Magic Kitchen Review 2024: All You Need to Know

For many, the daily diet consists of low-sodium, diabetic-friendly (which includes dialysis-friendly and renal), nutritionally balanced, and portion-controlled meals. This is true, especially for older adults or if you have strict dietary restrictions or a severe health condition. That’s where the frozen meals of Magic Kitchen come into the picture.

Their meal plans and menu are specifically designed to match up to the nutritional needs and diet preferences of seniors. The large menu features a variety of healthy and delicious options.

But more often than not, to gain something, you have to lose something. In this case, it’s the relatively expensive price range of Magic Kitchen meals, particularly the shipping charges. This is one of the most common Magic Kitchen meal delivery complaints.

However, if you just keep that aside for a second, you’ll see how everything else, including the purchasing process, is easy and perfect. Meal prepping is done, and that gives you the time to focus on other important tasks such as exercising.

The word “perfect” applies even to the most intricate aspects of Magic Kitchen’s food delivery experience. For example, cardboard cutout protectors are added for each and every meal, proper label descriptions to make storage and the pulling out of meals much more convenient and hassle-free, and more. It’s all easy, quick, and done with Magic Kitchen!

Magic Kitchen is one of the most popular meal delivery services that send pre-cooked frozen meals right at your doorstep. In addition to offering a wide variety of meals based on specific dietary preferences, it also offers specialized meals specifically geared towards senior citizens. Its service towards seniors apart it from other competitors and makes it an extra-amazing meal delivery service.

Magic Kitchen has been preparing and delivering meals across the country for the last 15 years. It is also known as the straight—from-your-mom’s-kitchen meal delivery service, providing delicious, nutritious, and home-style meal-plans for adding delight to your life. You will get an option of choosing your complete meals from their huge nutritional and family-friendly menu.

Magic Kitchen started its meal delivery service back in 2006 in Oakland, California. Significantly business started growing and headquarter got shifted to Kansas City, Missouri. Magic Kitchen started pleasing people with their fully prepared meal-plans and door-to-door delivery service. People enjoyed the concept of having meals fully prepared right at their door without much effort- all they need to do is heating their food and enjoy.

The company observed the market consciously and discovered the need for seniors who want warm and nutritional meals daily but weren’t able to prepare meals for themselves, that’s why senior meals are considered as the primary focus of Magic Meals. Moreover, they also offer a wide variety of special diet meal plans catering special dietary preferences of individuals.

Back in 2005, when meal delivery services were not so popular, Magic Kitchen Founders Greg Miller and Michelle Tayler began their service of the home-style menu that gives a pleasant experience to people who want large servings for their whole family and till date Magic Kitchen is satisfying their customers with their delicious, reliable and highly nutritional full-cooked meals.

What’s More- Magic Kitchen pioneered its niche in providing a specialized menu for those who have special dietary needs due to illness or age, for instance, Diabetic-Friendly, Dialysis-Friendly, low-sodium, and many more. Because of these specialized meal plans, Magic Kitchen is considered as an excellent food-delivery service for elderly care.

All Magic Kitchen dishes are being prepared by a team of highly experienced and professional chefs for providing their customers with a fresh, healthy, and flavorful meal.

Magic Kitchen offers heat-and-eat meals without the need for any subscriptions, recurring orders, or auto-deliveries. Despite there being no subscription, there are different types of meal recipes and à la carte options that Magic Kitchen offers.

For example, they have a whole different meal category for “Portion Controlled” meals under which you will find the following types of meal recipes that are both single-serve meals and bundles:

• Eggplant Parmigiana and Polenta with Spinach & Roast Peppers
• Chicken with Sweet and Sour Sauce, Rice and Blended Vegetables
• Chicken Broccoli Wild Rice Casserole
• Beef Shepherd’s Pie
• Beef with Mushroom Gravy, Roast Potatoes & Carrots
• Breaded Fish & Alfredo Spinach Sauce
• Crab Cake, Brown Rice & Mixed Vegetables

Following the same menu format, Magic Kitchen offers the following types of meal plans with personalized menus:

• Signature Meals
• Senior Meals
• Portion Controlled
• Diabetic-Friendly
• Dairy-Free
• General Wellness Meals
• Low Sodium
• Low Carbohydrate
• Low Fat
• Renal Diet
• Dialysis Friendly
• Gluten-Free
• Vegetarian
• Shelf-Stable Meals

On the menus, each premade meal card highlights useful details like the portion size and icons indicating nutritional facts like portion control, gluten-free, dairy-free, diabetic-friendly, low carb, low fat, etc., followed by a simple and quick “Add to Cart” button.

With that in mind, an additional valuable feature of Magic Kitchen’s menu is the recipe section, where you can see more information about the recipe, including an ingredient list, nutrition facts, heating instructions, and customer reviews – just like an Amazon product page!

Regrettably, it’s not possible to customize the meals by excluding specific ingredients from the meals like many would prefer to do if they experience digestive discomfort. Magic Kitchen comes close to being allergy-friendly with gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegetarian meals.

Continuing on, the “À La Carte” menu option presents you with food combos like 5 soups and 5 breads or a higher number of servings for meals like 5 servings of Beef Lasagna or One-Serving meal bundles that pack 8 single-serve meals in one pack.

Under the À La Carte menu, these are your options:

• Soups & Breads
• Main Courses – Meat, Poultry, Seafood, and Pasta
• Side Dishes
• Desserts
• Special Diet – Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Low Carbohydrate, Low Fat, and Low Sodium, Vegetarian
• Meal Bundles – 1 Person, Family Size, Comfort Food, Customer Favorite, HomeStyle, Senior, Soup for the Soul, Top-Rated, and Dessert

Their special menu features like the meal packages and gifts are perfectly suited for special occasions like Thanksgiving, birthdays, anniversaries, housewarming, etc. Magic Kitchen takes the guesswork away and lets you choose seasonal meals that suit the occasion.

Meal customization is also possible in a straightforward and personalized manner where you can choose the type of meal course and diet you want. And if you’re looking for something specific, there’s even a “Search Keyword” option where you can enter any ingredient, recipe name, protein, etc. to narrow down your menu choices further.

Magic Kitchen offers a diverse range of premade meals, with ingredients that are USDA-certified. Though their meals are frozen, all the meals are preservative-free with some organic ingredients thrown into the mix.

Aside from the different types of meal items on their menu, all being preportioned and precooked, Magic Kitchen accommodates many diets that restrict the consumption of one or the other ingredient.

For instance, here’s a speedy breakdown of their meal plans:

• Portion Controlled Meals – These meals have fewer calories per serving, perfect for people on a calorie-restriction
• Senior Citizen Meals – In-house dieticians have designed meals that are low in sodium and nutritionally balanced to maximize better metabolism and energy.
• Diabetes-Friendly Meals – These meals have fewer than 700mg of sodium and less than 65g carb per meal.
• Low-Sodium Meals – Even lower in sodium, low-sodium meals come with less than 500mg of sodium in one serving.
• Low-Carbohydrate Meals – Great for weight loss, the meals contain less than 25g of carbohydrates.
• Low-Fat Meals – Fat-free meals that do not exceed 3g of fat per serving.
• Renal Diet & Dialysis-Friendly Meals – Both types of meals boast high proteins, low carbs, low sodium, and no refined sugars or grains. The focus is on eliminating the consumption of starchy vegetables and adding whole foods as much as possible.
• Gluten-Free Meals – Store-bought pasta, whole wheat bread, cereals, and frozen meals contain gluten. Magic Kitchen delivers healthier, gluten-free alternatives to all such common types of food.
• Vegetarian Meals – Meals prepared without any meat including chicken, fish, and beef; plus, the recipes are all egg-free.
• Dairy–Free meals – Meals that do not use milk proteins like yogurt, cream, cheese, and butter.

The ability to search for meals according to diet and course type makes Magic Kitchen a diet-friendly and all-around meal delivery service for most people. You can compare its diet plans with other competitive meal delivery services as it gives you the freedom to mix and match different diet plans based on your personal needs.

Read more: Jenny Craig Review

Magic Kitchen does offer meals that are low in calories, which is a prerequisite for a weight loss diet. But lowering your caloric intake isn’t all you need to lose weight effectively.

New studies have shown that factors like how many carbs you eat, fats, fiber, and proteins contribute to weight loss, especially for people who do not get the weight loss results they want.

To save you from the trouble of keeping a count of calories, carbs, fat, protein, fiber, etc. in a separate notebook, Magic Kitchen categorizes its meal plans into a variety of weight loss-friendly diets, such as the following:

• Portion Controlled
• Low Carbohydrate
• Low Fat

Think of Magic Kitchen as offering a balanced and nutritious diet that should help you stay on top of your weight loss goals coupled with other efforts like proper exercise, lots of water intake, stress management, good sleep, etc.

Be it the À La Carte meals or the complete meals that you order one serving at a time, there’s plenty of information about the nutrition facts and ingredients of each meal recipe.

What is important to mention concerning Magic Kitchen’s method of preserving meals is that you have to factor in the slight alteration in taste and texture of the meals as they’re frozen.

Having said that, I found many meal recipes that contain preservative-like ingredients, which health-conscious people may find disagreeable, such as natamycin, potassium sorbate, sucrose, modified food starch, guar gum, and powdered cellulose.

All these ingredients are added for preservation and flavor after you freeze, thaw, and heat the meals at home.

Magic Kitchen features more than 20 different types of vegetarian meals that are not just plant-based but also align with several different diets:

• Renal- and dialysis-friendly
• Dairy-free
• Low carb
• Low fat
• Gluten-free
• Low sodium

Main sources of plant-based ingredients include eggplants, broccoli, spinach, butternut squash, zucchini, orzo, and tofu.

You are most likely to find vegetarian meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Soups, healthy bowls, pasta, scrambled eggs, steamed rice with veggies, waffles, and more decorate the completely plant-forward menu.

There is no conclusive information on their website about whether they offer vegan meals or not. Some meals contain zero dairy and gluten, but for purely vegan and plant-based diets, it’s best to look at other meal delivery alternatives.

1. Balsamic BBQ Pork Shank

• 4-9 Minutes for preparation
• 940 Calories/serving
• 36 g Fats
• 29 g Carbohydrates
• 126 g Protein
• Cost- $32.99/2 servings, $62.99/ 4 serving

– Completely cooked Pork Shank, Hickory and Brown Sugared Barbecue Sauce with Fructose Corn Syrup, Distilled Vinegar, Tomato Paste, Modified Food Starch, and Brown Sugar.

– Heat and Eat braised pork shank with stuffed baked potatoes and Brussels sprouts with Bacon.

– It is seared and enhanced with SWEET BABY RAY’S sauce.

2. Chicken Pot Pie

• 10 Minutes for preparation
• 690 Calorie/Serving
• 41 g Fat
• 53 g Carbohydrates
• 26 g Protein
• Cost- $9.49/serving, $17.99/2 servings, $34.99/4 servings

– Classic hearty meal, prepared by highly qualified chef.

– Tossed with best ingredients and magical seasonings.

– Handmade Deep Dish Chicken Pot Pie is stuffed with generous chunks of chicken meat simmered in savory gravy.

– Topped with herbs and golden-flaky patty.

3. Cashew Chicken Stir Fry

• 10 Minutes for preparation
• 150 Calories
• 6 g Gram Fat
• 35 mg Carbohydrate
• 14 g Protein
• Cost- $18.99/ 2 servings, $36.99/ 4 servings

– A meal of chicken and crispy vegetables in an Asian-inspired sauce.

– Topped with delicious cashews.

– Heat it and your healthy cashew chicken stir fry is ready to eat.

Add-ons come in various shapes and sizes on Magic Kitchen’s menu. Aside from their wholesome and nutritious meals, they offer soups, small bites, snacks, and desserts too.

The add-ons are served in single-serve portions, just like their meals. And there’s no limit to the number of add-ons you can include in a single order. The add-ons are in keeping with the dietary considerations that apply to Magic Kitchen meals too.

For example, their Lemon Tarte is low in sodium and vegetarian. The Caramelized Tomato & Onion with Balsamic Glaze Pizza is also vegetarian and low in carbohydrates. There are many more examples from the Magic Kitchen’s menu. Here’s a quick list of some of the popular ones:

• Corn Bread Blueberry Toaster Cake
• Carrot-Zucchini-Walnut Muffin
• Chocolate Ganache Cake
• Pesto and Cheese Flatbread
• Verdura Gourmet Artisan Flatbread with Kalamata Olives

The average price of most Magic Kitchen meals is $10–$14. But specialty dishes cost more, anywhere from $25 to $60. Sides and snacks have a more inexpensive price tag, between $2 and $10 (2 servings).

Now, what about the weekly costs of Magic Kitchen? This depends on which meal plan you select – 1, 2, or 3 meals per day.

Based on that, here’s the pricing breakdown of Magic Kitchen meals:

• 1 meal a day = 7 meals a week = $75–$85 spent weekly
• 2 meals a day = 14 meals a week = $150–$165 spent weekly
• 3 meals a day = 21 meals a week = $225–$250 spent weekly

The shipping fee comes up to around $19 (pretty steep indeed), but it’s all waived off if your order value goes over $125.

The service of Magic Kitchen is available in 50 states, and meals are shipped from the Kansas City warehouse. Shipping cost is calculated based on the weight of your meals and distance from the location. Magic Kitchen ships meals in a recyclable Styrofoam along with dry-ice right at your door.

FedEx delivers the meal plans of Magic Kitchen and sends an e-mail to customers for letting them know about their delivery. Ordered food usually arrives within three days, but there is an option of choosing the exact delivery date. The website of Magic Kitchen also gives you an option of calculating your delivery date and if you want urgent delivery, then you can choose air-delivery instead of ground delivery. If you order your food before 2 pm CT Monday and Tuesday, meals are shipped on the same day. You can stop and start your meal delivery anytime by giving one-day prior notice.

Quick note: Location delivery dates may vary depending upon your order and location.

All your Magic Kitchen food comes in white Styrofoam (recyclable, reusable) containers with insulation. The packaging contains dry ice that keeps everything frozen until it reaches you. So, you must unpack the meals as soon as they arrive and transfer them into your freezer.

With Magic Kitchen, every box and cooler is recyclable in areas where Styrofoam recycling is an option. They don’t make use of biodegradable packaging, so the food remains fresh during transit.

Each meal is individually wrapped and then sealed and ready to be placed in the freezer for as long as 6 months!

All meals on Magic Kitchen’s menu are dietician-designed. Some meals exclude any meat, chicken, or fish, though they may contain eggs or dairy products.

For transparency reasons, they do mention each and every ingredient of the meals. However, the meals are not prepared in an allergen-free kitchen facility. So, even if a meal states that it has no gluten, the meal is still processed in a gluten-inclusive facility.

Moving on, the dishes are flash-frozen prior to their delivery which might raise some doubts in health-conscious people regarding the use of preservatives. But Magic Kitchen minimizes the use of such ingredients, though they are not 100% preservative-free.

On some of their meals, I’ve seen recurring ingredients like sodium carbonate acid, modified food starch, maltodextrin, and gum.

On the other hand, what Magic Kitchen is 100% foolproof about is the use of antibiotics, hormones, and pesticides. The complete elimination of highly processed ingredients is another best quality of Magic Kitchen.

Yet another drawback when it comes down to the ingredient quality of Magic Kitchen is the lack of clarity on how they source their ingredients, that is, where they get their whole ingredients from.

For people with severe allergies to gluten, dairy, etc., Magic Kitchen is not the ideal fit as there is the risk of cross-contamination even in recipes that do not contain any gluten ingredients.

The magic of Magic Kitchen meals is that they can be kept in the freezer for up to 6 months without spoiling. But if you’re like me, you want to make the most of the taste and freshness of the meal and consume it between 30 and 45 days after delivery.

Meal preparation, on that front, is easy and quick. Frozen meals can be stored in the refrigerator to thaw gradually before heating. Magic Kitchen provides you with multiple methods of heating – oven, stovetop, or microwave. So, you can use the method that suits you best.

There is a chance that some meals, especially the traditional ones that are low in sodium, may taste bland. But that doesn’t mean you can’t improvise and make some simple dishes more flavorful with the use of seasonings or spices.

Magic Kitchen isn’t a subscription-based meal delivery service, which implies that you can choose à la carte food items and/or meal bundles. Subscription, however, is an option for those who wish to make the most of the discounts and free shipping accompanied by it. But Magic Kitchen offers discounts and free shipping to regular customers.

Additionally, shipping charges are suspended if the first order amount exceeds $100 and the subsequent orders are above $125. And if you’re a senior citizen, then you get a flat $10 off on all your orders over $80.

Placing an order with Magic Kitchen is really simple:

• You start by deciding between meal bundles and individual meals. Or you could also choose to subscribe, which requires you to fill out a form.
• For placing a customized order, select à la carte (individual meals).
• After that, take a look at the menu and begin adding meals to the cart. The Magic Kitchen menu has filters that allow you to choose meals based on the type of meal, dietary needs, and portion size, along with extras like desserts, side dishes, and more.
• On the other hand, meal bundles consist of preselected meals (multiple serving size options and customization options too).
• Once items have been added to the cart, you set the delivery date, enter your shipping address and billing details, and then pay at checkout (any payment method you like).

Magic Kitchen meals are available in multiple serving sizes, from the smallest to the largest portions. If you pick the traditional meal plan, you can opt for family-sized servings of wholesome, classic dishes. As for the second meal program, just so you know, it’s mainly for specialized meals suitable for those with any specific dietary needs or preferences.

The meal bundles on Magic Kitchen are perfect for when you can’t or don’t want to cook for yourself and your family members. These are very popular also for social events and gatherings like anniversaries, birthdays, and the like.

Speaking of which, premium meals (more expensive but certainly more affordable as compared to takeout) are also a part of the Magic Kitchen menu for different kinds of special occasions, for example, crab cake, beef wellington, etc. or desserts such as chocolate cake and lemon tart that are family-sized as well.

Magic Kitchen is a customer-friendly and top-quality meal delivery service that delivers delicious meals right at your door. It prepares the meals and then flash freezes them to make them delivery-ready.

Magic Kitchen goes an extra mile than other meal services in offering a variety of meal options to suit specific dietary needs or restrictions. You will be blown away by the considerable meal options available for special specifications.

The most appreciated thing about this company, that you also get so many specialized plans according to individuals’ medical needs. Magic Kitchen meals can be a great gift for anyone who is on some kind of restricted diet or for seniors (parents or grandparents) who may not be able to prepare their meals by themselves according to their medical needs.

The heating process of Magic Kitchen is very straight-forward, some dishes need to be heated in a conventional oven and some are fine being microwaved.

The Get Well Meal Bundle or Baby Shower Meal Bundle contains exactly what they require at that time. Gifting four easy-to-make meals along with delicious and healthy desserts sounds a perfect, generous, and thoughtful gift.

The meal bundles allow you to order a required number of entrees or breakfast dishes at once rather than the traditional meal format. This helps customers in selecting certain things from the menu that they want to eat.

Magic Kitchen gives treat and delight to your taste buds; Chefs of Magic Kitchen expertly design and prepare each meal with a complete balance of nutrition and gourmet taste.

From Kid-Friendly to Low-Fat, there’s something for everyone. The Magic Kitchen online menu has easy-to-apply filters, where you can select the main course and dietary requirements according to your needs. You can also find a specific dish by entering a keyword.

All these features and delicious meal-plans of Magic Kitchen prove it as a real winner among other meal plan services.

Sunbasket

A healthier and more affordable alternative to Magic Kitchen is Sunbasket. They offer prepared meals and meal kits with various diet options, including pescatarian, vegetarian, vegan, diabetes-friendly, keto, Mediterranean, paleo, gluten-free, low-carb, and low-calorie.

You have complete flexibility while selecting your meals. Even flavor-wise, Sunbasket offers global cuisines that you will not find on Magic Kitchen’s menu. What is commendable about Sunbasket, when you compare it with Magic Kitchen, is that the former uses all organic ingredients and responsibly sourced meats and seafood.

For craftier and more appetizing recipes, Sunbasket offers a wide variety of recipes that you wouldn’t consider cooking at home yourself. If you fancy that on top of health considerations such as a keto, paleo, Mediterranean, low caloric, low carb, or vegetarian diet, Sunbasket is a good alternative.

Nutrisystem

Because Magic Kitchen encourages weight loss with meal plans that have fewer calories, carbohydrates, and fat, it felt right to present to you a better, more weight loss-focused alternative, and that is Nutrisystem. It has weight loss-specific meal plans for men and women and includes different courses like breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks.

Additionally, Nutrisystem also features a plan fit for diabetes and for seniors. If you’re looking for something that is more couple-friendly, they have a partner plan that lets you and your partner meet your weight loss goals simultaneously.

Choose the diet plan that feels most right to you, and you’ll be presented with 3 different meal options depending on the number of meals you want and your personalized diet goals.

Nutrisystem also offers free delivery across the United States, whereas Magic Kitchen has a whopping shipping cost of up to $18.95 per delivery.

Trifecta

Precooked meals for people who are very particular about the number of carbs and calories that are in their daily meals. They serve meat and plant-based recipes cooked with organic produce.

Its meal selection process is different from Magic Kitchen as Trifecta does not let you pick meals. Instead, you get to choose the diet plan you want, and Trifecta cooks you the absolute best and delicious recipes.

What I like about Trifecta is that all their meals are organic, preservative-free, and include many gluten-free options. All the meals come vacuum-sealed and not frozen, which means you have to consume them within 10 days. However, you can store the meals in the freezer for several weeks if you want them to last for a longer time.

Trifecta’s focus is on nutrition and nutrition only. So, it’s the perfect choice for fitness freaks, athletes, and diets like keto, paleo, high-protein, etc

Magic Kitchen has a dedicated and friendly customer support team, always ready to help you with any inquiry or issue you may encounter. You can call them anytime during their office hours at their toll-free number- 1-877-516-2442 and E-mail them at info@magickitchen.com.

Office Hours: Mon-Fri (9 am to 9 pm central time)

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The fact that Magic Kitchen lets you choose between selected meals yourself or have them selected for you based on your health and dietary preferences (specialized plans are available for specific medical conditions, mainly for older adults) is amazing.

Those on a restrictive diet, such as low sodium, low potassium, etc., will really appreciate Magic Kitchen senior meals. So, if you don’t have the time to do grocery shopping and meal prepping, you can wholeheartedly rely on this prepared meal delivery service.

All you have to do is heat the frozen meals by following the instructions properly. Some dishes are good to go in the microwave, while some might need to be heated in an oven. Either way, it’s quick and simple; Magic Kitchen makes sure of that.

Furthermore, their meal bundles are the most fitting for you if you want to order breakfast along with entrees.