June 23, 2023
Cold Brew Club Coffee Review
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Coffee & Tea Reviews
For this Top Chef Meals Reviews post we were given a sample. All opinions are our own.
Written By Alison Chew | Dietitian Verified by Rebecca Housh, MS, RDN
Top Chef Meals is a family-owned business that provides chef-prepared, ready-to-eat meals to accommodate a variety of lifestyle and wellness needs, including Paleo, Keto, Dairy-Free, Low-Carb, Low-Sodium, and Low-Fat. They even offer meals for those needing a Renal or Diabetic diet, and meals just for kids and seniors.
Top Chef Meals are free of all preservatives, antibiotics, chemicals, trans fats, and high fructose corn syrup to help you eat clean.
The cost of each Top Chef Meals entrée is between $8.95 – $12.95 per meal, breakfasts start at $6.95 each, soups at $5.95, and desserts and snacks are $3.50 – 4.50 per item. Kid’s meals are $5.75 each and come with your choice of side and smoothie.
Specials: Order 21 Meals to receive 5% OFF your order. Shoppers 60+ get 10% off sitewide!
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Free shipping is offered by the delivery region and depends upon the number of meals ordered. They ship via FedEx to the entire Continental United States. Any order less than the quantities noted above in Zones 1-4 will be subject to shipping charges.
Top Chef Meals delivers to the entire Continental United States.
Top Chef Meals will last up to 4 days in the refrigerator and 4 months in the freezer.
Yes! Top Chef Meals will last up to 4 months in the freezer. You should thaw your meal completely in the fridge prior to heating it in the microwave.
Top Chef Meals can be heated in the microwave. All meals should be completely thawed prior to heating.
Top Chef Meals are all prepared fresh to order and then flash-frozen the night before delivery so they arrive safe and ready to eat at your convenience. No preservatives, chemicals, or trans fats.
When you open your Top Chef Meals box, the first thing you will see is a dry ice warning notice. To keep their pre-made meals cold in transit, they tuck dry ice packaging into rectangular cardboard inserts and place those around the box that the meals are in. Get Started (no subscription needed!) >>
By the time our order arrived, the dry ice had evaporated so there was no need for gloves or potholders when unpacking the box, but each of our individual meals was still kept cold. I also appreciate how clear they made the warning upfront for handling safety.
After removing the contents in your box, you’ll want to place the meals that you are going to eat first in the refrigerator and the others in the freezer for later. Meals will last up to 4 days in the refrigerator and 4 months in the freezer.
When you are ready to eat simply remove the outer packaging and the film covering the meal and then either follow the instructions for microwave or oven heating.
Another tip that the Top Chef Meal team emphasizes on the meal packaging and in the paperwork that comes with all your meals is that it’s best to completely defrost (thaw) your meals prior to heating. Get Started (no subscription needed!) >>
Microwave reheating can be an unforgiving rapid method to prepare/heat food as microwaves all have different levels of power. Top Chef Meals provides in-depth directions on what to do to reheat your meals via the microwave or oven to help ensure that each item in your meal tray cooks evenly.
For example, proteins take longer to cook than vegetables. So they recommend separating the items and cooking the meat first, then adding the starch and cooking those together, and then, in the remaining seconds or minutes, adding in the vegetable so it doesn’t get overcooked. Get Started (no subscription needed!) >>
For our Top Chef Meals reviews, we received 10 meals (4 of the 10 were duplicate meals so my spouse and I could both taste-test and provide our feedback):
It took me a while to select these entrées and customize the sides to go with them, primarily because there were so many delicious options to choose from. But also because I tend to lean towards more of a Paleo diet with careful consideration to what the sides are.
As I am not keen on cooked carrots, cabbage or spinach I found myself customizing most meals to reflect my rather particular palette. Fortunately, Top Chef Meals allows for customizations, which is really unique.
Another notable feature is that they show the nutritional information for each meal item, which I found incredibly helpful in making my customized selections. Get Started (no subscription needed!) >>
Overall, delicious. I really enjoyed the burger, although I would have preferred it if it was 100% bison meat (the package says it’s mixed with beef). The cheese is definitely a tasty addition and adds some juiciness to the burger.
I cooked this meal in the oven, separating all the ingredients first and then adding in the various items as the cooking time shortened (burger first, then sweet potatoes, then broccoli). I cooked the onions in a pan to caramelize them a bit more before adding them on top of the burger.
Once everything was cooked, I added a pinch of salt to the roasted broccoli as they were a bit bland for my taste. Get Started (no subscription needed!) >>
This was the first meal I ate the day I opened the box (my husband chose the mushroom ravioli for his first meal). I wanted to try the oven heating option so I followed the instructions, provided, cooking each item in order (protein, then starch, then veggie).
Although oven heating does take longer, it felt more like I was cooking a meal versus preparing a microwaved TV dinner. The only portion I did use the microwave to reheat was the sauce.
Once my meal was ready to eat, I transferred it to a plate and then took a bite of every item. And every single item was delicious. The sauce that goes with the turkey meatloaf elevated it from good to great.
The sweet potatoes were just the right amount of sweet and savory and the green beans still had a bit of crunch to them, which is difficult when eating from a frozen state. The touch of butter included on the green beans was just enough for my taste and I actually appreciated that they didn’t have much if any, salt on them. I could easily have added a pinch if I’d wanted – much easier to add salt than take it away. Get Started (no subscription needed!) >>
My husband is pretty enthusiastic about mushrooms and pasta, so he was excited to taste this meal. And it did not disappoint. He had a lot of accolades to give the ravioli and the mushroom marsala wine sauce.
Even though he cooked this meal in the microwave, without separating any of the ingredients, he thought everything came out well-cooked. His only addition was to add a bit of salt to his brussel sprouts as he found them a bit bland. Get Started (no subscription needed!) >>
Wow. Who would have thought that you could microwave a filet mignon and have it come out so tender and juicy?! If you follow the heating directions provided for this meal, we think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by how delicious and well-cooked it turns out.
We both agreed that this was one of our favorite meals. Get Started (no subscription needed!) >>
I’m a sucker for a good frittata so I was very excited to enjoy this breakfast on a relaxed Sunday morning. Although the chefs at Top Chef Meals brought their A-game to this breakfast ensemble, I bumbled my part of the hand-off by overcooking it in the oven. Although my mishap resulted in some crispy turkey bacon, it did leave the potatoes and the frittata a bit too dry. That said, it was still flavorful.
Portion-wise, this breakfast was actually a bit too much for my typical morning meal. Fortunately, my husband was there to help me out by splitting a third of it with me. He also enjoyed the flavor but agreed that it could have gone a good 5 minutes less in the oven. Get Started (no subscription needed!) >>
I selected this meal option for my husband as he loves a good breakfast sandwich and is a big fan of gouda. Quantity-wise, he found it to be the perfect amount of sandwich. To get a crunchier exterior, he toasted the muffin halves while microwaving the rest of the items.
He used the word “yummy” to describe this breakfast sandwich and thought that the smoky gouda was the perfect compliment. Get Started (no subscription needed!) >>
Top Chef Meals offers a variety of options created especially for older adults (60+) and curated to meet their unique nutritional needs. In addition to supporting good health, quality of life, and vitality, these prepared Senior meals also reduce the need for grocery shopping and cleaning up after eating.
Top Chef Meals prepares fresh, wholesome, ready-to-eat meals for toddlers and kids that are delivered straight to your door. Kids are able to enjoy tasty, healthy meals made with natural ingredients and parents have more time to spend with their kids by not having to grocery shop, prepare and cook the meals.
These healthy, kid-friendly, fully prepared meals are ready to eat in about 2 minutes, which hungry kids will certainly appreciate.
The kid’s menu includes items such as chicken sticks with sweet & sour jam sauce, sweet potato sticks and a peach smoothie, and mac & cheese bites with steamed green beans and a strawberry smoothie.
Top Chef Meals also has desserts and snacks in addition to breakfast, lunch, and dinner options. Dessert selections can be found at the bottom of the Main Menu section. Important to note that these dessert items may not accommodate certain diets, such as those needing Diabetic and Renal meals.
Top Chef Meals offers meals for many special diets including Renal, Diabetic, Low Carb, Low Sodium, Keto, Gluten-Free, Paleo, Low Fat, and Dairy Free as well as Senior meals and Kids meals.
Within each specialty diet menu, you have the choice of choosing a weekly plan with preselected meals that you can edit or shop a la carte. When you shop a la carte you can choose from lunch/dinner, breakfast, dessert, and/or soups/shakes depending on your diet.
More about each Diet is at the end of this post. Get Started (no subscription needed!) >>
The conscientiousness that Top Chef Meals put into their prepared meals is impressive. They give as much attention to ensuring they are accommodating a wide variety of dietary requirements while also ensuring their meals are enjoyable to eat.
The convenience of their meals is another big plus. The amount of time that we saved in the evenings by not having to figure out what to eat for dinner was definitely notable. While I’ve long understood the ease and simplicity of pre-made meals, I’ve always been put off by the low quality of the ingredients and the high number of preservatives, sodium, and fat in most microwave dinners. However, I’m pleased to say that Top Chef Meals has made me rethink what a “TV dinner” is – and should be.
Some of our favorite meals were the turkey meatloaf, mushroom ravioli, and filet mignon. And we loved the ability to customize our meals with the sides that we like best.
And while the Top Chef Meals website can be slow at times and we would like to see more creative vegetarian, vegan and soy-free meal options, they have a lot to offer. And if you are on the East Coast or in the Mid West their free shipping minimums are reasonable.
Compared to other healthy prepared meal services the cost of Top Chef Meals is in line with the others, but the fact that you don’t have to subscribe and can customize your sides makes them a clear winner over most.
Their wide selection of chef-prepared meals makes this meal delivery service a great option for anyone wanting to eat healthy, delicious food and the convenience of not having to prepare and cook it themselves. Get Started (no subscription needed!) >>
Looking for more prepared meals? Check out our Prepared Meals directory >>
| This post has been reviewed and approved by our dietitian Rebecca Housh, MS, RDN, LDN for nutritional accuracy. | |
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 | Rebecca Housh is a registered dietitian based in Chicago, IL. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Human Physiology from Boston University and a Master of Science in Human Nutrition from the University of Illinois in Chicago. Rebecca is passionate about the idea of food as medicine in both preventative and therapeutic care. Her current professional interests lie in food security, food access, and nutrition for chronic disease. |
