This meal service is organic, vegan, and gluten free—but is it any good?
Updated July 1, 2022
Recommendations are independently chosen by Reviewed’s editors. Purchases you make through our links may earn us a commission.
Healthy and fresh
No cooking required
Sustainable packaging
Meals aren't filling
Menu repeats frequently
When it comes to meal delivery services, the Reviewed team has basically tried it all. We’ve cooked with meal kits of all kinds, and we’ve ordered pre-made meals that called for microwaving, sous viding, and more.
So when we heard about Sprinly—an organic, plant-based, and gluten-free meal delivery service—on social media, we had to try it out.
If you’re on the fence about yet another meal delivery service, we’re here to help you weigh the pros and cons. Our comprehensive Sprinly review considers the taste, convenience, cost, and sustainability of its offerings—so you can decide with confidence.
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Started by husband-and-wife duo Ray Lui and Mary McCann in 2016, Sprinly is a vegan subscription delivery service that ships fresh, nutrient-packed meals across the country. The co-founders met while working in investment banking, before deciding to quit, travel the world, and start a brand that reflected their passion for wellness.
Since its inception, Sprinly has seen major success, and Lui and McCann were recently named EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Winners.
Subscribers love Sprinly for its easy, healthy options and plant-based renditions of popular meals (think mac and “cheese” made with cashew cream and Bolognese pasta sauce made with lentils).
Possibly the best part? There’s no cooking required. Each meal is fresh and ships weekly to your door, so all it takes is a few minutes in the microwave—or some drizzling of salad dressing—to make healthy meal time happen.
The sustainable packaging (including biodegradable plastic) and veggie-packed meals were some of Sprinly’s standouts.
Nothing beats the convenience of healthy meals shipped to your door without having to lift a finger (aside from unboxing and microwaving, of course). And when all the meals are genuinely tasty, that appeal is even stronger.
Every week comes with six meal options, so if you’re signed up for six meals a week, the site will automatically ship one of each. But you can also remove any meals that don’t sound good or double-up on meals you know you love.
Each Sprinly meal is curated with the help of nutritionists and doctors to be sure they’re all packed with organic produce and feature plenty of micro and macro nutrients.
The meal labels also include fun facts about the nutritional attributes, like which vitamins and minerals are found in the veggies and what health benefits they might have on your body.
On top of being nutritious, these meals are great for folks with a range of dietary restrictions.
And not just vegans and vegetarians: All Sprinly meals are naturally gluten free, and each individual meal is labeled for further dietary restrictions—like nut-free, soy-free, and no refined sugar—so anyone with specific allergies can enjoy peace of mind when choosing weekly meals.
Sprinly is truly a healthy meal service for busy people. Once you unbox your week of meals, all you have to do is stack them in your fridge until you’re ready to eat.
Then, you’ll either enjoy each meal fresh out of the box (for something like a no-cook salad), or follow the package instructions to warm it in the microwave or on the stovetop.
I enjoyed my meals while working from home, lunching at the office, and even traveling on a road trip, and I found them to be a convenient way to stay healthy on busy days.
I also loved that some meals are labeled “Eat Me Earlier” to make sure anything with fresh produce doesn’t spoil. When following those rules, I didn’t notice any spoilage—even when waiting until the tail-end of the recommended 5-6 days after delivery.
It makes sense that a meal delivery service with so much focus on plants and wellness would offer eco-friendly packaging for its products.
Even so, I was pleasantly surprised to find compostable insulated liners wrapped in biodegradable plastic, non-toxic and reusable ice packs, and recyclable boxes and food containers in Sprinly’s delivery.
The food containers are even made up of 40% recycled materials. (I did notice that some of these containers had trouble staying snapped into place, but luckily the surrounding cardboard kept everything together without spillage.)
Some details fell short, like soggy sauces and insufficient instructions.
Each heatable recipe gives you directions for either the stovetop or microwave, depending on what you prefer.
I opted to use the microwave for each one, since I assumed it would be the most popular among consumers, and it was definitely the most convenient for me—especially in places like the office.
But I would have preferred a bit more guidance in deciding which warming method suits each recipe the best. For example, the spiralized vegetable bowl left a pool of watery sauce at the bottom of the dish, which I imagine may have been better absorbed when mixed and sauteed in a pan.
I had a similar experience with the pesto pasta, since the sauce didn’t stick well to the noodles in the microwave there, either.
Everything I tried from Sprinly tasted…as healthy as it looks. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing–I enjoyed them all! But it’s definitely something to consider when you compare your regular eating habits to what Sprinly provides.
Because a lot of meals consist mainly of fresh produce, I sometimes walked away feeling less than full. I’m used to filling up on substantial servings of either carbs or protein when I eat, but a lot of these meals lacked substantial portions of either.
The 8-spice cashew vegetable soup with a citrus detox salad, for example, would have benefitted from incorporating something like rice or gluten-free bread (or, ahem, salad dressing) to leave consumers more satisfied. The inclusion of chickpeas definitely helped, but it still left me hungry.
There were a few winners, like the pesto pasta with sun-dried tomato cakes—which was tasty, high in protein, and filling—and the paprika spinach salad with baked tofu & hemp hearts—which had excellent flavor and left me satiated.
But overall, calorie counts on Sprinly meals are pretty low; meals with only 300 or 400 calories aren’t typically enough to get you through to the next meal, especially if you’re an active person.
When I learned that Sprinly had been around for six years, I was surprised. I would’ve guessed it was a newer company, mainly because the meal variety is pretty minimal.
Taking a look at the weekly menu, you’ll likely notice a few repeating recipes throughout the month (or quasi-repeats, like mac and “cheese” with BBQ jackfruit and mac and “cheese” with broccoli and “bacon,” for example).
Even though every meal I tried from Sprinly was tasty, I’d probably get tired of eating the same meals throughout the month. And if you find something you don’t like, you might be disappointed to see it back on the menu so often.
Sprinly’s pasta primavera with cashew “parm” was a healthy dish of comfort food.
If healthy, organic, plant-based, or gluten-free meals are some of your top dietary priorities, you might really enjoy subscribing to Sprinly.
It offers nutritious vegan meals that are tasty and require almost no effort, so you can take the stress out of healthy eating and focus on the already-busy days in front of you.
But if you’re someone without dietary restrictions—who prioritizes big portions—there are plenty of other pre-made meal services that you might enjoy more, like Freshly (our favorite). You just might not get quite the same healthy, organic ingredients when you look elsewhere.
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Prices were accurate at the time this article was published but may change over time.
Healthy and fresh
No cooking required
Sustainable packaging
Meals aren't filling
Menu repeats frequently
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Recommendations are independently chosen by Reviewed’s editors. Purchases you make through our links may earn us a commission.
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