Thistle, Fresh n’ Lean, And CookUnity; Which Would Our Editors Choose?

Thistle, Fresh n’ Lean, And CookUnity; Which Would Our Editors Choose?
author TopDust Staff

As the days are getting busier and the year is getting closer to the end, it’s hard to still keep our healthy eating goals in check.

It can be a real big challenge to get home every day after work and cook something healthy just for yourself. Not only do we end up spending hours on prep, but also too much time looking up new recipes and finding all the right ingredients.

Our editors looked at healthy meal delivery subscriptions where you don’t need to prep, only heat and serve. We found three different subscriptions: Thistle, CookUnity, and Fresh n’ Lean. Our editors tried meals from all three subscriptions. Read their thoughts below:

Key Similarities:

  • Thistle, Fresh n’ Lean, and CookUnity deliver fully-prepped meals to your door.
  • All three have subscriptions that can be skipped, paused, or canceled anytime.

Key Differences:

  • Thistle offers sides, juices, and wellness shots, unlike both Fresh n’ Lean and CookUnity.
  • Thistle offers breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack options. Fresh n’ Lean has breakfast, lunch, and dinner opinions only for certain plans, whereas CookUnity has only dinner options.
  • Both Thistle and CookUnity allow you to select which meals you would like to receive, whereas Fresh n’ Lean meals are already fixed.

Thistle Overview:

Thistle delivers freshly prepared healthy and locally sourced meals right to your door. They offer a wide range of breakfasts, lunches, dinners, juices, and wellness shots. Their subscription service is completely customizable and allows you to choose a flexible number of meals per week.

Thistle offers plant-forward meals that focus on superfoods like turmeric, matcha, ginger, and chia. All their meals contain zero refined white sugars, artificial preservatives, artificial additives, or artificial dyes. They offer plant-based protein options in addition to meat and seafood, and account for common food allergies if needed.

Their chefs and nutritionists design a globally-inspired menu each week to ensure that every meal is well-balanced and nutrient-dense. Their meals change according to the seasons to include locally-sourced ingredients whenever possible and ensure you are getting all the nutrients your body needs – without sacrificing flavor.

Our editors loved the Green Thai Curry Bowl and the Crunchy Broccoli Salad with Creamy Poppy Seed Dressing. Some of the Thistle must-have add-ons are the juices. We recommend Refreshing Greens juice which is packed with Kale, Cucumber, Pineapple, Aloe Vera, Coconut Water, Lemon, and Mint.

They also have additional sides and sweet dishes like the 24 Carrot Gold Muffin or the Kale & Quinoa Caesar Salad in a jar to take on the go. If you need a boost during the day, try the wellness shots, like Boost or Glow, instead of another cup of coffee.

All Thistle meals start at $11.50 per meal or $42/week.

Fresh n’ Lean Overview:

Fresh n’ Lean delivers meals for calorie-conscious people. They have choices on the type of meal plan you prefer – protein+, Keto, Paleo, vegan, low carb vegan, bulk or Whole approved. You can also see how many calories are generally present in each meal plan.

Some of their plans, like the protein+, give you the option of picking breakfast, lunch, and dinner for 5 or 7 days, whereas plans like the Whole approved only let you select either 5, 7, or 10 entrees.

Fresh n’ Lean menus are not customizable but change every week. They do have an option for allergies and will try and substitute the recipes for you.

Each plan varies in cost; our editors tried the Whole approved plan, which included meals like the Roasted Chicken Thighs, Mexican Bowl and Ginger Sweet Potato Bowl With Shrimp. The plan cost us $12.99 per meal.

CookUnity Overview:

CookUnity delivers meals from award-winning chefs to your door. They are already prepared and are nutrition dense. You have a nutrition team that will help you in the process of maintaining a healthy and balanced diet.

They let you choose between 4,6,8,12, or 16 meals a week. All their ingredients are sustainably sourced and don’t include chemicals or artificial preservatives. CookUnity plans also include dietary preferences like keto, paleo, vegan, gluten, and dairy-free. The CookUnity meals change every week.

Our editors liked the Grilled Chicken and Mushrooms with Cream Sauce and Basmati Rice as a meal, but we missed additional sides or add-ons. CookUnity’s pieces vary based on how often you want to receive meals; we went with 6 meals per week which cost $11.99 per meal.

Final Thoughts:

Receiving fully prepared meals right to our doors is the most convenient food option we’ve ever tried. We have decided that we loved the Thistle meals the best because their plans are simple and their meals are extremely diverse, delicious, and completely filling.

It was also nice to have zero-prep juices and salads in jars ready to carry on the go. Their wellness shots gave us such a boost during the day, it’s hard to live without them.

If you are looking for a healthy, nutritious, and easy meal option, definitely give Thistle a try!