Prepko Review

Prepko is a certified kosher meal kit service based in Glendale, California. The company differentiates itself from other kosher food suppliers by focusing on non-traditional foods. Still, it does not pass up on the opportunity to introduce its patrons to traditional kosher cuisines from around the world, featuring everything from Polish to Korean dishes on its menu.

According to the words of its founder Simon Meron, the goal of Prepko is to allow home cooks to experience kosher food in a different way. Find out if this meal kit service lives up to its promises in our Prepko review.

What Is Prepko

Prepko is in the business of delivering certified kosher ingredients and recipes for easy weekday and Shabbat meals. The ingredients you get are pre-portioned and fresh and the recipes are novice-friendly and include simple step-by-step instructions.

Described by Jewish Journal as the kosher version of Blue Apron, this service combines meal kits with Kashrut. It was launched in December 2017 with the goal of making kosher cooking easier in areas where kosher products are hard to come by. During the first year of its existence, it gained hundreds of loyal patrons and its customer base is still growing slowly but steadily.

With the blessing and certification from the Rabbinical Council of California, Prepko provides all the basics that Jewish home cooks need in order to eat and drink right and effortlessly bring wholesome meals to the family table throughout the week. It does not only provide traditional and modernized kosher recipes and ingredients but also fills its Shabbat kits with essentials such as candles, prayer cards, and kippahs, making it perfectly easy to properly prepare for Shabbat.

Its menu is not immensely varied, but it is diverse. Many of its customers like the fact that they can stick to what they loved in the previous weeks instead of being forced to try out new dishes week in and week out. They also appreciate the subscription-free ordering option and the company’s exclusive focus on certified kosher products.

Since it is one of the rare services of its kind, we were a bit disappointed to find out that it delivers to only 3 US states. However, provided that the Jewish community shows sufficient interest in the concept, the service may soon become available in other regions as well.

How Does Prepko Work

Prepko allows you to pick 1 of the 6 meal plans on offer. You can choose from 3 weekly meal plans and 3 Shabbat boxes. Depending on your preferences, you can opt for one-time orders or an ongoing subscription, with the latter being more affordable.

The 3 weekly meal plans include the Standard plan including 2 meal kits per week for 2 people, the Classic plan featuring 3 meal kits per week for 2 people, and the Family plan including 3 meal kits per week for 4 people. The Shabbat boxes come in 3 sizes: the Small box with 4 servings, the Medium box with 6 servings, and the Large box with 10 servings.

Recipes and ingredients are delivered once a week. You can handpick the recipes in your order. Usually, there are 9 recipes at your disposal, 2-3 of which are particularly designed for that week and the rest rotate periodically to provide sufficient variety.

In case of a sudden change of plans, you can easily cancel your order or end your subscription altogether, as long as you remember to notify the service 4 days before your scheduled delivery. If you have already received your first order, you can cancel any subsequent order online, directly through your account, without talking to anyone and explaining your reasons. If you want to cancel your first order, you need to get in touch with the Prepko staff via email and they will do the rest.

With the blessing and certification from the Rabbinical Council of California, Prepko provides all the basics that Jewish home cooks need in order to eat and drink right and effortlessly bring wholesome meals to the family table throughout the week.

What Makes Prepko Different

As stated before in this Prepko review, this service’s entire offer is certified kosher by the Rabbinical Council of California, which makes it different than the majority of meal kit services on the market. Furthermore, it offers a great mix of non-kosher dishes turned kosher and traditional kosher meals from a variety of world cuisines. It aims to expand its patrons’ culinary horizons while allowing them to easily cook kosher without the tiresome ingredient hunting.

Other than that, Prepko is quite similar to other attention-worthy services of its kind, with its pre-portioned ingredients, pre-designed meal plans, new recipes on the menu every week, and praise-worthy ordering flexibility. It is designed with convenience and simplicity in mind and it does not aim to outdo its competition by offering an unparalleled variety of recipes or an unlimited range of customization options. It wants to modernize and simplify kosher cooking, not reinvent the wheel.

If you like the convenience Prepko offers and enjoy trying out its recipes, you can share the fun with your friends by purchasing Prepko gift cards. Gift card values available include $50, $100, $125, and $150 and the cards can be used to purchase both Shabbat and regular meal kits.

Prepko Meals And Recipes

As Prepko features fewer than a dozen recipes on the weekly menu and does not change its whole menu every week, it is best suited for people who want to have at least a couple of safe choices available at all times. The recipes are suitable for both lunch and dinner, but there are no breakfast or dessert ideas.

The recipes are mostly designed with omnivores in mind. Usually, there are a couple of gluten-free, kid-friendly, and vegetarian recipes on offer, as well as several meal ideas under 600 calories. Apart from that, Prepko does not offer any additional special diet options and it cannot accommodate food allergies.

The inspiration for Prepko recipes comes from Korean, Japanese, Indian, Chinese, Thai, Moroccan, and Israeli cuisines, as well as a bunch of European culinary traditions, including French, Polish, Italian, Romanian, and many others. That is why the weekly menu is pretty colorful, with dishes ranging from rich and fragrant Korean bibimbap to creamy, vegetarian-friendly pappardelle pasta.

Prepko ingredients are always fresh and sourced from the best local suppliers. The recipes are simple and relatively quick, allowing you to cook up something nice in around 40 minutes, depending on your chopping, slicing, and dicing skills.

If you opt for a regular weekly meal plan, you do not get any special bonuses, apart from the optional free spicy kit. However, if you choose to order a Shabbat box, you do not only get the recipes and ingredients, but you also receive a range of Shabbat meal essentials, including small and large Challah, kosher grape juice for Kiddush, a disposable Kiddush cup, Kippah, Shabat candles, a prayer card, matches, and a small snack.

How Much Does Prepko Cost

With Prepko, the price you pay primarily depends on the number of people who are joining you for dinner. A serving costs between $16.99 and $20.00 with one-off orders. If you opt for an ongoing subscription, you get a 10% discount on every delivery.

With the Standard weekly plan, including 2 meal kits for 2 people, you pay $72 per week, which amounts to $17.99 per serving. With the Classic weekly plan, featuring 3 kits for 2 people, you pay $108 per week, which amounts to $17.99 per serving. The Family weekly plan, which brings you 3 meals for 4 people, costs $204 per week, which amounts to $16.99 per serving.

The Small Shabbat Box with 4 servings costs $80 per box, $20 per serving. The Medium Shabbat Box yielding 6 servings costs $120 per box, $20 per serving. Finally, the Large Shabbat Box yielding 10 servings comes at the price of $200 per box, $20 per serving.

The prices listed above apply to one-time orders. Thus, you pay 10% less with a subscription. Shipping is normally free of charge. However, due to size and weight, the Large Shabbat Box comes with a $20 shipping fee.

Where Does Prepko Deliver

At the moment, Prepko delivers its meal kits to addresses within California and select parts of Arizona and Nevada. The company plans to expand its delivery map to include Colorado, Washington, and Oregon and it may even go nationwide in the future.

Available delivery days include Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. To find out whether Prepko ships to your area, you can use the handy zip code checker on the company’s official website.

Prepko ingredients are always fresh and sourced from the best local suppliers. The recipes are simple and relatively quick, allowing you to cook up something nice in around 40 minutes, depending on your chopping, slicing, and dicing skills.

Prepko Pros And Cons

To make sure Prepko meets all your standards and expectations, it is important to know its biggest advantages and disadvantages. With a short overview of its pros and cons, you can easily decide if Prepko is the right meal kit service for you.

Sample Dishes

If you subscribe to Prepko, you can easily prepare culinary masterpieces using only the ingredients and recipes found in your meal kit box. You may not be a pro chef just yet, but with Prepko, you can easily make restaurant-grade meals. You don’t have to take our word for it – check out the images below to get a better idea of the types of dishes you can enjoy with Prepko.