Green Goddess Lentil Salad
Hungry Root Unsponsored Review
Heads up: As of March 2019, Hungry Root has reworked their subscription service and menu to include a wider range of dietary needs and preferences, including meat and gluten options. Check it out again if you’re interested.
Recently, after some aggressive targeted advertising, I bit the bullet and purchased a Hungry Root meal subscription at the promotional rate of $50 for 8 meals (they claim there are 2 servings per meal) and 2 desserts. After the initial $50 offer, a one week Hungry Root subscription costs $100.
I’ve been trying to come up with more meal ideas, and I thought feeling out new flavor profiles from a company that does exclusively vegan meals was a good way to continue moving toward vegetarianism. Of course, subscription services are not at all a way to move toward zero waste.
But I bargained that trying it once wouldn’t hurt too bad, and in the long run reducing meat consumption is just as if not more environmentally friendly than reducing plastic.
For the sake of brevity, I won’t list out every single thing I sampled, but rather give you a sweeping overview.
Black Bean Brownie Batter (cooked)
Hungry Root Unsponsored Review: My Honest Thoughts
Flavor Profiles
I really liked the vegetable forward, subtly spiced dishes and was pleasantly surprised by how balance the flavors were, and how palatable each dish was.
Nutritional Value
Almost all dishes are high in protein and fiber, which help you feel full. This was a big draw for me, because I am not maintaining my weight the way that I used to (ugh, aging) and I did want to test the claims that this is an effective dieting tool.
That being said, several dishes are also high in fat and sodium. I actually ended up gaining a bit of weight during my trial period, but some of that could have been from stress eating snacks in the evenings (let’s just say it has not been the easiest month for me).
Ease of Use
Some items required a bit of cooking, but everything was easy to prepare and took less than ten minutes in most cases. Not exactly grab and go, but nothing to complain about.
Quantity
This one is complicated. I could get by on the recommended serving size initially, but I would feel ravenous a couple hours later, even if the meal was fairly high calorie. I suspect this made me overeat snacks, which was counterproductive.
Financial Value
I worked it out, and if I were to split each meal into two servings, it would be about $5 a meal + some change for dessert. That’s not terrible, but it’s still more expensive than a vegetarian meal needs to be. You’re paying for convenience, though, so compared to similar options like delivery, it’s a bargain.
Ginger Brussels Yuba Lo Mein
Final Thoughts
One problem I consistently have with vegan meals is that they’re often made with more fibrous vegetables that are difficult for my sensitive digestive tract to digest and with a lot of salt or spice to sort of “make up” for the fact that there’s less umami flavor.
While I actually really enjoyed the food overall, I felt slightly sick to my stomach most days after eating them. But even other vegan meals have done this to me – like 80% of the time – so it’s not unique to Hungry Root.
If you’re vegan or vegetarian already and don’t typically have a sensitive stomach, I think Hungry Root is a good option. I would recommend that you purchase the introductory offer and see how it goes before ordering another. And do consider the packaging waste. I would probably not place an order more than once a month just to keep waste down.
Get $30 off to try Hungry Root with my link
Related: HelloFresh Review
Leah Wise
Leah Wise is the founder of StyleWise Blog. She has been writing, speaking, and consulting on sustainable fashion, the fair trade and secondhand supply chain, and digital marketing for over ten years. An Episcopal priest, Leah holds a B.A. in Religion from Florida State University and an M.Div. from Yale Divinity School. When not working, you can find her looking for treasures at the thrift store.