Vegan Cooking Doesn’t Get Easier Than These 6 Tasty Meal Boxes

On last count, there were over one million vegans in the UK, a number that has risen steadily with the quality of plant-based cuisine. Vegan restaurants now make up some of the most delicious eats in the capital (and beyond), while the ever-increasing amount of brilliant vegan cookbooks out there means it’s never been easier to make the switch.

Alongside this rise in all things vegan, we’ve also seen the meal box reach ubiquitous levels on our doorsteps and into our kitchens. And there are big benefits in opting for the meal box route that go beyond the ease of it all.

By sending you the exact ingredients in the measurements you need, meal boxes are great for those looking to go zero waste in the kitchen. Specific options will also make sure you keep every meal nutritionally balanced, ensuring you get the macros and micros you need to perform like you on your best day.

The big-hitters in the game all have vegan options ready to go, while other smaller brands are making waves by solely keeping their focus on the fruit and veg. Here we highlight six of the best around.

6 Of The Best Vegan Meal Box Services

Mindful Chef

A fellow B Corp, it’s impossible to have a list of the vegan meal boxes around without including these kings of the genre. With a focus on healthy food made tasty, not all of the Mindful Chef range is vegan, but a large proportion is, with Mindful Chef giving you the option to choose from a rotating roster of weekly recipes to follow.

Proving that healthy and vegan can still be tasty — the spice-laden, Mexican-influenced dishes are highlights — a number of dishes even come with British Heart Foundation approval, while the company itself maintains a sustainable approach at its heart, with carbon neutrality across the supply chain and recycled denim insulation in the boxes to keep your ingredients cool.

Planty

Unlike Mindful Chef, Planty just offers you the meals straight, so you don’t need to spend any added time chopping and dicing. 100 per cent plant-based and prepared by top chefs — head chef, Joe Lovell, used to be at the Michelin-starred Petrus by Gordon Ramsay — Planty excels at the classics, like a scrumptious vegan shepherd’s pie, while also offering the choice of something a whole lot more experimental (banana blossom burrito, anyone?).

Choose between six, eight, and 10 meals with every order, and pop them in the freezer when your delivery arrives.

Gousto

One of the most well-known names in the space, Gousto launched its first vegan range in January 2021. It had offered some vegan meal box recipes before, most notably through a link-up with the nation’s PE teacher Joe Wicks, but this was the first swathe completely dedicated to the plant-based lifestyle. Dubbed ‘Plant Bistro’ the range offers vegan riffs on old classics like tofu ‘fish’ fingers, alongside some tempting and intriguing originals

The ease of the recipes and the price still remain the big drawers for Gousto, and at £2.98 per serving it offers one of the most affordable meal boxes on the market, vegan or not.

Green Chef

Another chef in the lineup, there are a few points on which Green Chef separates itself from the pack. First is the five diet options offered when you start, with the choice of picking from a keto menu, lower carbs, dishes for balanced living, vegetarian, and the all-important, vegan. It is also plastic and carbon neutral, with the brand working alongside small-scale British suppliers showcasing seasonal produce, in turn reducing emissions and leading to even less food waste.

AllPlants

We’re back to the pre-made meals here, and thankfully AllPlants cover the lot. Yep, that’s breakfast, lunch, dinners, heck it even has sides and smoothies galore in its top class, all-vegan meal box offering. The variety of grains and vegetables on offer in every meal are commendable (every main dish has at least two portions of your daily recommended five in it) as are the exotic range of worldly flavours and spices within — the Middle Eastern spice blend Dukka and East Asian radish, Daikon, catching our eyes.

Kurami

For those looking for a more boutique option, look no further than Kurami. All pre-made and ready to go, Kurami are only delivering to certain London postcodes at the moment, but this smaller scale gives the brand an added personal touch, with breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and drinks all offered as well as an emphasis on foods to enhance your gut health.