if you have severe food allergies or intolerances.
Additionally, there are very few options suitable for certain diet patterns, such as ketogenic, low carb, or Paleo diets.
Green Chef
Compared with similar services, Green Chef can be relatively pricey, with plans starting at $11.99 per serving.
In addition to each plan’s base price, there’s also a fee for shipping.
Furthermore, although Green Chef does offer certified gluten-free recipes on its Keto + Paleo plan, meals are manufactured in a facility that handles other common food allergens.
Therefore, if you have severe food allergies or sensitivities, you may need to consult with your doctor before using Green Chef.
The bottom line
Purple Carrot and Green Chef are two services designed to help you prepare more healthy, home-cooked meals.
Purple Carrot is focused on plant-based recipes and offers several meals, including various breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snacks.
Green Chef tailors meals to several different dietary restrictions and uses mostly organic produce, which may be preferable for some people.