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Best DIY Recipe Kits
The perfect compromise between cooking from scratch and ordering takeout
By | 1 year ago
Date to impress? Dinner party host with no time to plan? Or perhaps you want a fakeaway for a Friday night without the fuss of all the choice… DIY recipe kits take the effort away from cooking restaurant quality nosh.
While this isn’t a totally new trend (Mindful Chef, for instance, launched in 2015), there’s now more choice than ever. Fancy fresh pasta? Pad Thai? Buttermilk pancakes? The world is your oyster with our pick of the best make-at-home recipe boxes.
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Best DIY Recipe Kits
Haar at Home
Luxury fine dining doesn’t require you to leave your bedroom. Haar At Home was launched by Chef Dean Banks, the Scottish restauranteur who made it to the finals of Masterchef: The Professionals. Each meal kit focuses on seasonable British and Scottish produce and brings easy to put together recipes which will wow guests (or become your Friday night staple). Our favourite? The luxury lobster and crab box, for true indulgent dining – you’ll feel impressive dressing the lobster with the rich mirin butter sauce, but not need to go through the fiddly part of actually preparing the lobster completely from scratch. Plus, you can add drinks pairings to any box order without needing to consult a sommelier. haarathome.co.uk
Oja
The UK’s first ethnic grocery delivery service, Oja, has an offering of bundles and 15-minute quick meal kits. The easy way to make all-star African and Caribbean dishes, a favourite is the Suya Spiced Sea Bass DIY recipe, which is accompanied with easy-to-follow video instruction from chef @RukkieCooks. The bundle also includes all the extras you’d need to make a truly memorable dinner, such as prosecco, a bouquet and an after-dinner box of Ferrero Rocher. oja.app
Mooli
New food delivery service Mooli is bringing Indian cuisine to UK households through Thali-style tasting menus, which you can heat up quickly at home. Menus draw on the Indian practice of Ayurveda, combining six tastes on one plate: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, spicy and acidic, creating a balanced meal to aid digestion. Think hearty curries, dahls and zingy spiced slaw, plus Indian bread and fluffy rice – rounded off with a traditional dessert. All boxes and food trays are 100 per cent recyclable, with the Thali plates made from naturally fallen palm leaves. moolifood.com
Ottolenghi Test Kitchen Mezze Box
Caught Ottolenghi fever? Secure a preview of his new cookbook, Ottolenghi Test Kitchen: Shelf Love, by ordering the one-off feast box from Dishpatch. In classic Ottolenghi style, you’ll make a Middle Eastern-inspired mezze-style menu featuring roasted aubergine and tahini, smoky marinated feta, flatbreads and polenta chips. Get there quick: the first 50 customers will get a complimentary copy of the book too. dispatch.co.uk
Dishoom Home Feast
Nothing beats curry night – particularly when it’s from one of London’s top Indian restaurants, Dishoom. A new DIY kit allows fans to recreate some of the eatery’s best-loved dishes including the lamb sheekh kebab, the mattar paneer and the signature house black daal. To finish, enjoy Dishoom’s take on Eton Mess, made with strawberries, cream, gulkand and rose syrup. The kit serves between two and four people (depending on how hungry your group is) with options for both vegetarians and meat-eaters, plus a bespoke tea towel for wrapping roti and plentiful kabab masala for future use. £60 for two to four people. store.dishoom.com
OTTO
There’s nothing like getting home from a long day and sitting down to an unctuous plate of perfectly cooked pasta. And now you can make exceptional, next-level pasta in the comfort of your own kitchen thanks to OTTO. It’s the just-launched meal kit service from celebrated chef Phil Howard of Michelin-starred Elystan Street restaurant, offering world-class ingredients and unique recipes to make at home.
The kits feature a revolving menu of eight seasonal pasta dishes, so expect to try plates of delicious linguine with wild garlic pesto, or flavoursome gnocchetti with smashed sausage and fennel. Plus, you can choose between a selection of antipasti to nibble while cooking, from a box of focaccia, olives and dips, to creamy burrata with a chilli and olive crumble. You’ll never be able to go back to your usual week night pasta bake again.
Pasta boxes from £8.50pp. ottopasta.com
Dinings SW3
Celebrate the Japanese ritual of the slurp – deemed the best way to enjoy a noodle or soup-style dish – with one of Chelsea’s best restaurants, Dinings SW3. Executive chef Masaki Sugisaki has launched a DIY kit for his Kamo-Nanban Udon, on offer for a limited time only. Your recipe kit will contain all the finest ingredients needed to make a delicious duck udon noodle dish, including noodles that have matured for more than 36 hours and dry aged duck leg sourced from Cornwall, plus all the finishing touches to top your bowl with. Heartwarming and packed with flavour. £18pp + £7 delivery, bbot.menu
Comfort & Joy by Jikoni
The team behind Portland Marylebone restaurant Jikoni has launched a sister brand: vegetarian home delivery service, Comfort & Joy. The menu features a number of meal boxes which stay true to Jikoni’s ethos of celebrating global flavours. Boxes are available for either one or two people, and made up of a thoughtful selection of balanced dishes designed to sit together in harmony. ‘The Desi Box’, for instance, currently features a dhal, a tomato and tamarind curry, and a carrot and cabbage stir fry – certainly both comforting and joyful. jikonilondon.com
Occasions by Hakkasan
Create Michelin-starred style food in your kitchen with the DIY kit from famed Cantonese restaurant Hakkasan. The box features some of its most popular dishes, including grilled Chilean sea bass, smoked beef ribs with Jasmine tea and Hakka noodles, plus a delivery exclusive: the Hakkasan Chocolate Soufflé. You’ll also receive your own dim sum basket and Hakkasan chopsticks, plus sticks of the restaurant’s incense and a specially curated playlist so you can really feel like you’re dining out.
£200 for two people. hakkasan.com
Dirty Vegan
A plant-based option: Dirty Vegan, the sister to New York comfort food brand Dirty Bones, has launched a vegan burger kit. The Ultimate Vegan Comfort Kit contains the ingredients for two vegan chilli cheeseburgers with skinny fries, plus a bottle of Espresso Medatini and ready-to-bake vegan cookies.
£42 for two. getdirtyathome.com
CERU’s Cook at Home
Bring Eastern Mediterranean flavours into your home with Levantine London restaurant CERU, which has just launched a new range of DIY recipe boxes. Options include chicken shish with polenta fries, slow roasted lamb shoulder with zucchini and feta fritters, and a vegan box featuring spiced cauliflower, an apple, mint and pomegranate salad, homemade hummus and freshly made Greek pitta bread. Not only are the meals very tasty, you can cook them in under half an hour and they come in eco-friendly packaging, wrapped in a beautiful cloth which can be reused as a tablecloth.
From £40 for two people. cerurestaurants.com
Nonna Tonda
A fresh pasta dish you can prepare in under five minutes? Yes please. Nonna Tonda’s DIY recipe kits include everything you need to create a sumptuous Italian-inspired dinner: fresh pasta made with St Ewe eggs from Cornwall, sauce, parmesan and garnish. Boxes can be ordered for two, four or six people, with recent dishes including a fusilli with rocket pesto, green beans and Cornish new potatoes, and a beef shin ravioli.
From £6.25 for two people. nonnatonda.co.uk
Dishoom’s Bacon Naan Roll Kits
Dishoom’s bacon naan roll is legendary – and now you can recreate it in your own kitchen, thanks to their new at-home cookery kits. Available to order nationwide, the kit contains everything you need to make the delicious dish: smoked streaky bacon, naan doughballs, tomato-chilli jam, fresh coriander and cream cheese. Cooking instructions are supplied – along with a handy video for first-timers – alongside loose-leaf Darjeeling tea, chai spices and fresh ginger slices for brewing Chef Naved’s much-loved Masala Chai.
£17 for two. dishoom.com
SpiceBox
For a healthy alternative to a curry takeaway try one of SpiceBox’s new vegan curry kits, now available to order nationwide. Inside you’ll find all the ingredients needed to make either a spicy Tikka Masala or a creamy Coconut Korma – both fully plant-based – alongside a recipe card with step-by-step instructions. Each box feeds four people, and comes with a selection of tasty sides such as bhajis and dahl.
£45 per box. eatspicebox.co.uk
Hame
Hame – the Scottish word for home – is the lockdown-born food delivery service from zero-waste chef Adam Handling. The menu offers some of the best loved dishes from Adam’s restaurants, including The Frog Hoxton, Frog by Adam Handling and Adam Handling Chelsea – but rather than providing hot dishes, food arrives ready for cooking, complete with step-by-step video instructions. This one’s all about indulgence: cheese doughnuts, fried chicken, whole lobster and beef wellington all feature.
Available Thursdays to Sundays, orders must be given 48 hours ahead of preferred delivery/collection date. adamhandling.co.uk
Mindful Chef
Since its launch in 2015, Mindful Chef has become a market leader in healthy meal delivery. Each week there are 16 recipes to choose from, with meat, fish and plant-based options – everything being free from gluten, dairy and refined carbs. All ingredients are delivered to your door, along with an easy to follow recipe: perfect for those who want to make life a bit easier, but still enjoy cooking. You can choose between one, two and four person bundles, and as everything is measured out precisely there’s no waste. Portions are generous too, particularly the meat and fish, which are sourced sustainably.
One person portions from £8 per portion, two people from £5.50 per portion, four people from £5 per portion. mindfulchef.com
Shoryu Ramen
There are few things as comforting as a bowl of ramen, but noodle soup can be a tricky dish to get right. Lucky Japanese restaurant Shoryu Ramen is here to help with its new DIY recipe kits, available for nationwide delivery. Each box contains 12-hour tonkotsu soup, ramen noodles, char sui BBQ pork belly and toppings, alongside a step-by-step guide. If you can handle heat, go for the extra spicy option – or if you want to go meat-free, opt for the tofu alternative.
£23 for two people. japancentre.com
Where the pancakes are At Home
Make your own restaurant-quality brunch with these DIY kits from Southwark pancake mecca Where the pancakes are. The Big Brunch Box includes everything you need to make pancakes for six, including organic buttermilk pancake flour mix (or vegan and gluten-free), Canadian maple syrup, streaky bacon and blueberries. Saturday, sorted.
£45 including p&p. wherethepancakesare.com
Chotto At Home
Its unique blend of Japanese and Peruvian cuisine has won Chotto Matte many a fan – and now the Soho restaurant is offering a sneak peek inside its kitchen. Order the Chotto at Home kit to discover how to make some of its hero dishes, including padron peppers and black cod aji miso. All ingredients come inside an elegant box reminiscent of the restaurant’s unique interiors, with detailed cooking instructions printed on recipe cards.
£60 for two people, with a £10 delivery charge. chotto-matte.com
Wild Radish
Feeling uninspired in the kitchen? Expand your repertoire with new chef-led recipe box Wild Radish. Delivered weekly, each box comes complete with a recipe from the likes of Philip Howard, Anna Hansen and Alyn Williams, alongside all the ingredients and some top chef tips. To top it all off there will be a little surprise too, such as artisan chocolate, a bottle of matched wine or fresh bread.
Rosa’s Thai Café
Hearty and bursting with flavour, it’s no surprise Pad Thai has remained Thailand’s national dish for 75 years. Rosa’s Thai Café is celebrating the anniversary by launching new DIY Pad Thai kits, designed to serve four people. Try your hand at founder Saiphin Moore’s signature Pad Thai – either prawn or tofu – without the hassle of sourcing tricky ingredients.
£40 for four people. greatfood2u.co.uk
PASSO To Go
Pizza has arguably been the most popular takeaway choice for many years, but DIY kits add a new element into the mix. The boxes from Old Street Italian restaurant Passo include freshly prepared pizzas, which can be cooked either in a frying pan or in the oven. Fan of unconventional flavour combinations? Opt for the Build Your Own, where you can select your favourite toppings. If you’d rather leave it to the professionals, give the Nancy Silverton special a whirl: white pizza with fennel sausage, mozzarella and spring onion.
From £15 for two pizzas. passotogo.com
Featured image: Bocca di Lupo BBQ Grill Box
