If your health goals include eating more fresh, nutrient-rich food, but you don’t want to spend hours in the kitchen each week, read this dietitian’s honest Gardencup review to see if this salad delivery service is right for you!
As a busy mom and dietitian, I know the struggle of trying to eat healthy when your days are literally packed to the brim. That’s why I was so intrigued when I heard about Gardencup, a salad delivery service that promises fresh, flavorful, and ready-to-eat salads.
Personally, I love a good salad. It’s one of the most common things I order out, and while I would love to recreate my takeout favorites at home, it’s just not practical.
Why? I end up buying a ton of produce, dressings, and toppings and use just a small portion of each package for the salad. Then I’m eating the same salad every day for five days. And all those perishable extras? They rot in the fridge.
I can’t be the only one this happens to, right!?
When I saw that Gardencup promises fresh, nutrient-rich, and flavorful salads with a ton of options to choose from each week, I had to give it a try. Here’s my honest review.
To write this review, I requested and received a sample from Gardencup. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own!
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission if you click and purchase from the link (at no cost to you!). See full privacy policy, disclosure, and affiliate information here.
Want to give it a try yourself? Get 20% off your first order at Gardencup!
What is Gardencup?
Gardencup is a meal delivery service but like, a fresh, cool meal delivery service. Instead of meals that need to be prepared, cooked, or microwaved, every meal is a fresh, cool, crisp salad. All you need is a fork.
While salads are their bread and butter, per se, you can also order packs of Powercups (salads with pasta), soup, produce, snacks, dips, and juice to round out your weekly order.
You can choose from flavors like Southwest with Fajita Chicken, Garden Harvest with Grilled Chicken, or Buffalo Chicken Ranch, and most of the choices are also offered without meat for anyone looking for a vegetarian or vegan option.
Everything is delivered in a cool-packed box either weekly, biweekly, or on your chosen schedule.
How Gardencup Works
Once you sign up at Gardencup (this link gives you 20% off your first order), you can choose between a 6-pack or 9-pack and begin to fill your pack with salads, soups, snacks, or juices.
Once your pack is created, you’ll be given a delivery date and the opportunity to place your order. The meals arrive in a cold-packed box and need to be stored in the refrigerator and should stay fresh for 5-6 days.
In each Gardencup, you’ll find little cups of dressings and extra toppings like nuts, seeds, and croutons. Everything can be tossed in the cup, given a good shake, and enjoyed— no other prep needed.
My experience and Gardencup review
Nutrition and ingredient quality
Since this is a dietitian review, we’re starting with the good stuff here. I am blown away by the quality of Gardencup. The salads really are fresh, and they’re packed in a way that keeps them fresh, with lettuce at the top and saucy proteins and juicy veggies at the bottom.
The various salad options include ingredients like fresh corn, grape tomatoes, edamame, cabbage, carrots, apples, and roasted sweet potatoes.
The dressings add tons of flavor, and the little containers of crunchy toppings add extra nutrients and are a big satisfaction factor. These include ingredients like pecans, pumpkin seeds, pine nuts, croutons, and more.
When placing your order, you can click on each item and see a full breakdown of the nutrition information, ingredients, and allergens. Most of the Gardencup salads are between 400 and 650 calories, with a few outliers, and have between 17 and 32 grams of protein.
And if you’re used to salads leaving you hungry– you won’t have that experience with Gardencup. I split most of the salads I tried into two meals (or more like lunch and a side with dinner) because they were too filling to finish at once.
For options with more protein and calories, you can choose the Powercups with protein and added pasta for a more filling meal.
Pros of Gardencup
This is what I loved about my Gardencup order.
Tons of variety
When I make a salad at home, it’s one salad for the week. With Gardencup, I could eat a Buffalo Chicken salad one day, then an Applegreen and Grilled Chicken salad the next. Every day was something new, making each meal exciting and adding diversity to the nutrients you get every day.
Incredible flavor
Gardencup is as good as my favorite takeout salads but with a way better nutrient profile.
Large portions
The portions are huge. Personally, I think I only ate one of them as an entire meal. The rest were split into lunch and a smaller portion as a side with dinner because they are so big and filling!
Containers are easy to reuse
My biggest gripe with every single meal delivery service or grocery service I trial is how much waste they produce. so. much. plastic.
While the containers for Gardencup are all 100% recyclable, they’re also reusable. I end up recycling most of the condiment cups, but the big salad containers? Those are washed and reused for everything from storing my homemade dark chocolate granola to keeping tea bags fresh and rounding up the kid's legos.
Cons of Gardencup
Here’s what I didn’t love about this salad delivery service.
Cost
This is not a budget-friendly meal delivery service. Now that we got that out of the way. What’s it going to cost you?
Here are some of the current options and prices:
- Gardencups with Protein: $11.99
- Veggie Gardencups: $10.99
- Powercups with Protein: $11.99
- Veggie Powercups: $10.98
- Soupcups: $7.99 to $9.98
- Producecups and Snackcups: $5.99 to $8.99
If you choose a 6-pack of the Gardencups with protein, that’s $71.94.
Add the $10 shipping fee and your taxes, and you total $86.25 for six lunches.
Just over $14 for a big salad? That’s pricey compared to what you probably spend on making your lunch at home, but if you’re comparing it to eating out or ordering takeout at lunch each day, it may save you some money.
Gardencup doesn’t make sense if you have a tight food budget or are trying to feed a family. But if you have some room in your budget to spare and are looking for a fresh and nutritious meal option that takes literally zero prep work, Gardencup could be the perfect solution.
They’re perishable
Fresh food has the one little flaw of being incredibly perishable, aka, rotting very quickly.
Once you get your meals, you’ll want to eat all of them within 5 to 6 days. Towards that last day, the quality really starts to fall. While this isn’t unexpected or really even a bad thing when you consider how fresh the food is, it’s something to keep in mind.
Take a close look at your week ahead before placing your order, and consider skipping the week if you think things may pop up and prevent you from enjoying your meals within the week, or you’ll be throwing money down the drain.
Is Gardencup worth it? My final verdict
I think Gardencup is worth it… if it works for your budget and lifestyle.
If you’re feeding a family of four on a tight food budget, the single portions and high price per serving won’t make sense.
If you have room in the budget to spare, frequently eat out, or are looking for a meal solution for one person (aka lunch at work), then Gardencup might be exactly what you need to get excited about healthy eating.
For me, personally, it doesn’t make sense to order Gardencup regularly as I have more than just myself to feed and work from home, often having the time and energy to prepare something for lunch. But I can see myself placing an order in the future when I have big projects coming up, get in a food rut, or am on the off-weeks with my kids.
Want to try Gardencup for yourself? Get 20% off your first order!
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