• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, July 18, 2016

The New York Times is capitalizing on the success of its NYT Cooking app with a new Meal Kit service that will bring customers some of the most popular recipes from the NYT archives. The new service, created in collaboration with prepared ingredient emporium Chef’d, offers pre-packaged meal kits starting at $27 per meal.

NYT Cooking fans who want a taste of the Old Grey Lady (um, disregard that) can subscribe to the service online through the dedicated Meal Kits microsite, and choose from a variety of options including subscriptions for multiple meals or a la carte selections, which will be delivered within 48 hours of purchase.

To sweeten the deal, the NYT is also offering customers who buy a Meal Plan subscription eight weeks of free digital access to NYTimes.com, across mobile and tablet devices; if the customer is already a subscriber, they can share the complimentary access with a friend.

The NYT Cooking Meal Kits kicks off with 20 favorites suitable for cooks of all experience levels, including oven-roasted chick shawarma, 15-minute fried herb chicken, classic Kung Pao chicken, beef bourguignon, sausage ragu, stir-fried pork and pineapple, and pan fried trout with rosemary, among others.

Meal kits for other dishes will follow, drawn from NYT Cooking’s archive of over 17,000 recipes, including options focused on trends, holidays, and seasonal dishes.

The NYT joins a number of other big publishers branching out into prepared meals. Last year Rodale Inc. partnered with Chef’d for branded a la carte meals and meal plans. The partnership kicked off with branded meal kits for Men’s Health, with plans for additional programs for Women’s Health, Prevention, Runner’s World, Bicycling and Organic Life.

Also last year, Food & Wine made all ingredients on its site purchased through a partnership with Chicory, a service that offers home grocery delivery from stores in the user’s area. The Chicory partnership complemented F&W’s partnership with Drizly, which focuses on home delivery of alcoholic beverages.