Based in Austin, Texas, in 2010, Snap Kitchen gives fully-cooked, heat-and-eat meals through a weekly subscription. Snap delivers to fifteen totally different states, gives in-store decide up in shops in Austin, Houston, and Dallas, and might be discovered at choose Complete Meals Market areas.
Snap Kitchen says its aim is to “empower busy individuals to eat nicely with out compromise,” believing that you simply don’t have to decide on between well being and comfort. The corporate additionally cares about sustainability and demonstrates this by providing absolutely recyclable packaging. It has donated over 4 million meals to charities as a service to the group.
Meals are created by cooks with enter from the Snap Kitchen’s employees registered dietitians. Subscribers can select from Snap’s low carb, Complete 30, excessive protein, keto-friendly, and paleo meal plans. All meals are free from gluten, soy, preservatives, synthetic sweeteners, and added hormones. We tried the service to see what it’s all about.
Pricing: Easy and Easy
Snap Kitchen gives two weekly meal supply subscription choices at both six or 12 meals per week. You possibly can select from any weight-reduction plan class for each plans and transport is free.
Weekly plan choices abstract:
- 6 meals per week: $75.99 ($12.67 per meal)
- 12 meals per week: $125.99 ($10.50 per meal)
How It Works: Getting Meals Is a Snap
Signing up for Snap Kitchen on-line is fast and simple from a desktop laptop or cellular system. When organising an account, you’ll be able to preview the menu, choose your meal plan and most well-liked supply dates, after which fill your field with meals. Use filters to view meal choices by weight-reduction plan class or by the calorie vary, protein sort, allergens, and goal ranges for carbs, sodium, and fiber.
You don’t must decide to a selected weight-reduction plan with Snap Kitchen. You possibly can combine meals from any of the totally different weight-reduction plan classes with ease. Simply you should definitely enter your order accurately because you received’t be capable of change it after your order is locked in. As soon as your first field is dispatched, your subscription will mechanically renew on the weekly fee except you skip every week or cancel your account.
Snap Kitchen solely gives recent, by no means frozen, heat-and-eat meals. Every meal is designed to serve one, so this service works nicely for busy individuals with entry to a microwave or standard oven. What you see is what you get, because the meals can’t be personalized. Nonetheless, the corporate gives a wide range of totally different taste profiles.
Snap Kitchen retains it easy, providing 35 meals that may work for lunch or dinner and only one choice for breakfast.
The meals are packaged in order that do-it-yourself sauces and dressings are added after reheating for optimum taste and texture. Elements embrace a wide range of animal proteins, reminiscent of beef, bison, pork, poultry, and seafood. Meals additionally embrace greens and grains together with numerous rice plus quinoa and gluten-free pasta.
Selecting Meals: Meals With Enchantment
Scrolling by means of the menu, you’re met with a wide range of colourful and engaging meals that promise taste and aptitude. Snap Kitchen retains it easy, providing 35 meals that may work for lunch or dinner and only one choice for breakfast.
You received’t be capable of customise your meals or exclude particular substances and there are not any meal add-on choices. However relying in your supply space, you would possibly be capable of add chilly brew espresso, kombucha, packaged salads and soup, and healthful snacks reminiscent of plantain chips, pumpkin seeds, almond butter packets, and beef jerky to your field.
The menu consists of some seasonal choices, new meals, all-time favorites just like the Korean barbeque meatballs, and classics with comfort-food vibes just like the turkey meatloaf and ranch burger entrees. Nonetheless, whereas the entrees are different, you received’t discover a lot collection of vegan or vegetarian entrees.
When choosing your meals, remember the fact that the meals have a refrigerated shelf lifetime of three to seven days.
Your subscription will renew every week except you keep in mind to go in and skip a supply or cancel your subscription. There isn’t any strategy to order on-demand or to solely order one meal. The automated renewal might be a problem for busy (or forgetful) individuals.
With loads of overlap, there are 35 whole meal choices throughout the six weight-reduction plan classes. The choices change, however right here is how the menu formed up on the time of this evaluation:
- Seven Excessive Protein choices such because the bison quinoa bowl with peppers and onions
- 9 Steadiness entrees which have a tendency to incorporate a extra liberal carbohydrate for dishes just like the baked ziti with Italian beef sausage
- Eight Keto-friendly dishes just like the Cajun salmon with braised greens and bacon
- Eight Low-carb alternatives together with the romesco hen with grilled kale and mushrooms
- 13 paleo meals just like the za’atar hen with lemon-roasted potatoes
- 12 Whole30 reminiscent of almond-crusted salmon with roasted carrots and zucchini
There have been 5 new entrees listed on the menu when ordered, together with a seasonally acceptable turkey and butternut squash stuffing with cranberry sauce. The menu additionally consists of six entrees labeled as favorites together with the cod piccata with garlic roasted cauliflower and Korean BBQ meatballs with sesame broccoli and carrots we reviewed.
You possibly can skip or make modifications to the menu objects, supply tackle, and cost technique up till 11:59 p.m. CT on the day earlier than your lock date, which might fluctuate however is a couple of week earlier than the scheduled supply.
Verywell Match / Eric Kleinberg
What We Made
We didn’t filter for any meals restrictions and selected a mixture of member favorites and people with totally different taste profiles. We went with the six-meal plan and acquired all meals as promised every week later. For the aim of this evaluation, we’ll share suggestions on the 5 meals beneath, which spotlight the number of the meals we acquired:
- Cod piccata with garlic-roasted cauliflower
- Almond-crusted salmon with roasted carrots and zucchini
- Turkey meatloaf with potato-turnip mash and inexperienced beans
- Korean bbq meatballs with sesame broccoli and carrots
- Steak avenue tacos and Spanish rice pilaf with salsa verde
Packaging: Principally Environment friendly
The meals arrived in a compact cardboard field with 29 items of recyclable packaging inside. The meals had been saved completely chilly utilizing three strategically positioned ice packs. Every meal got here in a two-piece BPA-free recyclable plastic meal container, every with a sticker label. 5 of the meals additionally included a two-piece ramekin inside to carry taste boosters like barbeque or marinara sauce. The meals had been saved in place with cardboard dividers and the recyclable insulating field liner.
Whereas most packaging was important for holding the meals cool and safe throughout transport, there have been a few further items of paper that appeared pointless. The heavy inventory paper packet filled with a postcard and two stickers did not add to the expertise and we felt this may very well be eradicated.
The field was well-packed and the meals was chilly to the contact though it shipped about 36 hours earlier than and traveled by means of a number of southern states within the early fall warmth.
Notice: Folks dwelling close to pickup areas can subscribe to a Native Meal Plan and decide up their meals or use an area courier as an alternative of choosing customary transport through FedEx, UPS, or Ontrac.
Verywell Match / Eric Kleinberg
Buyer Assist: A number of Avenues
Snap Kitchen typically gives clear details about its meals and the service.
Every meal consists of microwave directions on the label. Nonetheless, Snap Kitchen recommends reheating within the oven as the popular technique. It will assist to print the oven-reheating directions subsequent to the microwave ones (or direct prospects to the web site) since utilizing the traditional oven is most well-liked.
The corporate gives a helpful FAQ part that’s straightforward to seek for and is recurrently up to date. This was useful to us in studying extra about how the meals are shipped, whether or not the packaging is recyclable, how the service works, and what the totally different dietary designations imply. As a service, the corporate additionally gives a handful of instructional and well timed weblog posts to help wholesome consuming as nicely. This can be a good service for purchasers since they is perhaps visiting the location every week.
Total, we had a constructive customer support expertise. Fortunately, all meals had been delivered as promised with no points when it comes to high quality or freshness. However when issues come up, the corporate gives a handy on-line chat to shortly join with buyer help in addition to e mail and telephone which have an extended response time. We reached out to customer support twice (as soon as by chat and one other by telephone) to type out an admin challenge that arose after we canceled our account. After contacting them the second time by telephone, the problem was resolved inside a couple of minutes.
Vitamin: A lot of Protein
Snap Kitchen hits the mark for the diets it helps. Vitamin data for every meal is obtainable on the level of buy, making it straightforward to see how the meals will match into any weight-reduction plan or consuming plan. Total, Snap Kitchen does an excellent job disclosing the big eight food allergens and sesame on the label. Although most are clearly marked, a few meals didn’t embrace allergens on the net label.
True to keto and low-carb model, most meals heart on animal protein and are excessive in protein. The corporate’s cooks do an excellent job pairing the meat, fish, or poultry with high-quality greens so as to add fiber, shade, and improve the general nutrient worth of the dish. Nonetheless, some meals are decrease in energy and should depart you wanting extra meals.
Snap Kitchen does point out consuming clear in a number of locations—highlighting that its meals incorporates no preservatives, antibiotics, synthetic sweeteners, hormones, or different “junk.” However contemplating the corporate’s deal with restrictive diets, the location doesn’t lean too closely into weight-reduction plan language, opting as an alternative for an eat higher, really feel higher motto over one about weight reduction. Nonetheless, there’s an underlying theme round clear consuming.
The Cooking Course of: Very Easy
Meals might be prepared inside about 3 minutes or much less, the place the cooking course of consisted of opening the packaging, following the cooking directions, and checking if the substances have been completely cooked.
The microwave heating directions on the package deal had been clear and acceptable for the person meals. Nonetheless, the meals are significantly better when reheated in a standard oven, which is Snap Kitchen’s most well-liked reheating technique. The issue? You’d solely know this in case you occur to learn the directions for every meal on the web site. There, you will see that heating directions for each oven and microwave reheating choices.
Typically talking, the instructions had been clear. Nonetheless, there have been occasions when the meals wanted greater than the really helpful time within the oven, and when microwaving, it will be straightforward to overlook to take away the plastic ramekin. Most meals weren’t acceptable for reheating on the stovetop, and it could have helped to separate the parts a bit to make sure even cooking.
Verywell Match / Eric Kleinberg
Taste, Freshness, and High quality: Above Common
Borrowing from worldwide cuisines but offered as acquainted, Snap Kitchen gives a various collection of taste profiles. The substances are top quality and are delivered recent. Total, the meals had been well-seasoned and engaging. We didn’t want so as to add salt and didn’t discover that any of the dishes had been overly salty.
Typically, individuals would possibly keep away from meals like turkey meatloaf as it may possibly typically be dry. However Snap Kitchen did an excellent job including moisture to the meatloaf and making it style like one thing you’d make at house. The salmon within the almond-crusted salmon was certainly dense and a bit dry—although nonetheless fantastic to eat. Then again, the cod piccata was a welcome addition to the week. The fish was moist and flaky and seasoned nicely, with a tangy lemon sauce and capers to drive the flavour house. Although the piccata was a favourite, we wanted so as to add extra greens because the portion was small—with solely 5 small cauliflower florets, we had been left feeling hungry and had so as to add extra meals to dinner.
The steak tacos had been tender, however they lacked taste with out the salsa verde on high. Although these avenue tacos are a member favourite, this one missed the mark when it comes to presentation because the mushy corn tortillas crumbled and fell aside after heating. With or with out the sauce, the Korean BBQ meatballs had been a favourite and left our tasters wanting extra. Although the rice received a bit powerful upon heating within the oven, the meatballs had been tender and flavorful.
Snap Kitchen says on its web site that its aim is to supply protein “as responsibly as doable, whereas nonetheless holding our meals accessible.” There are a number of particulars out there about sourcing, together with utilizing cage-free and authorized humane egg whites and liquid entire eggs, in addition to wild-caught shrimp and cod.
Snap Kitchen Is Good For
Snap Kitchen says its aim is to empower busy individuals to eat nicely with out compromise, and it appears to hit the mark. The meals are tasty, nutritious, and simple to organize. You possibly can set and overlook the subscription and have lunch and dinner able to go on most days of the week. Nonetheless, it’s not an excellent match for vegans, vegetarians, and anybody who prefers to prep and cook dinner meals.
The corporate’s cooks do an excellent job pairing the meat, fish, or poultry with high-quality greens so as to add fiber, shade, and improve the general nutrient worth of the dish.
The Competitors: Snap Kitchen vs. Mother’s Meals
We in contrast Snap Kitchen to Mother’s Meals as each providers present warmth and eat meals that cater to particular dietary wants. And each are created with cooks and dietitians on the group and embrace a mixture of consolation meals and globally-influenced flavors.
Snap Kitchen, nevertheless, is considerably dearer (beginning at $10.50 per serving in comparison with $6.99 per serving) and caters to busy individuals who need a low-carb, higher-protein weight-reduction plan that does not have components. Mother’s Meals targets senior adults with meals designed to assist handle persistent illness. The meals typically include preservatives and components and have a tendency to have a extra comfort-food focus. Plus you need to use Medicaid, Medicare, and different well being plans to get Mother’s Meals. That isn’t an choice with Snap Kitchen.
Last Verdict
Snap Kitchen gives a wide range of tasty and wholesome meals for the busy particular person following a low-carb life-style, and it’s price a attempt. Nonetheless, whereas the meals are handy and fairly flavorful, Snap Kitchen received’t work for all diets.
Methodology
We ordered, cooked, and evaluated meals from 27 meal supply providers to get a way of every one’s choices, vitamin profiles, costs, and, after all, flavors. We contacted the customer support groups at every of the businesses, crammed out surveys, and wrote detailed evaluations about every one.
Our writers are all registered dietitians and relied on their analysis and its ensuing knowledge to tell their evaluations.