Young Chef’s Club (ages 5 and up) is a monthly subscription from America’s Test Kitchen that focuses on the intersection of food and STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics). The team of editors, cooks, and educators at ATK combine their scientific know-how and rigorous testing to create meaningful and empowered experiences in the kitchen.
Box themes are different every month and will remain a surprise for kids, while grown-ups will receive shopping lists ahead of time via email. Themes will vary from specific ingredients, cooking techniques, and scientific subjects, to cuisines and types of food. According to Young Chefs' Club, themes will never repeat.
My Subscription Addiction paid for this box. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
About Young Chefs' Club
The Subscription Box: Young Chefs' Club
The Cost: $24.99 + free shipping. Save with longer commitments
The Products: Recipe cards, hands-on experiment cards, kitchen technique cards,“Make It Your Way” recipe challenge, achievement button, cooking tool or recipe ingredient(s), plus other fun activities: games, puzzles, taste tests, art projects, and more. Also, as a member, you’ll additionally receive access to the digital library of recipes, activities, videos, and fun quizzes for kids.
Ships to: The U.S. only
Young Chefs' Club "Taco Truck" October 2019 Review
My family LOVES America's Test Kitchen, so I couldn't wait to get my hands on this kids' box! Let's dig in and see what we received!
First up is this letter welcoming us to the club, along with theme information, and additional online content for us to check out.
Note: After checking out the website, they have TONS of extra recipes and activities - be sure to check it out!
Here we have our shopping list. No food comes with this subscription, so each month they send a list of the ingredients you will need to complete each recipe. They also note that these lists will be sent via email before you receive your box so you can be prepared.
Achievement Button
Look at this cute little achievement pin! This pin is about the size of a nickel, and is to be given after the box is complete!
Chipotle Morita Chile Powder
When America's Test Kitchen was testing this recipe, they found that Chipotle Morita Chile powder gave the sauce a different flavor than chili powder, so they included it in the box since it is harder to come by.
Tortilla Bag
We also received a 10"X 14" plastic zip bag to press out the DIY corn tortillas.
Taco Stickers
How cute are these taco stickers?! I am a sticker addict, as are my kids, so these are very much appreciated! I love how they perfectly coordinate with the "Taco Truck" theme!
Chicken Tinga Taco Recipe Card
We created this recipe, and my family really enjoyed it! We have never had chicken tinga tacos before, but will be making them again! Continue on below for photos and more information.
Cabbage Slaw Recipe Card
To see how this recipe turned out, check out below! (It was supppper easy!)
Pickled Red Onions Recipe Card
Did you know it only takes about 45 minutes to make pickled red onions? Read below to find out how it went!
Vegetable Taco Recipe Card
While I enjoy black beans and zucchini, my family is not fond of them, so we skipped the vegetable taco recipe this month. Let me know if you tested it out and what you thought! (I love how they show the proper way to mince garlic on this card; I found crushing the clove with the bottom of a measuring cup to loosen the skin extremely helpful!)
DIY Corn Tortilla Recipe
I had plans on making our own corn tortillas, but the 3 stores I went to didn't carry masa harina! All I could find was cornmeal, and after doing a little online research, I discovered while it would possibly work, it wouldn't give very good results, so we just bought corn tortillas at the store. This was definitely a bummer!
How to Shred Meat Technique Card
This card describes how to shred meat into bite-sized pieces. While I have used this technique many times in the past, I did find the information on the back of the card helpful. I use a crockpot a lot, and find that sometimes I dry out my roasts... I now think it's because it gets over 200 degrees; between 140 and 200 degrees is the sweet spot!
Make It Your Way Challenge Card
Here we received a "Make It Your Way Challenge." This challenge is to get your creative juices flowing, and try something new and different. You can take photos of your creations and post them on social media! The back of this card is a little inspiration for your brainstorming. I really like the idea of the dessert taco... I might have to create one!
Awesome Avocado Amazing Kids Experiment Card
Learn about how you can stop your avocados from turning brown with this fun experiment!
Here is our avocado cut in half. Because we wanted to put some avocado on our taco, we cut out what we wanted and kept the leftovers exposed to air. In the bowl we put a few tablespoons of lemon juice and set our other avocado half face down in the lemon juice and waited 24 hours.
Do you see what the air did to the avocado NOT in the lemon juice? Oxidation occurred, and created brown-colored molecules. The avocado set in the lemon juice was protected by antioxidants that prevented the oxygen to react and turn the avocado brown. While both are safe to eat, I would much rather eat the green one! This was a fun experiment the kids and I all enjoyed- I am definitely a science nut!
Taco Truck Menu Coloring Sheet
We also received a MASSIVE taco truck coloring menu! My oldest son LOVED this project. He created his own taco truck named "The Taco Mobile" and created his very own menu. He was so proud of his spelling and illustrations that he asked if he could hang this up in his room! The back side features "The Secret Science of Corn Tortillas." This was a fun way to learn how corn tortillas are created through nixtamalization, which honestly I had no idea what that was until I read this!
Taco Truck Craft
Taco truck coming through!! This is the last item in this month's box, and it turned out really cute. Each of my sons colored 2 pieces, and we cut them out and taped them together. They were quite satisfied with their results, and have been pretending with it all morning!
Recipe # 1 Chicken Tinga Tacos
These are the ingredients needed to create the Chicken Tinga Taco recipe. Like I mentioned above, I couldn't find masa harina, so we bought corn tortillas instead.
Hank slicing the onion using the technique included on page 3!
Charlie adding the vegetable oil to soften the onions.
Both kids wanted to add the seasonings, so we alternated who got to add what. The Chipotle Chile Powder smelled AMAZING by the way!
We found the recipe to be super easy to follow with great tips. I do want to suggest reading the recipe all the way through before you start so you know exactly what to expect. After we cooked our spices until fragrant, we added the tomato sauce, and chicken.
After cooking for 25 minutes, we took out the chicken and used the shredding technique that was suggested, and ended up with deliciously tender, bite-sized meat! (The finished product will be down below, because we had to make the cabbage slaw, and red onions of course!)
Recipe #2 Pickled Red Onions
Ingredients necessary to make the pickled red onions.
Charlie squeezing out the lime juice!
And this is our vinegar mixture boiling! I want to mention, we were working on this recipe AS our chicken was cooking, so it would all be done at the same time (since this is a topping for the tacos.)
Recipe #3 Cabbage Slaw
These are the ingredients we needed to make the cabbage slaw. I usually buy creamy slaw sauce, but the lime juice really gave the cabbage a different flavor. It was really easy, and quite tasty!
Here is the finished product! After heating the corn tortillas in the microwave for a few seconds, we loaded them up with the chicken, cabbage slaw, red onions, avocados, cheese, and sour cream! This was a completely different recipe for us, and my kids really enjoyed making it and eating it! When I asked them on a scale of 1-10 how delicious they thought these recipes were, they both gave 2 thumbs up and said 10!
The Verdict: The kids and I had a great time doing the crafts, experiments, and creating these recipes together. Young Chefs' Club did a great job creating a themed box that really fit well together, and taught us a lot of new techniques. That being said, I was a little baffled at the lack of physical items in the box. I loved the recipe/technique/experiment cards, but I really feel like something was missing in a box that costs $24.99 a month. Honestly, when I received my shipping notice, I thought we would receive an apron, recipe card holder, or tool, so I was slightly disappointed. I did check out the website and was impressed with the amount of recipes and information they included there, but I expected more in the box itself. I'm hoping since this is the first box, they have bigger and better things to come, so I have high expectations for next month!
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? You'll likely receive the November box. Auto-renewal billing occurs on the 15th of the month prior to the box ship date. All memberships will auto-renew at the end of the monthly, six-month, or 12-month term. Boxes will ship on the fourth business day of each month and should arrive within a week or two.
Value Breakdown: This box is $24.99 a month (including shipping). I received 5 recipe cards, an experiment card, a technique card, a challenge card, a taco truck craft, stickers, achievement pin, Chipotle Chile Powder, plastic bag, and shopping list, which would equal out to $1.66 a piece. Also included in this price is the online content. While I feel it is a very well themed box with lots of fun activities, I find it highly overpriced.
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