Most of us have ordered something from Amazon before, and the kits they sell include nearly everything you'd need to make a meal. Still, they're only available to Amazon Prime or Amazon Fresh Members who live in metro areas that offer grocery delivery or at select Whole Foods stores in those areas. The prep work is done for you with no subscription.
How Does Amazon Fresh Work?
Unlike meal delivery services, you can order one meal at a time whenever you need it. One of the catches with Amazon is that they have limited availability.
Amazon Fresh is currently available in Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington.
Even if you are in an Amazon Fresh delivery area, some kits aren't available, customers in Seattle, Chicago, the San Francisco Bay area, Southern California, and the Northeast.
Do you live in one of these areas? Now you'll need an Amazon Prime membership ($119 per year or $12.99 every month); most people already have Prime, so you may not have to sign up. They are offering a 30-day free trial here.
If you're used to ordering groceries online, this might be a great option; you can schedule the delivery time straight to the door if you won't be home or if you're hard of hearing, the meals can sit until you get back.
Suppose you don't live in the delivery area. In that case, you still have some options at Amazon Go stores, including Seattle, Chicago, San Francisco, New York City, and some Whole Foods stores in the San Francisco Bay area, Southern California, Nevada, and Arizona.
How Do You Choose Amazon Fresh Meals?
Because the site has so much stuff on it, it's tough to find the right things you want. It's not clear how many meals Amazon has in its database, but at least eight options change at will.
The prices range from $15.99 to $19.99, with vegetarian meals being the cheapest and fish or steak meals being the most expensive.
Browsing the site to find the meal kits is hard because they happen to be mixed in with the groceries and everything else.
The customer reviews are helpful to read before making decisions.
They have Amazon Kitchen branded pre-made entrees; heat and eat. Spaghetti and meatballs as an example.
Sample Meal – Classic spaghetti and meatballs in a rich tomato sauce, topped with parmesan.
Prepared with other foods that contain milk, soy, and wheat.
They also offer Amazon Kitchen branded meal kits, like this Sweet Chile Chicken,
Sample meal: Chicken with bell peppers, baby corn, and water chestnuts in a sweet and spicy chile sauce, served over rice
You'll get step-by-step instructions, mix the included ingredients, cook for 10 minutes; it serves two. The price is $14.99.
They also have separate meals with just main meats and veggies, like this Amazon Kitchen branded Chimichurri Rojo Beef with Chile-Lime Butter meal. They could pair it with this vegetarian side-dish Asparagus and Red Onions that are topped with hollandaise butter.
They feature multiple guaranteed fresh side salads; here is an Organic Kale, Caesar Salad kit, almost 10 ounces for only $4.99.
To top it off, you can order a choice of soups, come in 24 oz plastic tubs, prepare, just microwave in 5-6 minutes, or cook on the stove-top for 12-15 minutes. This creamy sharp cheddar and broccoli soup has a touch of nutmeg and lemon and is vegetarian.
Amazon Meal Kits: What's included?
Each kit comes with a small cardboard box with a full-color recipe card. Usually, there are five or six steps you'll need to with some helpful tips.
The photos can offer helpful visuals to help you along the prep process; oddly, the pictures are of the ingredients instead of the finished meal.
The packaging is less than other meal kit brands, and They don't have big boxes to recycle or insulated liners encased in plastic. The kits come in compact paperboard boxes that you can easily recycle, and the ingredients can fit in the fridge.
Amazon will wrap the ingredients tightly in insulated plastic bags, clamshells, tiny tubs, and screw-top jars in bubble-wrapped packages. You may even get a pair of gloves to keep your hands from getting messy while prepping your meal.
The cooking process is fast; since the ingredients have already been prepped, you'll find the Amazon meal kits to be easy and quick to make. With little prep to do, you can get right to cooking. Each meal takes 25 to 30 minutes, with very little cookware needed.
The recipes are simple and straightforward, so even beginners can make them.
The Conclusion:
Amazon meal kits are great for seniors or caregivers who already have Amazon Fresh or Prime and don't want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen and want to avoid a subscription.
You may get bored with this option if you prefer a large variety of meals to choose from.
The customer service is minimal, if you want a refund, you'll be fine, but if you have questions about availability, sourcing, or even the extent of the menu options, it's probably useless to get answers from them.
You should be able to change your order anytime since there is no subscription.
Getting Amazon meal kits may not be worth it for a
