Soulara Review 2024 - Vegan, Plant-Based Ready Made Delivery Meals
Soulara offer vegan, plant-based meal prep even non-vegans can wrap their mouth around
Soulara Meals Review 2024
Would you like to have healthy plant-based meals but have no time for cooking? The Soulara plant-based meal service is a great way to add variety to your diet and enrich it with plant-based and vegan-friendly nutritious meals, snacks, and drinks.
We tried the Soulara meal plan using the 24 meals/week service at $9.10 per meal and even for someone who isn’t generally plant-based or vegan, the ready made meals were on point and perfect for an easy and healthy meal option that can be microwaved.
Soulara delivery meals are one of the very few complete vegan prepped meal options we have come across and are certainly one of the best ready-made meals to order online in 2024.
In this article, we will give you a blow by blow of how Soulara rates in taste, price, meal selection, ingredients, snacks and convenience and you can see for yourself whether or not Soulara is a worthy choice for your nutrition.
Use code 120SOULARA for $120 off first 6 orders
Who Are Soulara Meals For?
Soulara vegan, plant-based delivery meals, snack, drinks
Soulara meals are 100% plant-based. Among the ingredients, you won’t find animal products, not even eggs or dairy.
Soulara meal delivery service is the best choice for:
Vegan, plant-based and vegetarians
Anyone with a dairy/lactose intolerance
People who live a busy life and don't have much time to cook
People looking to lose weight with well portioned ready-made meals
In general, the Soulara meal delivery service tries to offer meals that cater to different dietary needs.
If you follow a strict diet, you should be aware of possible cross-contamination of various allergens in the meals from Soulara. Soulara gives a warning on the product description label that their meals are: “Made in a facility that also processes peanuts, tree nuts, soy, sesame, sulphites, lupin, gluten, and wheat.”
This is not necessarily something we want to highlight as a downside as it’s a common thing for many meal delivery services. Yet, you should be aware of this fact if you have any allergies before you order any specific Soulara meal online.
The Benefits of a Vegan Plant-Based Diet
People report different reasons behind moving to a vegan diet from a meat-based diet. Some have also grown up eating vegan plant-based foods and thrive on this type of nutrition. Others adopt a vegan diet as a moral approach to animal protection and preventing animal cruelty. Some report that adopting a vegan diet significantly reduces issues with the gut, improves skin health and boosts energy levels almost straight away.
Whatever the reason for going vegan, there are quite a few science based benefits of the vegan diet. Despite some critics believing that the vegan diet does not provide you with some important micronutrients like Vitamin B-12 and Vitamin K, as well as presenting issues with consuming the full spectrum of potential amino acids that is only available when meat is consumed, the vegan diet works for some and has the potential to improve the health of many. Some of the benefits of eating vegan meals like Soulara include:
Improved gut health
Vegetables, fruit, whole grains, and legumes are rich in fiber, which is the best food for your gut bacteria. A plant-based diet is a great way to boost microbiome diversity and improve gut and overall health.
By consuming at least 25-30 grams of fiber per day, you’re able to fuel your beneficial gut bacteria, and support the absorption of nutrients which helps boost the immune system, and reduce inflammation.
Healthy weight
Plant foods are low in calorie density, but high in nutritional content. Whole grains and vegetables have a relatively low glycemic index and take more time to digest.
Whole fruits are rich in fibre and antioxidants. Therefore, incorporating fruits into your diet also helps make you feel full longer on fewer calories
Briefly, a fibre rich plant-based foods diet can improve satiety, preventing overeating and excessive weight gain.
Reduced risk of heart issues and diabetes
A vegan diet is completely cholesterol-free. Even foods like avocado nuts and seeds - which are high in fats - do not contain cholesterol.
On the other side foods like cheese, eggs, and meat are high in cholesterol and saturated fats. If you consume these foods in excess, it may create plaque buildup in the arteries.
Reducing the intake of animal products and replacing them with whole plant-based foods can help you lower LDL (“bad”) cholesterol, and reduce the risk of diabetes and heart disease.
Reduced risk of dementia and improved focus
Fruits and vegetables are rich in polyphenols, which help reverse cognitive decline and slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.
Leafy greens like spinach and kale are packed with vitamin K, beta carotene, and folate. These nutrients help improve memory and thinking skills.
Chia, flax, and hemp seeds are rich sources of healthy fats like omega 3, which help reduce inflammation, protect your brain cells from oxidative stress, and slow down brain aging.
Improved athletic performance
A plant-based diet is beneficial for athletes in several ways. It has an anti-inflammatory effect, helps reduce blood pressure and cholesterol, and prevents plaque in the arteries. Some research has shown benefits for heart health in subject who have adopted a vegan diet.
Being low in saturated fats and cholesterol-free, the plant-based diet improves blood viscosity (thickness). That helps the heart pump more oxygen to the muscles, and convert glucose into fuel for muscles.
Also, athletes on a plant-based diet get a sufficient amount of antioxidants, which play a key role in reducing fatigue and repairing muscle tissue.
Finally, if you’re doing weight training, and concerned about the amount of protein you can get from a plant-based diet, there’s no need to worry. By enriching your diet with whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds, you can get the necessary amount of protein.
Soulara Meals Review 2024
Soulara Menu selection
Type: Ready-made meals
Available meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, drinks
Plant-Based meals: Vegan, Vegetarian
Price: $12.30 per meal (7 meals per week) – $9.10 per meal (24 meals per week)
Use code 120SOULARA for $120 off first 6 orders
Soulara Pros
Healthy ingredients list
Weekly menu updates
A wide range of 100% vegan meals
Suitable for people on different diets
Soulara Cons
Not available for delivery Australia-wide
Plastic wrapping
Returns aren't possible
Reasons to Order Soulara Meals Online
Soulara are the fastest growing vegan meal service in Australia and offer some ridiculously tasty meals that can be refrigerated or frozen. Soulara offers delivery meals every friday so you can pre-order your meals and be prepped for the week and have affordable, high nutrition meals delivered to your door. Here are just a couple of reasons to go through the Soulara menu and put an order in today:
1. Superfoods for better gut health
Each Soulara meal has a high nutritional density. In simple words, you get all the necessary vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and polyphenols (which are usually found in plant-based food like vegetables, fruits, and whole grains.
The Soulara plant-based meals can boost microbiome diversity, improve digestion, and metabolism, and reduce inflammation.
2. Soulara meals made with local produce from Australian farmers
Soulara is using organic seasonal fruits and veggies, so everything is fresh, tasty, and nutritionally dense, which is obviously better for your health.
By choosing seasonal and local produce Soulara also shows that they want to support local farmers and that they care about the environment.
3. A menu with a wide range of globally-inspired dishes
You’ll never get bored with the variety of meals that Soulara offers. It has delicious options for breakfast and a wide range of main meals which you can eat for lunch or dinner. There are also cool extras, these are protein bars and sweet treats like Cacao Hazelnut Truffles and Choco Delights. You can also explore a large selection of cold-pressed juices, and Kombucha drinks.
Every week you can find a new item on the menu!
4. Many high-protein options
Soulara meals weekly menu additions
The Soulara offers a lot of meals high in plant-based protein. In many meals, you can find legumes, quinoa, nuts, seeds, tempeh, and tofu. Some of the meals contain more than 30g of protein.
Also, each meal is rich in fiber and complex carbohydrates that help keep glycogen stores full, provide lasting energy, and support performance, and endurance during the training.
Soulara also has weekly updates on their meal options which we love because it keeps the meals interesting and gives you new ready made meals to try if you are someone who gets bored with the same food too many times in a row. At any one time Soulara has about 40 different vegan prepared meals to choose from.
5. Great meals for people on a low-calorie, low-fat, and low-sugar diet
The Soulara meal delivery is the right choice for calorie-conscious people trying to keep to a healthy weight and manage blood sugar levels.
At the moment of writing this review, Soulara offers 9 calorie-controlled meals and 8 meals low in sugar. The meals are rich in satiating fiber (beans), healthy fats (seeds, nuts, tofu), and low GI carbs (whole grains, pasta, oats, and lentils).
Here are some of the Soulara meals with nutrient-dense foods to support weight management that you should definitely try:
Healing Turmeric Soup (low in sugar, contains buckwheat, kale, lentils, which are great sources of prebiotics, and antioxidants)
Mindful Moussaka (low calorie with chickpeas, borlotti beans, eggplant, TVP, zucchini and sweet potato)
Tomato Soup for the Soul (a low-calorie, low-fat, and low-sugar meal with lentils, soy milk, coconut aminos, and nutritional yeast)
Caribbean Beans & Coconut Rice (a low-fat and low-sugar meal with black beans, and red kidney beans)
Mediterranean Pesto with Harvest Balls (high calorie for athletes including chickpeas, borlotti beans, eggplant, TVP, zucchini and sweet potato)
6. The detailed ingredients labelling
A couple of years ago, the labelling of some Soulara meals was not so detailed, incorrect or it was lacking some important information for people sensitive to specific allergens.
Currently, each meal has a detailed list of ingredients and health benefits. You know what to expect from each meal. You will clearly see if the meal contains any allergen, stabilisers, preservatives, or any type of allowed colouring.
Also, the website of Soulara is very easy to navigate, so you won’t have any issues with browsing through a list of available meals, snacks, and drinks. You will need to first sign up with your email address, name and login details then you will be directed to the Soulara menu where you can choose your meal count for the week and add in any snacks or drinks including protein balls, Kombuchas, Juices or Coconut water.
The images of each meal will let you have a quick look at what you’re going to receive, and the lists of ingredients will let people find dishes that fit their special diets and needs. Each meal offers details about the calorie content, macronutrient profile (fat, protein, carbohydrates), ingredients list and the health benefits of the nutrients present in that meal.
Soulara Meals Downsides
Soulara meals are not perfect and if you are a big fan of meat portions in your ready-made meals then Soulara may not be the right meal service for you. Although we generally aim for some variety of meat serving in most meals, Soulara meals are also a great alternative to break up the diet and have a meat-free week or even couple of weeks.
A couple of things we don’t like about Soulara meals to consider:
1. Plastic Containers
On one side, the packaging is fully recyclable. You can easily recycle a cardboard box, and put freezer gel packs down the sink drain.
On the other side, each meal comes individually packed into a plastic container. If you’re trying to ditch the plastic bottles and packaging and go fully plastic-free, the Soulara packaging could be a turn-off for you.
If to be precise, the Soulara food containers are 90% biodegradable. In other words, 90 % of packaging decomposes, but 10% is an inorganic plastic material, which makes the packaging more durable but not very eco-friendly.
It would be great if Soulara would switch to packaging like BioPak, which is 100% compostable.
2. No Clear Info on Soy Products
The organic soybean contains all of the essential amino acids, vitamins, and minerals. However, there is a lot of discussion about the side effects of GMO soybeans.
If you are concerned about possible problems with thyroid function, inflammation, increased risk of hormonal imbalance, or aggravation of the existing disease, you should be careful with the consumption of GMO soy products.
In general, we are not big fans of soy products. The problem with the Soulara meal delivery is that there is no clear statement on whether they use organic or genetically modified soybean products. If they do use GMO soy products, that can be a huge downside for people that are looking for healthy meals made only with organic non-GMO products.
3. Limited Delivery Options
Soulara delivers to most major cities in Australia
First of all, the Soulara meal delivery service is not available worldwide. Secondly, it’s not available all around Australia, only in the major cities. This might also be a deal breaker for you if you are not living in an area that Soulara meals are delivered to.
Here is a list of the cities where you can order Soulara meal delivery:
Melbourne
Mornington
Newcastle
Northern Tasmania
Perth Metro
Sunshine Coast
Sydney Metro
Toowoomba
Wollongong
Adelaide
Brisbane
Blue Mountains
Byron to Tweed Heads
Canberra
Central Coast
Darwin Metro
Geelong
Gold Coast
Hobart
Hopefully, with time the Soulara meal delivery service will increase the list of the cities in Australia and maybe even become available in the USA and Europe.
How Do the Soulara Meals Taste?
From all the meals we’ve tried, there was no meal which was really bad. All the meals were fresh and quite tasty, there were just a couple of the Soulara meals that were lacking size and enough calories to make you full from one meal. Of course, you could solve this by eating two meals, however the cost of lunch would then be around $18.20 for a pre-made meal which defeats the purpose of cheap prepped meals. Simply opt for the Soulara meals that are about 350grams or more if you are someone who is looking to have a reasonably filling meal.
Tofu meals
If you like well-cooked tofu, Soulara won’t disappoint you. The tofu on its own is bland and flavourless, but the chefs of Soulara know how to cook it so it gives a meal a special flavour. You should definitely try the Earthen Seer Curry and Tantalising Tofu Miso Soup if you are a fan of Tofu.
Soulara Curries
If you order a curry, risotto, or a bowl with pearl couscous and vegetables, you’re likely to enjoy each meal. They are really delicious, and most importantly, they will fill you up and give you energy for the day.
Some meals plain, some high on taste
Some meals may seem too basic for you, and you would like to mix them up with something else. For instance, the Sunkissed Pesto is a simple pasta and it may not impress you a lot. From the Soulara menu, we preferred the meals that had a higher amount of mixed vegetable like the Mindful Moussaka and the Vibrant Vegetable Rissotto.
Meals for Newly Vegans
When you’re just starting out, you may still miss the flavour of some meals with meat. However, there are some vegan meals that could taste just like meat being fully made only with plant-based ingredients. We’ve tried Mindful Moussaka, which contains TVP (vegan meat substitute), eggplant, and sweet potato. This meal tastes pretty much like a traditional version of Moussaka with eggplant, potato, and ground meat. You should definitely give it a try!
Some meals watery
We recommend checking the labels properly. Some calorie-controlled meals like Comforting Minestrone Soup with beans leek, and macaroni might be not an option for you if you are not on the calorie-restricted diet and want to devour a generous and filling meal.
Soulara Healthy snack alternatives
Soulara snacks and drinks
If you’re an athlete, or maybe a member of a local running club, you should be acquainted with some healthy pre-workout snacks. The most common ones are energy balls or date balls.
Cacao Hazelnut Truffles literally remind us of homemade energy balls for runners. These balls are rich in healthy fats (from the nuts), and the dates are basically carbs that can give you a steady stream of energy.
Choc Chip Cookie Dough Bites is another yummy option that won’t make your stomach lurch, and give a boost of energy.
Soulara Drinks
There is a wide variety of cold-pressed juices and organic kombucha drinks. If you like kombucha, do not hesitate to order Healing & Detoxifying Organic Kombucha Variety Pack, which includes three different drinks.
Soulara Menu and Plans
Exploring the Soulara Menu
Soulara has a great menu with main meals, breakfast options, plant-based protein bars, organic drinks, and several options for dessert. You will find around 40 options for the main meal. These are pastas, vegetable bowls, curries, and soups.
For picking the right Soulara meals in your personalised meal plane, pay attention to the tags that each meal has:
Calorie Controlled
Low in Sugar
Low in Fat
High Protein
High Calcium
Immunity
Gut Health
Increased Size
Briefly, here is a little description about some of the main meals we’ve tested:
Golden Tofu Ratatouille & Cannellini Mash. This is a high-protein meal. The main sources of protein are tofu and soy milk. The ingredients like eggplant and zucchini fuel you with fibre and a range of nutrients. As for the taste, the meal was delivered fresh and tasty. Unless you’re allergic to soybean products, you should try this vegan protein bomb.
Broccoli Salad. This meal is quite light, absolutely low in calories, but extremely nutritious. If you want to add more veggies to your daily meal intake, that is the right choice. The only reason why you might like to avoid this vitamin-rich salad is in case you have IBS ( irritable bowel syndrome). Such a mix with broccoli may cause gas and bloating.
Deva Dahl Makhani. This is one of the meals with the tag “Increased Size” for those who were complaining about small portions. The meal is really hard to finish, you won’t end up hungry. White rice, black lentils, and red kidney beans will help you achieve satiety, and other ingredients like fenugreek seeds, and garam masala will help with digestion and nutrient absorption.
Soulara vegan breakfast options
As breakfast is an important meal to fuel you and charge you up for a busy day, Soulara took care to add ingredients rich in vitamins and minerals and pack each meal with healthy protein sources.
Let’s have a closer look at some healthy breakfast choices on the Soulara menu:
Raspberry Ripple Oats. It contains rolled oats which contain more fiber and are healthier than instant oats. Quinoa is a complete protein rich in essential amino acids. Also, this bowl contains live vegan cultures (Inc. Bifidobacterium Lactis, Lactobacillus Acidophilus), which help absorb minerals and vitamins. Raspberry Ripple Oats bowl is a great choice for your gut health.
Bushwalker's Granola Blend. It is a high-protein breakfast power bowl. Its core ingredient is buckwheat, which is a gluten-free and non-allergenic source of fiber and protein. This meal also contains almond, which helps build and maintain muscle mass. Pepitas will fuel you with magnesium, copper, iron, and zinc. This bowl is an ideal option for breakfast!
What are the Soulara Meal Plans?
Here is some brief info on the prices of meal delivery. The more you order, the cheaper it gets.
7 meals per week: $12.30 per meal/ $86.10 per week
9 meals per week: $11.70 per meal/ $105.30 per week
12 meals per week: $10.65 per meal/ $127.80 per week
15 meals per week: $10.20 per meal/ $153 per week
18 meals per week: $9.55 per meal/ $171.90 per week
21 meals per week: $9.30 per meal/ $195.30 per week
24 meals per week: $9.10 per meal/ $218.40 per week
You can learn more about the plans and prices of the Soulara meal delivery service here. If it’s your first time ordering vegan meal delivery, it’s better to order 7-9 meals just to test it and decide whether Soulara meal delivery is a good option for your personal dietary needs and whether you like the way meals taste in general.
Final Word on Soulara Meals Review
The Soulara meal delivery service can impress you with a variety of mouth-watering and flavorsome vegan and plant-bases dishes, snacks and drinks. All the meals we have tried were not overcooked or mushy like some ready-made meals. Everything was fresh and perfectly packed (though a plastic container is a drawback).
When you do not have the energy or inclination to cook yourself a nutritious meal early in the morning or at night after a hard working day, Soulara meals are a lifesaver.
With Soulara, you do not have to cook, just follow basic instructions. The Soulara meal size is adequate for athletes training 3-4 times per week with a decent calorie content, and other meals are suitable for losing weight or maintaining body composition - just take your pick. Usually, all you have to do is to put the meal in the microwave for 2 minutes - and voila - the meal is ready. Bon appétit:)
