The best meal delivery services offer great pricing, subscription services, or varied dietary options (vegan/plant-based, keto, and so on), or both. Most companies offer something for everyone, but a lot seem to be carbon copies of more well-known brands, with slightly better pricing. Some promise vegan or plant-based health but fall short in variety. Then there are meal delivery services like Thistle, which adds a spin to the vegan meal delivery trend.
Thistle delivers plant-based foods and focuses on healthy and sustainable dishes, with a penchant for creative and hearty dishes. In this Thistle meal delivery review, we’ll introduce you to the brand and discuss how it compares to the best plant-based meal delivery services. Keep reading to see what sets Thistle apart from other brands.
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Medical disclaimer: This article is intended for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for medical advice. For health advice, contact a licensed healthcare provider. GGR also recommends choosing a product that has been third-party tested for quality.
40+ Meal Kits Tested by Experts
Whether you’re searching for the best hemp-based protein powder or the best meal delivery kit for weight loss, you’ve come to the right place. Our experts include registered dietitians, personal trainers, professional bodybuilders, and moms and dads. We know healthy meals and have tested over 40 meal delivery kits with options for every palate and dietary need.
We take fitness seriously and know your time is valuable. With that in mind, we write honest reviews on prepared meal kits to help you economize meal prep and grocery shopping and get back to enjoying your life. For this Thistle review, Erin Chancer, GGR senior editor, NASM-CNC, ISSA-CPT, took her time getting to know the food delivery service. Using our nutrition testing methodology, she gave scores on a scale of 1 to 5 based on categories such as:
- Price per meal
- Ease of preparation
- Taste
- Ingredient quality
- Portion size
- Meal plans and customization
Thistle
Thistle
Product Highlights
- Meal delivery service that serves select areas in the U.S.
- West Coast and East Coast have different weekly menus
- Delivery once or twice a week depending on plan
- Locally sourced and organic ingredients when possible
- Gluten-free, dairy-free
- Plant-based proteins, with meat options for lunch and dinner meals
- Weekly meals that can be swapped or customized
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Plant-based meals with meat options
- Dairy-free
- Gluten-free
- No artificial sweeteners
Cons
- Limited shipping areas
- Even smaller local delivery area
- One of the pricier meal services
Bottom Line
Thistle is a meal delivery service that ships to select areas along the East and West Coast of the United States. Depending on your plan, Thistle delivers once or twice a week, and meals are primarily plant-based, with meat options available for lunch and dinner meals. Ingredients are locally sourced when possible and are gluten-free and dairy-free.
A Quick Look at Thistle
Thistle was started in San Francisco, California, in 2013 by a husband and wife team with Israeli lineage and East Coast influence. Thistle offers breakfast, lunch, and dinner options with high-quality ingredients, and all meals are ready to eat.
Thistle’s weekly menu reflects the brand’s approach to healthy eating, with an emphasis on plant-forward meals and whole foods. Many of its meals include plant-based proteins and superfoods like quinoa, sweet potatoes, and lentils. The meals are crafted by chefs and nutritionists to appeal to all palates. Thistle offers mostly vegan options, but has “omnivore” choices that allow for chicken or pork in your meals.
Thistle delivers throughout California, and has some coverage across the West Coast. It also delivers to portions of the Northeast U.S., including New York City, Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania, and Connecticut.
Before You Buy
- All meals are plant-based, with chicken or pork omnivore options for added protein and flavor. Thistle does NOT offer beef products to reduce environmental impacts.
- Thistle’s menu is dairy-free and gluten-free, and has no refined sugars, artificial ingredients, or additives. In addition to nutritious meals, it offers optional snacks, sides, and cold-pressed juices.
Is Thistle Worth It?
Destini Moodi, RD, CSSD, LD, certainly thinks so. She appreciates the nutrient density of plant-based meals and really likes the convenience of Thistle’s prepared meals. She likes that Thistle offers wholesome plates for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
“Thistle mimics the model of meals I wish everyone would follow: meals that are comprised mostly of plants, with some carbs and protein thrown in. This is also the style of diet that the healthiest populations in the world follow,” Destini says.
But—and there’s always a but—Thistle isn’t cheap. A single meal starts at $14. Also, many of the main lunches are salads. While veggies are good for you, eating salads multiple times a day can get boring after a while. Thistle does offer East Coast and West Coast menus, so you have some extra variety and seasonal flair.
Thistle aims to promote healthy eating and plant-based foods as a lifestyle, rather than just a meal subscription service. They’ve done quite a good job with their branded, substantial totes, heavy-duty food jars, and well-reviewed juices. They’re not quite up there with brands like Sakara, but they certainly make healthy habits more accessible for those who can afford the meals.
Great for:
- Anyone who wants to try premium plant-based meals and sample a more sustainable eating experience
- Folks who wish to cut down on meal prep and grocery shopping
- Small families or couples
Not recommended for:
- People with limited budgets
- Anyone who prefers animal protein, especially beef
- Large families and anyone who wants more meal flexibility
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Thistle Specs
| Price per meal | Starts at $14 |
| Meals per week | As many as you want |
| Meal kit or prepared | Prepared |
| Diet options | Vegan, with chicken or pork options (limited) |
| Fresh or frozen | Fresh |
| Delivery area | Shipping across California and to parts of Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. Local delivery available in select locations across the West and East coasts. |
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Experience Using Thistle
Thistle is a great option for people who want to lean into a plant-based meal subscription. Its meals are prepared, meaning less meal prep and more time enjoying your food. Thistle customers can opt for up to two shipments per week, so you have more food ready when you need it.
Erin Chancer, GGR senior editor, NASM-CNC, ISSA-CPT, tried Thistle for a week. In all, Erin really liked the food. The most prohibitive factor for her was the price. She also had thoughts on meal customization, which we’ll get into below.
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Price Per Meal
With meals between $10 and $16, Thistle earned 1.5 stars. The price isn’t bad, considering you’re paying for premium food and the cooking is done for you. However, you don’t get any animal protein unless you change your dietary preferences during checkout. For a primarily vegan meal delivery service, we consider the price to be on the high side.
“You do pay for the convenience, but it encourages you to make your own home-cooked dinners instead of ordering takeout,” says Destini Moody, RD, CSSD, LD.
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Thistle Meal Preparation
Thistle offers prepared meals, meaning fewer trips to the grocery store and more time eating. This earned Thistle a perfect 5-star rating in this category. “The meals arrive fresh in plastic containers. Some require you to heat them up in a skillet, but that was quick and painless and made the meal better. Clean-up is easy, and you can recycle the containers,” Erin says.
However, Destini Moody, RD, CSSD, LD, offers a word of advice: “Since the meals are fresh, you need to eat them fast, so that’s something to keep in mind if you have a busy lifestyle.”
Taste, Ingredient Quality, and Portion Size
Erin enjoyed all of the Thistle meals she tried and awarded the taste 4.5 out of 5 stars. “I enjoyed everything I tried. I wasn’t sold at first because it looks like a lot of greens, but everything was flavorful and filling. My favorite meal was the Cuban-Inspired Mojo with Chicken. Excellent flavor and the fried plantains were a real treat,” she reports.
Ingredient quality earned a perfect 5 out of 5. Erin added chicken to some meals, which tasted great. However, as with all meats, we recommend cooking them as soon as possible to avoid the risk of foodborne illness.
Thistle’s portion sizes earned another 5-star rating. Grains and greens can be pretty filling, which is another win for this healthy meal delivery service. “The portion sizes were just right for me,” Erin says. “I was even getting full halfway through my meals.”
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Meal Plans and Customization
Thistle has East and West coast menus, so you get a taste of New York and San Francisco or Seattle. However, its meal plans are limited, there are very few customization options, and the meals have a lot of salads, which earned them 3 out of 5 stars.
Erin had breakfast, lunch, and dinner for a week, with meat added to the latter two. Still, she felt underwhelmed with the meal selection and felt locked into specific meals.
“I do like that there are breakfast options as well as selections for sides, which isn’t common for meal delivery services that usually just stick to meals. That said, the variety is limited. Almost all of the sides are soups and salads, and the majority of breakfast options are oatmeal and smoothies. Having salad for lunch and dinner everyday can get pretty old, no matter how much you change the ingredients,” adds Destini Moody, RD, CSSD, LD.
Ordering, Packaging, and Shipping
Ordering through Thistle is pretty standard. Select the number of meals you want in your meal plan, choose your protein type, indicate whether you have any allergies, delivery frequency, and get ready to eat. You can skip and pause deliveries as needed. For this, Erin awarded Thistle 4 out of 5 stars.
Thistle is not nationwide, however. It delivers exclusively to the East and West coasts, with a few states in between receiving some attention.
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Thistle vs Factor
Factor
Factor Meals
Product Highlights
- Heat-and-eat meals that are delivered weekly
- Five menu plans, including calorie-controlled and keto
- Can mix and match from different menu plans for more variety
- New menus drop weekly
- Can order up to 18 meals per week
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Not restricted to one specific diet plan
- Meals arrive fresh and ready to heat
- Offers options for different dietary preferences
- Can cancel or skip a delivery anytime
Cons
- No options for customization
- No personalized plans for weight loss
Bottom Line
Factor75 is a heat-and-eat delivery service that works well for those on specialized diets. Boxes are delivered weekly, and you can mix and match from different menu plans to maximize your menu variety.
Like Thistle, Factor offers prepared meals that take just a few minutes to reheat. Factor’s meals are more budget-friendly, starting around $3 less than Thistle’s. Factor also ships to the continental U.S., whereas Thistle’s meal delivery area is more limited.
Additionally, Factor offers more variety. It does have vegan meals, but there are several more options for meals with animal-based proteins. Factor provides plenty of keto and low-carb meals. On the other hand, Thistle claims on its website that it’s unable to accommodate these types of diets.
If you’re looking for more meal variety and want to save a few bucks, Factor may be right for you. If you follow a vegan lifestyle or want to incorporate more plants into your diet, Thistle will be the better option.
Learn more about Factor in our Factor meals review.
| Thistle | Factor | |
| Price per meal | Starts at $14 | Starts at $10.99 |
| Meals per week | As many as you want | 6, 8, 10, 12, 14 or 18 |
| Meal kit or prepared | Prepared | Prepared |
| Diet options | Vegan, with chicken or pork options (limited) | Chef’s Choice, Calorie-Controlled, Keto, Vegan/Veggie, and High-Protein |
| Fresh or frozen | Fresh | Fresh |
| Delivery area | Shipping across California and to parts of Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. Local delivery available in select locations across the West and East coasts. | Continental U.S. |
Customer Experience
Thistle gets 5 stars for sustainability. The company really makes an effort to have a low environmental impact. The food ships in recyclable, reusable containers with recyclable ice packs. The company also offers large, durable, reusable totes and sources ingredients from organic farms when they can.
The thistle.co website is nicely designed and easy to navigate, with a neat blog to keep you up to date on wellness and food trends.
Customer Reviews
Despite its small geographic footprint, Thistle has a good following. We went to Trustpilot for an official verdict. Based on over 1,000 reviews, Thistle has an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars. More than half of the reviews are overwhelmingly positive, with most enjoying the flavor, freshness, and abundance of veggies. Some less positive reviews commented on inconsistent meal deliveries, lack of variety, or missing meals.
Final Verdict of Our Thistle Meal Delivery Review
Thistle proves to be a solid contender for the best plant-based meal kits. It’s ideal for small families and folks with a bit more to spend on food. Thistle offers breakfast, lunch, and dinner. While it’s an almost exclusively vegan meal kit, it offers chicken and pork add-ons. Thistle also offers a la carte snacks, sides, and juices.
Thistle’s main drawbacks are its price and restrictive delivery map limited to the East and West coasts. That said, Thistle is worth a try, especially if you’d like to take plant-based eating more seriously.
Full Rating
Thistle Meal Delivery
Thistle is a meal delivery service that ships to select areas along the East and West Coast of the United States. Depending on your plan, Thistle delivers once or twice a week, and meals are primarily plant-based, with meat options available for lunch and dinner meals. Ingredients are locally sourced when possible and are gluten-free and dairy-free.
Product Brand: Thistle
Product Currency: $
Product Price: 14
Product In-Stock: InStock
4.2
Thistle Meal Delivery FAQs
Do people lose weight on Thistle?
Weight loss is accomplished by calorie restriction. Thistle’s meals can be used for weight loss as long as you remain in a caloric deficit each day.
Is the Thistle company legit?
You bet. Thistle is a legitimate company based in San Francisco that offers plant-based meal delivery to select locations on the East and West coasts.
Can Thistle meals be frozen?
Thistle meals are ready to eat and not meant to be frozen.
How long are Thistle meals good for?
Freshness depends on the meal, and each meal will include an ‘Enjoy By’ date. That said, we recommend finishing each meal within a week for peak freshness.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any diseases.
