Although the idea of ready-to-eat-meals may sound more like military rations than your average dinner at home, Amazon is reportedly talking about delivering dishes that are already prepared and don’t need to be refrigerated as part of its push into the grocery business.

According to Reuters, Amazon has been chatting with startup firm 915 Labs, which is marketing a technology called microwave assisted thermal sterilization (MATS). The process — developed by researchers at Washington State University — involves putting sealed packages of food in pressurized water and then heating them with a microwave for several minutes.

This means that unlike a meal kit service — which Amazon is already offering in Seattle — dishes like beef stew and vegetable frittata could be consumed as soon as they’re out of the package, or stored in the pantry for up to a year. No preparation necessary.

915 Labs claims that the dishes keep their natural flavor and texture, in comparison to other processing methods that involve cooking meals in pressure cookers for up to an hour.

If Amazon decides to go ahead with such a service — possibly as early as next year — storage and shipping would be easy, since the meals don’t need to be refrigerated, and thus they could be a cheaper option for customers than takeout.

Amazon declined to comment to Reuters.

All I want to know is if scientists have come up with a RTE pizza yet.

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