While our restaurants — those that survived the early 2020s upheaval — have enjoyed the filled seats in their brick-and-mortar establishments the last couple years, the county contingent that wants to eat at home remains strong. Yet, having a home-cooked, from-scratch dinner shared around the table can seem insurmountable to maintain on a routine basis in practicality, especially among the cooking-averse and time-crunched.
Restaurant takeout and delivery are convenient options, sure, but those individual meals can be expensive and not always so nutritious. Meal kits are a popular happy medium that Westchesterites and beyond are choosing: There were 323 meal kit delivery services in the United States in 2023, an increase of 10.2 percent from 2022, according to industry research and data analysis firm IBISWorld.
But even meal kits can take a while when you pull yourself away from your work to face the kitchen, only to find your kids pulling at your pants for attention while you cook. (Has the recipe card’s promise of a 30-minute prep and cook time ever actually taken anyone 30 minutes?!) Crock-Pots, air fryers, and batch cooking are other time-honored hacks, but even those can be a struggle for those of us who don’t always remember to plan beforehand.
Enter these fully prepared family meals delivered to your door throughout Westchester. Crafted locally in the tristate area (or in one case, in the Northeast), these businesses are where to turn for fresh meals at home that don’t require all the prep. Heat ’em, plate ’em, enjoy ’em with those you love, then call it a night.
Annie’s Home Delivery
Westchester and Putnam counties
We’re salivating over the tequila lime chicken and green rice and the mango black bean Buddha bowl from Annie’s Home Delivery. Founder Christiane Stamp loves to help busy working families have healthy, hearty meals, because it was something she used to stress about herself. Her meals are prepared in a licensed commercial kitchen in Brewster, and she’s certified in food safety by ServSafe and hold a food processing license from the state’s Department of Agriculture.
Annie’s crafts weekly, seasonal menus curated with local and organic ingredients in mind. You can order meals for one, two, or four people and choose as many as you like for your delivery day, which is between 3-7 p.m. on Tuesdays for Westchester. Your meals come in compostable containers (plastic for soups and liquids) along with weekly reheating instructions. There are gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian, and vegan options.
View this post on Instagram
Giona’s Kitchen
802 Commerce St, Thornwood; 914.495.3720
With meals prepared professionally in Thornwood and delivered to your door, there’s no excuse not to eat together. We’re thinking about the empanada platter, the penne vodka with prosciutto and a cream tomato sauce, and the orange ginger chicken stir fry. There’s a kids menu, too. Giona’s uses fresh cuts of fish and meat, grass-fed and organic when possible, plus gluten-free, vegan, and vegetarian options. The service partners with Bloom Metabolic Insights to provide customers with healthy meal preparation and planning. Giona’s has an organically prepared Detox Meal Plan that can be shipped to your door, too.
View this post on Instagram
Top Chef Meals
175 Clearbrook Rd, Elmsford; 800.616.8044
Not to be confused with national meal-kit service Home Chef or the Food Network competition TV show, Top Chef Meals is a prepared meal service headquartered in Elmsford. Ingredients are sourced locally when possible, and there’s no subscription required or surprise fees. We’re digging the street cart chicken with yellow rice and chickpeas and the pesto risotto with shrimp. For those with specific dietary needs, a dietitian helps with options that cover diabetic, low-sodium, low-carb, low-fat, renal, keto, gluten-free, and other needs. If you order 10 or more meals, the delivery is free, and it’s hand-delivered by contracted couriers Mondays and Wednesdays.
View this post on Instagram
Feast & Fettle
This prepared meal service has been hitting the Westchester area hard, and we’re lucky for it. Even as experienced home cooks ourselves, we can tell you, there’s a difference when it’s made by a professional chef instead. Feast & Fettle’s meals are flat-out fabulous. The hand-rolled, pulled chicken enchiladas with jack cheese taste fresh, not frozen. It’s a pleasure to simply heat up the tray of enchiladas in a toaster oven and scoop them out on dinner plates for a family of three, with a side Southwest spinach salad with chipotle ranch dressing to add greenery to the deal.
The complex, dark roux and dozens of ingredients in the Cajun shrimp, chicken, and sausage gumbo make for another hearty meal that’s brightened with pear and roasted beet salad with lemon vinaigrette. The flavors and ingredients are quality. Subscription plans are available for families of four, couples, and individuals for two to five dinners a week, with breakfast, lunch, and kids meals as optional add-ons. We liked the cranberry-white chocolate energy balls for a quick-yet-nutritious breakfast treat.
A common complaint with delivery services is that all the packaging must be broken down and tossed in the trash. Feast & Fettle has returnable insulated bags and a simple refillable ice pack. You can even opt to clean your Feast & Fettle food containers and return those, too, so that Miller Recycling can collect the containers from the Feast & Fettle facility, repurposing them into useful products such as outdoor furniture and storage containers.
Ipsa Provisions
Ipsa provides frozen meals right to your Westchester door that are far from your dad’s TV dinner. Made in Brooklyn with ethically sourced produce from farms around the country, each Ipsa meal is packed with nutrition and flavor. Ipsa offers meals inspired by cuisine all around the world, with choices like corn chowder with blackened shrimp or beef and kimchi stew. With meals only offered for home delivery in Westchester and parts of NYC, you won’t be eating mass-distributed trays of food. Instead, you can find intricate Ipsa meals in your freezer to enjoy at your convenience. These chef-crafted dinners can be ready to enjoy in fewer than 15 minutes. No subscription required.
View this post on Instagram
Stocked by 3 Owls
Suz and Elana are two NYC moms, Plated cookbook authors, and food industry veterans who wanted to make this whole dinner thing easier, but delicious and healthy, too. With this service that delivers throughout Westchester, there’s no subscription, set meals, or plans. You mix and match the meal components the way you want to eat (or the way your family wants to eat). There’s even a New Parent Package.
Choose from different staples offered each week, such as charred flank steak with chimichurri or orange-miso salmon with roasted scallion vinaigrette. Sides could be kale tahini salad with smoked almonds and roasted carrots or whole-roasted date-glazed carrots with pistachios. We mean, really. And then there are add-ons, of course. After all, as the company says, “Happiness is a full fridge.”
View this post on Instagram
Redefine Meals
Based in Long Island, this company delivers more than 60 meal options, fully prepared, to Westchester on Sundays. The newest meal is Korean beef with jasmine rice and green beans, and then there are others, such as teriyaki shrimp with pineapple, honey chipotle chicken bowls, grass-fed steak burritos with guacamole, and Italian pasta salad with chicken, mozzarella and tomatoes. Choose a package of seven, 10, 15, or 20 meals. The variety of meals can cater to different dietary needs, such as high-protein, gluten-free, and dairy-free.
View this post on Instagram
Aqui Es Santa Fe
32 Broad St, Port Chester; 914.305.1060
Stock your freezer with all of your favorite Columbian treats, like frozen arepas and empanadas, and you’ll always have flavorful foods ready on a whim.
View this post on Instagram
Related: Where to Dine Near Westchester’s Colleges and Universities
