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If you’ve tried a meal delivery service in the past and found yourself forgetting to pick your meals before your order ships, a no-subscription option may seem like the perfect solution. Magic Kitchen is a prepared meal delivery service with no subscription or contract, so you only order what you want when you want it—an excellent option for those of us who don’t want to meal prep but need convenient nutrition.
Peek at the Magic Kitchen site and you’ll notice a lot about senior nutrition, discharge meals, and medical diets, but they also promise something for everyone, including gluten-free meal delivery. In this Magic Kitchen review, you’ll get insights from a GGR tester and a registered dietitian to help you make a buying decision.
Medical disclaimer: This article is intended for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for medical advice. For health advice, contact a licensed healthcare provider. GGR also recommends choosing a product that has been third-party tested for quality.
Meal Reviews From Pros Who Eat As Hard As We Train
GGR is known for honest takes on everything fitness, from adjustable dumbbells to protein powder. Nutrition is the foundation of fitness, so we’ve been researching and testing over 40 of the best meal delivery services to find the healthiest and tastiest options.
Our testers include certified personal trainers, professional weightlifters, certified nutrition coaches, and registered dietitians who personally order, prepare, and eat the food we review. Our testers rate each meal delivery on a scale of 1 to 5 for 13 categories, including taste, ease of preparation, ingredient quality, and portion size.
Magic Kitchen
Magic Kitchen
Product Highlights
- Frozen ingredients
- Semi-prepared food
- Easy to follow instructions
- No automatic shipping
Pros & Cons
Pros
- The food is all gluten-free and great for those with dietary restrictions
- There is a wide variety of fish, meats, carbs, and vegetables
- Products are both sold a la carte and as complete meals
Cons
- The meal bundle cannot be customized
- No free shipping
- No smartphone app to manage subscription
Bottom Line
Magic Kitchen is a meal delivery service that is entirely gluten-free with other options for those with dietary restrictions. The service allows you to individually select the meals that you would like, but you cannot choose auto shipments. Products range from $9.99 to $392.99 depending on whether you buy individual dishes or the gluten-free meal bundle.
A Quick Look at Magic Kitchen
Magic Kitchen was founded in 2005 with the mission of providing nutritious food to all, with a special focus on senior nutrition and special diets. While the company began in Northern California, they relocated to Kansas City, Kansas, in 2017.
They give customers complete ordering control, with options to order a la carte or “complete meals” that feature main courses plus sides. If you don’t feel like browsing the lengthy menu, they also have lots of meal bundles for specific dietary needs, senior meals, and even new parent options that are perfect for gifting.
The menu includes options for gluten-free, diabetes friendly, renal, and vegetarian diets. Most of the food is American homestyle—think protein with veggies, shepherd’s pie, barbecue meats, and lasagna.
Before You Buy
- Most meals are a single serving.
- There are family-sized meal packages, but they’re pricey.
- There are no vegan options available.
- Shipping is high and starts around $20.
Is Magic Kitchen Worth It?
Single-serving meals make up the bulk of Magic Kitchen’s menu, which is great if you live solo and are looking for a good meal delivery service for singles. If you have several people to feed and/or like having leftovers, you may get more bang for your buck with a meal kit service.
Speaking of bucks, everything is priced a la carte, so your total depends on the food you select. Menu items hugely range in price, from about $5 to over $30. If you have a limited budget, the pricing may limit menu variety or how many meals you can get per shipment.
Great for:
- Individuals with chronic health issues
- Older adults
- Those that mostly want to eat American homestyle cuisine
Not recommended for:
- Adventurous eaters
- Vegans
- Larger households
Magic Kitchen Specs
| Price per meal | Varies; average $10 to $15 |
| Meals per week | A la carte |
| Meal kit or prepared | Prepared |
| Diet options | Diabetes friendly, dialysis friendly, renal, dairy-free, gluten-free, low-fat, low-sodium, low-carb, vegetarian |
| Fresh or frozen | Frozen |
| Delivery area | Continental United States |
Experience Using Magic Kitchen
Magic Kitchen was tested by Stephanie Lehner, a former editorial intern for GGR and busy student at the University of Scranton. Double majoring in biology and philosophy, Stephanie doesn’t have a ton of time to cook meals from scratch and appreciates the convenience of heat-and-eat prepared meals.
Her overall takeaway is that Magic Kitchen offers plenty of variety, including items tailored to specific dietary needs, like diabetic friendly meals. She sampled a portion of the gluten-free items and found some items were flavor packed and others were bland, but that’s pretty typical of most meal delivery services. There are always going to be hits and misses depending on personal preference.
Price Per Meal
Magic Kitchen’s meal prices are a bit all over the place, which is why we rated it only 1 out of 5 for price per meal. Your total price will depend on what menu items you pick and how many meals you receive.
Most of the complete meals menu is priced around $10 to $15 per meal. The a la carte soups are $7.99 per serving, muffins and breakfast sandwiches are $5 per serving, side dishes around $6 per serving, and desserts about $5 to $9 per serving. Some of the fancier proteins are pricey, like the beef Wellington which costs $32.99 for a single serving.
Stephanie’s order included 10 dishes, including entrees and sides, one soup, and six milkshakes. Her total came to $217.77, which is pricey considering she didn’t order enough food for a complete week of meals.
Magic Kitchen Meal Preparation
The frozen meals can be nuked or baked straight out of the freezer, so prep is about as easy as it gets. You’ll find cooking instructions printed on each meal and on each menu item online.
RELATED: Best Frozen Meal Delivery
Stephanie heated her meals in both the oven and microwave and rated preparation 3 out of 5 stars, since some of her food needed longer to heat than the instructions said. Plan to adjust cook time based on how your appliances run and check the food temperature before digging in.
Meals can be heated and eaten right in their trays, so cleanup is a cinch. A note on those meal trays: they’re plastic with a plastic film and Magic Kitchen doesn’t specify if they can be recycled.
Taste, Ingredient Quality, and Portion Size
Overall, Stephanie rated the food 3 out of 5 for both taste and ingredient quality. She gave portion size 5 stars and felt the amount of food was plenty to satisfy her hunger.
She stuck to gluten-free meals and all her selections were, in fact, made without gluten-containing ingredients. Despite being frozen, Stephanie found everything tasted fresh, although some of the dishes fell flat in flavor.
“Overall, the food was very good,” she said. “The corned beef, salmon, veggie stew, and chicken was very flavorful. Some foods such as the Beef bourguignon, rice with mixed vegetables, and the mashed potatoes were bland.”
She also tried the Mighty Shakes and gave the strawberry taste two thumbs down, saying they tasted very artificial. Don’t confuse these for milkshakes—they’re “nutritional shakes” with a long list of additives and artificial ingredients. They remind me of my clinical registered dietitian days, when we’d add calorie-dense—but not nutrient-dense—shakes to patient trays to support dietary intake and/or weight gain.
This service wouldn’t be my top pick for high-quality ingredients. Magic Kitchen provides few details about the sourcing of ingredients and few seem to be organic or sustainable.
Some meals are heavy on additives, while some have simple ingredient lists. For example, the shepherd’s pie contains preservatives, corn syrup solids, and caramel color. Some meals also contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs), but this is clearly listed on the ingredients.
RELATED: Best Organic Meal Delivery
Meal Plans and Customization
Magic Kitchen earned 5-star ratings for variety, customization, and access to nutrition information. There’s a lot going on when you first view the menu, but the options are easier to navigate when you use the menu filters.
The chef-prepared menu is quite varied, with plenty of different meals for lunch and dinner, plus a few options for breakfast, snacks, and dessert. There are enough choices to mix up each delivery, plus the following meal options:
- Diabetes-friendly
- Portion controlled
- Dialysis
- Renal diet (for kidney disease)
- Dairy-free
- Gluten-free
- Low-fat
- Low-sodium
- Low-carb
- Vegetarian
You can’t customize individual meals, but you are in control of the type and number of meals you receive. If you have dietary restrictions, it’s still up to you to double check the ingredients and nutrition information to make sure meals meet your needs. The ingredients and nutrition are listed online and printed on each meal’s packaging.
Ordering, Packaging, and Shipping
Visit magickitchen.com to order. They have a ton of filters to help you narrow results down by course or dietary preferences. If you don’t have time to browse, there are meal bundles with pre-selected options to speed up shopping. Stephanie rated the ordering process a 5 out of 5.
Meals are packed with dry ice in Styrofoam coolers and ship in standard cardboard shipping boxes. Stephanie’s meals were still cold when she received them, so she rated packaging and shipping 5 out of 5.
The shipping boxes and coolers can be reused or recycled, but it’s up to customers to find a recycling service that accepts Styrofoam. In their FAQ section, Magic Kitchen provides links to connect customers with local foam recycling centers. Since they encourage reusing and recycling but there’s room for improvement, we rated sustainability a 3 out of 5.
Magic Kitchen vs Modify Health
Modify Health
ModifyHealth
Product Highlights
- Fresh, ready-to-eat meal delivery service
- Nutrient dense, high-fiber, whole-food ingredients
- Caters to variety of health concerns including low-FODMAP diets
- Vacuum-sealed meals stay fresh 7-10 days after delivery
- Processing facility is 100% gluten-free
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Non-GMO ingredients
- BPA-free meal trays
- Macronutrient and nutrition label included with each meal
- Gluten-free
Cons
- Wide range of caloric intake per meal (250-700 calories)
- Many breakfast options are low in protein
Bottom Line
If you adhere to a low-FODMAP diet, have diabetes, or a gluten allergy ModifyHealth could be the meal delivery service you’ve been waiting for. ModifyHealth processes all meals in a gluten-free facility and commits to using non-GMO ingredients. Your subscription gains you access to a weekly delivery of fresh, vacuum-sealed meals that are ready to reheat and enjoy. Plans start as little as 6 meals per week with the option to skip a week or pause your subscription.
Modify Health is another meal delivery service that specializes in prepared meals appropriate for a range of medical conditions. Both Modify Health and Magic Kitchen were included in our roundup of the best heart-healthy meal delivery services.
Besides heart-healthy options, they also have low-FODMAP, diabetes-friendly, and Mediterranean meals. The entire menu is gluten-free and produced in a gluten-free facility.
The Modify menu appears fresher and higher-quality than Magic Kitchen. Our testers also rated their food higher for taste, with 4.5 stars versus the 3-star rating for Magic Kitchen. Modify meals arrive fresh, contain whole-food ingredients, and are non-GMO. They’re also packed in BPA-free trays, whereas Magic Kitchen doesn’t provide information about the food packaging.
| Magic Kitchen | Modify Health | |
| Price per meal | About $10 to $15 | About $13 |
| Meals per week | A la carte | Minimum 6 |
| Meal kit or prepared | Prepared | Prepared |
| Diet options | Diabetes-friendly, dialysis- friendly, renal, dairy-free, gluten-free, low-fat, low-sodium, low-carb, vegetarian | Low-FODMAP, Mediterranean, diabetes-friendly, gluten-free, heart-healthy, carb-conscious |
| Fresh or frozen | Frozen | Fresh |
| Delivery area | Nationwide | Nationwide |
Customer Experience
Magic Kitchen gives customers complete control over their shopping experience by keeping subscriptions and contracts out of the picture. They’ll happily replace or credit any items that arrive damaged or don’t meet customer expectations with their money-back guarantee.
There were no issues with Stephanie’s order, but other customer reviews detail positive experiences with Magic Kitchen’s customer service. They can be reached by phone or email and all the contact information can be found online.
The satisfaction guarantee and helpful customer service reviews earn Magic Kitchen a perfect 5-out-of-5 rating for customer experience.
Customer Reviews
Magic Kitchen has 4.3 out of 5 stars on Trustpilot, based on 5,595 reviews. These meals are popular among senior citizens and individuals with medical conditions that require special diets.
Most of the reviews are positive and customers say they enjoy the food, find the meals easy to order, and their deliveries arrive on time.
“I like that they have higher end meals for special occasions and simpler items for a quiet night,” wrote one customer.
Another customer was happy to report there are “very good discounts for repeat customers.”
The few negative reviews detail orders that arrived late or thawed, but the good news is that Magic Kitchen’s customer service is responsive and quick to correct order issues.
“They replaced at no charge an order that UPS delivered late and defrosted,” wrote a customer.
Final Verdict of Our Magic Kitchen Review
Magic Kitchen might be a good fit if you want prepared meals appropriate for certain dietary restrictions, but it wouldn’t be our first pick for ordering meals to support general health. The menu has a lot to choose from, but doesn’t offer much variety in terms of types of cuisine or plant-based options. Not all the ingredients are top notch and some of the menu feels dated and clinical (looking at you, Magic Shakes). Still, customers seem to enjoy the food and the company is known for excellent customer service.
Full Rating
Magic Kitchen
Magic Kitchen is a meal delivery service that is entirely gluten-free with other options for those with dietary restrictions. The service allows you to individually select the meals that you would like, but you cannot choose auto shipments. Products range from $9.99 to $392.99 depending on whether you buy individual dishes or the gluten-free meal bundle.
Product Brand: Magic Kitchen
Product Currency: $
Product Price: 9.99
Product In-Stock: InStock
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Magic Kitchen: FAQs
Are Magic Kitchen meals healthy?
Most Magic Kitchen meals are made with whole-food ingredients, but some contain additives or genetically modified ingredients that some people wish to avoid. They have nutritious meals tailored to various health needs, including diabetes, dialysis/renal diet, and meals low in sodium or fat. Meals vary in nutrition and can contain anywhere from roughly 225 to 600 calories per serving.
How much is Magic Kitchen shipping?
Shipping starts around $18.95 per order. Shipping costs are calculated per order and depend on how much your package weighs and where you live. Magic Kitchen ships via UPS ground and says they charge customers exactly what it costs them to ship. There is a promo for free shipping on first time orders.
Who is the owner of Magic Kitchen?
Magic Kitchen was created in 2005 by businessman Greg Miller. He is still the current CEO of the company.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any diseases.
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If you’ve tried a meal delivery service in the past and found yourself forgetting to pick your meals before your order ships, a no-subscription option may seem like the perfect solution. Magic Kitchen is a prepared meal delivery service with no subscription or contract, so you only order what you want when you want it—an excellent option for those of us who don’t want to meal prep but need convenient nutrition.Peek at the Magic Kitchen site and you’ll notice a lot about senior nutrition, » Read more about: Magic Kitchen Review (2024): Fast, Flexible, and Frozen Meals for Multiple Diets » Read more