Summary: I tried Sakara Life for two weeks during a particularly busy time as a pregnant person solo-parenting a toddler. I loved my meals — not only because they were delicious, but also because of the positive effects they had on my health, mood, and lifestyle. Learning about the tenets of Sakara’s approach to food transformed how I think about eating for good.

Pros:

  • Sakara’s meals are deeply nutritious and filling, along with being delicious. 
  • I felt all of the positive effects that Sakara promises, including more energy, faster metabolism, and radiant skin.
  • The unique ingredients and informational material enlightened my senses and inspired my own culinary creativity.
  • Sakara’s meals are made to grab and go so it was perfect for busy days with a toddler and work when I wasn’t able to thoughtfully prepare my own meals.

Cons:

  • The price point for Sakara is high, and can be a lot to budget for especially if you’re feeding the rest of your family. 
  • I found there to be a lot of waste from the plastic containers and the shipping boxes.
A brown cardboard box labeled "SAKARA" with text "Organic. Plant-Rich. Ready-to-Eat." sits on a wooden table next to a white vase holding dried flowers.
Sakara Life provides nutritious, filling, and delicious meals for busy individuals who don’t have the time or attention to devote to themselves (in other words, perfect for this pregnant toddler mom!).

As many moms can attest, our focus is often on feeding our tiny humans instead of meeting our own nutritional needs. (Raise your hand if your lunch is your toddler’s leftovers.)

This has been a struggle for me in parenting, but I was getting along okay until I became pregnant with my second baby.

Now, I have to be much more diligent about what I’m eating. Needless to say, I don’t always have the time and mental space I would like to devote to my nutrition. Sakara Life swooped in and saved me during a particularly challenging and busy period.

My toddler’s daycare was closed for its annual two-week break. I was in solo parenting mode since my husband has a very demanding full-time job. Sakara Life was my lifeline to keep my energy high, providing me with the proper nutrients I needed to give my all to my toddler.

It couldn’t have come at a better time.

What I learned with Sakara Life

In the two weeks I spent trying Sakara Life, I’ve come into an entirely new awareness of the importance of whole food nutrition. Sakara Life’s approach to food is thoroughly unique. They believe that food is information for the body — and much more complex than our modern food system leads us to believe.

Building on this idea, their plant-rich nutrition programs are all backed by science. All of this is in an effort to provide whole-food nutrition that supports the soul, body, and mind. Their perspective on holistic and truly nourishing food really changed the way that I thought about how I was feeding myself.

Sakara uses a 9-pillar nutrition philosophy as the foundation for their recipes. These include:

  • Body intelligence: Listen to your gut to know what your body needs.
  • Nutrient density: Eat meals rich in superfoods and high-quality ingredients.  
  • Eat your water: Veggies like cucumbers and celery are rich in water. They help the body absorb nutrients from food while hydrating us.
  • Leafy greens: Because they’re rich in chlorophyll, leafy greens help the body cleanse and detoxify.
  • Sulfur-rich veggies: Veggies such as kale and broccoli contain sulfur. Sulfur nourishes the cells and strengthens mitochondria. 
  • Healthy fats: Plants like avocados and nuts support our bodies’ basic building blocks, such as our brain and cell walls.
  • Plant protein: Eating a variety of plants provides us with the amino acids, essential for a healthy gut.
  • Count nutrients, not calories: Calorie counting ignores food’s nutrients. It oversimplifies the food we eat and our bodies’ health.
  • Eat the rainbow: Sakara notes that on a typical day of their meal plans, you’ll eat 75+ distinct plant species. That means you’ll see a spectrum of colors on your plate — this is because the color of plants reflects their unique nutrient profile.

If you’re interested in engaging with food through this lens, Sakara offers a standard Flexible Nutrition Program which you can set up in a way that makes sense for you. You can even edit it to receive just one meal a week.

If you’re seeking out Sakara with specific nutritional needs in mind, their in-depth programs can offer support in targeted areas. Their specialty programs The Metabolism Reset, the Fresh Start Cleanse, the Gut Health Reboot, and the Performance System include additional protein, supplements, and mineral drops for those looking to level up.

My two-week trial with Sakara

Okay, the moment you’ve been waiting for: The meals! From setting up my subscription to the Sakara shipments, I’ve included notes on my experience below. You’ll also find my favorite and least favorite meals and how the meal plan fit into my family routine. (If there is anything I haven’t answered, leave your questions in the comments!)

Setting up my subscription

Signing up for Sakara’s Signature Program is an easy step-by-step process. I started by choosing how many meals I wanted per day (breakfast, lunch, and dinner). Then, how many days per week — you can choose two, three, or five days. (I did five since I had to test everything for you.😘)

I love that they give you the option to choose a weekly subscription or a one-time purchase, which is perfect for giving Sakara a try or for different moments in life without having to add another subscription to your budget. You also have the option to add smoothies, lattes, and sweet treats (all healthy, of course!) to build into your week. 

“They give you the option to choose a weekly subscription or a one-time purchase, which is perfect for giving Sakara a try.”

Once you’ve selected everything, you pick which week you’d like your order to come. Deliveries are always on Saturdays, which I found to be helpful for meal planning for the week ahead.

How it ships

When I first opened my Sakara box, I felt a bit intimidated but also highly excited. The box arrives refrigerated with recyclable lining and nontoxic frozen gel packs.

A cardboard box with text detailing recycling information: 100% recyclable cardboard, non-toxic and reusable ice packs, and meal containers made from repurposed plastic bottles.
A white Sakara ice pack with recycling instructions and safety information printed in black text on the front.
The shipping and packing materials are thoughtful, non-toxic, and largely recyclable.

My favorite part of the experience was taking out each meal and reading Sakara’s thoughtful description of the ingredient highlights. Each also noted if it was for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, and included some instructions for how to warm or dress the meal.

A laid-out display includes a program booklet titled "Our Signature Program," a sachet of Metabolism Super Powder, a bar labeled Metabolism, and a Palo Santo stick with its description card.
A wooden table with assorted pre-packaged meals in plastic containers and a bottled drink labeled "Sakara." The meals include salads, granola, and other food items.
I wish there had been even more instructions or information to read! The meals were all labeled and packaged meticulously, though there is indeed a lot of plastic.

I actually wish there were more materials to pore over. I would’ve loved a menu insert that explains all the meals you’ve received, how they go together, and exactly how to prepare each one. There’s a choose-your-own-adventure feel to putting together your daily agenda — and since I was so excited about Sakara’s approach, I would have been happy for even more guidance.

After unpacking the box, I organized the food by meals to easily grab and eat for the week.

My meal-time routine with Sakara

If you’re curious, here’s how the meals break down: Most of their breakfasts and dinners need to be warmed. Their lunches are chilled and made mainly of complex, unique salads. 

“Because Sakara’s meals are for one person, it can be strange to integrate with a family routine.”

For my routine, instead of eating their breakfasts for breakfast, I ate them for a snack between breakfast and lunch. This was because, in my family, we have a ritual of sitting down for breakfast together (plus I have a growing belly to feed!). Because Sakara’s meals are for one person, it can be strange to integrate with a family routine. It’s definitely best suited for days when you’re on your own for meals, unless you get the whole crew on board.

Round plastic container with a label that reads "Sakara Organic Breakfast Goji Rose Donut" and includes heating instructions and details about goji berries. The container is recyclable.
A donut topped with red and pink dried flowers on a floral-patterned plate, set on a wooden surface.
These meals are for one, so it can be a little awkward to incorporate into a family meal (unless you’re willing to share!). My child and I loved this Goji Rose Donut and could have eaten a whole box.

Still, I’d often share my Sakara breakfast snack with my toddler. Our favorite by far was the Goji Rose Donut — we could have eaten an entire box. Dinners are skillet meals easy to throw everything into a pan and cook. One night, my family and I all needed dinner. So, we ate a few of the dinners together. It ended up being a beautiful and filling meal for us all.

My favorite and least favorite meals

The winners for my favorite meals are as follows —

  • Goji Rose Berry Breakfast. It was topped with dried rose petals and crushed goji berries. It was decadent and almost too beautiful to eat. 
  • For lunch, Gardens of Babylon Burger. This one was made from Grains of Paradise — a superfood I’d never heard of. I loved the warming spices in the burger on top of mixed greens with a zesty citrus dressing. 
  • For dinner, the Healing Celery Root Soup with Truffle Herb Swirls. Wow. The swirl biscuits tasted as though they’d been freshly made that day. They were packed with protein and amino acids from the truffles. And the soup was deeply hydrating since it is made with celery, and full of energy-boosting minerals like magnesium and potassium. 
A clear plastic bowl containing a mixture of rice, cherry tomatoes, shredded purple cabbage, carrots, and leafy greens, with a wooden fork on top, placed on a blue and white checkered surface.
A plastic container with a salad topped with a large falafel patty, mixed greens, and a leaf of radicchio on a wooden surface.
I loved the lunches, which were largely made up of richly textured salads and superfoods, some of which were new to me!

All the meals were delicious, but there were a few I didn’t love —

  • The Beauty Blend Salad, for instance, had a complex and overwhelming amount of texture. It included half an avocado that had turned brown. It also had berries, zucchini, cacao nibs, and a kiwi half with the skin still on. The flavors and textures didn’t go well for me, and I found it challenging to know how to eat it. 
  • The Sichuan Noodles for dinner with a tomato and ginger sauce also created a texture issue for me. Inside the package were a couple more sauces, and the flavors didn’t quite do it for me.

So, is Sakara worth it?

Sakara Life has created something truly special that actually made me feel better. The brand makes big promises — you’ll have more energy, faster metabolism, and radiant skin. I can say without a doubt that I experienced all of these things while also enjoying delicious and nutritious food.

“Ultimately, Sakara subscription is for people with a busy lifestyle who want to devote attention to their nutrition, but don’t have either the knowledge or time.”

The top-line consideration is that their programs are expensive. Their signature program can be customized from $420/week to as low as $63/week — but you’ll still need to budget for the rest of your meals since even the highest level subscription only accounts for the work week. If you’re ready to invest, then it is worth it. And even if you’re just curious about trying it once, I think the single meal is perfect for learning more. Sakara’s approach is worth finding out about, and will likely change how you think about food for good.

Ultimately, Sakara subscription is for people with a busy lifestyle who want to devote attention to their nutrition, but don’t have either the knowledge or time. After living with the subscription as a pregnant person, I can also say that it is perfect for moms who need nutritional support and someone to help feed them. In the long term, the cost of feeding a whole family with Sakara won’t be realistic for many people — but for single working people, busy bees who take many of their meals alone, or people with special dietary needs, it’s pretty life-changing.

A bowl of green soup with sprinkled seeds on top, two bread rolls, and a container labeled "Healing Green Broth Soup" on a wooden surface with a small wooden spoon.
A large cardboard box labeled "SAKARA" with smaller containers of food on and around it. The box reads "Organic. Plant-Rich. Ready-to-Eat." The containers feature various prepared meals.
Sakara’s approach is worth finding out about, and will likely change how you think about food for good.

I’m so grateful for my experience with Sakara. It reconnected me to the power of food — and with how to have more fun with my meals and snacks, too. After eating through their signature program, my mantra when going to the store is “eat the rainbow.” I’ve aimed to eat a wider variety of foods, adding more colorful veggies to my plate and trying different plant-based recipes.

“After eating through their signature program, my mantra when going to the store is ‘eat the rainbow.'”

If Sakara Life had a cookbook, I’d have it on my shelf right now. And the impact it had on my mood is not to be underestimated. Having Sakara meals on hand ensured I wouldn’t get low blood sugar, preventing drops in my energy and related mood swings. It also eliminated the stress of cooking while entertaining a toddler, which opened up more time to be present with her. That’s quite a gift.

Courtney Jay is a Contributing Editor at The Good Trade. She is also a yoga instructor, health enthusiast, and sustainable fashion advocate. You can find more of her writing and take one of her online yoga classes on her website, Coincide.