Review of Blue Apron

If you don’t know what Blue Apron is, it’s a box subscription service that provides ingredients and recipes to make delicious meals at home.  The box comes right to your door with exact amounts of ingredients so cooking new recipes is fun and easy.  I did have a coupon code so the first box was free and decided to try it out for the sake of this blog (and to try some yummy dinners along the way.)  Right now you can get 3 free meals when you sign up.

In my first box I was sent Paprika Shrimp & Cheddar Grits, Sweet Corn Ditali Pasta and Spicy Eggplant Curry & Green Bean Curry.  

Isn’t there a lot of packaging?

There is quite a bit of packaging to ensure that soft vegetables arrive in good condition.  Everything provided is also labeled for your convenience.  On the upside, there is little to no food waste since everything is measured and provided in exact quantities.

Are the recipes healthy?

The recipes provided did range around 700-800 calories for one portion which is higher than I personally would like to see my home-cooked meals however, the portions are really large and I never ended up eating half of the recipe.  I actually had enough for about 3 servings which means the calories were closer to about 500 per serving. 

I don’t eat _____.  Can I still use Blue Apron?

You have the option to choose recipes that include meat, chicken, fish or vegetarian options.  I chose the fish and vegetarian option which gave me a variety of one shrimp recipe and two meatless recipes.

But I’m not that great at cooking.

Blue Apron makes it extremely easy to follow along with their recipes and provides tips on how to prepare your meal.  Everything is labeled and measured out in exact portions so preparation is a breeze.  It would also be really fun to share the cooking experience with another person and the result is a new recipe you may not have ever tried before.

Does it save time?

I recommend reading the recipe over from beginning to end before starting to cook.  My first recipe took me a long time to cook for example, because I cut up all vegetables then started boiling water for pasta after.  Normally, I would start boiling water and cooking pasta at the same time as prepping all the veggies.  If you are new to cooking or can get overwhelmed with doing several things at once, go ahead and follow the recipe step by step.  If you are a little more confident, take note of things that you could do simultaneously.  In the end, Blue Apron saves you time since you aren’t spending time grocery shopping for that meal.

Is it expensive?

The price can seem steep at first however, you are getting enough ingredients for 6-8 meals (if you choose the 2 person option).  I normally cook at home during the week and tend to eat out on the weekends which can get pricey.  My box was delivered on Thursday evening so I had meals to last me through the entire weekend and prevented me from spending even more money at restaurants.  The recipes are delicious so I was actually looking forward to my dinners that weekend and didn’t feel the need to order out.

Overall, I think Blue Apron would be great to occasionally spice things up in the kitchen if you are getting tired of the same old recipes week after week. It would definitely be fun to make as a couple or with someone else and makes more sense I think for families with 2-4+ members.  The recipes were delicious and fun to make but for me personally, it was a lot of dirty dishes for just one person's meal.  I may try it again in the future, though!

*All opinions are my own and I was not compensated for my review.