Sunbasket vs. Green Chef 2024: Top Organic Option?

Both Sunbasket and Green Chef are USDA-certified organic and eco-friendly. Both services also offer a range of premium entrees that cater to many specialized diets. You might be wondering how to know which is the better option for your needs.

I’ve extensively researched and compared both services, so you can make a better decision. I scanned ingredient lists, compared menus, weighed and measured prices, and put all the knowledge I’ve learned from years in the meal delivery review business to present you with the ultimate winner. This was a hard-fought competition between 2 worthy contenders.

I gave Green Chef the victory thanks to its better customization options and clearer pricing plan. That being said, both services have advantages. I’ve provided a detailed write-up of what both Sunbasket and Green Chef offer, so you can decide which service works best for you.

At a Glance: Who Won Each Category?

Menu Variety: Sunbasket Has Some Great Extras

Both services offer an excellent selection that’ll keep even the most demanding foodies satisfied, though it’s a close call. I ultimately gave Sunbasket the nod thanks to its prepared meals and extras.

Each competitor offers many cuisines, including Asian, Italian, Latin American, and other internationally-inspired recipes. Both menus also feature fun twists on classic American dishes.

You choose a meal plan when you sign up for Green Chef, and the meals in that plan will be at the top of your menu. But you can choose any of the 45+ items on the menu when you order. Among those items are 2 “10 Minute Lunch” entrees if you want to bring something tasty to the office, or are short on time.

Green Chef’s Pork with Cherry BBQ Sauce is a delicious, gluten-free meal. It uses tangy dried cherries to amp up the sweetness and complement the bold ancho chili spices. A wilted kale and cabbage salad with sunflower seeds rounds out this lean pork dish.

Sunbasket also provides a selection of prepared meals that you simply heat and eat. Both companies offer a range of handy add-ons that you can add to your order. These include breakfasts, snacks, and protein portions.

Sample Meals

Let’s take a look at some sample meals from Sunbasket and Green Chef. Searching for meals on Green Chef is easy thanks to its color-coded tagging system. So for example, if you are vegan or veggie, just look out for the green tags. 

Here are some top Green Chef dishes:

• Best gluten-free dish: Monterey Jack Smothered Chicken with Creamy Mushroom Sauce, Roasted Squash & Tomato

• Best quick-cook dish: Italian Shrimp & Creamy "Rice" with Roasted Red Peppers, Almonds & Parmesan, Lemon Vinaigrette

• Best family dish: Pineapple BBQ Flatbreads with Bell Pepper, Spicy Pickled Shallots, Mozzarella, Cheddar

• Best low-calorie dish: Blackened Chicken Bowls with Kale Rice with Tomato, Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Scallion

• Best vegan dish: Maple Butternut Squash Risotto with Lacinato Kale, Toasted Pecans

Finding dishes on Sunbasket is easy thanks to the side navigation bar. You can easily click on Meal Kits or Fresh & Ready to find what you want. Then you can scroll to find exactly what you need.

Here are some top Sunbasket dishes:

• Best gluten-free dish: Latin-Spiced Sole with Warm Carrot Salad and Pumpkin Seed Dukkah

• Best quick-cook dish: Greek Grain Bowl with Lamb Ragout and Lemon Yogurt Sauce

• Best family dish: Meatballs with Mushroom Ragù over Wilted Cabbage

• Best low-calorie dish: Hearty Turkey Soup with Zucchini, Rainbow Chard, and Urfa Chile Oil

• Best vegan dish: Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chili with Avocado

Both companies offer a range of healthy, balanced meals. Plus you can find add-ons like groceries and additional proteins if you want to add a little extra to your meal.

Meal Customization: Green Chef Offers Protein Substitutions

Both services have options for specialized diets, but Green Chef wins this round overall. It lets you add or replace proteins in many of its dishes, which is a feature Sunbasket doesn’t offer. 

Green Chef offers 8 different plans, including a Plant Based menu. Quick & Easy meals are ready in 25 minutes or less, which makes them a great choice for time-strapped chefs.

Green Chef also has Protein Packed, Keto, Mediterranean, and Gluten-Free plans. In addition to being the first USDA-Certified Organic meal delivery service, Green Chef’s gluten-free meals are certified to be safe from cross-contamination.

Sunbasket’s larger menu caters to a few different dietary preferences. For example, it includes Pescatarian, Diabetes-Friendly, and Carb-Conscious plans. If you love seafood, are counting carbs, or need to watch your blood sugar, Sunbasket might be the better choice.

Sunbasket also has better filtering options, letting you easily exclude certain ingredients. Just keep in mind that Sunbasket’s recipes are packed in a facility that handles gluten, milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, and soybeans. If you’re avoiding an ingredient for medical reasons, you should check with your medical practitioner before ordering.

I prefer Green Chef’s stricter adherence to safe food practices. Sunbasket warns that its recipes may not be suited for people with severe allergies or sensitivities because of the risk of cross-contamination.

Ingredient Quality & Nutrition: Green Chef Supports Local Suppliers

Green Chef edges out Sunbasket in terms of ingredient quality and nutrition information. While both meal delivery services prioritize fresh and quality ingredients, Green Chef places a unique emphasis on supporting local suppliers and family farms. 

This commitment means that its menu often showcases seasonal recipes. Though Sunbasket also uses seasonal ingredients, its sourcing leans more towards prominent national farmers, ranchers, and seafood providers, rather than local ones.

Green Chef’s ingredients are naturally free from artificial preservatives. They remain fresh for up to 5 days thanks to its efficient packaging and storage recommendations.

Green Chef stands out with its USDA-certified organic offerings. It was the pioneer meal kit delivery service to receive USDA organic certification. This ensures that you receive organic fresh produce, eggs, and even organic beef and chicken, not to mention their wild-caught seafood options. 

On the other hand, Sunbasket aims to have at least 98% USDA-certified organic produce in its kits. This is a higher percentage, but remember that prices are considerably more. Check the pricing section for more details.

Both services uphold high standards for sourcing proteins. It's worth noting that all of Green Chef’s proteins come from sources that prioritize high animal welfare standards. Sunbasket also provides meats that are responsibly raised without antibiotics or hormones, and its seafood offerings are either wild-caught or sustainably farmed.

Green Chef offers more comprehensive nutrition details. I love that you can book a free 20-minute nutrition coaching session with Green Chef. This allows you to align your meal choices with science-backed advice and customize orders that match your dietary goals. 

Sunbasket’s meals typically have between 400 and 800 calories, boasting at least 10 g of protein and 5 g of fiber, and controlled sodium levels. Yet, Sunbasket's nutritional breakdown isn’t as extensive as Green Chef’s. 

With Green Chef, every recipe comes with easily accessible nutrition details. A simple click reveals a full and comprehensive recipe card detailing all nutritional facts.

Green Chef also provides options for ingredient upgrades. If you're looking for something more luxurious, Green Chef offers around 4 premium meals on its menu every week. This includes top-tier proteins like beef tenderloin and sockeye salmon, costing an extra $6.99 to $9.99 per serving. Sunbasket doesn't currently offer such upgrades.

Ordering, Delivery, Unboxing: Green Chef Offers More Delivery Day Options

Green Chef wins this round thanks to the ability to order up to 24 servings per week (6 meals for 4 people), plus a broader choice of delivery days. However, overall, this was yet another close round.

Both Green Chef and Sunbasket make it easy to subscribe. You enter your information, choose a meal plan, decide how many weekly meals you want, and provide your payment info. Both services offer 2-serving and 4-serving kits, but Green Chef also offers a 6-serving meal plan that’s great for larger households.

Sunbasket’s minimum order is 2 meals for 2 people per week. Green Chef has a higher minimum of 3 meals with 2-servings each. Both Sunbasket and Green Chef allow you to order from the entire menu no matter what meal plan you choose.

Both services have apps that let you take care of any changes on your phone. If you need to change a Sunbasket order, you must do so by Noon PST / 3 pm ET on the Wednesday before your delivery. Green Chef’s cutoff time is 11:59 pm ET, 5 days before your delivery day.

Sunbasket insulates its boxes with recycled paper and reclaimed denim. It also makes its food containers from upcycled sugar cane and even provides a list of suggestions for reusing the packaging after it arrives. (For example, denim insulation plus an empty Sunbasket box can make a great bed for your cat!)

Green Chef doesn’t have as many fun tips, but it’s easy to recycle the packaging. The recycling guide is straightforward, and most of the packaging is easily recyclable. Green Chef also claims to offset 100% of its direct carbon emissions.

Sunbasket delivers 5 days a week, Sunday through Thursday. While most customers can choose their delivery day, your choice of available days may be limited depending on your zip code. Sunbasket delivers to most of the continental US except for Montana, North Dakota, and parts of New Mexico.

Green Chef ships 6 days a week, Monday through Saturday. You can choose which day you want your Green Chef box delivered. (Available days may vary depending on your zip code). Green Chef delivers throughout the continental United States.

Both Green Chef and Sunbasket send never-frozen, fresh recipes. Your meals will need to be refrigerated as soon as you open your box. Both services say that their recipes will stay fresh in the refrigerator for up to 5 days after arrival and that kits containing seafood should be prepared within 3 days.

Many, but not all, Green Chef and Sunbasket recipes can be frozen. You’ll find instructions on their websites as to which meals can be stored in the freezer and how long they’ll remain fresh.

Meal Prep: Sunbasket’s Prepared Meals Take the Win

Sunbasket takes this round thanks to its prepared meals and range of speedy meal kits. If you have to prepare supper on a busy night, Sunbasket gives you more choices.

Green Chef recipes come with premade sauces and pre-chopped vegetables. Most Sunbasket meal kit recipes expect you to chop your own vegetables and prepare your own sauces.

Sunbasket’s Fresh & Ready prepared meals can be ready in 4-6 minutes in the microwave.  While you may have to chop some vegetables when cooking its meal kits, most Sunbasket meals will be ready in 30 minutes or less. Green Chef also states that its meals can be prepared in 30 minutes, although the range on the menu is 20-45 minutes.

Customer Support: Green Chef Has Better Live Chat

Green Chef overall has better customer service, but both companies offer chat support and some other forms of communication. I tested out the live chat on each website to see how easy it was to get in touch with a representative.

I tried out Sunbasket’s live chat support first and experienced a long wait time. Sunbasket offers live chat, phone, and text support from Monday to Friday from 6 am to 8 pm PT, and on weekends from 6 am to 1 pm PT, excluding some public holidays. 

Unfortunately, it took the agent more than 10 minutes to connect with me via chat. Virtually every single other meal delivery service I’ve ever reviewed connected with me in less than 1 minute – so, not a good sign!

I had much better luck with Green Chef’s customer service. It offers live chat support from 9 am to 7 pm EST. Phone support is available from 6 am to 11 pm Monday through Friday, and from 7 am to 7 pm on weekends. 

Green Chef’s agent connected with me in less than 15 seconds, and they answered my question quickly as well. That’s the way it should be in this day and age, to my mind.

Sunbasket and Green Chef have FAQ sections that’ll answer many of your questions. I might give Green Chef a tiny edge because its site has a search function but both FAQ sections do an adequate job of answering questions.

Both services also let you cancel your subscriptions online in your account settings. You’ll be asked why you want to cancel and offered some alternatives in an attempt to keep you subscribed but these are totally optional. The cutoff for canceling a Sunbasket order is 12 pm PT, and for Green Chef it’s 5 days prior to the next delivery.

Pricing: Green Chef’s Pricing Structure Is Simpler

Green Chef scored an unexpected victory here. Sunbasket’s meals start at a very reasonable $4.27 per serving, while Green Chef’s meals begin at $9.99 per serving. As I found, though, this really doesn’t tell the full story.

Sunbasket’s meals are individually priced, while Green Chef has a flat rate. This means that the meals you choose can vary dramatically in price with Sunbasket. I played around with the menus to see how different orders would compare between the services.

Sunbasket’s prices start at $11.49 per serving before applying any discount codes. Only 3 of Sunbasket’s 20 meals were $11.49, but these were vegan and not to my taste. Most of the meals I was interested in came with an upcharge. 

My Sunbasket selections ranged from $12.79 to $17.99 per serving. The Indian-Spiced Chicken and Italian Sausages and Broccoli that I chose were $12.79 per serving, and the Burmese Beef Khow Suey was $15.69 per serving.

Green Chef’s meat-based meals were the same price as its vegan dishes. This is much better for an omnivore like me. It was easier for me to find meals I liked, and it ended up being slightly cheaper than Sunbasket.

Green Chef has up to 5 premium Chef Select entrees each week, but these feel more like a treat than a necessity. They come with upcharges ranging from $6.99 to $9.99 per serving. The other entrees start at $13.49 per serving before discounts.

Overall, Green Chef’s meals feel more worth the price. Sunbasket’s most affordable options weren’t desirable to me, so it can end up being much more expensive. The upside to structuring the menu like this is that plant-based dieters can enjoy more affordable meals with Sunbasket.

Green Chef charges a flat shipping fee of $9.99 per order, while Sunbasket charges $9.99 per box. If you stock up on extras, you might get hit with an extra $9.99 fee if your order can’t fit in 1 box.

Sunbasket vs. Green Chef — Quick Overview

And the Winner Is: Green Chef

Green Chef wins this meal delivery comparison, though Sunbasket remains a contender. This was a tight race compared to the many other comparisons I’ve been responsible for. If you’re looking for a healthy, organic meal delivery service you won’t go wrong with either. 

Green Chef offers more menu customization and a wider range of delivery days, which ultimately gave it the edge. Still, you may find that Sunbasket’s diabetes-friendly menu and microwavable prepared meals make it a better fit.

Sunbasket and Green Chef are both on the pricier end. However, if you're seeking a refined menu composed of organic vegetables and pure proteins, or if you're following a specific diet, you'll discover plenty to appreciate with both companies!

FAQ

What’s better, Sunbasket or Green Chef?

Which is cheaper, Sunbasket or Green Chef?

Sunbasket meals start at $4.27 per serving, while Green Chef meals start at $9.99 per serving. But Sunbasket’s pricing arrangements are more complicated than Green Chef and so you can easily end up spending more on your Sunbasket order.

What’s the difference between HelloFresh and Green Chef?

Green Chef is a subsidiary of HelloFresh that specializes in high-quality organic ingredients and sophisticated recipes with offerings for specialized diets. HelloFresh, Green Chef’s parent company, is a more generalized meal delivery service aimed at a wider audience.