Splendid Spoon Reviews:
The best meal kits make it foolproof to get a meal on the table. Some kits coach you through the cooking process, while others are of the heat-and-eat or assemble-and-eat variety. Many include two servings per meal, with a minimum of two or three meals at a time. Others are more suitable for singles. Splendid Spoon’s niche is convenience for one. The menu consists entirely of prepared, single-serve, vegan, gluten-free meals. Every item is a smoothie or a bowl, which means either soup or some combination of ingredients served over a grain, like brown rice. Everything is GMO-free. Nothing takes more than two minutes to heat up. You can drink the smoothies straight from the bottle.
The convenience really is unparalleled. There’s excellent variety in flavor, too. I wouldn’t want to eat too many meals in a row from Splendid Spoon, though, as I’d go crazy without fresh vegetables. If you’d rather cook fresh, Purple Carrot meets similar dietary needs. It’s the best meal delivery service for vegans. Green Chef is best for mixed households of meat and non-meat eaters. Neither of them is tailored to solo diners the way Splendid Spoon is, however.
Another benefit of Splendid Spoon is you don’t have to eat all your meals by a tight expiration date because you can easily pop them in the freezer. See the convenience? That said, other meal delivery services offer ready meals, too.
Even Sun Basket has heat-and-eat options, though they’re all portioned for two. For exceptionally busy people, like hospital workers, who want to still eat healthfully or those with different abilities for whom cooking is difficult or unsafe, it really makes sense to keep some Splendid Spoon meals on hand.
Splendid Spoon Pricing
Compared with shopping and preparing your own meals, most meal delivery services are expensive, somewhere around $12 per serving. That’s not far off what I’d expect to pay for decent takeout.
Splendid Spoon’s prices vary based on how many items you order at a time. It ranges from $9.50 to $13 per serving.
Option 1 is called Lunch, which includes 5 bowls that you get to pick, delivered weekly for $65. The per-meal cost is $13.
Option 2 is The 7-Day Breakfast and Lunch. That one lets you pick 7 smoothies and 7 bowls per week for $135. The per-meal price is $9.64.
Option 3 is called Breakfast + Lunch. You choose 5 smoothies and 5 bowls per week for $95. The per-meal price then is $9.50.
I have a hard time justifying $9.50 for a bottled smoothie. Then again, I would have a hard time paying $9.50 for a fresh smoothie. For the bowls, $9.50 or $9.64 seems more justifiable, as long as you recognize you’re mostly paying for the convenience. The quality is all right, but it’s not nearly the same as a freshly made meal.
Menu Options
Splendid Spoon divides its menu into smoothies and bowls. We can go one step further to better clarify your options: smoothies, soups, grain bowls, and light soups.
Smoothies are straightforward. They are pre-blended drinks, usually containing fruit and some kind of protein-rich ingredient, such as pea powder, hemp protein, chia seeds, or almond butter. Each bottle has a list of ingredients right on the front. If you’re new to protein powders, be forewarned that they can add a slightly chalky or gritty texture.
Soups are soups, unless you object to calling red lentil dal a soup. I wouldn’t fault you if you did. Dal is dal (or dahl or daal). Among the soups, you’ll find some wonderful flavor profiles, like Morrocan lentil with tomatoes and turmeric, and cumin sweet potato with cashews and cilantro.
Grain bowls consist of a few ingredients, usually vegetables, served over a grain. A Tuscan white bean and tomato dish, for example, comes with greens, fennel ragout, and sorghum (it’s a type of grain that looks like pearl couscous, and yes, I had to look it up).
The light soups are part of a special package deal you can order called The Reset, “designed to reset your digestive system in one day." I’m not 100% sure what that means, but I interpret it as “won’t make you fart or poop weird." Two examples of light soups: fennel consommé with lemon peel and dill, and butternut turmeric soup with sweet potatoes and nutmeg.
Splendid Spoon Discounts also has a 3-oz Wellness Shot. It’s just a tiny orange juice punched up with ginger, lemon juice, and oregano extract. Does it do anything for your “wellness?" Unclear. But it’s delicious.
Would You Eat It Again Next Time?
Splendid Spoon sells slightly elevated, and all vegan, convenience food. The meals contain a lot of good portions of plant-based foods. If you need help eating better in a pinch, it’s a good way to go some of the time. Some of the meals benefit tremendously from light touches in the kitchen, a handful of fresh herbs, say, or a few lashings of hot sauce. As to the smoothies, I would say you have to give them a try to find what you like. The flavors I thought I would like didn’t match up with the ones I did when I tasted them.
Would I eat Splendid Spoon meals again? The money doesn’t seem worth it for the smoothies, but the soups are a solid go-to choice for when you’re crunched for time. I love that they can sit in the freezer, and I can easily picture them making for a convenient lunch, so long as I had a few fresh accompaniments on hand to jazz them up.
Pros: Splendid Spoon makes it easy to eat clean, with nutrient-rich, plant-based soups, grain bowls, & smoothies that you can enjoy on the go.
Cons: If you’re new to clean eating, the super-healthy flavors in this pricey plan may be a little underwhelming. You’ll also need to fend for yourself for dinner—Splendid Spoon focuses on breakfasts & lunches.
Our Verdict: This incredibly convenient program could be a great way to kickstart a healthier eating routine (especially if you’re someone with a busy schedule), though its relatively high price tag might be an obstacle for folks looking to rely on it for their day to day.
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