We Tried That: Emily Mariko's Collab With Green Chef Lets You Make Tasty Meals at Home

Since her easy leftover salmon and rice bowl went viral on TikTok, Emily Mariko has secured herself as a staple creator on the app, sharing caption-less, soothing cooking content daily. Though her platform has caused some controversy, namely her watery pumpkin pie recipe and her pricey tote bag, her farmers market meals and tasty uses of leftovers keep her a fairly reliable content creator.

Emily's newest collaboration is with Green Chef, a weekly meal kit that lets you make delicious meals at home. The collaboration features eight different dishes, all curated by Emily herself, featuring plenty of flavor combinations you'll often find in her content online. Green Chef kindly sent a couple of the dishes for us to try.

There was unfortunately a mix-up in my shipment, so as a pescatarian I could only eat one of the two meals sent, namely the Ricotta Pancakes with Cherry Maple Syrup. The Chicken with Cardamom Spiced Greek Yogurt I gave to my roommate to try for me. But in return for being late, Green Chef threw in a free can of baked beans! Were these needed for any of the recipes? No! But now I have an extra can of no-sugar-added baked beans.

So are Emily's Green Chef meals good? We tried that to find out.

If there's one takeaway I had from making this first recipe, it's that you should really check the list of necessary materials before you start. Though most meal kits provide everything you need for a recipe, Green Chef listed four tablespoons of butter and a quarter of a cup of sugar as the BYO ingredients for this meal — two things I found out my roommates had finished when I wasn't looking. So my cooking process began with a trip to the store.

The batter for the ricotta pancakes was surprisingly runny, despite following the instructions exactly. That said, the crepe-like coins it produced gave me way more than enough for two people. In fact, I fed four with the single batch and still had a couple of small cakes left over.

The ricotta pancakes were rich, making three thin cakes the perfect serving size for a single breakfast. Paired with the maple creme fresh and cherry syrup topping, it tasted like a decadent brunch meal I would've overpaid for on a hungover Sunday.

The chicken dish, unfortunately, did not have the same plethora of leftovers. My roommate made the dish in my stead and found that the recipe meant for two was only enough for their solo dinner. They said it possibly could've stretched for two people if each had small portions, but it wasn't nearly as hearty of a meal as the ricotta pancakes were.

That said, they did applaud the dish for its good flavor profile, with the flavors melding together well — though the vegetables cooked down significantly, which likely contributed to the meal's slim final product.

Overall, Emily's combination of flavors definitely shines through these specific dish selections, and I'm personally jealous of anyone who got to try the Sockeye Salmon knowing her reputation for salmon dishes. Green Chef's portions could use some work, it seems, but these were delicious easy meals to make at home.