Meghan Markle’s new Netflix show, With Love, Meghan, has arrived, bringing with it a fresh take on homemaking—or at least, that seems to be the intention.
In an attempt to showcase her domestic skills, Meghan offers tips that range from flower arranging to a truly groundbreaking concept: transferring pretzels from one bag to another and calling it innovation. Move over, Martha Stewart—there’s a new lifestyle guru in town. In the debut episode, Meghan prepares for a visit from her friend and makeup artist, Daniel Martin. Her efforts are commendable, though unintentionally amusing. Alongside making truffle popcorn and setting the table, she takes a particularly creative approach to snack organization.
She removes peanut butter pretzel nuggets from their original Trader Joe’s packaging, places them into a plastic bag, and labels it “Peanut Butter Pretzels.” Naturally, the internet had a field day. One viral post summed up the absurdity perfectly: I’m so glad Meghan Markle has a new Netflix show where I can watch her take pretzels out of a labeled bag, put them into a new bag, then label it again. The people’s Martha Stewart!
The amusement didn’t stop there. Podcaster Zack Peter playfully mocked her decision to label the bag, despite knowing full well that peanut butter pretzels are Daniel’s favorite snack. Did she think he might suddenly forget? Or was it an extra precaution in case he developed an allergy mid-visit? The internet was left both baffled and entertained.
Then came the highlight—or perhaps the lowlight—of the show: Meghan’s pasta recipe. At first glance, it seemed like a simple and harmless dish, but internet sleuths quickly noticed something suspicious. A sharp-eyed reader of Lainey Gossip discovered that Meghan’s so-called original pasta recipe bore an uncanny resemblance to one published by none other than Martha Stewart. The similarities were striking, and as if to drive the point home, Martha’s website recently updated the recipe with a not-so-subtle tagline: The Original and The Best. Coincidence? Maybe. A calculated dig? Knowing Martha, it wouldn’t be surprising.
The online reactions were priceless. One commenter noted, I made that recipe back in 2013—nothing Meghan does is original. Another quipped, Do you think they added ‘The Original and The Best’ after her show aired? Go get her, Martha! Adding to the culinary critique, some viewers pointed out that Meghan’s version used less water than the original recipe called for, which likely resulted in pasta with the texture of rubber. Trying to eat that with a straight face must have been a challenge.
All of this raises a bigger question: Does Meghan Markle actually cook? Does she personally host guests, or is this just a carefully curated performance for the cameras? Considering the high probability that she and Prince Harry have a full staff handling their meals and entertaining, it’s hard to believe she’s suddenly transformed into the next domestic icon. Yet, here she is, positioning herself as a millennial Martha Stewart—minus the expertise, credibility, and signature charm.
No one is saying Meghan Markle can’t have a cooking show, but if she wants to be taken seriously as a lifestyle personality, she might want to bring something truly innovative to the table—literally. Because so far, With Love, Meghan feels less like the arrival of a modern Ina Garten and more like an out-of-touch take on domesticity, one pretzel bag at a time.
Meanwhile, somewhere on her picturesque New England farm, Martha Stewart is likely sipping a perfectly chilled glass of wine, watching this all unfold with a knowing smile and thinking to herself, Bless her heart.
