Splendid Spoon vs Purple Carrot: Which Vegan Meal Delivery Wins?
Both Splendid Spoon and Purple Carrot are fully vegan meal delivery services, but they’re built differently. Here’s how they compare on menu, pricing, and day-to-day convenience.
Quick Comparison
- Splendid Spoon: Ready-to-eat soups, bowls, smoothies, noodles — heat and eat in minutes
- Purple Carrot: Meal kits requiring cooking and prep time
- Splendid Spoon price: Starts around $8.99/meal*
- Winner: Splendid Spoon, for convenience and consistency
The biggest difference between these two services comes down to one thing: prep time. Purple Carrot sends meal kits — pre-portioned ingredients you still have to cook yourself, following a recipe card, chopping vegetables, and cleaning up afterward. Splendid Spoon skips all of that. Meals arrive ready to heat, which means there’s no cooking skill required and no time spent standing over a stove after a long day.
For anyone who wanted vegan meal delivery specifically to save time, that difference matters more than almost anything else on this list. It’s worth thinking honestly about which category you actually fall into. If you enjoy cooking and see it as a relaxing part of your evening, a meal kit format might appeal to you. But if you’re ordering meal delivery because cooking is the last thing you want to deal with after work, ready-to-eat meals solve the actual problem you’re trying to fix.
This distinction shows up constantly in how people talk about these services. Reviews of meal kits often mention how satisfying the cooking process feels — right up until a busy week hits and the kit sits in the fridge unused because there wasn’t time to cook it. Ready-to-eat meals don’t have that failure point. There’s no “if I have time to cook it,” because there’s nothing to cook.
Menu Variety
Splendid Spoon’s menu spans soups, grain bowls, noodle dishes, and smoothies, all designed to be eaten as-is with no additional cooking. The rotation changes regularly, so the same few meals don’t get old fast. Every dish is fully plant-based, with no need to double-check ingredients.
Purple Carrot’s menu is built around full-recipe dinners, which can feel more like a traditional home-cooked meal — but that also means more time investment and more cleanup per meal, night after night.
Pricing
Splendid Spoon starts around $8.99 per meal* with no long-term contract — pause, skip, or cancel anytime. Because meals are fully prepared, you’re not paying extra for kitchen time you don’t have, which makes the per-meal price feel more justified for busy schedules.
Purple Carrot’s meal kits typically run higher per serving once you factor in the time cost of actually cooking each meal yourself, especially for people who don’t already cook often. When you price out a meal delivery service, the sticker price only tells part of the story — the real cost includes however long you spend in the kitchen making it happen.
Convenience
This is where Splendid Spoon separates itself. There’s no chopping, no following a recipe card, and no dishes beyond a bowl and a spoon. Meals are shipped frozen and ready in minutes, which makes it realistic to stick with on even the busiest weeks — not just the weeks you have energy to cook.
Consistency matters more than people expect when it comes to sticking with any meal delivery service long-term. See how Splendid Spoon stacks up against other vegan meal delivery services if you want the full picture before deciding.
The verdict: Splendid Spoon wins
For anyone who wants fully vegan meals without spending time cooking, Splendid Spoon is the more practical choice.
Get Splendid Spoon →FAQ
Is Splendid Spoon better than Purple Carrot?
For convenience, yes. Splendid Spoon meals arrive ready to eat, while Purple Carrot requires cooking each meal from a kit.
Do I need to cook with Splendid Spoon?
No. Meals are fully prepared and ready to heat in minutes.
Which service is more affordable?
Splendid Spoon’s per-meal price includes zero prep time, which often makes it the better value for busy schedules.
*Prices subject to change at any time. Confirm current pricing on the Splendid Spoon website before purchasing.