Reading Time: 9 minutes
Sakara Life is a wellness company that offers organic, plant-based, gluten-free, ready-to-eat meals delivered nationwide. The brand has quite a following among celebrities, including Gwyneth Paltrow and Drew Barrymore, and is loved by many Victoria’s Secret models. Its philosophy is based on the power of food as medicine and the ability of nutrition to transform lives.
Ready to buy now? Receive 20% off when you enter my code
LIVEREMEDYSAKARA at checkout on Sakara Life.
What is the Sakara Diet?
While a lot of diets are about deprivation and restriction, Sakara is different. It focuses on providing your body with optimal nutrition through a variety of freshly prepared whole foods and a balance of plant-based protein, healthy fats, and complex carbs. The plans are designed in consultation with leading nutrition experts, and Michelin-star chefs expertly craft the meals. The result is a varied, interesting, and delicious menu that works to enhance many aspects of health, including supporting the microbiome, balancing blood sugar, and boosting metabolism.
I’ve tried quite a few different meal delivery services but Sakara is on another level. As a trained raw food chef and holistic nutritionist, I really appreciate the attention to detail, quality, and diversity of ingredients. If I tried to replicate the Sakara Diet I would be in the kitchen all day! The Sakara meal plans also include dishes inspired by cuisines around the world and their menu changes every week, so there are always new and interesting flavors to explore.
The Sakara Meal Plans
Sakara offers several different organic meal delivery programs. The Signature Meal Plan (Level 1) offers the option to select two, three, or five days as a one-week trial or recurring subscription.
The Level II Detox is a more intensive cleanse, that is offered once a month and designed to give you a total body reset. They also have a 20-day Bridal Program.
I opted for a five-day Signature Meal Plan, which included 15 meals. If you are in New York or LA, your program will arrive on Sunday evening and take place from Monday to Friday. Since I am in their nationwide delivery area, my package arrived on Tuesday afternoon, and the plan was to begin on Tuesday evening and continue until Sunday lunch. In addition to the meals, the delivery comes with daily detox tea, probiotics, and a welcome bag with a few extra gifts for first-time customers.
The Sakara Life 5-Day Meal Plan Menu
The menu changes every week so this is just a sample of what they have to offer. You can preview the upcoming menus up to three weeks in advance on their website.
Breakfast
Day 1 – Pumpkin Pie Parfait with Maple Cinnamon Granola
Coconut yogurt was layered with pumpkin puree, raspberries, and maple cinnamon granola with dried cherries, pecans, and flaxseeds. This was perfect for fall; the coconut yogurt was super-creamy, and the granola added a crunchy textural contrast.
Day 2 – Roasted Pear Pancakes with Cinnamon Banana Jam
This was my favorite breakfast of the week. The pancakes are made from almond flour and taste like a decadent dessert. It’s on par with something you might find in a French patisserie, yet the healthy fats ensure your blood sugar remains stable for hours.
Day 3 – Coconut Praline Granola with Antioxidant Cacao Milk
Granola containing gluten-free oats, hazelnuts, pecans, and coconut is paired with chocolate almond milk. The flavors reminded me of Nutella but in cereal form.
Day 4 – Chaga Chai Detox Bowl
The base was cashew cream infused with Chai tea, and the topping was crunchy Chaga buckwheat granola with raspberries. Again, this tasted like dessert and was similar to a raw cheesecake.
Day 5 – Cherry Tea Cake with Stone Fruit Jam
This one felt more wholesome but still managed to be light in texture with cherries, walnuts, sunflower, and hemp seeds in the cake, with a side of acerola cherry stone fruit jam and fresh Inca Berries. It was a nice balance between sweet and sour.
Lunch
Day 1 – Equinox Salad
A very seasonal dish that perfectly reflected the transition from summer to fall. Roasted butternut squash and beets are combined with dried peaches on top of fresh greens with an echinacea peach tahini dressing to boost immunity.
Day 2 – Forbidden Rice and Tatsoi Bowl
Tatsoi is a green that is not generally easy to find in the grocery store but it’s a great alternative to kale, much more tender and just as nutritious. This salad also included forbidden black rice, snap peas, roasted zucchini, cashews, and an Asian sesame dressing.
Day 3 – Sakara-Style Pasta Bolognese
While it didn’t exactly taste like traditional bolognese, this was a hearty and satisfying dish. I love how they use lentil pasta and adzuki bean tempeh, which makes this a really good source of protein. As with all the Sakara meals, it comes with a generous amount of greens.
Day 4 – Balancing Macro Plate with Creamy Avocado Dressing
This dish was based on the philosophy of macrobiotics and is designed to provide a perfect balance of yin and yang energy. Fresh salad greens were combined with adzuki beans, lotus root, roasted kabocha squash, red cabbage, broccolini, and an avocado dressing.
Day 5 – Butternut Squash Lasagna with Daily Greens
At first, it looked like a small portion, but it ended up being just the right amount. The lasagna noodles were made from sliced celeriac root and the filling was butternut squash with shiitake mushrooms and macadamia cheese. This came with a side salad of greens and pecans with a balsamic dressing.
Dinner
Day 1 – Mother Earth Bowl with Detox Dressing
Sakara emphasizes cruciferous vegetables in their meals and this was the perfect example. It was a kale salad with brown rice, red cabbage, beets, roasted Brussels sprouts, and purple cauliflower. The chlorophyll-enhanced avocado dressing and pink pine nuts bring it all together.
Day 2 – Empress Rice
Think a healthier version of fried rice with a variety of veggies and astragalus to support life force energy. The chefs in the Sakara kitchen are masters with their dressings and sauces and this was no exception.
Day 3 – Roasted Peach Chana Masala
The Indian-inspired flavors of this chickpea quinoa coconut curry worked perfectly with the roasted peaches. The sauce contains Triphala – an Ayurvedic herbal formula – that cleanses the digestive system and balances the body.
Day 4 – Black Garlic BBQ Burger with Daily Greens
Black bean and shiitake burger – without the bun – is served with fresh greens, pickles, roasted sweet potato wedges, hempseed-crusted avocado, and fresh spicy ketchup. What makes this one really special is the immune-boosting black garlic cashew dressing, which is so full of flavor.
Day 5 – Sunflower Bowl
This was a beautiful combination of crisp, crunchy veggies, greens, mango, mung beans, and black rice noodles with a sunflower sauce that tasted like spicy peanut butter. It comes with a cashew “egg”, which really took this dish over the top!
Is Sakara Life vegan?
While all of the meals are 100 percent plant-based and gluten-free, occasionally honey and bee pollen are included. Sakara prefers to avoid dietary labels and takes a more inclusive approach. Says founder Danielle Duboise:
The Sakara way is to focus on what you ARE eating instead of focusing on what not to eat. The more whole, organic and fresh plants you get into your body every day, means the more essential nutrients you’re getting like antioxidants, phytonutrients, electrolytes, vitamins, minerals, healthy fats, water, fiber, and life energy. And you need a lot of plants and a huge variety to reap all the benefits.
Can you lose weight on Sakara Life?
Sakara encourages letting go of the need to count calories and instead starting to look at food as a source of nourishment. Worrying about how many calories you’re consuming can lead to an elevation in levels of the stress hormone cortisol and actually cause your body to hold onto excess weight. In my experience, the portion sizes are just right, and after each meal, I feel completely satisfied.
If your goal is to lose weight, it’s recommended that you avoid snacking and alcohol. However, if you feel hungry between meals, it’s fine to munch on raw veggies, berries, nuts, herb tea, or an energy bar from their Clean Boutique store. They remind their clients that this is not a diet—it is a lifestyle that prioritizes health. To get the most out of Sakara, a subscription plan is the best way to achieve long-term weight loss.
They also emphasize that the microbiome has a huge impact on the number of calories you absorb from your food. And the best way to support a healthy and diverse microbiome is to eat a wide variety of plant-based whole foods, such as on the Sakara Life meal plans.
How much does Sakara Life cost?
The price will vary depending on where you are located, how many days you choose, as well as how many meals you select each day. If you would like breakfast, lunch, and dinner this would average around $70 a day on their Signature Meal Plan. Considering the organic produce, superfood ingredients, chef-curated meals, and the effort that goes into packing and shipping, it’s good value. I looked at how much it would cost to order food from a local chain-store restaurant, and with the cost of delivery and tip, the amount was comparable, but with Sakara, the taste and quality is so much better.
I always recommend a subscription rather than a one-time program, as the subscription is less expensive, and you have the option to skip weeks and pause anytime. With a subscription, you can also alter the number of days and meals each week to suit your schedule, as well as select your preferred add-on, including probiotics, beauty chocolates, or beauty/detox water. If you are curious to try the meals without spending too much, you could start with just a 2-day meal plan. Sakara is also available on Afterpay, so you can opt to pay for your meal plan in installments, rather than up-front to help spread the cost.
Is Sakara worth the money?
Value is subjective so it depends on what you hope to get out of the program. If you are enthusiastic about a plant-based diet and consider yourself a foodie, then I expect you will love Sakara Life. Likewise, if you are interested in learning more about the possibilities of plant-based eating or kickstarting a new healthy lifestyle, then it would be a good investment.
I like to think of Sakara as a healthy indulgence, and while an ongoing subscription is probably not on the budget for most of us, it’s nice to have a break from grocery shopping and food preparation once in a while. If you are curious about Sakara but not ready to try a meal plan, they offer a variety of recipes on their site as well as in their cookbook, Eat Clean, Play Dirty. That way you can also continue the Sakara lifestyle on the weeks you don’t get meal delivery in a way that works for your budget.
Sakara Offers More Than Just Meal Plans
In addition to the meal plans, Sakara offers a range of functional foods and superfood supplements in their Clean Boutique Store. Their best-selling product is the metabolism powder; a chocolate-flavored supplement designed to remedy metabolic slowdown, boost energy and improve mental clarity. There are also energy bars, granola, protein powder, detox and beauty water, tea, functional chocolates, and more.
You can also find the 10-Day Reset in their Clean Boutique store, which is a DIY detox program including recipes for living the Sakara Life from your kitchen, according to your own schedule and budget.
Final Thoughts
Overall I’ve really enjoyed all the meals from Sakara and there is really nothing else comparable in regards to the focus on optimal nutrition and superfoods. As someone healing from chronic illness, I’ve found a plant-based and gluten-free diet to be an essential foundation of my recovery. So I appreciate that I am able to enjoy such delicious food, while also knowing that I am continuing to support my body.
While a Sakara Meal Plan may not be on the budget every week, it’s a good option for those times when you know you have a busy schedule or if you simply feel the need to take a break from grocery shopping and food preparation. Unlike other meal kits, everything comes ready-to-eat, so that saves a lot of time and energy. The products available in their Clean Boutique store are also a great way to continue with the lifestyle in between meal deliveries.
Sakara Life 20% Discount
Enter Code LIVEREMEDYSAKARA at checkout on Sakara Life.
Disclosure: I purchased this meal plan with my own funds. However, this post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on a link and purchase a product, we receive a small commission. Thank you for supporting Live Remedy!
