What a Crock Meals

Freezer meals built for the slow cooker

What a Crock Meals sells frozen comfort-food meals that are prepped and ready to cook. The company does the searing, chopping, slicing and dicing; you drop the bag into a slow cooker in the morning and come home to dinner, or boil it in the bag for a faster meal. Many dishes can also go in an instant pot or air fryer, and some have oven or grill instructions. It's not a meal kit, since nothing needs preparing, but it isn't a microwave tray either: slow-cooker times run long, for example 10-12 hours on low for the Beef Stroganoff.

The subscription page describes a menu of 40+ meals, plus soups, sides, appetizers and desserts, and that 52,000+ customers have tried them. The company describes its food as prepared in small batches, just like you would in your own kitchen.

How ordering works

You can place a one-time order and choose meals individually, and the site stresses that no subscription is required. Or you can subscribe, which the company says saves up to 25% on each shipment compared with one-time orders. The subscription page sets out the steps: choose how many portions per shipment, choose weekly, monthly or bi-monthly delivery, pick meals, and place the order. Your first shipment goes out within 4 business days, and you can change meals, skip, pause or cancel in the Customer Portal.

Meals are sold by the portion. The product pages say one portion is built to feed one person with a hearty appetite or two people with lighter appetites, and a Portion Calculator suggests how many to buy. The site also recommends checking your slow cooker is the right size, because a cooker that's too big can burn the sauce; it publishes a guide to recommended slow cooker sizes, and one customer mentions the company also sells slow cooker liner bags for easier cleanup. A gift subscription, called Easy Meals, sends meals to someone else on a recurring basis.

Gift boxes are a large part of the business: care packages, college care packages, sympathy boxes, and gift boxes that come with a new slow cooker. The Sending Love Care Package, for example, includes turkey chili, Swedish meatballs, chicken Alfredo, pulled chicken with brioche buns, mac and cheese, chicken and Italian wedding soups and brownies, and needs no slow cooker.

What it costs

Prices are per portion on each product page. The Beef Stroganoff is $17.99 for a standard portion, with double egg noodles for +$2.99 or double beef for +$6.99. The Beef Burgundy with a rice substitution is listed at $19.98. The subscription saving of up to 25% applies against those one-time prices, and new customers get 10% off their first order by joining the mailing list. The site doesn't publish shipping fees alongside the meals; they're on a separate shipping page and at checkout.

The food

The menu is classic American comfort food. On the homepage: Grandma's Homemade Meatballs with penne, an Uptown Beef Stew, a chicken stew with vegetables, and Southern-style pulled pork. Product pages add Beef Stroganoff, Beef Burgundy in red wine sauce, honey garlic chicken thighs, chicken pot pie, soups and brioche rolls. Categories cover chicken, beef, pork, seafood, soups, sides and desserts, and you can shop by cooking method: slow cooker, boil in bag, air fryer, instant pot, grill or oven.

Diet filters include vegetarian, gluten-free, low carb, low calorie and low sodium options, and each meal links to nutrition and allergen information. The Beef Stroganoff, for instance, lists gluten, dairy, egg, soy and fish. The site warns that all meals are produced in a kitchen that contains allergens including wheat, soy, dairy and shellfish.

Customer reviews on the product pages are mixed in a useful way. Many praise the tender meat and easy cooking; some find the stroganoff sauce too thin or the beef fatty, and a Beef Burgundy summary notes that some reviewers shortened the cooking time to avoid overcooking. Reviewers also share useful tips: add the noodles to the slow cooker for the last stretch of cooking, stir in sour cream at the end of the stroganoff, and order extra noodles for teenagers. One parent says 2 orders made 3 generous portions for the family with leftovers, a good real-world guide to how far a portion goes.

The product pages are specific about what comes in each bag. A portion of Beef Burgundy includes one bag of the beef in red wine sauce and one bag of egg noodles, and the page notes that a no-wine version of the sauce contains cornstarch while the classic version does not. Instant pot instructions are given where they apply.

Where it delivers

The How It Works page says the company ships nationwide with the exception of Alaska and Hawaii, and packs every order with dry ice and insulation. Meals may arrive partially thawed, which the company says is normal. Delivery time depends on the page: the homepage says orders ship in 1-4 business days, a product page says most orders are delivered within 1-5 business days, and the care package page says most arrive in 1-3 business days. Subscription orders ship by UPS or FedEx with tracking.

One homepage review is candid about the risk: a box arrived late and thawed, and the family threw it out. The same reviewer adds that the company then issued a full refund.

What's left open, and who it suits

Shipping costs aren't shown until checkout, and freezer life isn't stated alongside the meals. The long slow-cooker times also mean these are morning-prep dinners rather than last-minute ones, unless you boil in the bag.

What a Crock Meals suits families and busy workers who like a slow cooker, people who want hearty, familiar food without a subscription, and anyone sending a practical gift to someone recovering from surgery or grieving; several reviews on the site describe exactly that, including meals sent to an elderly parent who no longer cooks. The by-the-portion pricing makes it easy to scale an order up or down. It's less suited to people in Alaska or Hawaii, anyone with severe allergies, given the shared kitchen, or diners after lighter, more adventurous food.