As a professional chef, I'm very selective when it comes to eating out or getting pre-made foods. So when I heard about Splendid Spoon and their prepared plant-based meals, I decided to give it a try. This is my Splendid Spoon review and my thoughts on whether you should give it a try.
ABOUT SPLENDID SPOON
Splendid Spoon is a plant-based subscription meal plan service that provides various ready-to-eat smoothies, wellness shots, grain bowls, soups, and noodle dishes. They offer a selection of over 150 dishes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and I'll let you know what I think of some of them with this Splendid Spoon review.
The idea for Splendid Spoon came about as founder Nicole Centeno, who was pregnant at the time, sought to find a way to eat healthy and nourishing food as she went about her busy life. Using her background in biochemistry and after training at the International Culinary Center in NYC, Nicole started with soups designed to give women the nourishment they need, especially during pregnancy and breastfeeding.
"What if I could replace all my 9-5 snacks and crummy meals with something simple and super nourishing? This was how Splendid Spoon came to be. This idea that if you have a really easy, really high-quality meal ready for you when you need it during the workweek, you save time AND improve the quality of your health," Nicole shared during an interview with The Tot.
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HOW DOES IT WORK?
Splendid Spoon sets itself apart from other meal delivery services in that it offers a mix of smoothies, hearty soup bowls, grain bowls, light soup, and wellness shots.
The soups range from light veggie purées to more filling options with lentils and beans. Light soups are perfect for lunch or dinner, while half a soup serving can work as a snack. On the other hand, the hearty soup bowls are better suited for dinner.
The grain and noodle bowls are perfect for lunch or dinner. While the noodle bowls are made with a base of rice noodles, the grain bowls contain healthy ingredients like quinoa, wild rice, squash, and sweet potatoes.
The smoothies are packed with various fruits, veggies, and superfoods and serve up some serious vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. In addition, they have lots of gut-healthy fiber that will help keep you full. They are perfect for breakfast or as a snack on the go.
The wellness shots on the menu are pressed juices designed to give you a quick boost of nutrients as well as help to boost your immunity.
Splendid Spoon currently offers a variety of weekly plans on their website, where you can choose from over 50 dishes each week. You can modify your profile to note ingredients or flavors you'd like to avoid in future orders.
- Breakfast: Your choice of 5 smoothies for $65.
- Lunch: Your choice of 5 soups and grain bowls for $65
- Breakfast + Lunch: Your choice of 5 smoothies and 5 soup & grain bowls for $75
- Breakfast, Lunch + Reset: Your choice of 5 smoothies, 5 bowls, and 5 light soups (for the "Reset" day to get your digestive system back on track) for $115
- Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner + Reset: Your choice of 5 smoothies, 5 soup and grain bowls, 5 noodle bowls, 5 light soups for $165
- On-Demand Box: Order meals in bulk without a subscription. Depending on your order, prices range from $59 to $165 per box.
Once you pick a plan, you can choose between weekly delivery, every other week, or once a month. In addition, you can change your subscription and delivery frequency at any time. All the plans come with free shipping.
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IS SPLENDID SPOON VEGAN?
As you'll see in my Splendid Spoon review, all the meals and drinks are vegan-friendly. In addition, they're also dairy-free and gluten-free. Splendid Spoon is also 100% GMO-free. However, 95% of their smoothies are organic. When sourcing ingredients for their soup and grain bowls, the company prioritizes the "Dirty Dozen" list (celery, tomatoes, kale, potatoes, spinach, strawberries, etc.).
MY SPLENDID SPOON REVIEW
For this Splendid Spoon review, I tried the Breakfast + Lunch plan as well as three bottles of wellness shots.
What's In The Box
Here's what came in my Splendid Spoon box:
Packaging:
My order came packed up in a cardboard box with insulation and dry ice. All the containers, bottles, packaging, and ClimaCell insulation can be added to your recycling bin or taken to a local recycling facility.
Ingredients:
The box contained a mix of smoothies, bowls, and wellness shots. In fact, the soups and bowls are flash-frozen before shipping, which helps maximize their shelf life. Meanwhile, the smoothies are high-pressure processed to kill potentially harmful pathogens and maintain the nutritional profile of the raw ingredients.
Everything was still cold and was delivered in good shape. The bowls come in 12-ounce 100% BPA-free plastic containers. You can recycle them or reuse them if you're low on plastic food containers. Each smoothie bottle is 16 ounces, which makes it enough for one meal or two snack portions. The wellness shots came in 3-ounce bottles.
Splendid Spoon Smoothies
I made sure to give each bottle a good shake before opening it.
The Blackberry Basil Smoothie had bananas, blackberries, basil, lemon juice, vanilla powder, and dates. The smoothie was the perfect balance of flavors. There was just enough fruitiness as well as some earthy notes from the pea protein. I loved the hint of basil. The chia seeds and pea protein are a great addition; I could easily see myself remaining full longer after drinking this smoothie.
A Carrot Ginger Smoothie had carrot juice, mangoes, bananas, and ginger juice. The smoothie wasn't as thick as the Blackberry Basil one. Again, what stood out for me was the perfect balance of flavors. Ginger can be a little overpowering in a drink, but the smoothie had just enough to warm up the drink and give it a little spice without drowning out the other flavors. The dates gave the right amount of sweetness without making it too saccharine.
Then there was an AB&J (almond butter and jelly) Smoothie, which had bananas, almond butter, coconut nectar, and baobab powder. This smoothie was thicker than the first two. The strawberry purée was the "jelly" of the drink. I felt that the drink was really substantial and could serve as a complete breakfast option, especially if you're active.
For greens lovers, the Power Greens Smoothie had bananas, lemon juice, coconut oil, spirulina, sea salt, and wheatgrass powder. This was a really good combination of a green smoothie. There were some really strong ingredients like kale juice, which can be bitter. But somehow, no flavor was too overpowering. The coconut nectar provided enough sweetness. Also, there was plenty of protein from the pea protein powder, hemp, chia, and flax seeds.
SO pretty...the Dragon Fruit Berry Smoothie has dragon fruit, raspberries, chia seeds, and vanilla powder. For those who don't eat bananas, this is a banana-free option. Visually, this looked like it would be my favorite because I just loved its color. The pineapple juice added a fresh taste to the smoothie that I really enjoyed. It had a creamy richness from the avocado.
My favorite pick: This was a hard choice to make as the smoothies were all really yummy. Ultimately, the Carrot Ginger Smoothie outshone the others. It was so refreshing, and I loved how the hint of ginger warmed me up.
Splendid Spoon Shots
The Digestion Shot contained apple juice, apple cider vinegar, ginger juice, turmeric, and cayenne pepper. I loved how it smelled when I opened it. That first sip was quite potent, and I immediately thought that this would be great to take if I felt a cold coming on. However, the cayenne pepper was too much for me, which is not surprising because I'm not a big spice fan.
Let's detox! The Detox Shot contained apple juice, lemon juice, aloe juice, kale juice, moringa, spirulina. Looking at the ingredients, I felt that this drink would be great for a quick pick-me-up or a spring detox. Though the shot ingredients are more concentrated when compared to the smoothies, I really liked the taste of this drink.
See ya sniffles! The Wellness Shot contained ginger, orange juice, lemon juice, and oregano extract. The ginger and turmeric really stood out for me with that first sip, but I liked it. I felt that this particular drink would be a great immunity booster.
My favorite pick: I am a fan of the Detox Shot. It has so much nutritional goodness from kale juice, moringa, and spirulina. Moringa is considered a superfood and is said to provide seven times more vitamin C than oranges, ten times more vitamin A than carrots, and 17 times more calcium than milk.
Splendid Spoon Bowls
Before we go any further, it's important to mention that these are frozen microwaveable meals. As a result, they're not going to be quite like if you ordered the same thing fresh or made it yourself. So it's essential to manage your expectations from the get-go.
The reheating instructions for the soups and bowls were pretty direct. I preferred to use the stovetop. First, I put the contents of each container into a saucepan. Next, I added a bit of water, covered it, and let the food rewarm thoroughly on medium-low heat.
Once the meals were ready, I topped all of them with some freshly chopped parsley.
Green Split Pea Soup: The dish had a fresh, delicious depth of flavor to it. The addition of whole green peas in addition to the split peas was a great touch. I loved the fresh taste of the lemon juice, tarragon, and mint. The dish contained green peas, split peas, carrots, onions, celery, and basil.
Roasted Cauliflower Bowl: The bowl was very nice. I was surprised by the flavor profile because most frozen meals tend to be bland. The cauliflower was soft, which was to be expected. Maybe using a microwave may have helped retain its texture, but I'm not a fan of reheating food that way. Overall, it was a delicious bowl! The meal contained cauliflower, chickpeas, spinach, sorghum, tahini, currants, dates, za'atar, and sesame seeds.
Lentil and Kale Soup: The soup had great flavor. Its consistency was lighter than that of the split pea soup. The red lentils lent a creaminess to the dish. I loved how curry powder, cinnamon, and black pepper gave the soup a slight kick. It contained carrots, kale, green and red lentils, onions, and rosemary.
Cuban Black Bean Bowl: I loved that the brown rice tasted like freshly made rice. It was nice and fluffy with a soft, chewy texture. I also enjoyed the plantains and the slight sweetness that they lent to the dish. Overall, the meal was very delicious and not as spicy as I thought it would be. It contained brown rice, plantains, kale, tomatoes, black beans, jalapeño pepper, cumin, dried shiitake mushrooms, chipotle powder, and oregano.
Moroccan Spiced Buckwheat Bowl: This dish was not as flavorful as the other four dishes. It would work for those who prefer a simple or neutral flavor profile. You can add a dressing to this dish for extra flavor. It contained buckwheat, butternut squash, broccoli, chickpeas, scallions, currants, garlic, and ginger.
My favorite pick: I didn't expect to enjoy the Cuban Black Bean Bowl as much as I did, but I'm partial to plantains.
ARE YOU READY TO TRY OUT SPLENDID SPOON?
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Is Splendid Spoon worth the money?
If you lead a busy life and want healthy, nutritious, plant-based meals that require no prep time and are delivered to your doorstep, then you should try Splendid Spoon. Not only are the meals made with clean, healthy ingredients that are low in sugar, but eliminating the cleanup of cooking daily alone can make it totally worthwhile.
Do you lose weight on Splendid Spoon?
Splendid Spoon meals and drinks are generally low in calories, low in sodium, and no added sugars. Therefore, when paired with a healthy lifestyle and regular exercise, the meals may aid in weight loss.
Is Splendid Spoon better than Daily Harvest?
I can't answer this honestly as this was only a Splendid Spoon review. However, I know that they are similar; both deliver plant-based meals and snacks like smoothies, grain bowls, and soups. Who knows, maybe my next review will be on Daily Harvest, and then I'll be able to give you an honest comparison!
SPLENDID SPOON PROS & CONS
PROS: As far as pros, I would say that Splendid Spoon is delicious, convenient and healthy. So it's great if you're looking for a time-saver. Cost-wise, it's more economical than eating out in restaurants.
CONS: But if you like to cook, a con could be that you don't have control over the ingredients. However, you can always add additional ingredients to make it more customized to your taste buds.
FINAL VERDICT: IS SPLENDID SPOON WORTH IT?
I hope my Splendid Spoon review was helpful. If you can fit it into your budget, I think Splendid Spoon is a great option for anyone looking for a convenient way to eat more plant-based meals without dealing with meal prep, shopping, or planning.
The smoothies had just the right amount of sweetness without being too sugary. On the other hand, the meals scored big points for variety, both in terms of the combination of flavors as well as the use of varied ingredients.
Personally, I would definitely do it again!
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FTC Disclaimer: I was compensated for this post. This post also contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.
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