Peapod, Mark Bittman Serving Clickable Recipes

Online grocer Peapod has announced a collaboration with noted food writer Mark Bittman in which the online retailer will sell a new meal kit and a variety of shoppable recipes based on Bittman’s new cookbook, "Dinner for Everyone."

The new meal kit, utilizing premeasured, fresh ingredients, is based on Bittman’s recipe for Fast Pho, a Vietnamese inspired dish. The new kit complements Peapod’s existing selection of meal kits and comes in serving sizes for two or four.

“The inevitable, daily question, ‘What’s for dinner?’ is one that everyone has asked themselves more times than they can count. I want cooking dinner at home to make people happy, not stressed, and Peapod gets that too,” Bittman said in a statement. “Cooking—and likewise shopping for the ingredients—doesn’t have to be tedious or time consuming, and I’m excited to share this Fast Pho meal kit in partnership with Peapod that proves exactly that.”

Photograph courtesy of Peapod

Other recipes from the book have been highlighted in a shoppable, “click-to-cart” format and dovetail well with insights from a Peapod consumer study, which indicated that 77% of Americans would rather eat a homemade meal than go out for dinner. Further, more than 40% of Peapod's survey panelists said they value meal kits as a tool to make cooking at home simpler while others welcome shortcuts, including premeasured ingredients and grocery delivery.

“At Peapod we work to simplify grocery shopping, menu planning and meal time,” added Spencer Baird, SVP of merchandising for Peapod. “Meal kits allow us to introduce shoppers to inspired international flavors and dishes without any intimidation as every ingredient is selected and packed ready-to-cook. The partnership with Mark and collaboration on the meal kit is another way we want to support making dinner time enjoyable and approachable for shoppers.”

Peapod, based in Chicago, is a division of Dutch retailer Ahold Delhaize. 

Bittman has authored 20 books including "Dinner for Everyone," which presents 100 recipes in three interpretations: easy, vegan and “all out.” The former New York Times writer previously was chief innovation officer for the vegan meal-kit company Purple Carrot.