The Cumin Club Review 2025: The Taste of India!
Overview
The Cumin Club is a vegetarian meal delivery service with a focus on Indian cuisine. The curated menu is prepared by expert chefs with the goal of bringing authentic flavors to any kitchen. The premade meals simply need to be reheated and are ready to enjoy within 5 minutes. While the service is limited to its particular niche, it offers a convenient way to enjoy quality Indian flavors.
The menu has over 30 vegetarian recipes, including curries, lentils, and rice-based dishes. The Cumin Club caters to a range of dietary preferences, including gluten-free, nut-free, and soy-free. The service makes a point to highlight regional Indian flavors, but long-term subscribers may eventually become bored with the limited menu.
Meals are shelf-stable and come with clear cooking instructions for simple prep. Most items can be microwaved or cooked on the stove, though some call for the use of a pressure cooker. You can filter the menu by spice level, dietary needs, and required equipment, making it easier to choose your meals. Note that some items, like the Simmer Sauces, are intended to be served with a protein of your choice that you’ll have to prepare yourself.
There’s a lot to love about The Cumin Club, from its competitive pricing to its authentic flavors. Shipping is free for larger boxes, and delivery is available throughout the U.S. However, the range of offerings can’t hold a candle to larger services like Factor, which provides prepared meals inspired by Indian cuisine as well as other global flavors.
pros
Cooked by Indian chefs100% vegetarian menuVarious spice levelscons
Some dishes need a pressure cookerNo weekly menu rotationOnly Indian recipesCumin Club Menu: Authentic Indian Food
The menu features a selection of 30+ traditional dishes prepared and cooked by expert Indian chefs from various regions of the country. To make it easier to browse, the menu is split into 7 food categories: Simmer Sauces, Curries, Lentils, Millets and Rice, All Day Eats, One Pot, and Desserts.
All the dishes are 100% vegetarian and include only natural ingredients (no preservatives). This makes The Cumin Club’s recipes a great option for those of you who want to follow the principles of clean eating.
To provide an authentic dining experience that’s difficult to find elsewhere, The Cumin Club uses high-quality ingredients and spices that are specific to each region of India. Additionally, the meals are cooked by authentic Indian chefs who follow traditional recipes. This dedication to authenticity is evident in the depth of flavors and the variety offered.
Meal Options: Plenty of Variety & Dietary Options
The Cumin Club features different authentic recipes from various regions of India. From the spicy flavors of the North to the tangy and savory dishes of the South, the menu is a culinary journey through India's diverse food landscape.
You can choose between 30+ vegetarian recipes cooked by Indian chefs using traditional spices. This ensures you get to explore the true taste of Indian food, which is extremely flavorful. Also, with every new addition to the menu, you have the chance to try new textures and spices.
The menu doesn’t rotate weekly, but I don’t think you’ll have time to get bored. With each delivery, you can choose between curries, lentils, dishes based on millet or rice, and more. Plus, if you have a pressure cooker, you can put it to good use – there are around 5 recipes that need to be cooked with pressure.
The Cumin Club's menu is thoughtfully designed to accommodate your meal planning needs for lunch and dinner throughout the week. Almost all dishes work well for lunch and dinner, and you have around 3 delicious dessert options as well.
I also find the menu is well-equipped to cater to a range of dietary needs, such as vegan, gluten-free, peanuts-, tree nuts- and soy-free. There’s also a good selection of high-protein meals, so almost anyone can enjoy these amazingly flavorful recipes.
Be Adventurous with the Bundles Option
There’s also a Bundles section, where you can select predefined bundles that allow you to try a little bit of everything (5 recipes in every bundle). At the moment of my review, there were 3 options available: Bestsellers Bundle, Vegan Bundle, and Intro to Indian Food Bundle.
Once you've chosen your main dishes, the website conveniently suggests a selection of sides as add-ons, including Chutney, Papad, Rotis, and more, enhancing your dining experience. Additionally, not all dishes are designed to test your spice tolerance. In fact, the menu includes several mild recipes perfect for those with a lower spice threshold or children.
Cumin Club Offers Ready-to-Eat Meals (No Customization)
All the dishes on The Cumin Club menu come almost ready to eat. Usually, you only have to add water according to the instructions on the package. Therefore, it’s easy to see why the company doesn’t offer any customization options when it comes to ingredients.
However, you are free to experiment with your food at home. For instance, even though these meals are 100% vegetarian, no one will stop you from adding the sauteed meat of your choice to the curry. You are also free to add spices, but make sure you taste the original recipe first.
Filters Make It Easier to Find the Food You Want
You can filter the dishes on the menu by level of spiciness, dietary needs, and place of origin. This way, it’s easier and faster to find the recipes you want. Speaking of spiciness, each dish clearly indicates how hot it is underneath the presentation image.
You also have the option to filter based on the equipment you need to prepare the food. For instance, if you don’t own a pressure cooker, you can filter out the One Pot dishes by checking the Does Not Require Instapot/Cooker checkbox under the Equipment filter.
Cumin Club’s Menu at a Glance
Diet | Is The Cumin Club Good For This Diet? |
Vegetarian/Vegan | Yes, all meals are vegetarian, and there are vegan-friendly options |
Gluten-free | Yes, almost all the recipes are gluten-free meals |
Peanut- and tree-nut free | Yes |
Soy-free | Yes |
High-protein | Yes, but the offering is a bit limited |
Clean eating | Yes, these recipes don’t include preservatives |
Flexitarian | Yes, some of the recipes can be combined with meat (at home) |
Unboxing: Shelf-Stable Meals in Sealed Packages
Your meals arrive in a regular cardboard box (curbside recyclable), neatly stacked and individually packed. Unlike Green Chef or HelloFresh meal kits, where you have to keep the ingredients in the fridge until you’re ready to cook them, The Cumin Club meals are shelf-stable. They stay fresh for around 4 weeks in your pantry at room temperature.
Each meal has clear cooking instructions, list of ingredients, nutritional facts, and Best Before date printed on the packaging. You’ll also notice the food doesn’t contain any preservatives and that all the ingredients are natural and easy to recognize. However, I didn’t like that the bags that contain the food are not recyclable.
Cooking With the Cumin Club: No Culinary Skills Required
The Cumin Club delivers meal kits that require minimum preparation before you can enjoy a delicious dish. Unlike traditional meal kit services, you don’t have to prep and cook the ingredients. Most meals only need around 5 minutes from the moment you’ve opened the bag to transform into hot, steamy goodness.
This is due to the revolutionary method The Cumin Club uses to preserve ready-made foods. These meals are freeze-dried to retain all the flavors and nutrients and have a longer shelf-life than foods that are delivered fresh. The Cumin Club co-founder, Ragoth Bala, told us more about this method in an interview with my colleague.
Most recipes need to be mixed with a bit of boiling water and are ready to enjoy. Several recipes require a few extra steps and equipment (like a pressure cooker), but everything is explained clearly on the website and on the food package. Plus, you can see a short how-to video for each recipe if you check The Cumin Club’s blog section.
Shortlist of My Favorite Meals
I like that The Cumin Club features a variety of flavors and meal types, but this makes it difficult to choose favorites. Therefore, for this section, I chose recipes marked as bestsellers on the menu.