Sakara Life is a meal delivery service that has gained popularity for its focus on wellness and nutritionally balanced, plant-based meals. Founded in 2012 by Danielle DuBoise and Whitney Tingle, the company delivers ready-to-eat breakfasts, lunches, and dinners to customers across the contiguous United States. Sakara's meals are free from dairy, meat, seafood, gluten and soy, and prioritize fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and beans. The service offers programs ranging from three to five days per week, with options for two or three meals per day. Sakara also offers an array of add-ons, but I tried the chocolate bars and smoothies. The premade smoothies were $13 each, which I found expensive compared to making my own at home, and I didn’t love the texture.
With its aesthetically pleasing Instagram ads and promises of improved health, Sakara Life has piqued the interest of many seeking a convenient and nutritious way to eat. But does Sakara Life live up to the hype? This article delves into a comprehensive review of Sakara Life, exploring its programs, meal quality, nutritional value, and overall cost to help you determine if it's the right choice for you.
What is Sakara Life?
Sakara Life distinguishes itself as an organic meal delivery service that focuses on wellness and nutritionally balanced meals. All meals are 100% plant-based and prepared by classically trained chefs, then delivered ready-to-eat to your doorstep. Free from dairy, meat and seafood, the service occasionally uses honey and bee pollen but prioritizes fruits and vegetables alongside a variety of nuts, seeds and beans.
How Sakara Life Works
Sakara delivers its meals to all 48 contiguous states within the United States. The brand utilizes third-party shipping carriers, such as UPS, and hand-delivery partners, who will notify you of your order's delivery status. Delivery boxes are insulated and include ice packs to keep the food at a safe temperature. The boxes, liners and meal containers are 100% curbside recyclable.
Meals arrive at your doorstep fully prepared and ready to eat. Since the ingredients are fresh and of high quality, the food should be refrigerated and consumed within a few days. Many meals can be eaten raw, but heating instructions are also available for some meals. All dishes are labeled with a "Best By" date on the container.
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The ordering process is simple and straightforward. There are two programs to choose from now (Sakara used to offer more, but it has recently simplified its offerings), and most will likely opt for Sakara's Signature Nutrition Program, which is the core plan. One drawback is that the meals are largely pre-set - if you subscribe, you'll have some flexibility to swap a few meals, but for the high price, I feel that the meals should be more customizable.
It's also important to note that everything is designed for only one person, so if you're looking to feed a large family, then this service isn't ideal for you. And everything comes prepared and ready to eat or heat, which contributes to its higher price point. All of the meals are gluten-free and plant-based; however, Sakara does not recommend their meals for individuals with severe allergies due to the potential for cross-contamination in their facilities.
Programs Offered by Sakara Life
Sakara Life offers two primary programs: the Signature Nutrition Program and the Level II: Detox program.
Signature Nutrition Program
This is the core plan, offering meals for either three or five days per week, with options for two or three meals per day. The program ranges from $140 to $465 per week, depending on the number of meals you choose to receive (this averages to roughly $20 to $35 per meal). If you subscribe, you'll receive a 15% discount and have the option to skip weeks or swap meals.
Level II: Detox
The Level II: Detox program was created in partnership with a functional medicine doctor and is an intensive, five-day program designed to serve as a dietary reset. It includes five days of complete meals, smoothies, soups, broth, supplements and more. The program costs $465, and Sakara recommends completing it only once a month or once a quarter. The Detox excludes all meat, dairy, grains, gluten, soy, processed foods, refined sugars, nightshades, corn, caffeine, and alcohol. The Detox includes breakfasts, lunches, and dinners for five days, delivered in two shipments spaced throughout the week. Those meals are meant to be supplemented with the included tonics (three per day, each of them different), hydration drinks, and vitamin capsules (B-Complex, Vitamin D3, and Magnesium Glycinate). The first delivery also includes a body gua sha, meant to promote lymphatic drainage and circulation.
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A Closer Look at the Meals
One of the most impressive aspects of Sakara Life is the flavor and variety of its meals. If I’m paying a premium price, I expect high-quality, nutritious meals with interesting flavors and textures ─ and Sakara delivered.
Day 1
I prefer savory breakfasts, but the Black Forest Breakfast With Cherry Sauce I received surprised me in the best way. I warmed up the cake-like meal and drizzled the cherry sauce on top. The crumbly texture wasn’t overly sweet and came with a small plum. Even though it was lower in protein than I’d usually eat for breakfast, I was satisfied until lunchtime.
Lunch was the Summer Sun Salad that was piled with zucchini, hemp seeds, and carrots and topped with a yummy wildflower dressing. I love salads with texture and added elements: This one included puffed quinoa, dried tart cherries, and sliced almonds.
While I felt satisfied for a few hours, I did get hungry by midafternoon, so I snacked on the Sakara Metabolism Bar, a freebie added to my order. The bar provided 12 grams of protein from pea and brown rice protein and was sweetened with ingredients like allulose (a naturally occurring sugar that doesn’t raise blood sugar like table sugar), date paste, and monk fruit. While not my favorite, it curbed my hunger until dinner.
Dinner was a Five-Herb Pesto Pasta, featuring a blend of tomatoes and herbs like marjoram, sage, basil, and mint. The lentil pasta added protein and was combined with cherry tomatoes, eggplant, beans, kale, extra-virgin olive oil, and zucchini. While the sauce - made from cashews, kombu (dried sea kelp), olive oil, and nutritional yeast (an inactive form of the same type of yeast made to bake bread that’s often used in plant-based food for its nutrition and cheesy flavor) - was slightly oily and a bit bland, the meal overall was satisfying, thanks to its fiber-rich, plant-based composition.
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Day 2
The Georgia Peach Parfait I received was a tasty start to my day, with layers of coconut yogurt and peach puree. Ingredients like maple syrup, pecans, carrots, vanilla extract, almond flour, and date extract were a little sweeter than I usually prefer, but not overwhelmingly so. The granola wasn’t crunchy, but it didn’t feel soggy and had a pleasant texture.
I felt satisfied for the next three hours until lunch, when I had the Golden Hour Tropical Salad. It featured mango, cashews, chickpeas, pickled onions, curried spices, turmeric, and forbidden rice (black rice) with an avocado-based dressing.
Dinner was my favorite: Clarity Curry Soup served with naan. With a blend of Indian flavors, the soup was creamy and included chunks of kabocha squash, lentils, spinach, crushed tomatoes, and aromatic spices. The naan, made with high-fiber psyllium seed husk, was perfect for dipping. It also came with coconut raita (yogurt sauce), mint chutney, and pickled onions, which I enjoyed.
Day 3
Breakfast consisted of Maize Muffins made from cornmeal with a Probiotic Berry Coulis. The moist muffins were made with coconut oil, applesauce, coconut sugar, and blanched almonds and garnished with hemp seeds and blue cornflower. This meal felt especially light on protein, so I added eggs on the side.
Midmorning I tried the Metabolism Smoothie, made from a mix of almond milk, date syrup, cacao bean, and various ingredients like MCT (medium-chain triglycerides) oil (a faster-dissolving type of fat often used by people on high-fat, low-carb diets), chicory root, and cinnamon. The chocolate-cinnamon taste was pleasant, but not something I would reorder.
Lunch was the Smoky and Sweet Seasonal Bowl with wild rice. It was my least favorite simply because the flavors were less interesting than other meals. The standout of this meal was the crunchy wild rice and creamy, flavorful sauce.
My last meal of the day was the Red Beet Burger With Poppy Seed Vinaigrette. This meal was another surprising win: The “burger” and gluten-free bread had a nice texture with a lot of flavor. I adore poppy seed dressings, so this was a pleasure to eat.
Testers and I found the inventive meals and delicious flavor profiles to be impressive. Some meals are heartier than others, but every dish was incredibly tasty and included diverse flavor profiles. I shared the tacos with my husband, who is a big carnivore, and he was shocked to find out that they were made with jackfruit and not pulled meat. Salads are definitely a staple of the program, but you'll also receive chilis, stews, grain and noodle bowls, and more. Sakara also does a great job at lightening up comfort food staples and adding a nutrient-packed twist on everything from breakfast donuts and muffins to plant-based burgers and enchiladas.
The service also expanded my palate by introducing me to international flavors I hadn't tried before. The convenience of having everything prepared was not only practical but also significantly reduced my stress level for the week. I actually really looked forward to the meals since they were very original and packed with flavor. I physically felt good and strong during the week, and it was interesting to have a break from meat-based meals and products while still feeling satiated and energetic.
Nutritional Aspects of Sakara Life
There was a lot to love nutritionally about these meals. The variety of plant-based ingredients translates to more fiber - and that made my dietitian’s heart very happy. I also love much of Sakara’s nutrition philosophy, which follows its “9 pillars of nutrition,” including no calorie counting, eating the rainbow, and nutrient density. But in reality you can’t say that you’re creating meals that give everybody the nutrients they need because all bodies are different.
I’m a fan of Sakara’s “counting nutrients, not calories” nutrition philosophy and listening to your body to know if you’re eating enough. The calories are on the lower side for some people, which I expected based on portion sizes. While it fits my calorie needs, someone like my husband (who is more than six feet tall) would likely need more food. Theoretically, he could add snacks between meals, which is part of the Sakara philosophy of “body intelligence” that allows you to consume more food based on how you feel.
However, the total protein is far lower than I would recommend for most people. The lowest baseline protein recommendation is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight. For a 150-pound person, this is 55 grams of protein, which technically falls within Sakara’s recommended range. However, it doesn’t consider increased nutrient needs for other reasons like activity level, age, or special dietary needs. And research suggests people may need more protein, especially as they age or when trying to lose weight.
I love the “high fiber, lower carbohydrate (but not too low)” aspect of these meals. Yes, it’s even higher than current recommendations of 25 to 38 grams per day, but I’m all for it. Fiber is crucial for digestion, satiety (feeling full), blood sugar balance, and heart health, and only about 5 percent of the population eats enough.
However, sodium is on the higher side at 3,000 mg. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans suggest no more than 2,300 mg of sodium per day for healthy blood pressure. Balancing sodium intake with high-potassium foods like fruits and vegetables (which you’ll find a lot of in Sakara’s meals) is also important for healthy blood pressure because potassium helps your body remove excess sodium and relaxes blood vessels. While Sakara meals may not be appropriate for those with high blood pressure, they do provide a healthy supply of potassium.
Supplements and Extras
Sakara offers a variety of supplements, snacks, teas and more to complement its meals. We tested the bars and granola, which were both filling and tasty, as well as the Daily Elixir liquid multivitamin, which takes some getting used to (any liquid multivitamin does) but has a citrusy flavor and goes down relatively easily.
As a dietitian, I appreciate that the Daily Elixir is made without artificial flavors and colors. It's pretty potent, though, and some of the nutrients far exceed what you need in a day - that isn't always a bad thing, but for certain fat-soluble vitamins like E, it can be a concern. I would consider taking even half a serving (half a tablespoon in this case) most days, which should be plenty, especially if you are already eating a healthy, balanced diet. It's expensive to begin with at $75, so cutting the serving size can make the bottle last longer. One thing to note is that the liquid multi does not include vitamin C - you should be able to meet your daily requirements through your diet alone, but this is something I look for in a multivitamin to support a healthy immune system. It also contains only a small amount of calcium, and if you're on a dairy-free diet, you'll want to be extra mindful of incorporating enough calcium-rich plant-based foods into your diet. But the multi has plenty of vitamin B12, a nutrient that is typically lacking in most vegan diets. As always, you should speak with your healthcare provider before taking any new supplement.
Sakara says that its supplements are third-party tested by independent accredited labs to ensure that what is on the label is actually in the bottle. Additionally, the facilities are GMP-certified, meaning they comply with regulations governing the creation of safe, high-quality products.
Cost and Flexibility
There’s no getting around the fact that Sakara is expensive. Both of the brand’s programs cost upwards of $400 a week for a full slate of meals, which is simply unattainable for a lot of people-according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics it’s close to double the weekly grocery budget for a family of four. If you’re on a budget and really want to try it, the Signature Program is the more flexible package. You can order set packs of weeks (one, four, eight, or twelve) or save 15% by ordering a weekly subscription. Whichever ordering style you choose, you'll then select between three or five days worth of meals, and whether you want breakfast, lunch, and dinner, or just lunch and dinner. So if you just wanted three days of lunch and dinner in a week, you’re looking at about $140-$200 if you order packs of weeks, or $170 with a weekly subscription. On the other end of the spectrum, five days of three signature meals will cost you $395-$465. The 5-day Level II: Detox program only comes in single one-week units.
Sakara Life vs. Other Meal Delivery Services
Compared to other premade meal delivery services like Factor and Trifecta, Sakara's food is definitely premium, but it's also significantly more expensive and doesn't include meat. Sakara's menu is also pre-set for the week, and while the meals feel fresh and inventive, other services typically offer a large assortment of meals to choose from with more variety. But Sakara's biggest competitors are likely Thistle and Methodology.
Thistle comes at a more affordable price point with meals between $13 to $17.49 and gives you the option of meals that include meat or are solely plant-based. But Sakara's offerings are a bit more flavorful and inventive, though at a higher cost.
Methodology is a premium prepared meal delivery service similar to Sakara with vibrant, nutritious meals and tonics. I would say that the food quality of both is the same, and it is much better than other services on the market, as well as extremely fresh. Methodology meals are a bit heartier than Sakara's, though, namely because Methodology gives you the option to include high-quality animal proteins in some of its dishes like salmon and chicken. Both services are great but also extremely expensive (Methodology meals are $25 to $35 each, around the same as Sakara) - if you are to splurge, the choice comes down ultimately to whether or not you want entirely plant-based meals or prefer some animal proteins with your dishes.
Potential Benefits of Sakara Life
While individual results may vary, Sakara Life offers several potential benefits:
- Improved Diet Quality: Sakara Life emphasizes whole, plant-based foods, which can lead to increased fiber intake, better digestion, and a reduced intake of processed foods.
- Weight Management: By providing pre-portioned, nutritious meals, Sakara Life can support weight loss or maintenance goals.
- Increased Energy Levels: The focus on nutrient-dense foods can lead to more sustained energy throughout the day.
- Convenience: Sakara Life eliminates the need for meal planning, grocery shopping, and cooking, saving time and reducing stress.
- Exposure to New Flavors and Ingredients: Sakara Life's diverse menu can introduce you to new and exciting plant-based dishes.
Potential Drawbacks of Sakara Life
Despite its benefits, Sakara Life also has some potential drawbacks:
- High Cost: Sakara Life is significantly more expensive than grocery shopping and cooking your own meals.
- Pre-Set Menus: The limited customization options may not be suitable for picky eaters or those with specific dietary needs.
- Lower Protein Content: The meals may be lower in protein than some individuals require, especially those who are highly active or trying to build muscle.
- High Sodium Content: Some meals may be high in sodium, which may be a concern for individuals with high blood pressure.
- Not Suitable for Severe Allergies: Sakara Life does not recommend their meals for individuals with severe allergies due to the potential for cross-contamination in their facilities.