Ready to eat meal delivery service in Seattle for a strict renal diet?

October 6, 2021 1:45 PM

My father-in-law, who lives with my sister-in-law, is on a strict renal diet and refuses to cook for himself (I know...). My SIL has been cooking all his meals, and that's going fine...except she's understandably exhausted. We're looking to help from afar, and a meal delivery service was her first request. Any suggestions?

We're looking for a ready to eat meal delivery service who can adhere to his diet. So far, I've only found Seattle Sutton, a nationwide delivery service. I feel like there's gotta be other options, and find lots of "healthy eating" services, but nothing strict enough. We would prefer fresh, but would look at frozen, too. I'm also looking at private chefs, but those seem wildly expensive, and I'm not sure if they would be flexible towards his needs. I did check out this thread, but it is unfortunately pretty old. Any ideas appreciated!

posted by fillsthepews to Food & Drink (12 answers total)

Performance Kitchen is frozen but they do have a renal health meal plan, though whether or not that's up to scratch I couldn't say.
posted by foxfirefey at 1:57 PM on October 6, 2021

I'm not familiar with what constitutes a renal diet, but Meals On Wheels has low-sodium, vegan, vegetarian, etc., options that might work?
Here is a link to another option I found via a google search.
posted by SageTrail at 2:10 PM on October 6, 2021

Care.com has non-pro-chef food prep (in client's home, or in their home with meal delivery or pickup); Fresh 'n Lean has low sodium, diabetes-friendly, and some customization options; Mealpro will customize, I'm not sure to what extent; NutriFit Renal Diet Meals are delivered nationwide.
posted by Iris Gambol at 2:23 PM on October 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

I have enjoyed a fair few of Performance Kitchen’s frozen meals that I’ve picked up at my local Metropolitan Market. I have no idea about their renal diet plan but I’ve thought about 3/4 of them were actively tasty, with only the occasional dud. I keep a few in my freezer because though I pride myself on my cooking they are great for bad mental health days. If you want to just test out some of the meals, you could buy a few via online ordering and have your SIL do curbside pickup - most grocery stores in Seattle have this functionality now.
posted by Mizu at 2:30 PM on October 6, 2021

Mom's Meals has renal diets and is refrigerator-ready, not frozen. If your father-in-law is on a Medicare Advantage plan it might even pay for them.
posted by assenav at 2:33 PM on October 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

Ovens to Betsy is a local Seattle chef option. You communicate your needs to her and she prepares a weeks' worth of food at a time. Not cheap but not wildly expensive either, depending on your capabilities.
posted by you'rerightyou'rerightiknowyou'reright at 2:39 PM on October 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

You might check local Yelp and Craigslist for dieticians who meal prep. Students in certain programs have to do X many hours of meal planning and prep (you pay for materials and some labor, but they are also doing it for credit/licensing hours and their plans are being reviewed by some kind of supervisor) and I often see them on my local boards looking for clients. They are generally in training for dietary work in hospitals or other institutional settings, including dialysis clinics (my aunt did this for many years, not cooking but writing up the dietary plans that were then handed off to educators to work with patients), and renal diet is a big component of that training.

Finding a personal chef to follow a meal plan written by a dietician is probably not too hard either. I know "personal chef" sounds fancy but it's just the search term you generally find used online, although "meal prep" is gaining traction.
posted by Lyn Never at 3:11 PM on October 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

Magickitchen.com has a renal diet option. They ship nationwide frozen in dry ice. I have not use this service, so I can say if it is good or cost effective. I just googled "renal diet meal delivery" to get this result. If you had the location you might get more local options.

In my experience Meals on Wheels in most places is limited to diabetic diets, low sodium, and a few others.
posted by KayQuestions at 3:49 PM on October 6, 2021

Chef Anita Hardy cooked for me (here in Seattle) for several years. She'd come to my house, once a month and fill up my freezer with the most perfect meals imaginable. I'm pretty picky and she tailored every single thing to exactly the way I wanted it - getting me to try new things even. It was expensive but, honestly, per meal, not much more than your average restaurant and way better.

She gets 'strict adherence' and if it were not possible for her to do on a regular basis, she'd be very upfront about it. I have not talked to her in a long time but it would certainly be worth a quick email to ask. A Bushel and A Peck Personal Chef Service.
posted by susandennis at 5:48 PM on October 6, 2021 [4 favorites]

I looked in a renal dietitian group I'm in and the meal delivery services recommended by other renal dietitians are Mom's Meals, Magic Kitchen, Seattle Sutton's, Renalmeals.com, and Homestyle Direct.

Another idea would be to ask your father in law's nephrology clinic if they have any more local suggestions or to connect you with a Seattle renal dietitian who will know of more options.
posted by astapasta24 at 6:02 PM on October 6, 2021

In the US, see if he can get Meals On Wheels; check with your Area agency on Aging. There seem to be products available. Call the Kidney Foundation or the urologist/ nephrologist treating him, ask for ideas. Join his local nextdoor, see if there are professional cooks who can prepare meals for him. Pay for stuff for your sister, house cleaning, repairs, etc., to help her manage the extra time she spends cooking for him. Can you buy an extra freezer so she can make extra amounts for future use? Send her gift certificates and thank you cards, etc.
posted by theora55 at 11:59 AM on October 7, 2021

Response by poster: Thank you all so much! There's great stuff in this thread. I will report back with what I find out, in case someone refers back to this in the future.

One thing I've already learned: I spoke to someone at Nutrifit and it sounds like a great option for someone in the general LA, CA area but beyond that the shipping makes it cost prohibitive.
posted by fillsthepews at 2:47 PM on October 7, 2021 [1 favorite]