Daily Harvest Review

I was excited to try and write a Daily Harvest Review. I’ve been on a meal delivery services kick right now, if for nothing else than to inspire me to make new fun things to cook. Recently I tried Daily Harvest meal delivery services. I’ve heard many great things about Daily Harvest, including how tasty their smoothies are and how easy and healthy they are to make.

I did purchase my meals for the Daily Harvest Review and all thoughts and opinions are my own. More than anything I was curious for myself!

First about Daily Harvest:

Daily Harvest believes that delicious food is built on real fruits and vegetables and is also convenient. Dishes are designed by Daily Harvest’s own nutritionists and chefs. The goal of each dish is being able to be prepared in 5 minutes or less and eaten at home or on the go.

Sustainablilty:

Moving forward in 2021, one thing that is important to me is sustainability. The Daily Harvest approach means you don’t need to worry about where your food comes from or what its impact will be on yourself, your family, or the planet.

Daily Harvest focuses on food waste, prioritizing organic farming practices, and going the extra mile for sustainable packaging. I noticed many items with Daily Harvest are compostable, which is awesome! California has it’s own separate compost bin that goes out each week, so it was nice to be able to fill that up.

What Makes Daily Harvest Different?

95% of ingredients are organic
No fillers, gums, refined sugars, harmful oils, stabilizers, or anything artificial

My Experience:

Is Daily Harvest Worth It?

I opted to try 14 items in my first box. It costs $105, but with a $25 new customer discount, it was $80. That means with the discount it comes down to about $5.70 per item and without it averages at $7.50 per item.

In short, some items are worth it but some are not.

For this Daily Harvest review, I got a little of everything. One of the themes of this Daily Harvest review is that I like the food, but it’s hard for me to justify the cost. There are all different items you can choose from, including:

smoothies
harvest bowls
soups
lattes
oat bowls
chia bowls
Flatbread
Scoops
Bites

Daily Harvest Arrival:

You choose how often you want your Daily Harvest Box to arrive, and it looks like the average is once a week. I tried a little of everything for the Daily Harvest review. (I don’t love chia, so I did skip those). Once they arrive, you put everything in the freezer. Which was strange to me to put oatmeal in the freezer, but hey, listen to directions!

What sets Daily Harvest apart from most meal delivery services is that they are already cooked, and you are heating. You don’t need to know anything about the kitchen to be able to try these. Just follow the 3 step directions (which most of the time includes the microwave).

Daily Harvest Meals I Tried:

This will be long since I tried 14. Some I consider more as sides than meals. As a runner, I often have to think, is this a meal for someone who doesn’t run? Most of the meals have between 300-500 calories which is a solid amount, but I did find myself hungry after most. For most of the “meals”, I ate as a snack, or I ate 2 of the items. The problem with that is, 14 meals for $105 is a great deal, but it ended up working out to about 5 true meals, some being breakfast or sides. So I wouldn’t say you get 14 meals from 14 items. I would say you probably get about 5-6 meals….which is not cheap.

Flatbreads:

Each of the Daily Harvest flatbreads is $8.99. This would be the cost of getting one at the local grocery store or gas station on the go. Something like Wawa has plenty of these. It’s nice to know the ingredients are sourced from local farmers, and Daily Harvest works to be sustainable.

For an $8.99 flatbread, I found myself no longer hungry but not full either. I definitely needed to pair it with something else to have a complete meal so I wasn’t hungry a couple of hours later. I was expecting a dinner-style flatbread, but this was more lunch that you needed something else. All of that being said, they were good. My only complaint is that I wish they were bigger.

Artichoke + Spinach: The artichoke and spinach flatbread was good. It was piled high with both artichoke and spinach. So much so that it felt like it was falling off.

Kale and Sweet Potato: This was a surprise to me. Kale and sweet potato seemed like a weird flatbread combination but it ended up tasting good and I really liked it.

Arugula + Pear: If you know me, you know this is one of my favorite flatbread combinations. The arugula and pear did not disappoint and was probably my favorite of the entire box.

Tomato + Cremini: I had no idea was a “cremini” was until I tried this flatbread. It was delicious, and I found it to be the most filling of any of the flatbreads.

Of any of the meals, the flatbreads were the closest to full meals and if I get another Daily Harvest Box, I will probably get more flatbread.

Daily Harvest Harvest Bowls:

I found the Daily Harvest Harvest Bowls to be more like snacks or sides than meals. This is expensive, when you are paying $8.99 for a side like the kale+lemongrass with 160 calories.

I could get an “expensive” protein bar for $2 for the same amount of calories. Not everything is about calories, of course, but 160 calories doesn’t fill me up for more than an hour or two. In this Daily Harvest review, it’s hard to justify that cost.

Brussels Sprouts + Tahini: I wasn’t sure what I was expecting when I opened the Daily Harvest brussel sprouts and tahini. It takes the longest to cook, but when it came out, the tahini was like a sauce. It was good and thick. To me, it felt like a very thick soupy paste. I was full for a few hours later, and I can see it being a substantial meal.

Kale + Kalamata: I wanted to like the kale and kalamata more than I did. I was hoping for more kalamata. It came with more kalamata. I am biased because I like kalamata. It was a decent bowl. It wasn’t as filling as the rest, and I found it to be a nice snack between meals, but I probably wouldn’t order it as a full snack.

Kale + Lemongrass: Despite being the least filling, the Kale+Lemongrass was probably my favorite. I loved the spice of the lemongrass. I had it for a quick snack, and it tasted good.

Spinach + Shiitake Grits: As many people know from my diner trips, I’ve been looking for good grits since we lived in Alamba. I’m always open to trying grit meals. The Daily Harvest Spinach + Shiitake Grits had spinach, broccoli, and, of course, grits. I liked the flavor, and it was one of the better grits I’ve had. This was my favorite nonflatbread of the meals I tried in the Daily Harvest review.

Daily Harvest Oat Bowls:

The Daily Harvest Oat Bowls are $5.99 each. I ate one for breakfast a couple of days, and truthfully, this is the first of Daily Harvest meals that I didn’t feel guilty about the price. Maybe because I’m not “as hungry” in the morning, but they were a good breakfast.

Apple + Cinnamon: The apple and cinnamon was a good. It was easy to prepare in the morning. I also like the addition of the pumpkin seeds to give it more flavor. If I order it again, I think adding actual canned pumpkin might taste good too. I felt filled up after I ate it and ran a couple hours later.

Blueberry + Lemon: I had no idea what to expect with the blueberry and lemon Daily Harvest but it tasted good. It was fruity and filling. The poppy seed gave it a nice flavor too.

Scoops:

What is a Daily Harvest Scoops? It’s ice cream. What makes Daily Harvest scoops different? They are made from 100% whole, nourishing ingredients. I wasn’t really sure what to expect. For each pint, it’s $8.99. These are good, but honestly, I don’t see a lot of difference between “regular’ ice cream and this.

The Daily Harvest Scoops has nearly 900 calories per pint and the same fat content and sugar. Sure this Daily Harvest review, you can say they are made from healthy choices, but at the end of the day, if you want ice cream, get regular ice cream and pay half the cost. The Scoops from Daily Harvest aren’t bad, but I would fill my Daily Harvest box with other things next time. In this Daily Harvest review, it’s hard to justify the amount of calories and cost for a pint of ice cream.

Vanilla + Salted, Swirled Black Sesame: When I opened the container, I was shocked to see it was black. Yes I can read black sesame but I never thought the ice cream would actually be black. It was good though. To me, spending $9 for ice cream feels like I should be having froyo or at the ice cream parlor. While the ice cream is good, I struggle with paying that much for it.

Vanilla + Sticky, Sweet Salted Caramel: Like the Daily Harvest Black Seasame, the Sweet Salted Caramel is good. It’s definitely one of the sweeter ice creams I’ve tried. I liked the taste but I justify spending that much on ice cream without being a parlor or not having toppings.

Daily Harvest Smoothie:

Daily Harvest is most well known for their smoothies, so I had to get at least one. I settled on the “carrot+cinnamon” because I like the flavor of carrot cake, and it was a best seller.

Daily Harvest Review oat smoothie — Fun to see all of the ingredients ready to be mixed up

Carrot+Cinnamon: I tried the Daily Harvest Carrot+Cinnamon after a workout. I don’t love the idea of smoothies and drinking food (it’s just not my thing), but I found the carrots+cinnamon smoothie to be interesting. I just poured everything in my magic bullet and added milk. For me, it wasn’t sweet enough and it tasted bland. Was it edible? Yes, but I did I think wow this is great…no.

So Who is Daily Harvest Made for? Is Daily Harvest Worth It?

In this Daily Harvest Review, you might think I disliked it, and I don’t; my problem is that I found myself hungry after eating one of the meals and felt guilty (due to cost) having 2 meals at once. To clarify, I didn’t feel guilty eating more food; I felt guilty eating $18 worth of meals and still feeling hungry).

For me, I think the majority of the meals are great sides. I would probably cook a protein and have the Daily Harvest meal as a side to the protein. A steak and one of the harvest bowls is a more filling meal to me than 2 harvest bowls or 2 flatbreads.

I like Daily Harvest, and if you like healthy and quick meals, it’s a good option. Keep in mind, runner or not, you probably be hungry afterward, so don’t consider yourself getting 14 meals but probably 5-7 in your box of 14.