Pantry Boy Subscription Box Review – November 2017

Pantry Boy is a meal subscription that focuses on slow cookers to make home cooking simple and easy. Everything comes portioned, chopped, and prepped and ready to be thrown into your slow cooker.

Pantry Boy offers weekly subscriptions, though it’s easy to log in and skip a week. For each delivery, you can skip or make changes to your meals. 

Once you log in, navigate to MY ACCOUNT - MANAGE SUBSCRIPTIONS - FUTURE SCHEDULE to make any changes you would like. Your delivery schedule is available for modification up to 6 months from whatever date you log on.
NOTE: All changes must be made by 11:59PM 5 days before your scheduled delivery, as your delivery is processed in the morning exactly 4 days before it is delivered. For example, if you receive Saturday deliveries, all changes must be made by Monday night.

You can always view the weekly meals by clicking the "menus" section on their site.

This box was sent to us at no cost for review. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)

This is a review of the 2-person, $62.34 carnivore plan.

The Subscription Box: Pantry Boy

The Cost: There are three diet options when you sign up: Vegetarian starts at $53.94  ($8.99 per serving per person), Carnivore starts at $62.34($10.39 per serving per person), and Omnivore (a mix of vegetarian and carnivore) starts at $58.14($9.69 per serving per person).  You can then choose a plan for either two or four people (double the starting prices for four). All plans include three meals per week. 

ACTIVE DEAL: Save $30 off your first box!
CODE: PBMSA

The Products: 100% ready and proportioned farm-fresh ingredients and recipes with step-by-step instructions for Slow Cookers or Gourmet Cooking. All ingredients are labeled and measured to the exact amount needed, eliminating any measurement guesswork. Everything is marinated, spiced, chopped, and prepped so all you need to do is put it all together

Check out all of our Pantry Boy Reviews and find other meal boxes in the Meal Subscription Box Directory!

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Pulled BBQ Beef Sliders with Sriracha Coleslaw and Pickles

Calories per Serving: 750

Prep Time (before cooking): 3 minutes

Prep Time (after cooking): 7 minutes

Slow Cooker Time: 8 hours on low, 6 hours on high

Difficulty Level: Easy

Ok- I LOVE how everything is already marinated, chopped, and ready to go right out of the box. Pantry Boy differs from other meal kits because there is virtually no prep time. The main objective (at least, for me) is to still have a tasty meal even when you have no time to chop, slice, saute, roast, and marinate. The meats come pre-marinated, and the sides come almost finished, all vacuum-sealed in plastic bags.

Each recipe card has quick notes, slow cooker time, "gourmet cooking time" (in case you don't own a slow cooker, or have more time to prepare the conventional way), and an ingredients list for both serving sizes on one side. They also have ways to doctor up the recipe if you have additional ingredients in your pantry.

The reverse side has a list of needed kitchenware and the step-by-step instructions on how to prep your meal before, during, and after the slow cooker.

For this recipe, the only prep work was getting the BBQ beef into the slow cooker. I have a 6-quart size so there was loads of room left with the 2 person meals. All I did was drizzle oil into my slow cooker, add the pre-marinated beef, then the right amount of water and Pantry Boy Seasoning. The only slight qualm I have here is that you then have to flip the card to the front to see how much water and seasoning is needed for your portion size. I think it'd be better to have it listed right there for 2 or 4 people.

After that, I just set the slow cooker to low heat, and left for work! My BBQ beef would be done in 8 hours when I returned.

When I got home, the whole house smelled like delicious beef. Truly one of the best things to come home to.

I will say that my 6-quart cooker seemed a little too big for the 2 person portion, and even though it wasn't burned, the oil and water probably would have fared better in a smaller pot. Pantry Boy does note that if you have a slow cooker larger than 6 quarts that you should add extra water, but since mine was just at 6, I used the regular directed amount.

I turned the slow cooker off, took the hunk of meat out, and proceeded to shred it in a bowl with two forks, as directed by the recipe.

I then opened the bag of coleslaw and cup of sriracha mayo and dumped it into a bowl to mix together.

The only other thing I did was pop the slider buns into my toaster oven to warm for a few minutes. THAT'S IT. That was all of the prep work needed.

I placed the dill pickle chips on a plate with three sliders and a large heap of coleslaw for each person.

There was plenty of shredded BBQ beef for all six buns, and I poured a little juice leftover on each. The flavor was excellent and the beef was really tender and moist. I can eat a decent portion, but I was pleasantly filled with these three sliders and the side. Plus, those pickles... SO GOOD.

Pineapple Chicken Tacos

Calories per Serving: 750

Prep Time (before cooking): 3 minutes

Prep Time (after cooking): 5 minutes

Slow Cooker Time: 6 hours on low, 4 hours on high

Difficulty Level: Easy

If you notice, you'll see that Pantry Boy Seasoning is always a part of the ingredients list in each recipe. They send a whole jar of it with your box and it acts as their allspice. It's super tasty and I have loads of it left, even after making all three recipes.

Here, you'll use the seasoning for the pineapple salsa.

You'll notice that there is an oven temperature listed as well, for the "gourmet" or "fast cooking" method. It seems like it's never suggested, but It's nice that they'll include it in case you want to make it outside of your slow cooker.

I am here for the easy and "slow" version, so I started much like I did with the previous recipe, by drizzling oil and some water into my cooker, then adding the pre-marinated meat.

This had a shorter cook time, so I ended up heading to work, but then leaving early to finish at home since even on low, it was only a 6 hour cook time. Make sure you check the timing before you head out for the day!

When I returned, the chicken was fully cooked and even looked a little dehydrated. I was a bit late, so it was in there for an extra half hour. Also- as I said with the BBQ beef recipe, I think a 6-quart cooker is just a smidge big for this size portion (or, I should have added extra water). I shredded it up and it was still totally fine though!

The only other thing I needed to do was add oil, lime juice, and Pantry Boy Seasoning to the salsa in a bowl and mix up. I was a little scared because there is a lot of raw onion in there. If you normally read my meal kit reviews, you know my negative feels toward onions, raw being my biggest adversary. But hey, I will push myself out of my comfort zone!

It took only a few moments to assemble my three tacos with the included lettuce, prepped salsa, and sour cream. I even had lime wedges leftover for garnish.

I took the plunge and even though I could taste the onion, there were so many other flavors happening that I wasn't totally overwhelmed by it. The pineapple was really refreshing and the chicken was still pretty moist. My only thought is that I wish I had a little something on the side. Maybe some Mexican rice?

Chicken Drumsticks with Tomatoes, Onions, and Peppers over Rice

Calories per Serving: 750

Prep Time (before cooking): 3 minutes

Prep Time (after cooking): 12 minutes

Slow Cooker Time: 6 hours on low, 4 hours on high

Difficulty Level: Easy

A look at how gloriously organized and ready the ingredients come.

This third and final recipe is actually the only one this week that has directions for the "gourmet cooking" alternative. The other two were simply not recommended. No matter, you know I am using my slow cooker on this one too!

Truth be told, I meant to start this before leaving for work and plum forgot, but luckily I have a super roommate who is kind and helpful. I called him from the car: "Tones? Could you do me a bigggg faaaavorrr?". He gladly plopped the bag of tomatoes, onions, and peppers into the cooker with the marinated drumsticks, oil, and Pantry Boy Seasoning, and turned it to low for me around 1 pm. No water was needed for this one since the veggies added moisture.

As with the other two, the house was filled with wonderful smells when I returned home from work. The only thing I needed to do was cook the white rice.

And there you have it! I dolled out half the rice onto the plate and then added the drumsticks and covered with the veggies and the sauce that was created while cooking.

The chicken fell RIGHT off of the bone and was by far the moistest meat of the week. The seasoning was fantastic and I even devoured a lot of the cooked onion. The only strange part was that there were only 3 drumsticks included in the package, so being the nice person I am, I ate one and gave the other two to Tony for being such a swell rooomie.

The Verdict: Pantry Boy is by far the fastest meal kit I've ever tried. I LOOOOVE slow cooking meals, especially in the colder months, and it saves me loads of time in the kitchen. Other meal kits take anywhere from 35-60 mins, but the average total time I need to be hands-on with Pantry Boy was 10 mins. The chicken drumsticks were my favorite meal, followed by the BBQ beef sliders. Next time I will either be sure to add extra water to the pot or simply get a smaller slow cooker since most of my meals are going to be for just me and a friend as opposed to a full family. I'm eager to try the other recipes they have up their sleeves!

To Wrap Up:

Can you still get this box if you sign up today? Since menus change weekly, you won’t receive these dishes unless they are offered again in the future.

Coupon – Get $30 off your first order using code PBMSA!

Value Breakdown: At $62.34 for this box, you are paying $10.39 per serving over the course of three meals for two.

Will you be trying Pantry Boy?