Feb. 14, 2018

If you don’t know what you’re looking for, you might miss Ruthann’s.

The prepared-meal business owned by Ruthann Patterson operates out of a retail center on the northeast corner of 26th Street and Marion Road. Patterson started cooking family-size dinners 12 years ago in Canton and moved the business to Sioux Falls one year ago.

There’s a small sign on the door, and she doesn’t have a website, using Facebook only sporadically to post photographs of her dishes.

“I put all of my money in my food,” she said.

Patterson relies on repeat business and word-of-mouth, and is happy with her one-woman operation and low-profile marketing.

“I’m afraid if I post all the time, they’ll come in and won’t find any food,” she said.

Customers can order a meal in advance or stop by and see what’s available.

Regular offerings include dishes such as chicken enchiladas, Asian chicken and vegetables with Jasmine rice or noodles, beef Bolognese, chicken tetrazzini and a creamy chicken with broccoli and cheese. She’s starting to add beef with gravy, vegetables and oven-fried potatoes, and a chicken pot pie with puff pastry as regulars. Sometimes, she makes up a chicken curry.

The meals are fully cooked and never frozen. They can be reheated in an oven or scooped out of the aluminum pan and microwaved. Everything is made from scratch, including all of the sauces.

“It’s what you would call ‘clean’ food, and I use as much organic as I possibly can without pushing up the cost,” she said.

A dinner, which costs $20, serves five or six people, Patterson said.

“It’s extremely affordable for the quality,” she said. “I wanted to make it where anyone can buy it. If you order Blue Apron, you’ve still got to cook it, and it’s $10 a serving.”

Ruthann’s is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.