CHICAGO, IL - In partnership with its meal kit-making subsidiary Home Chef, Kroger is introducing a new pilot program, enhancing its in-store meal kit lines with three new options. Home Chef kits are currently available at over 900 Kroger stores, and the new kits reportedly round out the line—adding convenient new options to each store’s assortment.

“Our customers' dinnertime needs are constantly evolving,” said Pat Vihtelic, Founder and CEO of Home Chef. “We're thrilled to meet more of their needs with high-quality meal options that consider different lifestyles and levels of preparation and cooking times. Our new meal solutions provide additional flexibility for families and individuals who want to get a delicious meal on the table whether they have time to cook one of our meal kits from scratch or need something that can be prepared more quickly.”

New meal kit offerings include:

• Home Chef Oven-Ready - meals featuring fresh, ready-to-cook ingredients packed in an oven-safe tin to make both meal preparation and clean-up quick and effortless. Oven-Ready meals will require less than five minutes of prep and cook in about 30 minutes. At $8.50 per serving, recipes include:
• Garlic Butter Salmon
• Blue Cheese-Crusted Steak
• Tex-Mex Steak
• Chicken Pesto al Forno
• Arroz con Pollo
• Feta-Crusted Chicken

• Home Chef Heat & Eat - meals are a “delicious, fully-cooked, ready-to-heat meals, proteins, and sides that can be prepared in as little as five minutes.” Complete meals will be priced from $6.50 per serving and represent Home Chef's first foray into fully-cooked, ready-to-heat products. The line will feature a rotating menu with three new meal choices each month and a number of mix and match options. Complete meals include:
• Chicken with Broccoli and Seasoned Mashed Potatoes
• Pork al Pastor
• Bacon Macaroni and Cheese
• And Mix and Match offerings include:
• Garlic Pork Sirloin Roast
• Baby Back Ribs
• Smoked Turkey Breast
• Sirloin Steak
• Broccoli and Rice
• Green Beans
• Red Potatoes
• Carrots with Rosemary
• Home Chef Lunch Kits - a new line including salads, grain bowls, sandwiches, and more with fully cooked proteins and can be prepared easily at home or at the office. The lunch kits are priced from $6.00 per serving. The recipes rotate weekly and include:
• Guacamole Chicken Salad Sandwich
• Greek Pasta Salad
• Chipotle Steak and Guacamole Salad
• Buffalo Chicken Pasta Salad
• Baja Chicken Salad
• Green Chili Chicken Sandwich
• Snappy Chicken Guacamole Tacos
• Mediterranean Steak & Feta Sandwich

Starting this month, Home Chef's new meal solutions will be available—first at select locations in Illinois under the Mariano's banner and in Ohio at Kroger Cincinnati and Kroger Columbus.

Will Kroger’s new meal kits propel its fresh prepared food sales forward and energize the meal kit category? AndNowUKnow will continue to report.

Kroger Home Chef