Gwynedd Stuart
When we sat down for our Purple Carrot frozen meals taste test, things got off to a good start. The first meal we tried was a hit all around. I think we all quietly decided we were in the process of discovering a new favorite brand of vegetarian frozen meals. But it was all downhill from there (in the bad way, not the good way). Of the seven Purple Carrot frozen meals we tried, we only really liked one. But hey, we’ll tell you about the rest just in case.
What is Purple Carrot?
Purple Carrot started as a plant based meal subscription service, offering both kits and ready-to-eat options. In 2020, they expanded into the grocery store’s frozen aisle with a line of plant based frozen meals. There are eight meals total, and we were able to get our hands on seven of them.
As I said, this taste test didn’t go the way we hoped it would, but we know it can be hard to find plant based options in the frozen aisle, so hey, maybe something on this list will strike your fancy all the same. Here are all the Purple Carrot frozen meals, ranked from worst to best.
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- Purple Carrot Spinach Artichoke Cavatappi
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I was positive this would be one of the better Purple Carrot frozen meals—what’s not to like about pasta in a creamy spinach artichoke sauce, even if it’s vegan? Well, unfortunately, we all agreed that this Purple Carrot meal tastes kind of like…dirt. The spinach is bitter and earthy and not in a good way. We’ve actually found a couple of really good brands of vegan spinach artichoke dip. Make some pasta, stir in some dip and some pasta water, add some vegan parm, and I’m pretty sure you’ll have something better than this.
Credit: Merc / Instacart
- Purple Carrot Sweet Corn Elote Bowl
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Okay, there must be people out there who really enjoy frozen meals that consist of overcooked rice in a thick, gloopy sauce, because there sure are a lot of them. This Purple Carrot frozen meal is yet another, and I gotta say, it’s one of the worst I’ve had yet. The sauce is thick and so tangy it borders on astringent. The corn tastes fine, but the garbanzo beans in the mix are hard and mealy—and they don’t really belong in an elote bowl to begin with, right?
Credit: Merc / Instacart
- Purple Carrot Portobello Ravioli
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My colleagues aren’t fans of frozen spinach. Generally, I don’t mind it! But I gotta say the frozen spinach in Purple Carrot frozen meals does not taste good. Once again in this meal, the spinach tastes dirty, not earthy. The sauce tastes like almost nothing. And the ravioli are mushy—the pasta in particular. The filling does taste like mushrooms, which is nice, but it doesn’t taste like much else. The crime here is blandness.
Credit: Merc / Instacart
- Purple Carrot Vegetable Tikka Masala
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I actually really like sweet potato hunks in frozen meals. They work because they can be mush and still taste good. This Purple Carrot meal also has chickpeas, red peppers, farro, and brown rice. The sauce? It’s simply not tikka masala sauce. It’s like a very generic, cumin-forward curry sauce. The sweet potato is a nice touch, but I wouldn’t choose to eat this otherwise. There’s better plant based Indian food out there (including Trader Joe’s vegan masala, which is made with hunks of fake meat and feels more substantial as a result).
Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart
- Purple Carrot Sweet & Sour Cauliflower
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Okay, I know these meals are plant based. So logically, they would not contain shrimp. But having just glanced at the box, I really thought this was a shrimp meal and, woof, was I disappointed when it was just cauliflower. You also get rice, grains, red peppers, carrots, and edamame in a perfectly acceptable sweet and sour sauce. Again, this is another super-saucy rice affair and it just isn’t my favorite, but the flavor is fine. Mostly we were just happy that it’s made with actual rice instead of cauliflower rice.
Credit: Merc / Instacart
- Purple Carrot Plant-Based Meatballs and Orzo
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This is one of the best Purple Carrot meals because it really comes dang close to being good. The mini Gardein meatballs are pretty tough out of the microwave, but they have a nice flavor, with fennel seed and a little oregano. You get a good number of them too—I forgot to count before we started eating them, but I’d guess there are at least six of them in the bowl. The orzo is overcooked but the asparagus has bite! It tastes good and it’s a good savory complement to the weirdly sweet red pepper sauce. I truly do not understand this sauce, but it’s not gross, I’ll say that. Oh, and there are peas in the mix! Peas are always a good addition.
Credit: Merc / Instacart
- Purple Carrot Udon Noodle Bowl
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Okay, so this was the first Purple Carrot frozen meal we tried in our taste test and it really gave us the false impression these meals would be good. This has fat, chewy udon noodles in a savory sauce with carrots, edamame, and Gardein Be’f crumbles (my personal favorite veggie crumbles). It’s like a vaguely Asian spaghetti bolognese. The edamame are firm and the carrots have some bite—not a lot, but they aren’t waterlogged like carrots in most frozen dinners. It’s pleasant! This is the best Purple Carrot meal and the only one I would personally consider buying again.
Credit: Merc / Instacart
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Purple Carrot!
Purple Carrot!
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