The easiest solution to my woes would be hiring a personal chef—but my budget better aligns with a prepared meal delivery service. So when Splendid Spoon offered to send a curated sample box of its offerings, I was excited to give the service a test drive. Little did I know, it would be my answer. They offer box sizes of seven, 14, or 21 meals per week, and unlike some subscription services, you get to pick exactly what you want in each box. You can also boost the nutrition content of your box by adding cold-pressed juices and shot bundles (the ginger kind). Regardless of what items you select, you can expect entirely plant-based offerings made with non-GMO whole foods. They’re also free from common allergens, such as gluten and dairy, making them suitable for a wide range of dietary needs. A perfect option for those trying to make healthy eating more convenient, the hot meals can be thrown together in a matter of minutes, and the premade smoothies can be grabbed from the fridge in seconds. And if you’re not a fan of the microwave, the grain bowls, soups, and dishes can be warmed on the stovetop—it just takes a little finagling to get the meal out of the recyclable container. Splendid Spoon also offers a wide variety of ready-made and freezer-friendly meal options to choose from. You can choose from a range of lunch and dinner options, as well as smoothies and soups. This means you can mix and match to create a meal plan that works for you. When selecting your food, there’s a way to filter out dishes with beets (thank god), cilantro, coconuts, mushrooms, seasoning, soy, tree nuts, and spicy foods, or you can focus on the following dietary needs: higher fiber, higher protein, lower calorie, lower carb, lower fat, lower sodium, lower sugar, and blood-sugar-friendly. For the warm meals, Splendid Spoon offers bowls, soups, stews, noodles, and dishes. Here are some examples: For the bowls and soups, I was worried my lack of microwave would pose a problem, but it was a breeze. I would move the day’s bowl of choice from the freezer to the fridge at breakfast, so it wasn’t a pain to extract from the container at lunch. I warmed the grain bowl up on the stovetop with a little water. For those of you who have a microwave, these containers are all BPA-free and microwave-friendly. The soups and stews really packed a flavor punch, and they felt healthier and more substantial than canned soup. The dishes were my fave, as they most resembled a full meal with different components (a “meat,” veggie, and grain). Of course, there have to be some cons. I found a few of the grain bowls to be a bit boring (more on that below), but I treated those like bases for other things I have in my kitchen. For example, to the Kimchi Fried Quinoa Grain Bowl, I added some of my own kimchi for extra zing and a fried egg (I’m not vegan). Without dressing it up, that meal would’ve been a bit one-dimensional, and those additions took far less time than if I had to prepare a whole meal from scratch. Here are some other meals I tried and my thoughts on them: Although I don’t mind throwing together a smoothie, I was surprised by how nice and convenient it was to have these in my fridge for a midday pick-me-up. The smoothies were all two servings in a bottle, and like most juice beverages, they do have some natural sugars to contend with, so I made sure to only drink half of the smoothie each time. They were super tasty though. Here are the smoothies I tried: The smoothies, for the most part, had the same ingredients I would’ve used (with the exception of coconut nectar), and the bowls had fairly simple ingredients. The only downside I can find with the ingredients is the occasional processed seed oil (canola and sunflower oil, specifically), but that could easily be avoided in your selection process. In fact, it would be nice if they had an option to avoid those oils on their selection dashboard. If you’re concerned about plastic, some of the competitors in the space that also offer single-serve portions similar to Splendid Spoon take a different approach, opting for cardboard packaging or another biodegradable material. If you’re trying to eat more plant-forward, this is a great entry point as they do delicious vegan spins on classic meat dishes (meatballs & marinara, shepherd’s pie, etc). Even if that’s not a priority for you right now, Splendid Spoon is a fantastic low-lift way to eat healthier. Plus, you get to pick what you eat, and it’s incredibly easy to throw the meals together. This is also great for folks looking for variety, as you can get a combo of warm dishes, smoothies, and juices. Who should skip it? If you like to do some of the prep for your meals or if you’re looking for meat options, Splendid Spoon isn’t the service for you.
