It seems that we've been receiving advertisements for Blue Apron and similar meal delivery kit services for years now. I've been intrigued but never looked into it too much because it seemed expensive to me. For Christmas we received a gift card for Blue Apron which got me really excited because I was finally going to be able to give this service a try.
Ordering
Signing up and ordering has been very simple. The website is easy to navigate. While it's a subscription based service, it's easy to skip a week or two or three. Making changes to the meals you want or the type of plan you want is also a simple task.
I opted for the 2-person plan since Sami is in such a picky phase. I may try the family plan in the future to see what type of options they have versus the 2-person meal plan. I opted for 3 meals a week, because it gave me free shipping. It comes out to about $66.00 which is $11.00/portion. I'm aiming to always be under $5.00/portion for my meal plans, so this is definitely pricey to me. But with the gift card - not so pricey! :)
Packaging
Prior to receiving my first delivery, I wondered if it would be an issue if the box stayed on my front porch for a couple hours in case we aren't home when it's delivered. My only other thought was that I'd have to make sure to cook the beef recipe early in the week to ensure it stayed fresh.
The pictures below aren't the best so I will try to paint a picture. The box was pretty heavy and when I opened it, the recipes were on top and there was a thermal bag below it, taking up 90% of the box. I opened the box and all the ingredients were individually packaged and labelled. The meats were vacuum sealed in between 2 sheets of ice. I no longer worried that I'd have to cook the beef that same night!
I kept the ice packages - they'll be great to put in our cooler for picnics! I also kept the thermal bag, you never know when those can come in handy - road trip anyone?
Quality
The produce and meats were of better quality than what I usually get at the grocery store. The meat for the stew was pre-cut as was the chicken which I'll be honest, prepping meat is my least favorite part of cooking. I even prefer cleaning up afterwards and that's saying a lot. I was very pleased!
Everything you need in order to prepare each meal is provided with the exception of olive oil, salt and pepper. All other seasonings and items like soy sauce/glaze and tomato paste are included.
Recipes
One of the things I've struggled with when it comes to Blue Apron is that their recipe options aren't usually meals that speak to me. Either they are something I know my husband and/or I wouldn't eat, or the meals appear to be more geared toward foodies. That was my perception anyway. You have 8 options to pick from and I'll usually see 1 or maybe 2 that seems appetizing, but I don't want to pay for shipping when I can basically get another meal for the price of shipping.
When I found a week that had meals I thought we might go for, I ordered the following:
Beef & Mushroom Stew with Roasted Potatoes
Quick Bucatini with Broccoli & Pecorino Cheese
Pan-Fried Chicken with Zucchini & Pickled Peppers
The recipes were so easy to follow. The instructions are clear, and detailed in step-by-step format. The instructions are accompanied with pictures which is something I personally love. A cookbook with no pictures does not inspire me whatsoever.
With the ingredients being all packaged individually, there was not a lot of meal prep aside - all I had to do what chop the vegetables. No recipe took longer than 45 minutes to make from start to finish which is a bonus for a busy working mama.
Taste
In choosing the recipes, I thought for sure that we would like the recipes in the order they are listed above (stew then pasta then chicken). I was happily surprised that our favorite was the Pan-Fried Chicken dinner because it included some veggies we don't usually eat. Hubby gobbled it up! It's also the meal that was the most fragrant - the house smelled heavenly as soon as the red wine vinegar hit the pan. The rice was just the right touch for the meal.
The stew was my next favorite even if I burnt half the potatoes (oops!). Roasted crispy potatoes on top of the stew was a twist I'd never thought of. And now and I have an easy recipe for roasted potato slices assuming I don't burn them all... ;)
The pasta was my least favorite - I'm just not a big fan of thick pasta - I buy angel hair pasta for spaghetti nights. That being said, it was pretty darn delicious. The sauce tasted like a parma rosa sauce with it's mix of mascarpone and tomato paste. The broccoli made me feel better about eating all those carbs and made me feel good because I sometimes add broccoli to my mac & cheese making it a good choice on my part!
All in all my palate was pleased! And I had fun.
Customer Service
The customer service at Blue Apron has been great. They helped me apply a $30.00 off coupon that I was having trouble applying to my account. They fixed it all for me all through email correspondence and even helped me get an extra $10.00 off when I received a $40.00 off coupon a month later and I hadn't received my first delivery yet. I've since then received a $10.00 gift card from them.
Overall it was a great experience and I'm looking forward to my next delivery (this Saturday!). I don't know that I'll keep doing it once I'm paying full price, but I might try other similar services. Home Chef seems appealing because you have a lot more options to choose from every week and the meals seem more up my alley. If I go for it, I'll be sure to let you know!
Have you tried any meal delivery services? What was your experience?
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