9 best vegetable boxes that deliver fresh produce straight to your door

Best: Overall

With 30 years of organic farming under its belt, Riverford Organic Farmers in south Devon was an early veg box pioneer. It started with just 30 boxes delivered locally per week – with the help of three regional sister farms – growing into the nationwide household name it is today.

This innovative box is exactly what the world needs, too, ditching single-use plastic packaging and instead delivering eight “naked” seasonal veg varieties in recyclable paper or a compostable plastic alternative for more delicate items. None of which affected either the appearance or quality of a pristine, vibrant selection of vegetables. In our case that included broad beans, turnip, gem lettuce and cherry tomatoes – the flavour of which is sure to bring joy to those jaded by home cooking.

Best: For tomato aficionados

Expect a big hit of feel good factor when you receive a delivery from The Tomato Stall. Available on a subscription or as a one-off purchase, this beautifully packaged, 3kg selection of heritage tomatoes from the Isle of Wight contains a seasonal mix of fruits in vivid red, yellow and orange hues, with the exact mix of cherry vine, beef and speciality cocktail varieties determined by what’s freshest when they’re picked.

Perfectly ripe, juicy and dense, these outrageously flavoursome tomatoes put their plastic-wrapped supermarket equivalents to shame. Although they lasted at room temperature for almost a week we immediately paired some with burrata and basil to delicious effect, while later in the week served them grilled at breakfast and made a rich passata to freeze as a way to extend shelf life further.

As this box is a seasonal selection it won’t be available until May 2022, however you can still give the in season mixed family box a try in the meantime (£25, Thetomatostall.co.uk).

Best: For veg box first-timers

We were highly impressed by both the quality and variety of this vivid selection from one of the UK’s leading organic retailers. While it now offers everything from meat and fish to snacks and cleaning products, Abel & Cole started life selling potatoes and this subscription service offers a faultless offering of organic vegetables dictated by seasonality.

Spring greens, muddy spuds, a sizeable squash and a potent handful of spring onions were all standouts from a nine-strong selection that came accompanied with recipe cards, inspiration and all the guidance necessary to make the most of its brightly hued bounty. The ability to add unwanted varieties to a “dislike list” is a handy touch to keep food waste to a minimum, too.

Best: For climate-conscious cooks

As well as packaging solutions, other firms have explored alternative ways of serving us ethically sound vegetables, with Oddbox particularly worthy of applause. Developed in response to an eye-watering three-million tonnes of fruit and veg that’s wasted before leaving the farm, Oddbox “rescues” otherwise perfect produce that’s deemed either too big, small or ugly for supermarket shelves.

It’s a fact that certainly doesn’t register when we unpack an aesthetically pleasing selection that included asparagus, tenderstem broccoli, cherry tomatoes, cauliflower, bell peppers, rhubarb and mixed leaves. Delivered either weekly or fortnightly across London, the south and Midlands, it provided us with an impeccably fresh fridge-full of veg that formed the basis for a week’s worth of meals.

Best: For organic simplicity

Taking a pared-back approach to the vegetable box concept, Daylesford Organic’s Market Garden Veg Box delivers a five-strong selection from its organic farm in the Cotswolds, which comes accompanied by a note from its packer. While it may lack the bells, whistles and niche cultivars offered by other boxes, the standard of the produce is exemplary, with our box featuring a particularly peppery mixed-leaf salad, purple-sprouting broccoli and runner beans that worked wonders in a salade niçoise. Perfect for those without the storage space or desire to accommodate and identify myriad varieties, it’s an impressive showcase of one of the UK’s most eminent organic farms.

Best: For salads

Delivered in a box proudly labelled with Pikt’s worthy credentials – Soil Association organic-approved, plastic-free-certified, not to mention an irreverent spectacles cut-out for kids – this seasonal salad box by Pikt is a game-changer. While Pikt’s website allows you to customise and build your own box from a vast range, this ready-made selection serves up plenty of inspiration for light, healthy dishes.

As well as more standard staples – crisp gem lettuce, cucumber and ripe tomatoes two ways (cherry and vine-ripened) – characterful extras included radishes, fennel, beetroot and pomegranate, while the addition of a small bottle of organic, extra-virgin olive oil was a cute touch that we were only too happy to drizzle over our vibrant creations.

Best: For fully customisable boxes

Billing itself as a “feelgood food hub”, Boxxfresh is an innovative, family-run venture based in Hampshire that has scaled up to become a nationwide player with an impressive array of plant-based produce that – thanks to a sleek, easy-to-navigate website – is easily combined and dispatched to your door.

With a minimum order of £25 and without pre-selected boxes on offer, it’s a more involved process than other companies, but we enjoyed choosing from a fortifying selection of fruit and veg, with favourite finds included earthy New Forest mushrooms, new-season rhubarb and a memorably large cos lettuce. There are plenty of optional extras, too, from vegan cheeses to oils, vinegar and baked goods, while the addition of recipe cards provides advance inspiration for your next order.

Best: For adventurous palates

This hefty box comes courtesy of Turnips, a family-run fruit and veg wholesalers who has sold its wares at Borough Market for more than 30 years. Pivoting during the pandemic to vegetable boxes, the brand brings all its expertise to this elevated “VIP Veg” offering, which – designed to feed a family of four to six for a week – focuses on specialist seasonal varieties rather than the fundamentals Alongside pedestrian inclusions like broccoli and spring onions, we discovered white asparagus, waxy purple potatoes, spherical aubergines, celeriac and spectacular multi-coloured radishes among a selection that, although not always easy to identify, is sure to excite curious cooks.

Best: For chef-grade European produce

Billing itself as radically seasonal produce, Natoora has long been on the radar of top chefs with restaurant-quality crops stemming from personal relationships with some of Europe’s leading small-scale independent growers. Once downloaded, an easily navigable app allows you to plan and select from an inspirational selection, or – far simpler – leave the curation to Natoora in the form of the peak season box.

Including 10 weekly changing fruit and vegetable varieties hitting their seasonal peak, our beautifully presented doorstep delivery (available nationwide) included chunky British asparagus, Calabrian Tropea onions that, grilled on the barbecue, were sublime, as well as a zingy, mystery stone fruit that – thanks to the app – we identified as loquats from Alicante.