Vegin' Out

Vegin' Out is a Los Angeles vegan meal service that cooks a weekly menu of whole-food, plant-based dishes and either delivers them locally or ships them fresh. It's prepared food, not a kit: "We do all the food shopping, prepping and cooking for you and all you have to do is to heat up the delicious vegan dishes and enjoy!" The company says it was "Established in 2008," and its house style is strict: the About page says every dish is "oil-free, low sodium, low sugar, cholesterol free, trans-fat free, dairy free, cruelty free, preservatives free." If you want a family-sized weekly batch of vegan cooking with no added oil, it has a long track record; one homepage reviewer says she has known the company since 2010. You can order online or by phone at 1-800-420-4927.

How ordering works

Ordering starts with your delivery area, because that decides how your food travels. The site offers Los Angeles delivery, a shipping option for the rest of Southern and Northern California and Arizona, and nationwide shipping. Then you choose a plan. The how-it-works page lists a single weekly order, an every-other-week order, a Double Weekly order ("SAVE $20.99!!"), 4 Up Front Weekly orders ("SAVE $25.96!!!"), a Low Carb weekly plan, and a set of structured programs described below. You can add extra breakfasts, entrées, sides, soups, cookies, juices and salad dressings to any order.

The weekly menu changes every week, and the 21-day program page says there are "subscription and non-subscription options," with subscriptions you can "pause anytime, no long-term commitment." There's a subscription log-in on the site, and the order deadline is "Friday at 5PM PST for Monday shipping."

The weekly orders are cooked in batch sizes rather than single trays. On the 21-day program's low-carb weeks, for example, an order holds 3 entrées, 4 side dishes and 2 soups, and the company says each dish yields 3 servings and each soup 4, which it reckons is enough food for 5-7 days. One customer on the homepage describes a single weekly order covering dinners for 2 people plus some lunches, with leftovers to freeze.

The structured programs

Vegin' Out also sells programs with an end date. The 21-Day Vegan Cleanse & Meal Plan starts with a 5-Day Vegan Soups & Juice Cleanse, which the company puts at 400-800 calories per day, then moves to 2 weeks of low-carb prepared meals. The 5:2 Intermittent Fasting Starter Plan sends a 4-week supply at once: "8 containers of our low carb vegan soups" and "8 mixture of pressed juices," with instructions. Everything arrives at once, with each week's items in a separate bag; the soups go in the freezer until needed and the juices, which carry printed expiry dates, in the fridge. There's also a Blood Sugar Control plan, which the company labels "Diabetic Friendly" and describes as a 6 Day Meal Plan.

These programs carry the company's own health framing. It says the 5-day cleanse "was created to help individuals who are interested or need help with managing weight," that its cleanse menu is "a collaboration with an internal medicine physician and a certified wellness practitioner," and that the 21-day plan is "Designed for sustainable weight loss." Those are Vegin' Out's claims, and the site doesn't publish outcome data for them.

What it costs

The site doesn't print plan prices on its homepage or how-it-works page; they appear once you pick an area and plan. What it does state are the multi-order savings above, a "Refer and get $20" offer, and that shipping is "included for all outside of LA area" in the regional shipping zone covering Orange County, San Diego's inland county, Northern California, Arizona, Las Vegas and Reno. For nationwide orders, the shipping cost isn't spelled out on those pages.

The food itself

The company says it uses "organic, healthy plant-based ingredients" and that meals "can be made Gluten free, soy-free and low carb"; at checkout you can leave preferences in a comment box and it will "do our best to accommodate." Meals come in BPA-free containers inside an insulated bag or box, so, as the About page puts it, you "do not need to be home waiting." Add-ons include 12-oz probiotic and raw juices. Customer reviews on the homepage mention a vegetable jalfrezi, a pistachio pesto pasta, crisp side dishes and peanut butter cookies. The low-carb soups include Cream of Broccoli, Tomato Hempseed Bisque, Butternut Squash Bisque and Tom Kha Bisque.

The kitchen is led by executive chef Brian L. Patton, known as "The Sexy Vegan," who joined in 2006 and wrote The Sexy Vegan Cookbook. The company says he develops "creative, seasonal, and diverse menus." It adds that he has been featured in The New York Times and The Huffington Post.

The site doesn't list calories or macros for regular weekly meals, or heating times.

Who it reaches

In Los Angeles, meals are delivered on Mondays across a wide area, from Pacific Palisades, Malibu and Calabasas to Long Beach, Pasadena, Claremont and the San Fernando Valley, with a long neighbourhood list on the how-it-works page. Everyone else gets meals shipped on Monday; the 21-day page says "SoCal arrives Tuesday, nationwide arrives Wednesday." The homepage says Vegin' Out "ships our vegan meals to 48 US states, except Alaska and Hawaii," while the 21-day page refers to "all 49 contiguous U.S. states"; the how-it-works list of states also includes the District of Columbia. Either way, Alaska and Hawaii are out.

What the site leaves open, and who it suits

Prices only appear after you choose an area and plan, nationwide shipping costs aren't stated up front, and nutrition data for the regular menu isn't published. The state count is also worded inconsistently.

Vegin' Out suits vegans and plant-based households, particularly in California, who want big batches of oil-free, low-sodium cooking each week and like a menu that changes. The structured cleanse and fasting programs will appeal to some, though their health benefits rest on the company's own description. It suits less well someone wanting single-portion trays, a large pick-and-choose menu, or delivery to Alaska or Hawaii.