The rule of seven says you need to see something around seven times before making a decision to buy it. I’ve seen enough Sakara reviews, influencer videos, and Instagram ads for the plant-based meal delivery service to hit this target at least a hundred times over, so it's safe to say Sakara's marketing team is familiar with this concept. If you’ve ever watched a “clean girl aesthetic” video on TikTok, shopped online for athleisure-adjacent clothing, or so much as browsed the schedule at your local pilates studio, you’ve probably gotten targeted ads for Sakara too.
Sakara is a plant-based meal delivery service that’s been endorsed by celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow and Chrissy Teigen, as well as a slew of social media personalities who seem to live in matching workout sets. While I do enjoy a weekly megaformer class and I may have a Pinterest board of well-lit photos of green juice, I’ve never considered myself part of Sakara Life’s target audience. I’m not vegan, gluten-free, or particularly into supplements, three of the company’s main selling points. One of my primary hobbies is riding the subway all over New York City in search of the next life-changing bowl of noodles or slice of pizza.
So when I was asked to test Sakara’s signature nutrition program for work, I was fully prepared to hate it. For $420, I’d receive five days of ready-to-eat meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I kept joking with my friends about my week of “wellness girlie cosplay” and stocked my pantry with extra snacks so I wouldn’t go hungry. I figured this would probably be one of the healthiest weeks of my adult life, but I was not prepared to actually enjoy the food as much as I did.
The Delivery Experience
My Sakara delivery was scheduled to arrive late Sunday night, and it showed up right on time. I received a text message when the courier was near my apartment, and about half an hour later, there was a sleek black branded cooler bag waiting on my doorstep. There were enough ice packs in there that even if I had been asleep when it arrived, the food would have been fine until morning.
Since I ordered five days worth of meals, my delivery was split into two shipments. On Sunday night, I received breakfast, lunch, and dinner for Monday through Wednesday. I received a second delivery on Wednesday evening with meals for Thursday and Friday.
Everything arrived in neatly-stacked, recycled plastic containers that were clearly labeled. If a salad came with a component that needed heating, it came separate from the greens so nothing would get soggy. I balked a little at names like “Yoga Bunny Breakfast,” which felt unnecessarily infantilizing, but I had to admit that seeing containers filled with a rainbow of vegetables lined up on my kitchen counter made me feel oddly virtuous. I stocked my fridge with prepped meals, and put away the protein bars, bags of granola, and boxes of tea that came with my order. Then I ate a bunch of ice cream and went to bed, ready to start fresh in the morning.
The Food
Overall, I was impressed by both the diversity and the quality of the Sakara meals. Most of the Sakara reviews I read before trying it for myself said the food actually tasted good, but I didn't believe it. As someone who puts condiments on my condiments, I expected to feel the need to doctor things up to make them taste better, but everything was already packed with flavor. The dishes ranged from Indian-ish (“clarity curry” soup with naan) to Mexican-ish (a lavender “cheez” quesadilla with broccoli pesto), and there was enough range that I didn’t get bored.
Breakfast was on sweeter side—the first morning was that poorly named Yoga Bunny Breakfast: a gluten-free carrot muffin with carrot coconut butter and the smallest apple I have ever seen. Doll-sized apple aside, I liked the muffin’s nutty flavor, and it was fluffier than a lot of other gluten-free baked goods I’ve tried. There were also things like chia and coconut protein waffles and a sweet potato and coconut yogurt parfait that I’m planning to re-create at some point. I’m a sweet breakfast person, so I liked all of these, but you might struggle if you prefer savory foods in the morning.
Lunch was almost always a big, leafy salad with lots of legumes and whole grains—and the dressings, like a cranberry vinaigrette or an avocado tahini, were always flavorful enough on their own. I rarely eat a salad for lunch and leave it at that, so I was surprised when I didn’t find myself reaching for a ton of snacks between meals. Because the program relies heavily on nuts, beans, and whole grains, the food was genuinely filling even though it's also plant-based and gluten-free.
Dinner had the most variation, and also included a lot of my favorite meals. I enjoyed the deconstructed eggplant parm, a sort of savory parfait of eggplant, tomato-y puree, and a dairy-free ricotta. It had me double-checking the label; I couldn’t believe that this wasn’t made with dairy milk because that’s what it looked and tasted like.
I was also genuinely impressed by the gluten-free breads that came with a lot of the meals. Most gluten-free bread, in my experience, has the texture of cardboard mixed with Elmer’s Glue. But a toasted slice of hyssop focaccia smeared with more of that eerily-convincing not-ricotta and hot honey was chewy and airy, just like a good focaccia should be.
What I Didn’t Like
As someone who grew up in the heyday of Snackwells and Slim-Fast, I avoid anything with even a whiff of diet culture. So I didn’t love that what was otherwise a pleasant rose and rooibos tea, for example, got branded as “Detox Tea,” or that a pretty-but-chalky-tasting box of chocolate flavored protein bars was called “Metabolism.” The bars were the one thing I really did not care for; they simply did not taste like much of anything. But those are the only complaints I have about the experience. I found myself getting excited about pulling my next meal out of the fridge not because it was good for me, but because it actually tasted good. The fact that I had more sustained energy and yes, I swear, glowier skin, by the end of the week were merely byproducts of the biggest perk: eating well without having to cook or wash dishes.
Other Nutrition Programs Sakara Offers
In addition to their Signature Nutrition program, Sakara also offers another meal plan they call their “Level II: Detox.” As per its name, it is a 5-day detox program designed to be done on occasion rather than on a weekly basis (according to their FAQ, they recommend doing it once a month to once a quarter). According to their website, “Level II is intentionally crafted with specific ingredients to support detox pathways in the body, enhanced by targeted supplements, hydration touchpoints, and carefully curated food exclusions. This program also incorporates practices to promote cellular autophagy (your body's reuse of old cellular parts), taking detoxification a step deeper than the Signature program to optimize cellular health and renewal.” To that end, the Detox excludes all meat, dairy, grains, gluten, soy, processed foods, refined sugars, nightshades, corn, caffeine, and alcohol.
The Detox includes breakfasts, lunches, and dinners for five days, delivered in two shipments spaced throughout the week. Those meals are meant to be supplemented with the included tonics (three per day, each of them different), hydration drinks, and vitamin capsules (B-Complex, Vitamin D3, and Magnesium Glycinate). The first delivery also includes a body gua sha, meant to promote lymphatic drainage and circulation
Commerce writer Alaina Chou tested the Detox and noted that the deliveries, like those of the Signature Program, were prompt and accompanied by text messages. The contents came neatly packaged, and were accompanied by a guide, daily checklist, and an insulated tote that came in handy when transporting lunches, tonics, and the daily passion fruit hydration drinks to the office. Alaina was pleasantly surprised, like I was, by how filling the lunches and dinners were, though she found that some breakfasts lacked heft. While some days featured hearty fare like a sweet potato hash or rich tahini-cacao parfait, the flax bar and berry smoothie on days three and four were far from satisfying. With that said, it’s worth mentioning that Sakara says that the Detox is designed to be calorically restrictive.
The meals, in Alaina’s opinion, had good flavor but were sometimes lacking in the texture department. While the crunchy salads and smooth pureed soups were quite good, meals like the Lasagna Verde with Broccoli & Mushrooms felt a bit like eating a pile of unidentifiable (but fine-tasting) mush.
The science on the benefits of detox programs is pretty inconclusive to date, and Alaina says it’s hard to comment on whether the Detox had any real effect on her overall health or wellbeing (though she did experience headaches for a few of the days she was on the program, potentialy due to caffeine or refined sugar withdrawals). But if you like the idea of eating nutrient-rich, whole foods-based meals for a few days, this program is an easy way to do it without much effort on your part—at $465 it doesn't come cheap though.
Cost & Flexibility
Speaking of “it doesn't come cheap,” there’s no getting around the fact that Sakara is expensive. Both of the brand’s programs cost upwards of $400 a week for a full slate of meals, which is simply unattainable for a lot of people—according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics it’s close to double the weekly grocery budget for a family of four. If you’re on a budget and really want to try it, the Signature Program is the more flexible package. You can order set packs of weeks (one, four, eight, or twelve) or save 15% by ordering a weekly subscription. Whichever ordering style you choose, you'll then select between three or five days worth of meals, and whether you want breakfast, lunch, and dinner, or just lunch and dinner. So if you just wanted three days of lunch and dinner in a week, you’re looking at about $140–$200 if you order packs of weeks, or $170 with a weekly subscription. On the other end of the spectrum, five days of three signature meals will cost you $395-$465. The 5-day Level II: Detox program only comes in single one-week units.
Should you order Sakara?
Would I do another week of Sakara? Absolutely. In fact, I was bummed not to have a fridge full of breakfasts and lunches that I didn’t have to think about the Monday after my experiment ended. While it’s too expensive to be an everyday thing for me, I would most likely do two meals a day of the Signature Program on a week when I knew I had too much going on to cook for myself.
I also received a few bags of the brand’s beloved granola with my delivery, and I am hoarding them the way a dragon hoards a pile of jewels. It’s super crunchy, not too sweet, and has inspired me to stock up on my favorite plant-based yogurt and lots of seasonal fruits to keep the healthy breakfast vibes going. I also really liked the various herbal teas the brand makes (though these seem to have been discontinued), and have found myself going for a cup or two of tea to get through my 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. slumps instead of second and third coffees.
If I had unlimited money, there’s a real chance I’d order from Sakara a lot. The food is delicious, well-prepared, and I did feel (insert sparkle emojis) well after eating it. Much better than I feel when breakfast is a pastry and lunch is a slice of pizza. While it would never replace cooking and eating at restaurants, the occasional Sakara salad or muffin is a nice way to add some balance into your lifestyle, or to help establish healthier eating habits.