Kroger’s meal solutions company Home Chef is in the spotlight with a celebrity chef partnership, per a Wednesday announcement. 

Home Chef has linked up with Rachael Ray on a new line of meal kits available in more than 1,300 Kroger stores and online. 

The first recipe available under the collaboration is a steakhouse burger with Dijon mushrooms and onions. Other recipes will include spicy sloppy joes with oven fries and pork lo mein with carrots and bok choy. New meal kits with Ray’s recipes will become available in-store each month through mid-March and more of Ray’s recipes will be available for delivery through Home Chef. 

In the announcement on Wednesday, Kroger highlighted the easiness of the meal kits and also stressed the importance of personalized food solutions for busy consumers. 

"Rachael Ray, widely known for her quick, easy-to-prepare recipes, popular cooking shows and best-selling cookbooks, and Home Chef have come together to offer a series of meals from new Rachael recipes that are simple, convenient and delicious," Dan De La Rosa, group vice president of fresh merchandising at Kroger, said in the announcement.

Home Chef is in company with other meal kit and prepared meals delivery companies, including HelloFresh, Freshly and Blue Apron, that have turned to celebrity chefs to give their offerings more shine. 

While meal kit demand has seen a rollercoaster ride since the pandemic started, Coresight Research forecasted last year that the industry will maintain double-digit sales growth for a few more years, topping $10 billion by 2024.

Almost a year ago, Home Chef reached $1 billion in annual sales — a major milestone as Kroger further leaned into meal solutions after the pandemic started. In July, Home Chef opened a production facility in the Atlanta area, boosting its fulfillment capacity in the Southeast.