Plated VS Purple Carrot Comparison
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Cannot decide between Plated and Purple Carrot? It is definitely a tough choice. Both companies use high-quality ingredients in order to provide you with healthy, delicious food. Luckily, with this comparison, you can find out which one is a better choice for your dietary needs and preferences.
Highlights
Plated offers incredible ordering flexibility, competitive pricing, and one of the richest menus in the meal kit market, with recipes for a vast range of tastes, diets, and cooking skill levels.
- Price Range: $$
- Average Price Per Meal: $9.95
- Shipping Cost: $0 *
- Delivery Area: 48 states
*except on weekly plans under $60
Purple Carrot offers reasonably priced natural, plant-based meal kits designed for fitness enthusiasts, athletes, and vegans who want to eat healthily and cook effortlessly.
- Price Range: $$
- Average Price Per Meal: $10.19
- Shipping Cost: $0
- Delivery Area: 48 states
Compare Features
Best For
Best for semi-experienced home cooks who value variety and want to eat healthily
Menu/Meal Plans
Plated features one menu that changes on a weekly basis.
Recipes/Meal Options
Plated offers 30 new recipes each week, including dinner, brunch, side dish, appetizer, and dessert ideas.
Meal & Recipe Variety
Every week, the Plated menu features fresh meal ideas suitable for omnivore, vegetarian, gluten-free, low-calorie, and low-carb diets. The recipes are inspired by popular world cuisines, such as French, Italian, Indian, Mexican, Chinese, and traditional American cuisine. Most items are quick-prep recipes with hands-on time ranging from 10 to 30 minutes.
Food Quality
Plated does not only offer sustainably sourced meat & seafood and the freshest seasonal produce from the best local farms but also supplies home cooks with rare artisanal spices that give rich flavor and tantalizing aroma to every dish.
Nutritional Value & Portion Size
Plated carefully calculates its portion sizes to satisfy the needs of an average adult, with no leftovers. By thoughtfully combining high-quality ingredients into satisfying meals, the Plated culinary team ensures all meals are rich in nutrients and well-balanced, with plenty of items under 600 calories.
Subscription Flexibility
With Plated, you can change your box's recipes or servings at any time. You can also skip, pause or cancel your order whenever you want. Keep in mind that all changes to your subscription must be made by noon six days before your delivery is due.
Refunds
If you are not satisfied with your delivery or something is missing from your box, you can contact Plated and they may issue a credit to your account.
Best For
Best for vegan home cooks with an active lifestyle
Menu/Meal Plans
Purple Carrot features 2 menus: 2-Serving and 6-Serving
Recipes/Meal Options
The 2-Serving Purple Carrot menu features 8 dinner recipes while the 6-Serving Purple Carrot menu includes 2 dinner ideas per week. With both menus, you can choose from 4 breakfast and lunch add-ons every week.
Meal & Recipe Variety
Purple Carrot offers vegan meals suitable for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Its selection includes both everyday, healthy-eating meals and high-protein dishes. The meals are usually inspired by Moroccan, Chinese, Italian, and Spanish cuisines and include veggie stews, risottos, pastas, quesadillas, and grain bowls. The prep and cook time is 5-45 minutes.
Food Quality
Purple Carrot delivers fresh, nutrient-packed ingredients that are sustainably sourced. All ingredients are of high-quality, chosen in accordance with the season, and completely natural.
Nutritional Value & Portion Size
Purple Carrot meals come in medium-sized portions and contain 500-800 calories on average. They are nutritionally balanced, with the right quantities of healthy fats, lean proteins, and complex carbohydrates.
Subscription Flexibility
With Purple Carrot, you can skip or cancel your order anytime. You must inform the company about any changes to your order by Tuesday night at 11:59 PM EST the week before your next delivery is due.
Refunds
For information about returns and refunds, you must contact Purple Carrot within 7 days of your delivery.
Compare Plans & Pricing
Plated Plans & Pricing
| 2 Servings | ||
|---|---|---|
| Meals per week | Meal kit price | Price per serving |
| 2 | $47.80 (first week: $35.85) | $11.95 |
| 3 | $65.70 (first week: $49.27) | $10.95 |
| 4 | $87.60 (first week: $65.70) | $10.95 |
| 3 servings | ||
| Meals per week | Meal kit price | Price per serving |
| 2 | $59.70 (first week: $44.77) | $9.95 |
| 3 | $80.55 (first week: $60.41) | $8.95 |
| 4 | $107.40 (first week: $80.55) | $8.95 |
| 4 servings | ||
| Meals per week | Meal kit price | Price per serving |
| 2 | $79.60 (first week: $59.70) | $9.95 |
| 3 | $107.40 (first week: $80.55) | $8.95 |
| 4 | $143.20 (first week: $107.40) | $8.95 |
Purple Carrot Plans & Pricing
| Standard 2-Serving Meal Plan | ||
|---|---|---|
| Meals per week | Price per serving | Price per week |
| 3 | $11.99 | $71.94 |
| Standard 6-Serving Meal Plan | ||
| Meals per week | Price per serving | Price per week |
| 2 | $7.99 | $95.88 |
| Extras | ||
| Meal type | Servings per kit | Price per serving |
| Breakfast | 4 | $6.00 | Lunch | 2 | $12.00 |
Suitable For
Meals For Families
Meals For Kids
Meals For Seniors
Meals For One
Meals For Families
Meals For Kids
Meals For Seniors
Meals For One
Compare Meal Options
Vegetarian Meals
Vegan Meals
Paleo Meals
Keto Meals
Low-Carb Meals
Low-Fat Meals
Meals For Diabetics
Gluten-Free Meals
Organic Meals
Weight Loss Meals
Vegetarian Meals
Vegan Meals
Paleo Meals
Keto Meals
Low-Carb Meals
Low-Fat Meals
Meals For Diabetics
Gluten-Free Meals
Organic Meals
Weight Loss Meals
Compare Sample Meals
![Tahini Chicken Schnitzel]()
- Tahini Chicken Schnitzel
![Brie Mac and Cheese]()
- Brie Mac and Cheese
![Farro and Arugula Salad]()
- Farro and Arugula Salad
![Cauliflower Tinga Tacos]()
- Cauliflower Tinga Tacos
![Butter Lettuce Wraps]()
- Butter Lettuce Wraps
![Coconut Ramen]()
- Coconut Ramen
![Coconut Tofu]()
- Coconut Tofu
![Smashed White Bean and Avocado Club]()
- Smashed White Bean and Avocado Club
Compare Extras
A La Carte Menu
Gift Cards
Marketplace
A La Carte Menu
Gift Cards
Marketplace
Compare Ratings
Compare Customer Reviews
- Submitted By D Simon on 09/04/2019I've tried several meal delivery services, and so far Plated is my favorite. The reason? The recipes are far more interesting than Blue Apron, Martha Stewart, EveryPlate, and HomeChef (the other services I've tried). Ingredients are good quality, I've had only a handful of occasions where ingredients were not included, and customer service credited me in each instance without delay. I'm quite satisfied with this company.
- Submitted By Alicia Allaire on 08/30/2019After cooking 1458 recipes, I've cancelled Plated. The Service began with great quality ingredients. Occasionally there would be a leaking vinegar, or sauce. We would provide feedback and often there would be improvements made in packaging. But, for the most part, everything was great! In the past 6 months the quality has deteriorated severely. The produce has been horrible. The spinach in my shipment last week was ROTTEN in 2 days from receipt. This week it was already starting to spoil when I opened the box. Previously we noticed that after providing feedback they would make GOOD changes. Now they're just making cheaper decisions and providing less quality every shipment. We have moved on and cancelled our subscription. Plated, get it together! There is too much competition out there these days to cut SO many corners.
- Submitted By Robin K Holmes on 04/27/2019I just wanted to comment on the reason why I cancelled my weekly subscription box from Plated. I was a brand new customer, very excited to try their products, so I opened an account and set up a weekly delivery and made meal plans for several future weeks. I was so excited to receive my first order...and then it didn't come. I contacted customer service and they apologized and refunded me. I was told that everything was straightened out and I would definitely receive a box the very next week. A few days later I received an email from Plated saying "Yay! we're going to ship your order!" So I shopped light at the grocery store, confident that Plated would send me a box...and then it didn't come. Again. (I had nothing planned for dinner for the next 3 days and had to go out and buy more groceries after working a 12-hr shift.) I contacted customer service and received a refund to my bank account. But really? Two weeks in a row? No delivery, no explantion? Did they even want my business? Why would they not make certain that the order was shipped given the failure of the previous week? It was a very disappointing experience, and I would not recommend their service to anyone else. Plated gave me another refund, and when I told the customer service rep that I felt I should cancel my service if they could not deliver food I was told "We understand, sorry to see you go." No offer of a coupon or any type of customer recovery, just sorry to see me go. Don't bother to order from them, they can't seem to guarantee delivery.
- Submitted By Maria Foster on 01/16/20197 meals in and we love love love Plated! Everything arrived super fresh which is way more than we expected in this age of online frauds and dishonesty. One important thing though, NEVER EXPERIMENT with the recipes! We did it once and it was a disaster. The recipes are laser precise and you have to follow them to a T for good results.
- Submitted By J.S. on 08/16/2019I chose Purple Carrot because I'm very busy with grad school and thought it would be a good alternative to the time-consuming process of shopping. I picked the plan where you get to choose 3 meals, and they even give you options like "Gluten Free" and "High Protein." Just today I got an email saying "Due to demand, your meal has been swapped out for another." They didn't say anything about why I didn't make the cut for the meal I picked while other people did get it, and what it was switched to. Some of the other meals for the week contain ingredients that I am allergic or sensitive to, which is why I didn't choose them. I really don't like how Purple Carrot promises to let you choose the meals you want, but then it does a bait-and-switch: "Just kidding, we're gonna pick for you and we'll probably pick something you're allergic to!" We don't even get to pick an alternative. According to the customer service rep, this happens all the time. I don't think I'll be renewing my subscription at any time soon.
- Submitted By Rhea on 05/03/2019Delicious! The packaging was recyclable and easy to dispose of, and the presentation of the recipes was high-quality and durable (important for those spills). The food was excellent -- in the two weeks I've had it, I'm planning to incorporate 4 of the 6 recipes into my regular rotation.
- Submitted By Dar on 04/16/2019All I can say is I decided to give this a try because a friend had a free box to give away and asked me if I’d like it. I said sure why not. I am not vegan but wow, what delicious creative recipes!!! Most of the meals we’ve tried have been delish!!! My husband and I both have been pleasantly surprised. And wow are they ever filling! I thought that for the most part meat needed to be in a meal to make it complete and filling. My only complaint is that it’s very expensive. Not really worth the cost but it is fun to try new and different things.
- Submitted By Kristina on 04/12/2019They promised that all packaging would be recyclable. It was not. My box arrived in a huge silver plasticine bag (not recyclable) AND although they promised that the "ice packs" contained a substance that is environmentally friendly, OMG! - What a gelatinous GOO !!! I had taken the packs outside on my gravel driveway to melt. Thank God I had a bucket nearby when I went to slit them open. An unctuous liquid started coming out and just sat there in an actual "pile" on the gravel. I threw both packs into the bucket and flushed them down the toilet. Then I had to take Dawn dishwashing liquid to remove the STAIN left by whatever chemical this stuff was. And last, when it came to the vegan selection, it's really limited and not very tasty. Oh, and I agree with the other person that I was so busy minding a boiling pot of beans while working with a blender and keeping an eye on the broiler. Dang - I want meals delivered that are EASY! I had a meltdown.
Winner
Purple Carrot brings you nothing but the freshest seasonal ingredients available and 100% vegan recipes. If you are on a vegan diet or just trying to eat healthily, Purple Carrot can make things simple and do all the grocery shopping and meal planning for you. Read our objective review and learn how Purple Carrot can help you improve your health.