Little Spoon Review 2024: Good for Your Kids?

Overview

Feeding babies and little kids can be tough. They need the best food to help them grow healthy and strong. It's important to pick a good meal delivery service for babies and children, but not all services are the same. Many services fill their foods with junk and filler, which is not something you want to feed your youngest family members.

Thankfully, I've studied Little Spoon in detail to see if it's a good choice for your family. I've looked at the good and bad points, the meals on offer, ingredient quality, how you can customize them, the cost, and a lot more. I'm excited to share what I've found so you can make the best choice.

Overall, I’ve found Little Spoon to be a worthy service for your kids. It offers a good selection of Babyblends, snack “Biteables”, Plates, and Smoothies. All its ingredients are also USDA-certified organic by QAI International, and the meals are crafted fresh and with care every week in a small kitchen in California, just like you would yourself do at home.

Little Spoon’s Menu: Meals for Babies & Young Kids 

Little Spoon is perfect for babies and young children from toddlerhood to around age 7. Each category of offerings on the site is suitable for babies and kids at specific ages.

Meal Options: Choose From 4 Types of Kid Meals

There are 4 categories on the menu: Babyblends, Biteables, Plates, and Smoothies.

Babyblends

This is a collection of pureed foods ideal for toddlers between 6 and 9+ months. In stages, that’s 1 through 6. Each stage contains roughly 12 different meals.

Each category of meals represents the number of ingredients each meal comprises. For example, Stage 1 meals (6+ months) contain only 1 single ingredient.

Stage 2 meals contain 2 ingredients, Stage 3 contain 3 ingredients, and so on. The only difference is that Stage 5 meals contain 5 ingredients, and Stage 6 meals are transition meals.

Here are some examples of meals found in Stages 1 through 6.

• Stage 1: Sweet Potato, Apple, Peach, Butternut Squash, and Parsnip,

• Stage 2: Banana + Pitaya, Sweet Potato + Carrot, and Golden Beet + Broccoli

• Stage 3: Strawberry Banana Murasaki Sweet Potato, and Kale Carrot Pear

• Stage 4: Pitaya Coconut Bowl, Limited Edition Peach Cobbler, and Turmeric Sweet Potato Bell Pepper Soup

• Stage 5: Veg + Millet, Savory Squash + Ancient Grains, and Tuscan Quinoa and White Bean Soup

• Stage 6: Blueberry Purple Carrot Overnight Oats and Ancient Grain Banana Coconut Cream Pie

Biteables

These are what Little Spoon calls “veggie-packed, clean, and balanced recipes.” Essentially this is a collection of foods that have been portioned for your toddler to help teach them better motor skills. These are also supposed to help transition him or her to table foods.

There are around 8 biteables on the menu at any given time. Some examples here include Grass-Fed Beef Meatballs, Mini Cheesy Pasta, Turkey Kale Meatballs, and more. Most meals are egg-, nut-, and sesame-free – more on customization options below.

Plates

These are basically plates of regular food that you or your partner can enjoy. Each meal is packaged in a much smaller portion. Your kid would benefit most from these meals once they reach around age 1 (or sometimes before).

You will find roughly 25+ Plates on the menu at any given time. Plate options include simple dishes like Mini Spinach and Cheese Ravioli, Whole Wheat Penne and Kale Turkey Meatballs, or the ever-popular Mac and Three Cheese.

But don’t think pasta is the only option! You could also get Chicken Super Nuggets with veggie patties and sweet potato carrot poppers and broccoli, or Turkey Kale Sliders with veggie millet poppers and carrots.

Smoothies

This is a great meal category for super-healthy, on-the-go snacks for your kids. You’re getting smoothies with certified organic ingredients, no artificial ingredients or flavors, and no added sugar. Each smoothie is jam-packed with “hidden veg” and superfoods, plus lots of fruit.

There are around 15 options for smoothies at any given point in time. Some examples include the popular Strawberry Banana Shake with coconut milk, Tropical Greens with avocado and hemp seeds, and Paradise Punch with guava.

Customization: Good Filtering Options + Common Allergens Are Listed

I’m happy to see that there’s no shortage of customization options. A lot of the meals are free from lots of common ingredients, which can very easily be filtered out right on the menu.

Here’s how to customize each meal category by ingredient:

• Babyblends: These can be customized with a No Coconut, No Wheat, or No Meat option.

• Biteables and Plates: Here, you can choose No Gluten, Dairy, Nuts, Coconut, Sesame, Meat, Fish, or Egg.

• Smoothies: You can customize your smoothies to not contain any coconut, sesame, or dairy.

When it comes to allergens, there are several ways to find meals that work for your toddler. Firstly, every meal on the Babyblends, Biteables, and Plates menus features labels that indicate what the meal will be free from. For instance, there are labels for gluten-, sesame-, dairy-, nut-free, and lots more.

Please do keep in mind that Little Spoon doesn’t promise 100% allergen-free ingredients. If your child has a severe allergy, I highly recommend checking out the Terms & Conditions page for further details. It essentially states that the meals and ingredients may or may not have come into contact with other allergens.

Unboxing: You Get Fresh & Well-Organized Meals

The meals from Little Spoon are made and delivered fresh every week. Everything gets delivered to you in a thermally insulated container, including gel ice packs (and dry ice, contingent upon your geographical location).

You should expect the meals to be cold to the touch. It's advised to remove the meals from the container as soon as possible following your delivery and then transfer them to your refrigerator.

Even though it doesn't send out its food frozen, due to packaging techniques, it may be slightly frozen. If that happens, you can either keep them in your freezer or put them straight in the fridge.

All of the Plates menu items will arrive packaged on a plate, which are also dishwasher-safe. Of course, that means they’re also reusable. Take a look at the Little Spoon Plates menu to see exactly what the plates will look like when they arrive – what you see is what you get.

Storage Instructions

Each meal type has different storage instructions. Here’s how to store your Babyblends, Biteables, Plates, and Smoothies.

Babyblends + Smoothies

Store these in your fridge for up to 14 days, or freeze them for up to 3 months. Once opened, they’ll stay fresh and should be consumed within 48 hours. Smoothies can also be left unrefrigerated for up to 4 hours at most, as long as they “remain cold to the touch”.

Biteables + Plates

Store these just like Babyblends and Smoothies, except that you should only freeze them for 2 months. Keep these in the fridge between servings.

A Quick Note About Expiry/Best-Before Date(s)

Your meals won’t have expiration/best-before dates printed on them. According to the Little Spoon website, everyone chooses to store their meals differently. This means you have to do some extra work in labeling meals yourself.

Recyclability of Packaging

Much of the packaging is recyclable and/or reusable. For example, you can recycle the boxes, insulation, and ice packs. To do this, make the boxes and trays flat and put them in your paper recycle bin. 

Each item should be disposed of differently. Cut the plastic off the insulation, put the plastic in your plastic bin, and place the insulation in your paper bin. For the ice packs, wait until they melt, cut a corner, and put the inside stuff in the trash.

The blue “Plates” are safe for the dishwasher (put them on the top rack) and can be reused. Lastly, put the plastic from the ice packs in your plastic recycle bin.

Cooking With Little Spoon: You Only Need to Heat Some Meals

Everything arrives conveniently packaged, so you never have to use your own dishes. Babyblends come with an included spoon, but you’ll require your own silverware for the other meals.

You can warm up the food in several different ways – but not all food needs to be heated. For example, Babyblends can be served cold or warmed up in the microwave, Smoothies get served cold, and Plates and Biteables can both be warmed in the microwave as well.

If using your microwave, heat in small increments of 30 seconds, and let sit before serving.

Biteables and Plates can also be warmed up in your oven, air fryer, or toaster oven. To do that, remove the meal from its respective container, and place onto an oven- or toaster-oven-safe dish, or in the air fryer basket. The Plates are microwave safe – but do keep in mind that they’re not oven-, air fryer-, or toaster-oven safe.

If using a toaster oven, air fryer, or oven, heat for 4 to 7 minutes at a time at around 325 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Prices: Little Spoon Is Reasonably Priced

Pricing really depends on how much you order and on what you order. For instance, Smoothies and Babyblends are the most affordable meal type, with Biteables and Plates being slightly pricier, per serving.

However, what I like is that you’ll save some money per serving the more you order at a time. Shipping is always $5, no matter how much you order or where you live.

It makes the most economical sense to order as much as you can at a time. This is especially the case if you know you’re going to continue using the service. Alternatively, you could place a very small order to try things out before you dive into a very large order.

Shipping & Delivery: A Smooth & Streamlined Process

Delivery is available throughout all 48 contiguous states. At this time, shipping isn’t available to Alaska, Hawaii, Canada, or Mexico.

It looks like deliveries happen on Wednesdays, regardless of your location. You can choose any Wednesday up to 4 weeks in advance. Exact delivery dates can’t be chosen, however.

Make sure to place your order by Saturday at 6 pm ET if you want your delivery to arrive in the coming week. If you happen to place your order later than this, you can expect your delivery the following week.

How Little Spoon Works (Step by Step Guide)

Signing up couldn’t be easier. Simply visit the website, decide on any of the 4 meal plans, and complete the process. Here’s how it all works in more detail.

How to Sign Up (Just 6 Simple Steps)

1. Visit the Little Spoon homepage. Then, click GET STARTED in the middle of the screen, or in the top-right.

2. Choose your preferred meal type. You can choose Baby Food (Babyblends), Early Finger Foods (Biteables), Toddler + Kids Meals (Plates), or Smoothies.

3. Enter your email address. Then, click GET STARTED once again.

4. Provide the rest of your information. Enter your name, your kid’s name, his or her birthday, what they currently eat, and your ZIP code.

5. Choose your preferred plan size. In this example, I’ve chosen Babyblends. Choose whether you want 1, 2, or 3 Blends per day. For more information about the different plans and pricing, check out my Pricing section up above.

6. Complete the signup process. Enter the rest of your information, view the details of your order, and complete the payment.

Managing Your Subscription

Managing your subscription is as easy as signing into your online account dashboard. You will create your very own login once you’ve paid for your first delivery.

Once you have an active account, you can do things like:

• Modify future orders (aside from your first)

• Skip deliveries

• Cancel your plan

• Change the number of items you get in a delivery

• Update your shipping address

Customer Service: There’s Room for Improvement

Little Spoon offers support via text, chat, and email from Monday to Friday from 9 am to 10 pm, ET. You can visit the home page for live chat support, text (415) 855-4155, or email [email protected].

The website also has a fairly respectable FAQ section. It covers most questions you might have. These include questions about the food, shipping and delivery, the ordering process, pricing, and lots more. It’s pretty extensive, so I recommend checking that out before ordering.

I took it upon myself to test out the live chat support, as I usually do in my reviews. Overall, I’m happy that there’s a live chat feature, but I’m not happy about the amount of time I had to wait for an agent.

When you first initiate a live chat session, it’s promised that “an agent will reply in less than 2 hours”. In a day and age with near-instantaneous live chat support, I found this to be a bit unacceptable. But, it’s still better than waiting for 24 to 48 hours for an email response.

I wanted to find out what the target age group is for the food and how the food differs for older and younger kids. After waiting for about an hour, I was told that there are currently no agents available to chat. 

I was also informed that someone would “respond to my request within 24 hours.” The chat experience turned out to be more of an email support experience.

So, instead, I tested out the email support to see how that would work out. An agent replied to my email within about 19 hours. That's not bad at all.

How Little Spoon Compares to Other Meal Delivery Services

• Little Spoon vs. Home Chef: Home Chef is an ideal choice if you have older kids. Home Chef is better suited to the maturing tastes of growing kids. On the contrary, Little Spoon's meals are crafted with much younger kids and toddlers in mind. Check out its Family Meals in that case.

• Little Spoon vs. Dinnerly: If you have kids who are older than around 5 to 7 years, you could check out Dinnerly. It offers meals labeled as Kid Friendly, and it also happens to be the most affordable meal kit delivery service in the United States.

• Little Spoon vs. Nurture Life: Nurture Life focuses on providing freshly made, nutritionally balanced meals for babies, toddlers, and kids up to 10 years old. In addition to baby purees, it offers finger foods for babies ready for the next step in eating, as well as a variety of meals for toddlers and older children.

The Bottom Line: Is Little Spoon Worth It?

If you want a variety of food for toddlers and very young kids, it’s a great choice. It offers pureed food in the form of Babyblends and Smoothies, and more solid food for older kids like Biteables and Plates.

You can also order a variety of plan sizes to suit your lifestyle. You can vary the amount of baby food you order at a time – and the more you order at once, the more you save per order.

One thing I wasn’t particularly impressed with was the live chat support. However, I can overlook this, as the Little Spoon team seems to be very small. Someone may not always be available right away. This also means it can better focus on providing top-quality baby food in small batches.

FAQ

Is Little Spoon safe for babies?

Yes, the service focuses on toddlers between 6 and 9+ months. It’s also suitable for slightly older kids, up to age 7. For babies and toddlers, specifically, its Babyblends and Smoothies lineup will be a great option. These also happen to be quite affordable at the same time.

What age is Little Spoon for?

Little Spoon provides food for toddlers and small kids from ages 6 months to around 7 years. You can get a variety of meals such as Babyblends and Smoothies (pureed food), or Biteables and Plates (solid food). 

What is the safest baby food?

One of the safest baby foods is available from Little Spoon. Its Babyblends are USDA-certified organic by QAI International and GMO-free. The company also doesn’t use preservatives, artificial flavors, sweeteners, or added sugar. All the food is also crafted fresh in small batches every single week in its southern California kitchen.