Best vegetarian meal kit: which veggie basket should you choose?

Eating vegetarian every day is easy for a week and gets repetitive by the second month. That is exactly where a meal kit helps, provided its veggie selection is wide enough and its plant proteins go beyond the usual lentils. We compared the boxes on the real variety of their meat-free offer.

To compare these brands with every other one, use our comparator of the best meal kit boxes.

What makes a good vegetarian meal kit

Two criteria decide everything. The number of veggie recipes per week first, because a box offering two meat-free dishes will bore you within a month. Then the plant proteins used: a selection built only on lentils and chickpeas quickly runs dry, whereas alternating pulses, tofu, cheese, eggs and cereals keeps meals interesting and balanced. Seasonal vegetables do the rest, since a vegetarian dish lives or dies on the quality of its produce.

Vegetarian meal kits compared

We score every meal kit on the same five-criteria grid, weighting here the breadth and quality of the vegetarian offer.

Rank	Box	Type	Score	Veggie offer	Veggie edge
1	Quitoque	Cook yourself	9,2/10	About 40% of recipes	Seasonal vegetables, varied plant proteins
2	Les Commis	Cook yourself	8,3/10	Veggie selection each week	Qualitative produce, chef recipes
3	HelloFresh	Cook yourself	7,5/10	Veggie option in a large catalogue	Volume of recipes
4	Seazon	Ready meals	7,2/10	Vegetarian dishes to reheat	No cooking
5	Aussitôt Bon	Ready meals	6,9/10	Veggie dishes without additives	Fresh, already prepared
6	Kitchen Daily	Ready meals	6,7/10	Veggie dishes signed by a chef	More elaborate cooking
7	Cheef	Ready meals	6,6/10	Balanced veggie dishes	Portion control

Quitoque: the best choice of seasonal vegetarian recipes

Quitoque is the box where a vegetarian actually has something to choose from: around 40% of recipes are vegetarian every week, out of 44 new ones, which leaves real room to vary. The plant proteins rotate rather than repeat, and the vegetables are 100% seasonal, mostly of French origin, which matters more here than anywhere else since the vegetable is the dish. Add 90% of recipes rated Nutri-Score A or B and 130 controversial additives excluded, and it is the most solid veggie base of this comparison. More in our Quitoque review.

Quitoque pros

• About 40% vegetarian recipes every week.
• 100% seasonal vegetables, mostly French origin.
• Varied plant proteins, not only pulses.
• 90% Nutri-Score A or B, 130 additives excluded.

Quitoque cons

• Not a 100% vegetarian box.
• You cook yourself.

Les Commis: the qualitative veggie option

Les Commis puts a veggie selection in every week, with produce and recipes that aim higher than average. The choice is narrower than at Quitoque but the execution is good, which suits someone who eats vegetarian occasionally and wants a proper dish rather than a default option. More in our Les Commis review.

Les Commis pros

• Qualitative produce, chef recipes.
• A veggie selection every week.

Les Commis cons

• Fewer veggie recipes than Quitoque.
• Higher price per plate.

HelloFresh: volume and the veggie option

HelloFresh plays its usual card: the catalogue is so large that the veggie subset is workable in absolute terms, even if its share is smaller. Sourcing is less seasonal, which is more noticeable on a vegetarian dish than on a meat one. Good to start cheaply, less convincing over the long run. More in our HelloFresh review.

HelloFresh pros

• A large number of veggie recipes in absolute terms.
• Low entry prices.

HelloFresh cons

• Less seasonal produce, and it shows on veggie dishes.
• Veggie share smaller than at Quitoque.

Aussitôt Bon, Cheef, Seazon and Kitchen Daily: veggie without cooking

If you would rather not cook, Aussitôt Bon offers fresh veggie dishes without additives, Cheef balanced vegetarian dishes with portion control, and Seazon and Kitchen Daily a rotating veggie selection to reheat. The catch is the same as always: fewer dishes to choose from, individual portions, and a result that does not taste homemade. More in our reviews of Aussitôt Bon, Cheef, Seazon and Kitchen Daily.

Ready meals pros

• Veggie dishes ready in two minutes.
• Useful for lunch at the office.

Ready meals cons

• Narrower veggie choice.
• Individual portions, less fresh than homemade.

Which plant proteins in a meal kit

This is what separates a veggie selection you keep from one you drop after a month.

Alternate the sources

Pulses, tofu, eggs, cheese, cereals: rotating them is what keeps a vegetarian week interesting and nutritionally sound. A box that leans only on lentils will bore you fast.

Watch the pulse and cereal pairing

Combining a pulse with a cereal, chickpeas with semolina, beans with rice, gives a more complete amino acid profile. Good boxes do this without making a point of it.

Do not confuse vegetarian with light

A gratin or a veggie curry can be richer than a plain chicken breast. If balance is the goal, look at the Nutri-Score of the recipe rather than the absence of meat.

Check the seasonality

A vegetarian dish rests entirely on its vegetables. Out of season, the same recipe is a different dish, which is why seasonal sourcing weighs more on a veggie box than anywhere else.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best vegetarian meal kit?

Quitoque offers the widest and most seasonal veggie selection, with around 40% of its 44 weekly recipes vegetarian, varied plant proteins and 100% seasonal vegetables. Les Commis is a good qualitative alternative, and HelloFresh offers more veggie recipes in absolute terms thanks to the size of its catalogue, though with less seasonal produce.

Is there a 100% vegetarian meal kit?

Not among the mainstream boxes delivering across France. They all work the same way: a vegetarian selection inside a wider range, which you filter when choosing your recipes each week. In practice a box with around 40% veggie recipes gives you more real choice than a small fully vegetarian range.

Are vegetarian boxes balanced?

They can be, and often more so than an improvised meat-free meal, because the recipes are built to pair a plant protein with a cereal or a dairy product. Look at the Nutri-Score per recipe rather than assuming a dish is light just because it has no meat.

Can you have varied vegetarian recipes every week?

Yes, provided the box has enough of them. With around 40% of 44 weekly recipes, Quitoque leaves room to change dishes for weeks without repeating. Below roughly five veggie recipes a week, repetition sets in quickly.

Read also

• Our full Quitoque review
• Best balanced meal kit
• Best organic meal kit
• The comparator of the best meal kits