It ain’t easy getting a Freezie, but Amy’s Kitchen made the cut. As if there weren’t enough reasons to celebrate Amy’s Kitchen’s solid success in the frozen food industry, the vegetarian frozen food purveyor has been honored with a prestigious Freezie Award.
The popular food blog Simply Recipes launched the first Freezie Awards on National Frozen Food Day, March 6. The Freezie Awards recognize the best-tasting frozen food products. More than 200 items were tested by food professionals, including cookbook authors, registered nutritionists, and professional chefs. Every winning product costs less than $16 for a full meal.
Amy’s Kitchen’s Roasted Poblano Enchiladas snagged the Best New Frozen Vegetarian Main accolade.
“So honored to win a first-ever Freezie Award!” Amy’s Kitchen posted on its Instagram account.
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The gluten-free, tree-nut-free, kosher meal is nestled in an organic corn tortilla and is chock-full of carrots, bell peppers, zucchini, and fire-roasted poblanos, paired with organic house-made tofu and blanketed with a blend of cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses.
“We fold the tortillas by hand, cover them with our smooth, creamy poblano sauce and finish with a little extra cheese,” it states on amys.com. “As if you didn’t already love Mexican food enough.”
Sarah Crowder, the art director who is credited with visuals and design for the Freezie Awards, praised the winning dish: “It is so flavorful — it’s veggie-filled, and the poblano flavor is prominent in the sauce. I would buy this for my family.”
The Pancake Princess blogger Erika Kwee also expressed her appreciation for Amy’s Kitchen’s Roasted Poblano Enchiladas on simplyrecipes.com.
“With fresh flavor, great texture to the corn tortillas, and creamy sauce, this feels like a restaurant dish as opposed to a frozen meal,” Kwee described. “The tofu filling makes it feel hearty and satisfying as a meal.”
And Amy’s Kitchen is in good company. Some of the other frozen foods to capture Freezies include Banza Blueberry Protein Waffles, MìLà Pork Soup Dumplings, Genio Della Pizza The Bianca, Cappello’s Buttermilk Biscuits, Homebake 425°/:30 Homestyle Mac & Cheese, Homebake 425°/:30 Pulled Pork with BBQ Sauce, Yasso Fudge Chocolate Crunch, and Tillamook Neapolitan ice cream.
Amy’s Kitchen’s Road to the Freezie Awards
The Amy’s Kitchen journey began with a simple idea: to provide tasty, vegetarian meals for those too busy to cook. From its humble beginnings, it has grown into a household name, offering a wide range of products — from frozen pizzas and entrees to soups and burritos — all made with organic ingredients and prepared with the same care and attention as homemade fare.
The Freezie Awards committee highlighted several factors contributing to Amy’s Kitchen’s win, including the use of quality ingredients and criteria based on taste, texture, nutritional value, and total appeal. For a product to be considered for a Freezies Award, it also had to have launched sometime last year and be available nationwide.
The success of Amy’s Kitchen and its recognition by the Freezie Awards demonstrate that delicious, convenient food with organic options is possible.
As Amy’s Kitchen continues to innovate and lead by example, its Freezie Award win is a milestone that underscores the company’s role in shaping the future of food for the better.
Myo Quinn, Simply Recipes’ associate editorial director, appeared on CBS Mornings to explain the awards and the winning foods.
“There has been a remarkable evolution in the frozen foods aisle,” Quinn told CBS. “For over 20 years, Simply Recipes has been a resource for busy home cooks that want smart, easy, and delicious weeknight dinner solutions, and that’s what we did with the frozen foods.
“Our editors are already huge fans of Amy’s Kitchen for their organic, vegetarian frozen foods so it was no surprise their new Roasted Poblano Enchiladas won. It tastes delicious. You can taste the corn in the tortillas, the sharp cheese. It’s not too spicy.”
Family Matters With Frozen Food
Quinn went on to express gratitude for the convenience of frozen food during economically challenging times.
“Frozen foods are an affordable way to feed families,” Quinn added. “They have a long shelf life, so it helps reduce food waste. All our products again are under $16 and many are under $8 to feed a family of four.
“And I can tell you, as a busy working mom of three, the greatest benefit of frozen foods is the gift of time when I can reach into my freezer for a meal that I feel really good about feeding my family in a fraction of the time it takes to make it from scratch. That is time I can spend with my kids.”
Being able to offer the opportunity for its customers to indulge in more family time is an essential ingredient to Amy’s Kitchen. Amy’s Kitchen’s co-founders Andy and Rachel Berliner started their business out of a need to feed their own growing family.
When Rachel Berliner was pregnant and in need of quick-prep organic, vegetarian cuisine, Andy Berliner was tasked with finding it at their local grocery store. When the options didn’t win over the couple’s taste buds, they decided to take matters into their own hands and whip up a vegetarian potpie. From that desire, Amy’s Kitchen came to be.
“We’ve always started from the very first day with this premise that every meal we serve should be good enough, taste good enough that we would serve it to our closest friends and family,” Amy’s Kitchen President Paul Schiefer says. “And the way to do that is by finding the highest quality ingredients, working directly with farmers and growers on varieties and processing techniques so we get the best thing to start with.”
In keeping with the family spirit, Amy’s Kitchen has launched family-size packs of its burritos, pad Thai, pesto tortellini, vegetable lasagna, and offers a family-size pack of its Freezie Award-winning Roasted Poblano Enchiladas.
“By building these bigger pack sizes, we’re able to bring new value to our consumers and make Amy’s work as a lunch or dinner solution for an entire family,” Schiefer says.
