It's fine. There are some creative recipes and interesting spices, and if I were vegan I'd the thrilled that this was an option. But I'm not vegan, and compared to Blue Apron, which we've been using it's a) more expensive b) similar-to-lower quality ingredients c) more confusing recipe cards and d) more meals that are "fine" as opposed to "delicious" (in addition to several ingredients missing from our first box, though they did provide a refund for that which I appreciated). Just wasn't worth it for us but it could be a fantastic option for someone who is vegan. read more

I was so excited to try Purple Carrot, not only because it is vegan but also I had an exam coming up and didn't want to spend time on grocery shopping. My friend gave me one gift box. I waited for a while for the best recipe and then activated my account, so I did not go for grocery shopping that week. They send me an email which I'll receive my food box on Wednesday, I wait till Friday, then I send them an email that where is my box? so they apologized for the DELAY and told me they will give me one box for this delay. I thought the first box will arrive(they said delay!), so it was weekend, not only I didn't have anything in the fridge and no plan for my week dinners but also feel bad because we were excited about that menu. It was obvious that when I do not receive anything they should give me that one later but what about all of the problems they brought to my busy schedule! They told me they'll give me a refund if I want, and when I said I want, they told me they can't! so I don't know how to trust my week plan on them again. read more

The dishes we made were generally tasty and well seasoned, though I did add more seasonings to the hummus and falafels which I found to be very bland without that addition. The shipping box was well insulated and had ice blocks to keep things cool as well. We were home when it arrived so brought it inside immediately and refrigerated things until we made the dishes the next day. In general the produce was average looking or below, but usable for the most part. One dish used a potato, but half of the potato we received was mushy on one side and black inside. The frisee lettuce had several bad stems in it so had to be sorted to get out the dark mushy bits. The tomato was extremely pale, and the lemon had a small blemish. The ginger had a very small mushy spot on the end, and the shredded red cabbage had a green mushy leaf mixed in that had to be picked out. So overall there needs to be better quality control on the fresh produce. The menu is varied, but for our needs required too much time in the kitchen and dirtied a lot of items getting it all ready. I would concur with other reviewers who suggested more one-dish meals. Even though the prep wasn't hard, it was time-consuming to do, especially for a mid-week meal when you're already tired. We found the servings generous for 2 people, so that we had leftovers of most dishes unless you only prepared and ate one menu item per day, and I'm not sure a simple salad would be enough if that was the menu item. I think it would also help if some things like hummus, salad dressings, etc were pre-made. We aren't continuing the service. read more

Forget about any flexibility in delivery. Be ready to pay for meals you would have liked to cancel, but couldn't because of ridiculous cancellation policy. Trying to call for customer service? Forget about that too. The food is ok the first few weeks, but then it gets more and more similar. Not worth it. read more

Absolutely awful. We have just tried 2 weeks of Purple Carrot and it has been some of the worst food and recipes I have ever tasted. Apologies to all you people who want to get into vegan food, this is not the answer, they have no clue about vegan food and recipes. I thought I was a bad cook, but if Purple Carrot recipes were created by a chef, then I realised I must be a head chef, with a Michelin star. Further to that, they wrap every little thing in masses of plastic, you will get more plastic than food, very bad for the environment. I sincerely hope they fail for the good of the environment and for the decent vegan chefs out there. read more

Amazing. For someone who likes to cook but just doesn't have the time to shop and has food always going bad in the fridge because you don't finish the entire bag of this or that. Everything is pre-portioned and FRESH. I'm on my 2nd week and am so inspired by everything I've eaten. Not only am I cooking food I never thought I could make I now have recipes for life! And it's clean eating. And everything has been delicious! Especially the quick kimchi (who would've thought?). Hope I can keep it up! read more

This company is a scam. After canceling my subscription MONTHS AGO, they deactivated it without my saying so. I stopped after only two deliveries because the food was awful (and not even all organic). No one will return my call or email, and I just saw they did it AGAIN. When I log into my account, it even says my subscription has been cancelled. THIS IS A SCAM! read more

Well, I received my box yesterday and was all excited to try out my new recipes until I realized I was missing items and some of the other items really don't look that fresh. I am very disappointed. I have cancelled my future orders. read more

The Egyptian Pilaf dish is amazing and is now one of my favorite Purple Carrot meals! It has a great mix of spices as well as a variety of vegetables and a spicy bite to it. I especially like being able to cook one-pan meals. I wish they had this recipe as a regular choice. read more

We tried the purple carrot delivery the first time. The quality of the food was not up to par. We cancelled the membership and were still being charged and yet another box was delivered. They credited the first box and confirmed it was cancelled. Another box showed up and yet again with the vegetables being in terrible condition as the first and second box. It looked like the Brussels sprouts were infested with bugs. We were charged again. The only thing they would do is refund $10 dollars. I asked them to please take back all the boxes and refund the money and they would not do it. The supervisor LIndey was extremely rude acting like she was doing us a favor by refunding what was already refunded for garbage produce and very highly priced items. Please do not bother with this company. There is other companies that are far better and respect the customers. I sent many pictures of the condition of the vegetables but they did not care. Find a company that respects clients not just in a rush to take your money. read more

love this meal delivery service! It's my firs time doing one of these! and so surprised at how much I like the food! I am not a vegan but wanted to add more plants and vegetables into my diet! I definitely look forward to making these meals and eating all of the yummy recipes! and love how they try to incorporate recipes and food from all around the world. read more

Deliberately make it difficult to cancel, multi-stage process involving emails and expiring links.

Poor customer support, inconvenient online accessibility, and expensive, time-consuming meals are Purple Carrots recipe for failure. After being a long time subscriber of Blue Apron we made the switch to Purple Carrot because we transitioned to a vegan lifestyle. As a professional in LA, I was looking for quick and healthy meals and convenience and Purple Carrot is the complete opposite. The food takes over an hour to prepare with 3 pans and the oven going, you must accept their 3 meal options or none at all, and their customer support is cordially obstinate. They make canceling your subscription inconveniently difficult, forcing you to email them, wait for their response, and complete a survey so it takes so long they can bill you for another weeks worth of meals. Finally their customer support stubbornly quotes their policies to excuse their internal inefficiencies and leave the customer paying for unwanted deliveries. read more

I received PC as a holiday gift from my brother and his girlfriend. I tried to sign up and order my first box. Not easy. I called Customer Service, which is only open during limited hours as it is on East coast time and I am West coast based. Stephanie helped me order my 3 meals. Which would not ship until 1/8 - that was a long wait I thought, but holidays and such. Cut to - no delivery. I realized that I never got the box on Saturday the 12th - but CS is closed on weekends... Emailed and texted - got lots of sorry emails, but no one called me as I requested. The problem? They did not charge the correct amount to my brother's card - so they cancelled my order. Over 6$. They have our emails and phone numbers, but no one had the curtesy or instinct to call or email us. I only realized and figured this out when I remembered that no box arrived. They did not credit my brother either. I have now spent 2 days trying to get an order placed, but the website, which is not easy to navigate - won't let me choose what I want to receive. And what they are shipping to me on the 22nd of January - almost a whole month later I do not want or like some of the items. So won't eat - will have to waste yet another 20 - 30 minutes when I wake up tomorrow to try and get that changed. So to be honest, this food will have to be gourmet 5 star meals as this has been a terrible experience so far. Very frustrating and a horrid gift to give someone - so please don't unless you do not like the person. Such a pain in the neck. read more

First, I am not vegan and this was recommended to my husband by a friend who is living a vegan lifestyle to improve athletic performance. I was not paid for my review although I did receive the box as a gift from my husband so I did not personally pay for it. It was the most delightful experience to make (insert sarcasm). Following an abundance of complicated steps with multiple unprepped ingredients with all the pots and pans while breastfeeding a 14-month old and yelling at a four-year-old to stop crawling all over the couch and table to make butternut mac and cheese was really relaxing. The pasta was easy to boil (I do that often) and the rainbow Swiss chard and garlic was easy to sauté. As I chopped the chard I thought: "My son adores green. This will be so well received." The butternut squash was easy enough to toss in the oven to roast, but it took forty minutes instead of eighteen minutes to caramelize. The sauce was easy to make in the blender - I just chunked in the amorphous blob of silken tofu, mustard, paprika, vegan Worcester sauce (I had no clue it was made from animals but now I am educated), vegan cheese (this should NOT be a thing), lemon juice, and salt and pepper. As I watched the stuff swirl in the blender, it looked a bit like something the kids might have projectile vomited after catching a tummy bug. I tossed that into the pasta and the chard, and then heated it up. To add pizazz, I followed instructions to make the garlic Panko crumbs. As I plated this meal, I felt so accomplished. It looked just like the recipe card. I was still in my work clothes, it was 6:30 pm and I had been cooking since 5:30 pm (and my husband had chopped for 20 minutes before I even walked in the door with two kids) when I walked in the door. As I adoringly watched my son take his first look at the plate, he said, "Ewww!!! What is that green stuff? Take it out!" So, I did. I replated. He took one bite and gagged. In his loudest voice, he said, "THIS IS NOT MACARONI AND CHEESE!" He was so right, it was not. My daughter took a whole wheat elbow macaroni into her chubby hand and shoved it into her mouth. She looked at me with a face of disgust as she let it slide out of her mouth onto the floor. I really think they left a few ingredients out of the box to complete the meal - like Jif, Welch's natural strawberry jelly, and whole wheat bread. Which is what my kids ate for dinner after waiting 1 hour plus whilst I slaved. Overall: From an adult perspective, it was edible. If you had never tasted mac and cheese, lived under a rock with a mother that hated you, and lacked taste buds, it was great. For kids, not so much. I do see how it makes you healthier. I spent an extra hour making dinner on my feet in the kitchen. Then, I barely ate anything. Talk about a diet! All for the price of $74 a week. The upside: My daughter loved her first taste of jelly - for all you judgy people, it is organic with no added sugar, the bread is made from whole grains, and only "choosy" moms choose Jif. Great for vegans who like to imitate good food made with diary products with their vile renditions of cheese and heaps of tofu. But, I have to say, the "family" plan confuses me because I don't know ANY vegan families. The recipes are definitely not kid friendly. I think time to make is also a bit off - it should read "minimum of x minutes". read more

I've had 4 weeks of delivery, 2 of the meal kits were missing ingredients. I let the first one go, thinking it was probably a rare oversight on their part. Yesterday, when I received this week's meal kits, I checked all of them and discovered that 3 main ingredients are missing. I emailed them ASAP. No response. I phoned and only got the message machine, saying someone would call by 5 p.m. No response. So now I get the "joy" of going grocery shopping to be able to cook my so-called complete meal kits. read more

I subscribed to this service and received the product on time. Some of the ingredients were missing - things I have in my pantry such as garlic but were listed as included. The steps to cook were simple to follow but there were more steps than I'm used to - not necessarily a bad thing. Although the recipes were interesting, I decided to cancel the subscription the day the first package arrived as it does not fit our lifestyle - travel a lot and go out to dinner on business/pleasure a few nights a week. I went through the process as noted and an email came to confirm my cancellation YET on that same day of receiving and cancelling the subscription, I was charged for the second meal delivery which isn't due to arrive until next week - a long time from the day of the charge! I have emailed The Purple Carrot with NO response. I had no choice but to dispute this charge with AmEx - no pending- and, if TPC does not do what is right, I will have to contact BBB as well. I don't want to do that but I am having no luck with their customer service. read more

Unless you want 6 plus hours of food poisoning stay away. The same goes for many of the other reviews posted on here. I ordered this and as soon as I ordered this I saw it was going to take two weeks to get to me.. at first I was like ok, but then a few days later I was like nope I'm not gonna wait this long their are way faster services out there. I emailed them to see if they could cancel this order and refund me given it was gonna take them a few weeks to ship it to me. I was hoping that they would issue me a refund but they immediately felt very forceful about e keeping this and told me their was absolutely no way to cancel this order therefore no way to refund me.. still keep in mind the stuff still hadn't shipped. I asked to speak to a supervisor they then told me the same thing but also felt necessary to inform me of how much effort/ money has been put into them preparing my order and gathering ingredients and also how they have certain sales numbers they report and can't mess them up, etc. that was a complete turn off. So I finally get the box and I had a gut feeling I shouldn't have eaten the food. But I didn't want to be ungrateful so I figured I wouldn't waste it and eat it. I then became very sick, vomiting, nauseous from this food. The worst feeling ever. I have never felt like this and I have never heard of a company that doesn't offer refunds. Their is far faster, friendly, customer service based companies out there. Also I wrote something on their Instagram because that seems to be how they do a lot of their marketing, they make themselves seem all polished but it's obvious by reviews that isn't the case. I got a Instagram reply and apology in my inbox but that doesn't change the fact that i still haven't gotten a refund. They want to make themselves look all nice but that really don't care. Stay away. read more

I've been using Purple Carrot for at least 6 months now, and I absolutely love it! I have been telling people about it, so I decided to come here and see what everyone else has to say. I have to say I'm shocked. I have tried many home delivery meal kits, and this one is my absolute favorite. The food is delicious and fresh! Some times I look at a meal and I think "How good can that really be?" but then I make it and it is amazing! I never had problems with being overcharged or anything. Whenever I want to cancel something, I will skip all the upcoming weeks first and then call to cancel as well, to make sure that there is no confusion (if i am cancelling all future service altogether, not simply skipping a week or two). If you aren't sure about trying Purple Carrot, I say give it a try! You can always immediately cancel the upcoming deliveries (as previously stated). I always do this whenever I try something out that is a recurring delivery. Then it gives me time to decide if I want to keep the subscription or cancel. Also, I really don't know how to cook but I am able to make these meals with these directions. And a lot of times I am able to make 2-3 meals out of each meal (I live alone), so really it's 6-9 meals for the price. I also order the TB performance meals. It's only a couple of bucks more and it's guaranteed to be gluten-free and higher in protein. I think the meals are delicious, and I miss when I don't order them for the week! Right now I am kind of in between places (moving) so I didn't get the order this week and will miss next week's as well, but hopefully I will be back on track after that! I always feel so good after eating the meals from here. My favorite!! read more

Terrible customer service; terrible user interface/experience. I skipped weeks and was still charged and surprised to find a purple carrot box at my door step. The only way to cancel is via email and then you have to wait for a follow-up email and click a link in that email in order to ensure you are truly canceled. I emailed my cancellation request on June 25th and was still charged for a box on August 6th. I contacted customer service via chat because there is no other way - and Courtney was extremely unhelpful, telling me their Terms & Conditions state I must cancel following the link in their follow-up email, however, the T&Cs were updated 20 days ago (as of 8/6) which was after I submitted my original cancellation request on June 25th. When I made that point to Courtney, she still refused to refund me; I asked to speak to a superior, she told me she is the superior and there is nothing she can do. When I said I would refuse the package delivery she said they cannot accept returns. Wonderful customer service Purple Carrot! SCAM! read more

I tried this company once and experienced, delayed delivery, food delivered spoiled and overcharged. I canceled once due to these issues. After visiting the doctor, I had to change my diet so I figured I would give purple carrot one more try. Well to my disappointment, there is yet another delayed delivery and to top it off, they charged me twice in 2 days 9/4 and again on 9/6 completely not a week apart, and I hadn't even received the first delivery! I tried to contact their "chat" which said 3 individuals were online and I would be answered within a few minutes. Well "30m ago. Not seen yet" and no one has answered my chat. I will NEVER go with this company again and I see there are many more upset customers than I imagined. I had to contact my bank and submit a claim. It looks like a great concept, but DO NOT TRUST THIS COMPANY. They are thieves!! I guarantee I will get an email after this review is submitted. Not worth it because they could have taken the time to assist me when I requested help!!! read more

I cannot recommend Purple Carrot to anyone I know despite the fact that the food was good and recipes tasty. Their delivery is TERRIBLE. They cannot seem to get our address correctly, and our second week's shipment never arrived despite being delivered according to tracking info. We have used Blue Apron for a year without one single hitch regarding delivery. Purple Carrot is not professional in their choice of drivers, and their customer service was very lacking when I called. People were polite but obviously don't care enough about customers to try to make things right. All I got was a "so sorry but delivery people are gone - no idea where your meals went - we'll issue a credit and cancel your account (which I requested). No offer to ship out a replacement meal, no other help. Also, the first order was missing two ingredients. I think they have a lot of work to do to call themselves professional. read more

The recipes were DELICIOUS although there are some forgive-able errors in the directions and the cooking times are not for the average person. Something that says 30 minutes typically takes longer, and the cooking time and preparation time are not differentiated. Portions vary greatly. Some meals are hearty whereas others leave you wanting more. Some produce occasionally arrives already gone bad, so you may end up needing to go shopping anyway to get missing ingredients, which the company will give you credit for if/when reported. The produce is described as fresh, and typically is, but the packaging is with non-safe plastic containers and the produce is not described as organic. I would give a warning about account cancellation. They do not allow customers to cancel their own accounts. You MUST contact them and receive a working link to be able to cancel an account. I had some trouble with cancellation because they were having technical issues, but they went above and beyond to try to make things right. This is one company that still has the kind of customer service you can rely on in that they make an effort to demonstrate they care. When an issue arises, as they do in a hectic world, they take responsibility for their service and work with the customer to get business back on track in a caring fashion. read more

So I am not vegan but love meal services and wanted to give this a shot. It is pricier than other meal delivery boxes, but the reason for the low rating is that the produce is VERY bad. They force you to cancel a following week's box over a week before, and I am told it's because the boxes are shipped so early - which results either in produce being nearly rotten (an avocado I got that was too mushy to slice and cabbage that was brown and slimy) or still raw (another avocado that I got in another box [delivered because I did not cancel over a week in advance] as well as a tomato that had the consistency of an apple). The recipes themselves have been good for the most part, and much easier/faster than recipes with meat, but it really ruins an entire meal when your produce either can't be used or is completely under/overripe. We have also cooked all the grains exactly as instructed and they have been crunchy to the point of being inedible (quinoa, rice, etc. that was as hard as uncooked). Definitely cancelled. read more

If you like mostly conventional produce and ketchup packets with high fructose corn syrup, this is the food box for you. Try asking if you can find out whether a produce item is organic or conventional and you can experience some of the worst customer service on the planet. They are terrible at returning phone calls and usually blame their telecom but this is a small company. When you do reach a human, you will get conflicting answers. My favorite response has been that they follow the dirty dozen (but the food is often not labeled beyond a computer printed tag saying "baby spinach" etc. and they have 1.2 million excuses why they can't tell you for sure) but this is likely false. I have had both conventional spinach and pesticide laden apples in the box, so I don't trust this company. They obviously have very little knowledge of their customer base. I would pay more for quality, clean ingredients. The recipes as-is are usually very bland. I typically add chili pepper of some variety and trumpet or oyster mushrooms to make the food palatable. Recipes are recycled more frequently than I would expect. I hope you like black bean burgers and sweet potato fries. read more