We Tried Thistle Meal Delivery: It's Like Sakara Life, Only Much Cheaper

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Written by  David Watsky

Written by  Anna Gragert

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David WatskyManaging Editor / Home and Kitchen

David lives in Brooklyn where he's spent more than a decade covering all things edible, including meal kit services, food subscriptions, kitchen tools and cooking tips. David earned his BA from Northeastern and has toiled in nearly every aspect of the food business, including as a line cook in Rhode Island where he once made a steak sandwich for Lamar Odom. Right now he's likely somewhere stress-testing a blender or tinkering with a toaster. Anything with sesame is his all-time favorite food this week.

ExpertiseKitchen tools | Appliances | Food science | Subscriptions | Meal kits

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Anna GragertWellness Editor II

Anna Gragert (she/her/hers) was previously the lifestyle editor at HelloGiggles, deputy editor at So Yummy and senior lifestyle editor at Hunker. Over the past 10+ years, Anna has also written for the L.A. Times, Elle, Bust Magazine, Dazed, Apartment Therapy, Well+Good and more, focusing on all things lifestyle, health and wellness.

ExpertiseMental health, Personal care, Nutrition, Sleep

See full bio

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Thistle

Buy at Thistle

Pros

• Tasty fresh salads, stir-fries and snacks delivered by hand
• Cheaper than other similar fresh meal services
• All meals are gluten-free and can be made vegan
• Many ingredients sourced from local farms
• Delivery was easy and on time

Cons

• Still pricier than other healthy meal subscriptions
• Menu is limited each week
• Salads lose a little oomph after a day or two

There are dozens ofhealthy meal delivery services to choose from. Some send frozen, prepared meals to thaw and eat while others offer meal kits that require cooking. Thistle is a healthy meal service that sends mostly prepared, fresh food that requires almost no prep. It's one of the healthier meal services I've tried with a variety of salads, stir-fries, snacks, juices and protein-packed breakfast meals to choose from. 

If you've tried or have been tempted to try Sakara Life, the Instagram-friendly fresh food delivery service Thistle is modeled after that concept. Ireviewed Sakara Life in 2021 and while the vegan food was outstanding, the cost (more than $70 a day) was prohibitive. Thistle fresh meal delivery is markedly cheaper than Sakara Life (about half the price) and follows a similar model. That said, it's still not "cheap," ranging from $12-$16 per meal, depending on how many you order. 

Best Meal Delivery Services for 2024See at Cnet

To see if Thistle was worth the price of admission, I tried a few day's worth of its healthy food. My delivery showed up on time and the meals were healthy, tasty and took just seconds to prepare. It's the best option for anyone seeking truly fresh meals delivered, but there are still some healthy meal services I rank above Thistle.

I also reached out to our wellness editor, Anna Gragert, who has been a vegetarian for 20 years and often eats plant-based, to have her try Thistle for a few days. She tried two breakfasts, three salads, three stir-fries, one snack, two desserts and one smoothie.

Where does Thistle deliver?

As of this writing, Thistle is delivering to select cities on the East Coast and West Coast. 

West Coast: San Francisco Bay Area, Napa & Sonoma, Sacramento, Davis, Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Cruz, Orange County, Inland Empire, Ventura County, Palm Springs, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Las Vegas, Portland and Seattle-Tacoma

East Coast: New York City, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Arlington VA, and parts of New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut.

To see if you are in Thistle's delivery zone clickhere.

Healthiest Meal Delivery Services We TriedSee at Cnet

How does Thistle work: Sign up, ordering and delivery

After signing up for Thistle, you'll plug in some dietary preferences, including which types of ingredients or foods you avoid in your diet, as well as what sort of protein you're eating. There are options for meat eaters, vegetarians, vegans and flexitarians. 

You'll also choose how many meals you want per day. You can order any combination of breakfast, lunch, dinner meals and snacks for up to five days per week. Typically Thistle sends a delivery of curated meals for the week but you can view the order and make changes ahead of delivery. Thistle also has cold-press juices and wellness shots to add to your weekly haul.

Meals are delivered by hand in an insulated bag via messenger on the day or days of your choosing. If you sign up for text alerts, you'll be cued into the arrival, down to the minute so you don't miss them. You can leave last week's insulated bags outside and the delivery person will pick them up during their next meal drop. 

Because the fresh food is not meant to be frozen, Thistle delivers food either once or twice per week, depending on the number of meals you choose. 

One thing that separates Thistle from the rest of the pack is that they deliver only fresh food, nothing is frozen or premade and vacuum-sealed. Everything can be eaten as is, or there is the option to heat certain meals in a skillet and mix in the sauce if you prefer a hot lunch or dinner. 

Thistle's meals are healthy, full of whole ingredients and gluten-free, even the pasta. The food has minimally processed foods and contains lots of superfoods, such as sweet potatoes, ancient grains, nuts, fruit, veggies and lean meats. 

What we ate and how we liked it

I tried two full days' worth of thistle meals that included two salads, two stir-fry meals, two breakfast meals and three snacks. Anna tried two breakfasts, three salads, three stir-fries, one snack, two desserts and one smoothie for three days.

I thought everything was good and some were better than good, but nothing blew my socks off. The produce was fresh, but by day three, some of the greens weren't as crisp and the veggies lost a little of their snap. The stir-fry meals, which I heated in a frying pan along with the sauce, never lost their oomph.

Kale Caesar pasta with garlic and garbanzo beans:  This meal was tasty with a knife, light Caesar dressing and lots of garlic.

Crispy chickpea, Greek salad with pulled chicken:The salad also had quinoa and toasted garbanzo beans. I thought the Greek dressing was sharp and delicious and the salad overall was good but the chicken was dry.

Butternut squash and pear pasta salad with garlic and garbanzo beans: This meal was just OK. The pasta was a little mushy and garbanzo beans could have been cooked more. The dressing was a simple balsamic vinegarette.

Panang peanut curry with togarashi seeds: This panang curry was more tangy and less sweet but all the flavors worked for me. My favorite meal of the lot.

Clean crunch salad with lentils:Anna enjoyed this salad and the variety of greens, veggies and seeds it offered. Paired with an Italian dressing, it was flavorful and filling.

Togarashi pop salad with sesame edamame:This was another hit with our wellness editor. She especially loved the tangy gochujang sauce as a dressing along with the togarashi seasoning, which includes sesame seeds, poppy seeds, chili flakes and nori.

Baharat sweet potato salad with Moroccan chickpeas: A good source of fiber and plant protein, our wellness editor thought this was another delicious salad paired with a lovely garlicky tahini sauce and sweet potatoes nicely seasoned with cinnamon, clove and cardamom.

Harvest stir-fry with baked tofu:This low-calorie stir-fry had a nice mix of fresh-tasting veggies, tofu and a tangy, spicy sauce. It only took our wellness editor 3 minutes on the stove to prepare.

Pad thai with sesame baked tofu:Our wellness editor found this low-calorie dish to be a good source of protein and iron. She enjoyed the freshness of the cabbage and spinach and the crunch offered by the peanuts. The sauce was also very flavorful.

TMP primo pesto pasta with lemon spring peas:Made with no gluten ingredients, this vegan pasta was extremely tasty and offered a great variety of veggies and greens. The chickpea pasta was also comparable to regular pasta and had a nice bite to it.

Snacks and breakfast: smoothies, protein bars and crudite: The peanut butter and banana smoothie was tasty but on the small side. I make smoothies most mornings for breakfast and they are about twice the size of this one. 

The steel-cut oat bowl with granola and dulce de leche was fine but the sauce was a little sweet for me. The granola meant to be put on top of the smoothie was very good. Also included was a vegan crudites platter with gherkin pickles, carrot sticks, tomatoes and vegan cheese dip. 

My favorite of the snacks were Thistle's homemade protein bars. One was peanut butter and chocolate ganache and the other a mango-granola bar. Both were excellent and they gave me a solid energy boost around mid-afternoon. 

Smashed Sonoma chickpea snack plate: Our wellness editor loved this snack plate. It came with grapes, seed crackers and a chickpea salad that was like a plant-based chicken salad. She plans to try to re-create it in the future.

Tahini-java smoothie:This was a flavorful, filling smoothie that came with plantain chips and puffed quinoa as a topping. While the chips were too big for the smoothie, the puffed quinoa added a nice crunch. Our wellness editor loved the combination of banana, tahini and chocolate.

Lemon berry oats:Our wellness editor enjoyed this tasty breakfast after heating it for 40 seconds in the microwave with a few tablespoons of water. She especially enjoyed it paired with the vegan coconut cream.

Strawberry-rhubarb crumble with vanilla cashew buttercream:This recipe calls for heating in a toaster oven, but our wellness editor doesn't have one, so she resorted to placing the crumble in the microwave for a few minutes until it was hot. She also enjoyed this breakfast, but went light on the cashew buttercream so it wouldn't become too sweet. The strawberries were a nice touch on the side.

Chocolate caramel muesli bar: This is a great healthy dessert that could be split into two servings. Our wellness editor liked the combination of dates and tahini to create a healthier caramel.

Millionaire bar:Our wellness editor found this to be a great, plant-based, healthier replacement for an actual millionaire bar. Instead of caramel, tahini, maple syrup and date syrup were used. She also liked the cassava flour shortbread layer at the bottom.

How much does Thistle cost? 

If you choose 16 meals per week the cost breakdown is about $11 for breakfast and $12 for lunch and dinner. The fewer meals you choose the more expensive they become. There's a minimum order of three meals per week which would cost you more like $14 for breakfast and $16 for lunch and dinner. 

Snacks are additional and optional and cost $6.50 per snack no matter which plan you choose.

Thistle cost per week:

• 3 meals per week: $45.31 ($15.11 per meal)
• 6 meals per week: $87.62 ($14.60 per meal)
• 12 meals per week: $162.24 ($13.52 per meal)
• 16 meals per week: $199.33 ($12.46 per meal)

Thistle's meal containers are plastic but are fully recyclable as are the dressing containers. The only part of this whole delivery that isn't recyclable are the ice packs but you can return those with the bags or reuse them yourself.

Is Thistle healthy?

Our wellness editor found Thistle to be a healthy meal service. However, she recommends checking the nutrition facts for your chosen meals to ensure they align with your diet and health goals. She also found the meals to have a great variety of fresh ingredients and healthier substitutes. If you struggle to prepare healthy meals for yourself, this could be a good option.

Who is Thistle good for?

If you're looking for easy lunches and dinners, but don't care for fully premade food that was cooked days before and frozen or vacuum-sealed, Thistle is a good bet. The service focuses on healthy and whole foods with lots of salad greens, nuts and roasted vegetables. While some meals have meat, most of them are plant-based and all of them can be made vegan so this is a good option for someone cutting down or eliminating meat from their diet. 

Our wellness editor agrees that this is a great service for prepared vegan meals that taste fresh, offer a variety of greens and veggies and are easy to grab and heat up. Because Thistle's meals do not contain gluten ingredients, they could also be great for someone who is on a gluten-free diet.

Best Vegan Meal Delivery for 2024See at Cnet

Who is Thistle not good for? 

Even if you choose the largest (cheapest per-meal) meal plan, Thistle meals are still an expensive way to eat so this is not a good option for anyone on a tight budget. Thistle is also not great for those with unpredictable schedules. Because the food does not freeze well, you'll want to eat your meals within a few days of delivery. Portions are on the small side so this probably isn't the right meal subscription for a big eater. 

Final thoughts on Thistle 

I thought Thistle's healthy meals were often good but rarely great. The produce was fresh and the sauces and dressings were light and flavorful. In comparison to otherwellness-focused meal subscriptions I've tested in the $12 to $15 range there were a few I liked better overall, including Fresh N Lean,CookUnity andMosaic Foods. 

Our wellness editor, on the other hand, loved all the Thistle meals she tried. While it can be on the pricier side, if you're a vegan or are gluten-free and don't have time to cook, this would be a great option for fresh-tasting, flavorful food that is either ready to go or requires a few minutes in the microwave or on the stovetop.

If you're interested in having truly fresh food -- not frozen or vacuum-packed meals -- delivered weekly that includes preassembled salads and stir-fries, Thistle is your best option. If you choose one of the larger meal plans, the price per meal comes in at a reasonable $12. Choose a smaller meal plan and you'll pay more like $15 per meal, which doesn't seem worth it. 

Thistle vs. Sakara Life: Which is better?

Thistle andSakara Life operate with very similar business models delivering fresh food for your week while Sakara's meals are of a higher quality. The price for Sakara -- more than $20 per meal -- is astronomical and Thistle offers a more approachable version of fresh food delivery with meals as low as $12 or $13 if you choose one of the larger plans. 

If money is no object, go for Sakara, because the food is better and more interesting. If you like the concept of Sakara Life but don't want to spend hundreds every week, Thistle is the better pick.