We all want to do more to help the environment, and using sustainable food sources is a surprisingly convenient (and delicious) way to do that. Picking well-sourced ingredients, eating more plant-based meals, and being mindful of packaging helps to protect our ecosystems and reduce greenhouse emissions. A meal kit delivery service is an easy way to incorporate more food sustainability into your everyday routine. 

The importance of sustainable foods

What is sustainable food and why is it important? Sustainable practices reduce waste as well as negative human impacts on the environment. Here are some benefits of sustainable food. 

Healthy air, land, and water. One of the primary goals of finding sustainable food sources is to reduce chemicals that are harmful to our food supply and ecosystems. Proper farming practices help prevent harming bees, birds, and other wildlife. Sustainable fishing practices protect species viability and healthy populations in the future.

Eco-friendly packaging. The majority of food packaging isn’t recyclable, and much of it ends up polluting waterways and filling up landfills. Ocean plastic pollution is such a huge problem that the U.N. has declared it a planetary crisis. Products found in grocery stores are usually packaged in multiple layers with materials such as plastic, glass, and metal. Alternative food sources level up their commitment to sustainability by using recyclable and compostable materials. 

Increased food security. Eating sustainable foods contributes to food security in a couple of different ways. First, the methods used to produce sustainable food enrich the soil, rather than deplete it, ensuring our ability to grow food in future. Additionally, eating in a way that encourages minimal carbon emissions lessens global warming caused by the greenhouse effect. The food choices we make today play a key role in preventing rising temperatures and weather conditions that threaten our global food supply.  

What makes organic food sustainable?

Organic food is a major part of the sustainability movement. But you might wonder what “USDA Certified Organic” really means. According to the USDA, it’s meant to “foster cycling of resources, promote ecological balance, and conserve biodiversity.” Seeing the organic label on your food means that ingredients were grown according to federal guidelines, including:

• No synthetic fertilizers or pesticides
• No antibiotics or hormones used in animals
• No genetically modified ingredients (GMOs)
• No irradiation

Not using chemical pesticides when farming ensures that beneficial insects like pollinators can survive and thrive in doing their important work. 

The state of food waste in America

It takes a lot of natural resources to produce and ship food in the U.S. Unfortunately, 40% of all food in America is thrown away each year, totalling $408 billion in losses. That’s the equivalent of every person in the country throwing out one pound of food each day. 

Here are some more shocking food waste facts:

• The United States discards the most food out of all countries in the world.
• Food takes up the most space in U.S. landfills. 
• Meal kits are proven to result in less food waste compared to grocery store meals.

How to reduce food waste

Learning how to reduce food waste is a great first step in creating a more sustainable food supply chain. Avoid letting your groceries spoil by taking the following steps:

• Plan meals in advance and shop with ingredient lists.
• Preserve produce by freezing, pickling, fermenting, and canning.
• Make your own broth with meat bones and vegetable scraps.
• Use leftover ingredients in soups or casseroles.

Another way to reduce food waste is to order meal delivery kits because you get perfectly proportioned ingredients for meals. But not all services are created equally. Follow these tips to pick the most sustainable solutions available:

• Opt for organic produce and proteins.
• Look for packaging that’s reusable, recyclable, and/or compostable.
• Choose meals based on seasonal ingredients, since they won’t need to be shipped from distant locations.

With the right meal delivery service, you’ll not only enjoy healthy and tasty meals, you’ll also reduce food loss on a regular basis and contribute to fewer greenhouse gas emissions.

Do meal kits help reduce food waste?

A University of Michigan study showed that getting ingredients from a grocery store generates 33% more greenhouse emissions than having meal kits delivered, even considering meal kit packaging. Why? One reason is that meal kits provide the exact amount of the ingredients you need to make the meal, reducing all the emissions caused in transporting food that doesn’t get eaten. 

For example, say you want to make a roasted beet salad for two people. Your meal delivery kit would arrive with one or two beets in it. But if you gathered ingredients at the store, you’d buy a bunch, leaving you with leftover beets which, without a plan, can easily spoil in your refrigerator. 

Meal delivery businesses also have far less food waste in the supply chain than grocery stores. Ingredients don’t sit on grocery store shelves waiting for people to buy them. Meals and the exact amounts of ingredients needed are ordered in advance and delivered directly with much less food being thrown away in the process. 

How Sunbasket helps you eat more sustainably

Looking for a meal kit delivery service that offers a comprehensive commitment to sustainability? Healthline rates Sunbasket “the most eco-friendly meal kit service.” And Insider reports, “Sunbasket will impress anyone who takes sourcing seriously and wants to eat more responsibly and sustainably.” Sunbasket has a distinct set of ingredient standards and values that guide our practices. 

USDA certified organic produce, and more: We use organic fresh produce, eggs, tofu, yogurt, and milk in all our meals 99% of the time. (We shoot for 100% but in rare cases they’re unavailable). Organic proteins are also an option on most meals. 

Carefully sourced meat and seafood: We only use seafood that is recommended as Best Choice or Good Alternative by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch® program, and all our fisheries are certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). Our meats and poultry are always free of antibiotics and hormones.

Low-impact packaging: Nearly all Sunbasket packaging is recyclable, compostable, or repurposable and made with upcycled materials whenever possible. 

Want to eat more sustainably with delicious, healthy meals? Sunbasket meal delivery is a great place to start. Join us!

Substituting vegetables with health benefits into classic snacks and dishes is a great way to love what you eat and feel great. Cauliflower can step in for mashed potatoes and rice, hearts of palm for pasta, sweet potatoes for hamburger buns, and beets for ketchup. One of my favorite produce takeovers is kale, the once-scoffed-at crucifer. Remember when you only saw it as a garnish on patty melt plates at diners? 

These days, if you’re not drinking a juice or smoothie made with kale, wearing a “KALE” tee shirt, or munching on this nutritious nosh, you’re missing out on a culinary and cultural phenomenon, not to mention kale’s health benefits. Vitamin A helps keep bones and eyes healthy, vitamin K supports blood clotting and bone building, and good old vitamin C helps prevent colds and some chronic diseases. 

Making homemade kale chips is a great way to get in the kale game while also enjoying a delicious, crispy snack. In addition to being an excellent source of vitamins, a one-ounce serving of kale chips also has about 3 grams of fiber — about 3 times as much as other chips. Take that, potato chips! Kale chips are easy to make at home and once you master the basics, the flavor possibilities are endless.

General tips for the best homemade kale chips 

• Wash and dry your kale thoroughly. Wet kale = soggy chips.
• Remove the rib or stem. The stems are hearty and won’t crisp at the same rate as the leaves. Stems can also become very tough and woody if not removed.   
• To coat the kale leaves lightly in oil, you can either rub it on with your hands or use avocado or olive oil spray (just make sure you look for one that is chemical and propellant free).
• If you’re using a premade spice blend, check the ingredients for salt. If your blend contains salt, you likely won’t need to add more since the flavors concentrate when the chips dry out in the oven.

Sunbasket’s perfect oven-toasted kale chips recipe

Heat the oven to 350°F.

• Strip the leaves of 1 bunch of kale leaves from the stems. Tear or cut the leaves into 2-inch pieces.

On a sheet pan, drizzle the kale with 2 to 3 teaspoons of avocado or olive oil. Season lightly with salt and pepper, sprinkle with about 2 tablespoons of your favorite spice blend, and toss to coat. Spread in an even layer and bake, turning halfway through, until the kale chips are crisp around the edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and season to taste with salt and pepper.

How to make kale chips in the air fryer

It’s easy to make kale chips in the air fryer.

Heat the air fryer to 350°F.

• Strip the leaves of 1 bunch of kale from the stems. Tear or cut the leaves into 2-inch pieces.

In a bowl, drizzle the kale with 2 to 3 teaspoons of avocado or olive oil. Season lightly with salt and pepper, sprinkle with about 2 tablespoons of your favorite spice blend, and toss to coat. Working in batches, spread the kale pieces in a single layer in the basket, shaking halfway through, until the kale chips are crisp around the edges, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from the air fryer and season to taste with salt and pepper.  

About half of a bunch of prepped kale will fit in a 6-quart basket of an air fryer so to make one whole bunch of kale you’ll need to empty the basket half way through. I prefer to make my kale chips in the oven so I can whip 2 full batches at once on both racks of my oven. I tend to eat one immediately, and then I cool the remaining chips completely before storing them in an airtight container for eating within the next 2 to 3 days.  

My favorite kale chip recipe spice blends

Try different seasoning blends to literally spice up your kale chips every time you make them. Here are five of my favorite combinations:  

• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast + 2 teaspoons sumac
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning + 1–2 tablespoons parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon ranch dressing mix + 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce + 1 tablespoon sesame seeds or togarashi
• 1–2 teaspoons wasabi powder

I serve kale chips as a side with burgers, sandwiches, and soups. They’re also my favorite stand-in for popcorn on movie night!

Kale Yeah!

You’ve probably seen healthy grain bowls on takeout apps or restaurant menus. There’s definitely a good reason for their popularity. Bowls are a seriously great solution for filling up at lunch without getting overloaded.

Bowls also have several health benefits. They are a tasty way to incorporate fiber, whole foods, and tons of vegetables into your diet. And the exciting range of textures and flavors available in bowls makes fueling up with the good stuff a pleasure. 

Bowls aren’t cumbersome like sandwiches or wraps (bye bye to that embarrassing spillage stain before your big meeting), so they’re perfect for a working lunch. 

Lunch’s time to shine 

Lunch bowls are a perfect balance of healthy, tasty, and easy to make. Eating a healthy lunch doesn’t feel like a chore with bowls. With so many ways to combine healthy ingredients that taste great, lunch bowls are one of the best options for midday meals.  

You can prep ingredients over the weekend to toss together quickly during weekday lunches. You can prepare a whole lunch bowl (keeping any dressing separate) the night before. Or you can stock your fridge with ready-to-heat prepared bowls from a meal delivery service. However you get your healthy bowls on the table, you’ll be glad you did. They can be much cheaper and faster than takeout. And they’re much more exciting than salads, sandwiches, and the usual workweek fare. 

Healthy, fresh & good for you

Healthy bowls include all the freshest ingredients out there. Start with quality, energy-boosting carbs, like farro and quinoa, or hearty legumes like garbanzos and black beans. They offer good whole-grain sustenance which processes slowly in the body and releases energy at a consistent rate. No midday, carbo-loaded sugar crash here. 

Healthy bowls can be loaded with an endless variety of veggies from roasted root vegetables like sweet potatoes and beets to vitamin-rich greens like kale and collard greens. The beauty of healthy bowls is that they show off the bright and healthy colors of the garden. 

Roasted nuts and seeds give healthy bowls a toasty bite and crunch, and high quality lean proteins like eggs and seafood give you energy with real staying power. 

Nutrition that doesn’t compromise flavor  

Healthy lunch bowls help you get the max amount of nutrients in every bite without compromising on flavor. In fact, amazing flavor is the calling card of lunch bowls. 

Without buns or wraps, there’s nothing hiding all the delicious flavors inside: from Mexican achiote-citrus pork to Asian black rice with beef, mushrooms, and bibimbap sauce. A good sauce can turn your choice of protein on a bed of non-traditional grains into an absurdly delicious lunch. 

Healthy bowl recipes 

Hungry yet? Here are some of our favorite recipes to get you started:

• Seared tuna and black rice bowls with roasted sweet potato and nori
• Quinoa and tofu bowls with cashew lime dressing
• Kefta spiced ground beef bowls with cauliflower hummus
• Black bean and quinoa burrito bowls with mixed vegetables and avocado

Healthy bowl delivery service

With a prepared meal service that offers healthy bowls (we’re one of them!), you can skip cooking and the time-consuming takeout shuffle altogether and get healthy bowls delivered to your doorstep. Here are just some of the kinds of healthy lunch bowls you can get delivered. They’re great to have handy in your fridge, ready to heat and eat:

• Middle Eastern chickpea and freekeh grain bowl with herb yogurt 
• Chicken and egg donburi rice bowl with kimchi-lime vegetables
• Grilled chicken soba bowl with mixed greens and sesame dressing
• Yuba japchae bowl, with glass noodles, mushrooms, and pickled carrots

Ready to dive into deliciousness? Click here to see healthy bowls featured in our Fresh & Ready menu. 

Special occasions call for steak. And sometimes a great steak is the special occasion. Here are 5 tips from our award-winning Sunbasket chefs for making it your best steak night ever. 

1. Pick the steak that makes you happiest 

In our meal kits we typically offer a choice of 4 cuts that are great for pan-searing or grilling. We love all our steaks for different reasons. Pick the one that best fits your mood or occasion.

• Filet mignons – thickest, leanest, most tender $$$
• Rib-eyes – most marbling, rich flavor, very tender $$
• New York strips – some marbling with namesake fat strip $$
• Sirloins – very lean, less rich/tender than others, great flavor $

2. Chill out for an hour 

Put steaks that are 1-inch or thicker on the counter about an hour before cooking. Fridge-cold steaks take longer to cook, and the longer you cook them, the thicker the gray ring of well-done meat gets on the outside as you wait for the center to come to the desired doneness. To increase the amount of your steak that’s cooked to perfection and to avoid overcooking the outside, give your steak a smaller range of temperature to travel by letting it come to room temperature first. 

3. Pick your target temperature

Rare, medium, well, or something in between? Before you say what you always say, consider this little nugget of advice from one of our chefs. Each of these cuts has a most tender temperature, and — surprise! — they’re not all rare. 

• Filet mignon is most tender at 125–135°F (rare to medium rare)
• Rib-eyes are most tender at 130–135°F (medium rare)
• New York strips are most tender at 135-140°F (medium)
• And sirloins are most tender at 140-145°F (medium well) 

4. Sear to golden, crusty perfection

For the tastiest, dark brown crust on your steak as possible, dry your steak before it hits the pan or grill. Get those paper towels out and do it. You will be tempted to skip this step. Don’t. A wet steak means a gray exterior with no crust. Don’t let this happen to you. Is your steak dry? Really dry? Good!

Now a lot of cooks have been trained to not move their steak while the crust is forming. Our chefs beg to differ. The coolest part of the pan is where the steak is. The hottest part is where the steak isn’t. For the best sear, move the steak to a new, hot part of the pan about every 30 seconds until the crust is formed. 

5. Pull off the heat at the perfect time

Why guess when your steak is done when you can know for sure? The pros use a meat thermometer. It’s easy to use—way easier than guessing the internal temperature of your meat. Just insert the tip of the thermometer 1/3 of the way through the steak at the center and use these temperatures as your guide:

• Rare: 125-130°F 
• Medium rare: 130-135°F 
• Medium: 135-140°F
• Medium well:  140-145°F 
• Well: 145-150°F 

The temperature keeps rising slightly once off the heat, so pull the steak at the bottom of the desired range. After resting for five minutes, your steak will be perfectly cooked.

Are you pumped? Are you ready? Have a great steak night!

Find Your Steak