Chef Meal Kits: Cooking like the world’s most renowned chefs (review)

Meal kits have been a growing trend that gives people the chance to explore their skills in the kitchen. Whether it was the first time you’ve ever cooked or wanted make your way beyond instant ramen, mac & cheese, or even frozen pizza. Meal Kits took out the work of having to pick out ingredients and had you focus solely on cooking.

Now there’s plenty of meal kits you can choose from for your first or maybe even hundredth time, but Chef Meal Kits does things differently. Their goal is to bring you a home cooked meal from some of the world’s most renowned chefs. What you get are the ingredients and instructions that have been created and perfected from these culinary artists. We recently had the opportunity to try out a Chef Meal Kit and what we received was two different meals from Chef Bruce Kalman.

Pork Meatballs with Amatriciana Sauce

The first meal I cooked was the pork meatballs with amatriciana sauce. For this dish there are a lot of ingredients, so the first thing I did was to lay out every single thing I would need. From there I made sure to prep some of the ingredients first, such as chopping the herbs that would be used and roasting the garlic. The first thing they wanted you to make was the amatriciana sauce, which if you follow the directions closely, is fairly easy to make.

After you make the sauce, you can set it aside and prepare the meatballs. Just like the sauce, the meatballs are also easy to make as long as you follow the directions. Feeling the fattiness of the ground pork and bacon, mixed with the other ingredients, you can already get a sense of how juicy and flavorful these meatballs will become. After you’ve cooked the sauce and meatballs, it’s time for you to plate the dish, which surprisingly enough is also included in the directions. Rounding out the dish is a slice or two of toasted sourdough, some grated parmesan cheese, and some thinly slice caperberries.

This dish itself was incredible. The meatballs were juicy, tender, and melted right in my mouth. The inclusion of red pepper flakes gives them a bit of heat, while the ricotta gives it a tad bit of creaminess. Everything is capped off with the herbaceousness of the parsley and oregano. But of course, the meatballs are highlighted with the amatriciana sauce. The sauce’s smokey quality is derived from the bacon, which is truly brought forth by the sweetness of the San Marzano tomatoes and the red onions. While the basil gives the sauce that subtle pepperiness and aromatic quality, the sourdough bread brings the entire dish together and will add that needed texture that will give your taste buds that heavenly feel.

Wild Mushroom and Polenta

The second meal I made was the wild mushroom and polenta. Now, I’ve never made polenta myself, I have always found it to be an intimidating dish, but here was the perfect opportunity for me to tackle it. The Polenta uses just a few ingredients to start, which are milk, heavy cream, and of course polenta. So I made sure to pay close attention to how I was cooking it, especially when I had to add the parmesan cheese and butter because the inclusion of both will give the polenta its creamy texture.

While the polenta cooks, I had a chance to start on the wild mushrooms, which was not a difficult task. You’ll saute some herbs and chili flakes in some butter and oil, and when the butter is slightly browned, you’ll throw in the mushrooms. I cooked down the mushrooms just a bit and made sure to toss it in the butter. You then finish the mushrooms with some vegetable broth and sherry vinegar.

When everything is cooked, you’ll plate the dish and eat. Similar to the meatballs, this dish was luxurious. You’ll need to eat the dish while the Polenta is still warm as this helps retain its creamy texture. If you were to eat it while it’s cold, then the polenta would be clumpy. The butter and parmesan cheese will not only give the polenta its savory flavor but will also give it that velvet-like texture. The array of wild mushrooms complements the polenta with its chewiness and earthy flavors. Adding the sherry vinegar at the end will give you the acidity that works well with the chili flakes.

Final Reaction

Chef Meal Kits come in a refrigerated package to ensure that all the ingredients are still fresh. Now I have some experience in the kitchen, but I’m not a certified chef. Even though I have some knowledge of cooking, the instructions are laid out in a way that anyone who picks up a Chef Meal Kit can easily understand them. One of the main rules in cooking is to prepare everything you need first, and I will say that it’s important to make sure you follow that rule. When you’re in your kitchen, cooking away, things can quickly turn sideways if you’re not prepared, and the last thing you want to do is burn the food that you purchased.

Whether you enjoy fine dining or not, Chef Meal Kits is a great way for you to experience top-tier quality meals. Both meals that I cooked were extremely delicious and had me asking for more. Though my plating might not have looked like the ones in the picture, the flavor and taste were definitely there. There’s no set price for Chef Meal Kits, as you would only pay for what meal you want to try and cook. The meals they do offer will come from restaurants in Los Angeles and San Diego with more coming soon.

Score: 5/5 Atoms