Altogether, the brand offers more than 100 fruit-and-veggie-based items. Each recipe is developed with the help of chefs and nutritionists and never contains dairy or gluten. Plus, the short ingredient lists—which are boldly printed on the label—never contain additives, preservatives, or fillers. A huge perk? The brand sends a text every Sunday morning to remind you to customize or skip that week’s delivery. As someone who often forgets about updating or canceling my subscriptions, I love this little attention to detail. It doesn’t feel like the company is trying to trap me into an order that I don’t really need. Plus, the site is super intuitive to use. Adjusting your order is as simple as flipping a toggle to “skip a delivery.” You don’t even need to press save! The most affordable option on the menu is the forager bowls, which include oats and chia seed bowls. On the flip side, each Harvest bake costs around $12 and typically contains two servings (although the lower calorie count means you can easily consume the entire entrée solo). Unfortunately, you do have to spend more to save. Shipping is always free, but you only unlock discounts on your order by adding more items to your box; save $5 with the 9-item box, $10 with the 12-item box, and $25 with the 24-item box. For example, the 16-item box I reviewed costs around $138. With the discount, the final cost would be around $128 with enough food for about 10 meals and four snacks. Although I love to cook, I tried to work through my rotation of Daily Harvest meals from this order in a two-week period to see how well the service could replace traditional grocery shopping (and integrate into a busy work schedule). While I definitely purchased fewer groceries during this trial, I found the meal delivery service wasn’t a total replacement for grocery shopping—especially because I like to add protein to some items and often add spices and condiments to adjust the flavor profile to my taste. A few recipes—like the flatbreads and oven bakes—take a little bit longer to cook. However, this preparation is totally hands-off, so you can conquer other tasks around the house. Otherwise, you need less than five minutes to get a deliciously creamy smoothie or piping hot bowl of grits. My only note? Most of the smoothie ingredients are chopped relatively small, but I still found that you need a pretty powerful blender to pulverize them into a perfectly smooth consistency. A few of my favorite recipes in the lineup are the Gigante Bean + Artichoke Olio Harvest Bake, Broccoli + Cheeze Forager Bowl, and Cremini + Asparagus Pot Pie. Despite being completely dairy-free, they have a creamy consistency that’s delicious and satiating. Occasionally, a few items weren’t as seasoned as I liked, so I would generously add a bit of garlic powder, onion powder, and a sprinkle of Maldon smoked sea salt. These small changes instantly elevated each dish to my liking with minimal effort—and I think it’s totally worth adapting these recipes to your personal preferences. Hot sauce anyone? Of course, there were a few items I would skip. I didn’t love the chia seed bowl or sweet oatmeal that I tested. I’m not a huge fan of the consistency of chia seed pudding, which transforms into a gelatinous texture. My dislike is likely from personal experience rather than the recipe itself. Similarly, I typically eat a very specific sweet oatmeal recipe, which is topped with cacao nibs, tahini, blueberries, and maple syrup. The berry-sweetened oatmeal was simply not as sweet or nutty as my go-to creation (and definitely not as cost-efficient). However, the savory oatmeal recipes completely hit it out of the park, especially the miso and mushroom recipe. I think anyone with a busy schedule would easily be impressed by Daily Harvest. While I wouldn’t personally replace all my meals with the service, I love having a few items readily available in my freezer as a backup when I’m in a time crunch (and it’s cheaper than ordering takeout). Plus, Daily Harvest emphasizes biodiversity in its recipes. That means each item combines a variety of ingredients to maximize the nutrients I’m fueling my body with—so I don’t need to spend a fortune stocking up on expensive superfoods or spices that I rarely use. I did have to scrub a few of the packages clean, especially the smoothie cups and aluminum tins. However, I didn’t mind spending a few extra minutes at the sink if it meant my recycling center could actually repurpose the product. The signature white recyclable box has a compostable lining to keep frozen items insulated and uses dry ice rather than ice packs. This swap makes the box lighter and more efficient to ship—and it lasts up to 48 hours after your scheduled delivery. However, one thing missing from many of the brand’s items is protein. While I balanced this by adding protein powder to my smoothies and legumes to many of the bowls, this could be a con for someone following a high-protein diet.
