There was a time when meal delivery services were a rarity. This was back in 2005 when Magic Kitchen founders Greg Miller and Michelle Tayler began their services offering a home-style menu that allowed people to get large servings of filling, hearty dishes for the whole family versus individual entrees. We’re talking delicious and reliable meals that are fully-cooked and delivered.
What’s more, Magic Kitchen pioneered this niche in providing a highly specialized menu for those who have special dietary needs either due to illness or age. In fact, we even put it on our list for best diabetic food delivery.
The company offers meal plans that are low sodium, diabetic-friendly or dialysis-friendly, just to name a few. (Read why we think Magic Kitchen provides excellent food for elderly care.)
All Magic Kitchen dishes are prepared by a team of professional chefs, so customers know that they are receiving a meal that is fresh, healthy and flavorful.
Magic Kitchen At A Glance
- Best Match For: People who need to follow a special diet, and want an extensive menu with delicious and nutritious ready-to-eat meals.
- Commitment Level: One time orders; Subscription with weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly delivery
- Availability: The continental US
- Value: $10-$14/meal; Shipping starts at $18.95
- Type: Fully prepared frozen meals, meal bundles, meal gifts, specialty eating plans, and more
How Magic Kitchen Works
One of the nicest things about Magic Kitchen is that the company allows you the ability to customize much of your meal plan so that you’ll receive dishes you and your family will enjoy.
All Magic Kitchen items are flash frozen in order to best preserve the quality of the dishes.
The flash freezing method allows food to be frozen and reheated while still retaining its nutritional value and delicious taste.
Because Magic Kitchen puts an emphasis on flexibility, customers have the option of either ordering a la carte or entering in their preferences and having their meals selected for them.
Magic Kitchen is great because it has breakfast, lunch and dinner options, so you can have every meal of the day covered if you so choose. Because the meals are easily heated, you can get your meal on the table in no time.
What You Can Expect From Your Meal
All Magic Kitchen meals are prepared in the company’s USDA-inspected facilities and the ingredients are organic when possible.
Magic Kitchen offers two services. One is their traditional meal program, where you can get family-sized portions of their classic, hearty dishes. The second service is their selection of specialized meals for customers with specific dietary needs.
In those cases, Magic Kitchen offers the following specialized meal options:
We were impressed by the variety of specialized diet offerings, especially considering how hard it is to find and prepare the appropriate foods while on a strictly controlled diet for medical reasons. That's why Magic Kitchen made it onto our list of the top meal delivery services for the elderly.
For those looking to lose weight, it’s really easy to track the nutritional value of your Magic Kitchen meals.
The company even displays the number of Weight Watchers points for each of its dishes online, so you’ll know exactly what you are eating in terms of your daily calorie intake.
As for the specialty menus, it’s a relief that Magic Kitchen does not skimp on taste.
The Senior Meals are notable because they are specifically designed to be lower in sodium and features a main course and one or two side dishes.
The Diabetic-Friendly meals are also low in sodium and the recipes are carefully controlled for both carbohydrates and sugar. The more specific plans like the Dialysis Meals contain limited amounts of sodium, potassium, and phosphorus.
Magic Kitchen also offers a series of One Serving Meal Bundles that contain eight single-serve meals. Each bundle contains a series of main courses, side dishes, soups, and desserts. In fact, it's one of the top soup of the month clubs. As you can probably tell, the bundles are a great way to sample Magic Kitchen to see if these meals are right for you.
For those interested in a meal subscription, Magic Kitchen offers an Auto-Ship Meal Program that allows customers to receive meals every week, every two weeks or monthly. There’s no commitment to the auto-ship program and subscribers get all of their meals shipped for free.
You can even get holiday meals from Magic Kitchen, like Thanksgiving entrees and sides!
Sample Menu
Here are some of the meals you can get from Magic Kitchen:
Delivery
Magic Kitchen delivers to all 50 states. All orders are shipped from the company’s Kansas City, Kansas location via FedEx.
Your package will arrive in a Styrofoam container packed with dry ice in order to ensure that your meals will arrive frozen. Your meals should be placed in your freezer when you open your package. Magic Kitchen will replace any meal that arrives damaged or spoiled and customers will also get a company credit if their meal is not to their liking.
FAQS
Yes, Magic Kitchen meals are delicious, and you have plenty of options that cover breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You just need to heat your meals, and they are ready to eat.
Most Magic Kitchen meals cost $10-$14 per serving. In addition, you have to pay a shipping fee that starts at $18.95.
Magic Kitchen Costs
Whether you opt for a one-time order or subscription, you can shop for breakfasts, lunches, dinners, snacks, and desserts. You can expect to pay $10-$14 per meal, and shipping costs start at $18.95.
Food for Thought
One of the beautiful things about Magic Kitchen meal plans is that you can either select your meals or a specialist will pick your meals for you based on your preferences.
Of course, we also appreciated that the company offered so many specialized plans for detailed medical needs.
We can see Magic Kitchen meals being a great gift for anyone who is on a specialized diet or for seniors who may not want to prepare all of their meals themselves.
Another thing to note about the dialysis and other health-specific plans is that because they are extremely low sodium and in some cases are also low potassium, your taste buds will take some time to adapt to them. Remember to consult with a medical professional before starting any new diet plan so that you know what to expect in terms of flavors.
It’s also important to remember to check the heating instructions of each of your Magic Kitchen dishes, as instructions may vary.
Some dishes can only be heated in a conventional oven, while others are fine being microwaved. It’s pretty straight forward either way though.
Magic Kitchen knows that their service is an appealing one for people going through major life changes, both good and bad. That’s why the company offers special meal bundles geared towards grieving families, customers who are sick and those who have new babies or have moved into a new home.
The Get Well Meals bundle, for example, contains exactly what you’d think. Gifting 4 comforting and easy meals (plus two deserts!) to someone who is ailing sounds like a generous and thoughtful gift.
And sadly, as anyone who has suffered a bereavement knows, cooking after a major loss is often very difficult. The Sympathy bundles can give a grieving friend or relative some respite while also ensuring that they get fed.
We especially liked the general Meal Bundles offered by Magic Kitchen because of the level of flexibility and control it offered the customer.
The bundles allow you to just order a bunch of entrees or breakfast dishes at once rather than stick to the traditional meal format. This feature is particularly helpful for customers who know they only want to eat certain things on the menu every week.
Whether you use this service for yourself or for a loved one, you’ll be in good hands. Click below for the best price.
Magic Kitchen