I was sent 3 meals for 2 people from Blue Apron for free, to review, however all opinions expressed are my own.
Blue Apron provides complete meals with 500-700 calories per serving. They come with easy to follow recipe cards in color. They provide pre-portioned ingredients to save time and reduce food waste. Each meal takes about 35 minutes to prepare. The ingredients are fresher than the supermarket, are specialties that you can’t find on your own, emphasize sustainable practices, and are premium and seasonal from artisanal purveyors. The meal plans are flexible, with no commitment, and you can skip a week anytime. The meals are based on your dietary preferences and start at $8.74 per person per meal.
The meal comes carefully packaged in a refrigerated box with ice packs inside, so the food will stay fresh even if you’re not home when it’s delivered. You can pick the day of delivery and a 4 hour delivery window, so it’s very convenient. Mine came on a Saturday afternoon.
The ingredients are already portioned out for you and come in individual packages. The vegetables are in plastic packages, the “knacks” come in brown bags, and the meat comes in nicely sealed packages.
The three meals I was sent are normally $59.94. The meals are posted on their website for the next week, so you have a chance to see if it’s something you would like or not. I was sent Center-Cut Pork Chops, Crispy Chicken Thighs, and Pan-Roasted Salmon Ramen.
The back of the recipe cards show the prepared ingredients and step-by-step directions of how to prepare each meal. I don’t cook fancy meals, so I was a little worried about cooking these, but the directions are so well written, that I was able to follow them. However, it took me much longer to cook the meals than the expected 30 minutes. Most of them took me an hour to an hour and a half. A lot of that was my fault, though, because I kept reading and re-reading the steps to make sure I was doing it correctly.
This is the Center-Cut Pork Chops with Beet, Heirloom Carrot & Hazelnut Salad. My husband is more adventurous with his food tastes, so he ate most of the meals. He said it tasted good and the flavors are all good together, but it really needs carbs – like rice or noodles. I tried some of it, and thought it tasted pretty good. My daughter liked the meat, but didn’t like the beets. My husband had enough left over to have for lunch the next day.
I also prepared the Crispy Chicken Thighs with Kumquat Relish & Freekeh Salad. This meal was a little hard to make because you cover the chicken with foil and a pot, and I couldn’t tell when the chicken was done, so it is a little burnt on one side. My husband thought this meal was pretty good. He liked the rice and the relish and said it had a good flavor. He said he didn’t taste the chard, and thought it would be better with boneless chicken. I thought it wasn’t bad and really liked the pecorino cheese and the crunch of the almonds. There was enough left for my husband to have for lunch, and for me to have some of the freekeh salad for lunch too.
This was the Pan-Roasted Salmon Ramen. This recipe was much easier to prepare and cook, and much faster too. My husband said it tasted good, but there were too many noodles. He said the spice was just right, he liked the tatsoi, and also the salmon.
So, I definitely learned a lot cooking these Blue Apron meals, but I don’t think I would order them again at this time of our lives. Maybe when the kids are all grown and gone this would be a fun cooking experience for my husband and I to enjoy together, but for now, it’s just too much work. If you’re interested in trying Blue Apron meals for yourself, visit their website, http://www.blueapron.com/
My first 50 (or whatever number you’d like) readers get two free meals with their first Blue Apron Box – redeem here
**Two free meals are subtracted from the purchase of six, you do not get two free meals by themselves.
By Brenda