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Martha Stewart can do no wrong — well, at least when it comes to food.
For those that don’t know, you can get pretty close to having Martha as a live-in chef with her meal kit company, Martha Stewart & Marley Spoon. I reviewed Marley Spoon before; back when I was testing more than 20 other meal kits from 2020 to the very end of 2024 for our 2025 refresh of my larger-than-life roundup — and while I may not have cooked as much as Martha, it feels pretty close!
I wanted to give Marley Spoon a special shoutout as one of the best gourmet options on the market. The kit only uses the freshest of ingredients to craft in-season recipes sure to delight.
Not all of the meals are fancy pants, as Martha also knows that comfort food is just as important as fine dining. For this reason, many of the over 100 recipes on the weekly menu are comfort classics like burgers, casseroles, stews — you get the idea.
How Marley Spoon works
The kit is a traditional one, featuring more than 100 weekly recipes, with fresh ingredients shipped out according to your plan. You can opt for the two-person or the four-person plan and then select the amount of meals you need per week, from two to six.
The ingredients come in a brown paper bag, and proteins come on ice packs to preserve freshness. Each box also includes all of the easy to follow recipe cards, which can either be recycled or kept for later use.
Marley Spoon price
The price of Marley Spoon varies, but traditionally starts at $8.69 and can range up to $12.99 per serving. Shipping has a flat rate of $11.99, no matter the box size. Be sure to check if your location is eligible for shipping, as some areas are not yet served by Marley Spoon.
There are frequent coupons for Marley Spoon, so be sure to check the site for introductory offers for discounts and free shipping.
Pros:
Delicious and high-quality meals — but what else would we expect from Martha?
Perfect for the home cook who likes a balance of easy meals and learning new skills
Great for home-cooked dinners with simple directions
Options for specific diets, including vegetarian and low-carb recipes, in addition to the classic comfort foods
Sustainable packaging and practices
Cons:
Make sure to check your zip code for delivery, as some areas in the Midwest and other locations are not eligible as of the time of publication.
You may need to have additional ingredients handy, especially for the baking recipes
Marley Spoon serves up pretty much everything, as there are more than 100 options on the weekly menu, plus premium options with fancier ingredients and proteins, and saver options for more affordable, bare-bones meals.
There are also options on the site for appetizers, snacks, breakfasts and even desserts, which I tried during Halloween — yes, they do offer some fun seasonal menu items and yes, they are all adorable!
When signing up, you can enjoy the full menu or be presented with your choice of dietary options, including gluten-free, low calorie, low carb, vegetarian, vegan and plant-based, and family friendly. There’s even a menu for picky eaters that limits spicy foods and more unusual ingredients.
We’ve tried:
When unboxing the ingredients, I liked how the included recipe cards listed everything, making for easier sorting of my fridge and knowing what extras I would need, like butter, oil, vinegar, and some household spices. Make sure to check your fridge and pantry before beginning. I ended up needing an egg and vanilla for a baking recipe. The cards also list the required cooking tools, as well as allergens and nutrition per serving.
Because these recipes are from Martha Stewart, I wasn’t surprised that many were more complex, calling for a lot of oven use. Note: cook times can vary based on your appliance, so keep that in mind if you’re in a rush. The brunch bake I cooked in my old oven, for example, needed a lower temperature than listed, while the cookies needed far less time in my powerful toaster oven appliance. Other time alterations can stem from extra chopping, dicing, and fancier steps like toasting nuts or pre-charing vegetables.
I was rewarded for my time and effort, though. Each recipe came out looking great and tasted even better. The cookies took the longest. I know ‘baking is a science,’ but I still dabbled a bit by adding some extra seasoning to the cream filling. I also spent longer on my pasta to make sure the broth was perfect before plating. I think Martha would be proud of the added effort.
The final verdict
Marley Spoon is a more gourmet meal kit, perfect for those who love the process of cooking but not the grocery shopping part. The meals are all tasty and great for families, as there are options for larger portions and kid-friendly meals.
Compared to other meal kits I’ve tested, this one had the most options for weekly recipes, as well as more advanced meals for those wanting to spend time improving their cooking skills.
How we tested
Ease of ordering: When looking at the menu, Marley Spoon is simple to set up and order for each week. I always take into consideration how to customize the order, make changes, and pause a membership when testing.
Prep, cook and cleanup time: A major selling point of meal kits is that they save time. Marley Spoon takes between 30 and 60 minutes per meal, sometimes longer than what the recipe estimates. I still noted how long it took me to have a complete meal from unpacking to cooking, eating, and recycling afterward.
Flavor and fullness: Meal kits are meant to remove all the guesswork from cooking, including seasoning. When testing Marley Spoon I took into account if any of the dishes I ordered needed to be seasoned or altered to become more palpable. I also considered how satisfied they left me and for how long.
Sustainability: Not all meal kits are eco-friendly or use sustainable practices. To determine where Marley Spoon stood on the eco-conscious scale, I reviewed its production policy and looked into how it sourced its ingredients. Other things I took into account were its packaging and whether it could be recycled.
Price: Meal kits typically run between $7 and $15 per serving, and so Marley Spoon sits in the middle at $8.69 to $12.99 per serving. I also took into account how many meals per week and how many servings I could receive for the total price.
FAQ: What to look for when choosing a meal kit
Diet: Pay attention to the dietary options each service caters to, from vegetarian and vegan to Keto and paleo.
Household Size: Count the number of people in your family and then account for how much they eat to best calculate how many servings you need to feed everyone. Some kits detailed above have larger portions, while others are single-serve only.
Budget: Meal kits and services have a wide range of prices. Some offer free shipping, while others have a minimum spend. Specialty or health-related plans may cost more.
Time: Think about how long you want to be cooking for each night. Some meals require 30 or more minutes to cook, not including cleaning up. Others are microwavable and thus don’t require clean-up time.
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