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Mosaic Foods review: This vegetarian and vegan meal service is tasty, healthy and ultra-convenient
Whether you're feeding yourself or an entire family, planning a week's worth of meals can be tedious — to say nothing of shopping, prepping and cooking. Thankfully, meal delivery services can turn meal planning into something you actually look forward to. Mosaic Foods is one such service — and if you're vegan, vegetarian or simply looking for healthier options, it's well worth a look.
I've long been a fan of meal delivery services: They make it so easy to choose dishes that cater to my family's various dietary needs, and it's hard to beat the convenience of ingredients or prepared meals showing up at my door each week. Meal delivery services also save me money: Fewer trips to the grocery mean I don't spend money on junk food and extras I don't need (but still grab anyway because they're in front of my face).
When I was given the opportunity to review Mosaic Foods, I jumped at the chance. I was especially excited because the company specializes in vegan and vegetarian prepared meal delivery. That means no prep or cooking is needed outside of a quick zap in the microwave — and with my family's busy schedule, fast and easy is exactly what I need.
Keep reading to learn about the meals I tried from Mosaic Foods, what I liked and didn't, who might (and might not) be best off eating these prepared dishes, and everything else you would want to know about a vegan and vegetarian weekly meal delivery service.
Price: $11.00 per serving | Weekly menu options: 30+ | Diet choices: Vegan, vegetarian, wheat-free, nut-free, paleo, gluten-free, low-calorie and no sugar added
Mosaic Foods' weekly frozen prepared meal delivery service offers loads of flavorful meals that cater to vegans and vegetarians. Each week, the company offers subscribers more than 30 vegetarian or 100% plant-based options that meet various additional dietary preferences, such as as wheat-free, nut-free, paleo, gluten-free and low-calorie. The meals are delivered each week on a set day, so all that's left for you to do is heat and eat.
- Vegan and vegetarian options
- Flavorful, healthy heat-and-eat meals
- Meals designed from one person or the whole family
- Pricey
- Meals are frozen, not fresh
What is Mosaic Foods meal delivery service?
Mosaic Foods is a weekly frozen prepared meal service that specializes in vegan and vegetarian dishes. Its meals are crafted by chefs, prepared fresh, flash-frozen and delivered to your home or office each week on a set day. The meals are designed to meet a variety of dietary preferences, such as wheat or soy-free, low-carb or low-calorie. The menu includes everything from oat breakfast bowls to smoothies and soups as well as pizzas and veggie bowls, with portion sizes ranging from individual to family size.
How Mosaic Foods works
As with most weekly meal delivery services, you choose a predetermined number of meals (six, 12 or 18) that will be delivered to your home each week on a preset day. What sets Mosaic Foods apart from its competitors is that you can view the full list of meal options before completing the signup process. Something I have never liked about many of the major meal delivery services is that you have to sign up before you can see the full selection of weekly meals you have to choose from.
Once you've chosen the meals for your first week, you'll be guided through the rest of the sign-up process, including inputting your payment information. Once you've completed the order for your first delivery, you can order meals for the following few weeks, or you can wait for the first delivery so you can try a few and get a feel for what you like — and what you don't. Just note that you'll need to make the following week’s selections before a certain date, or the meals will be auto-selected and your credit card will be charged.
Mosaic Foods plans and pricing
Mosaic offers three weekly plans:
Six meals a week starting at $11 for individual meals or $24 for family-size meals that serve up to four people, plus $10 shipping
12 meals a week starting at $11 for individual meals or $24 for family-size meals that serve up to four people; shipping is free
18 meals a week starting at $11 for individual meals or $24 for family-size meals that serve up to four people; shipping is free (two boxes are needed for 18 meals, hence the $20 savings)
What can I expect from a Mosaic Foods meal delivery box?
Each week, the meals you selected will ship to your door in an insulated box with dry ice packs that help ensure the food stays frozen while in transit. Mosaic uses one- to two-day shipping to make sure your food doesn’t spend any more time traveling than necessary.
Once your box arrives, you'll want to unpack it as soon as possible, so make sure there is room in your freezer — I learned this lesson the hard way and had to play a game of freezer Tetris to get everything to fit and close the door.
All the Mosaic Foods meals I ordered and how I liked them
I ordered six meals, including both vegan and vegetarian options. I don't have any strict dietary preferences, so I was able to order whatever sounded good. That said, each box is clearly labeled with whether it's vegan or vegetarian, the amount of protein, the heat level (mild, medium or hot) and whether it's gluten-, nut- or wheat-free.
The six meals I chose were:
Peanut tofu bowl - Broccoli, sweet pepper rounds and roasted tofu over a bed of farro, topped with crushed peanuts and charred pineapple
Tangy Thai stir fry - Rice noodles, zesty tamarind sauce, bean sprouts, carrots and red cabbage, topped with baked tofu and crushed peanuts
Creamy pesto cavatappi - Cavatappi pasta, spinach, broccoli rabe and roasted tomatoes tossed in a basil and parmesan pesto, topped with toasted lemony breadcrumbs and red pepper flakes
Green curry noodles - Rice noodles, sweet potato, tofu, asparagus, coconut milk, scallions and black sesame seeds
Spicy dan dan noodles - Buckwheat soba noodles coated in a chili vinegar sauce, five-spiced tofu, bok choy and pickled red cabbage
Spicy enchilada bowl - Quinoa, tempeh crumbles, pickled cabbage, onions, black beans, corn, "guacamole" (made with fresh peas) and herby cilantro sauce
As far as healthy frozen meals go, I was impressed. In many cases, the meals actually closely matched the photo on the box — a rare feat. I'm fairly certain I've never seen a grocery store-bought meal ever look like the glamour shot on the box.
I really liked the cavatappi and tofu bowl just as they were. The enchilada bowl was nice as well, and I really liked the pea guacamole — so much so that I looked up how to make it. Admittedly, it needed a little more flavor, so I added hot sauce and shredded cheese and ate it with tortilla chips.
My son tried the curry and dan dan noodles (two of his all-time favorite dishes). He said they were "good for frozen meals" and that he would happily eat the dan dan noodles again. It bears mentioning that both dishes were vegan and he's not, so I was honestly impressed that he gave his seal of approval.
Who Mosaic Foods meal kits are good for
Mosaic would be a major time-saver for busy vegans and vegetarians who need easy heat-and-eat meals. The meals would also work well for those who are new to a plant-based or vegetarian lifestyle that want to learn about new flavor combinations, plant-based proteins and different grains and noodles.
Who Mosaic Foods meal kits are not so good for
Obviously, these frozen but otherwise ready-to-eat meals would not be a great fit for those who prefer to prep and cook their own food. Mosaic's menu is also not very extensive, with only 30 or so meals to choose from each week (and many repeats from the prior week) so those who prefer lots of variety would likely get bored fairly quickly. Oh, yeah: These meals also wouldn't be great for someone with limited freezer space.
Mosaic Foods packaging and environmental friendliness
Mosaic Foods strives to “reduce as much waste as possible,” including opting for dry ice instead of the frozen gel packs used by many of its competitors. (Be careful when handling dry ice — it’s best to use gloves or a potholder when removing it from the box.) The shipping materials and the meal containers are 100% recyclable.
Mosaic Foods frequently asked questions
What if I need to skip a week?
Skipping a week is easy. You’ll log on as you normally would, but instead of choosing your upcoming meals, click “Your Plan” on the left side of the page to see a list of all upcoming deliveries. Use the “Skip” toggle to skip the weeks when you don't want or need meals.
Where can I find Mosaic Foods nutritional information?
Mosaic’s meals arrive fully prepared in well-labeled boxes, and all nutritional information and ingredients are listed on the side of the packaging. If you would like to see ingredients, nutritional information or allergen information before ordering, select the meal you are interested in from the “Meals” page for a sneak peek.
How do Mosaic Foods ingredients stay fresh during shipping?
Mosaic uses one- to two-day shipping, insulated packing materials and dry ice to ensure that everything stays frozen until, at minimum, the end of the day on your scheduled delivery day.
How I evaluated Mosaic Foods delivery and meals
Subscription price: Price is everything, so I compared the cost per serving of Mosaic Foods to competing plant-based food delivery services. Mosaic is right in line with its competition. The family meals at $6 per serving are actually a fair bit less than competitors' family-size options, which range between $8 and $10 per serving.
Ease of use: A lot goes into getting started with a meal subscription service, from the initial sign up to choosing the number of servings and meals you want every week. I found these steps easy and straightforward, but especially liked that I could see the full menu before subscribing — as I said before, many services show only a few sample meals.
Meal choice: Even though the meals were appealing, with only around 30 selections per week, I could see becoming bored — especially if I opted for 12 or 18 meals per week. That said, the selection is on par with or better than some of Mosaic's vegan-only meal delivery counterparts such as Purple Carrot, which only offers 20 meal options per week.
Taste: I was pleased — and surprised — by the flavor and freshness of the meals, especially since they came frozen. No complaints here!
Packaging: The packaging was on par with that of other meal delivery services, with the exception of the dry ice — most of the competition uses frozen gel packs. The ingredients arrived frozen, and everything was recyclable.
The final verdict on Mosaic Foods
I enjoyed the meals I tried from Mosaic Foods and would order again. Because these are frozen meals, I don't see this service as something that would take the place of regular weekly meal options, but it would be handy for on-the-go dinners when we're short on time, or as a fast lunch. I also don't have an abundance of real estate in my freezer for stacks of frozen meals. While $11 for single-serving meals is pricey, the quality of the ingredients and flavors make them worth it — these are far from being the meals you find in the frozen aisle at the grocery.
Price: $11.00 per serving | Weekly menu options: 30+ | Diet choices: Vegan, vegetarian, wheat-free, nut-free, paleo, gluten-free, low-calorie and no sugar added
