Have you tried Blue Apron? Are you wondering about the quality of the ingredients or the amount of time it takes to prepare and cook the meals?  Maybe you want to know how the meals taste or if the cost is worth it? I had all of the same questions and I finally decided to give it a try. Get all of your questions answered in My Blue Apron Review!

This is not a sponsored post. This is my honest opinion and I received no compensation from Blue Apron.

Other posts in this series include Meal Plan Like a Boss and Meal Prep Like a Boss.

Welcome to the third post in my Back to School Meal Planning and Meal Prep Series! I had a few readers tell me that they use meal kit delivery services to help with meal planning. I also have some friends that use the services and love them. I thought I’d try several out and review them for you.

Since Blue Apron was one of the first meal kit services on the market, I decided to include them on my list. Blue Apron’s meal kit service is a subscription service. You are able to skip weeks and you can cancel at any time. First-time subscribers are given a discount. 

The meal kits come with all of the ingredients you need to prepare the meals except salt, pepper, and oil. Everything is perfectly proportioned so there is no measuring or waste.

My Blue Apron Review

Cost

Blue Apron has several plans. I ordered 2 meals for 2 people. The regular cost for this plan would have been $47.95. I had a coupon for $50 off my first two deliveries so I paid $22.95. I still have a $25 credit.                                  

• 2 Person  – 2 Meals $9.99 per serving + $7.99 Shipping = $47.95  
• 2 Person – 3 Meals $9.99 per serving (free shipping)  = $59.94 
• 4 Person – 2 Meals $8.99 per serving (free shipping) = $71.92 
• 4 Person – 3 Meals $7.99 per serving (free shipping) = $95.88 
• 4 Person – 4 Meals $7.49 per serving (free shipping) = $119.84

You are paying for the convenience. It’s more expensive than purchasing the ingredients yourself, but it’s definitely less expensive than going out to dinner.

Menu Selection

The 2 person plan offers 8 recipes to choose from, and the family plan offers 5 recipes to choose from. Not a huge selection, but there are meat, fish, and vegetarian dishes included each week. 

They normally do not offer specific dietary plan options other than a 2 person vegetarian plan. However, they are currently offering some Whole 30 options, but this is not done on a regular basis. All ingredients are listed for you to review before you make your selection. 

I picked meals that were a little different than what we normally have for a weeknight meal. I also made sure they didn’t include a lot of processed ingredients. We had Seared Fish and Farro Salad with Summer Vegetables and Stuffed Poblano Peppers with Tomato Radish Salsa and Chipotle Yogurt. Fancy!!!

There is no way my 17-year-old selective eater would eat the meals I chose. I only ordered the meals for 2 people, and served them on days he was not going to be home for dinner. There are family friendlier options, but I think it just depends on your child’s preferences. When my adult children were younger, they ate just about anything we put in front of them. 

Packaging

I was so excited when my big brown box arrived from Blue Apron. It contained an insulated bag and 2 large detailed recipe cards. The insulated bag had 2 ice packs in it and all of the ingredients needed for the meals. The ice packs were still frozen and everything was cold.

In addition to the recipe cards, there were 2 papers containing the nutrition facts for each recipe. I wish they would have put the facts on the recipe cards.

Some of the produce was loose and some of it was packaged. I had to sort through it to figure out what items belonged with which recipe, but it was not a big deal. 

There were also 2 “knick knack” bags with the seasoning packets and other ingredients. They were labeled with the name of the recipe. 

I have heard complaints from people about excessive packaging. I don’t disagree, but I really don’t know another way Blue Apron could get the ingredients perfectly proportioned to your front door. I kept the ice packs for future use and recycled everything else. The website also gives has a comprehensive recycling guide.

Ingredients

Blue Apron states that the ingredients are high quality and responsibly-sourced. They also state that they do use some organic ingredients and that the seafood is sustainable. 

The produce I received was all fresh but none of it was marked organic. The fish was wild caught. All of the items in the knick knack bags were clearly marked and measured with the exact amount needed. The nutrition facts that were included showed all of the ingredients in the packaged food. 

The raisins, chili paste, and peanuts I received did contain some added ingredients that I do not consider healthy. I didn’t make any substitutions for these because the quantity was very small. I did substitute the white rice flour used to coat the fish with whole wheat flour.

Recipe Directions

The recipe cards had beautiful pictures with step by step directions. I wasn’t a fan of the order of the directions. The meals were not difficult to make, but because of the way they ordered the written instructions it became a little confusing. I think in an effort to try and simplify everything, they made it more complicated than it needed to be. My husband agreed with me.

The meals were supposed to take 30-40 minutes to make. The seared fish took about 50 minutes and the stuffed peppers took 36 minutes. I would definitely recommend reading through the whole recipe first before you start. (I just discovered that Blue Apron is now offering some menu items that only take 30 minutes to prepare.)

Portion Size

I will be honest when I saw all of the ingredients, I did not think the portions were going to sufficient. We usually double almost every meal we make and never cook just 2 portions of anything so it just didn’t look like enough. 

I was quite surprised to find that the portions were very generous. We even had enough of the seared fish and farro salad left for my lunch the next day. Hooray!!!

Taste

As I said earlier, I wanted to try something we wouldn’t normally cook. If I saw these recipes in a cookbook or on Pinterest, I probably would not have tried them, especially on a busy weeknight.

HELLO! Both meals were DELICIOUS! My husband and I loved them. They are definitely KEEPERS! The flavor combinations were so YUMMY! 

Overall Impression

Meal planning, shopping, and meal prep for the week were definitely easier. If I were ordering for an entire family, I would like a bigger selection. 

Although there were no organic ingredients, everything was fresh and the kit contained only a  small amount of processed ingredients. I was happy that the recipes were made up of mostly whole ingredients and we did not have to compromise our clean eating habits. 

There was definitely some prep and several steps involved. If you’re looking to be able to just throw everything in a pan, this probably isn’t for you.

The meal that took 50 minutes probably would not have taken that long if the steps were ordered differently. Spending 30-40 minutes preparing a meal on most weeknights is doable for me.

The meals were delicious but if I paid full price would it be worth it? It’s not something I would do on a regular basis. Our lunch most days is our dinner from the night before. Ordering on a regular basis would mean I’d have to figure something else out for lunch because there will most likely be no leftovers.

Also, if I were to do it on a regular basis, I would have to order the family plan. I have to feed my 17-year-old and my older son usually pops over for dinner a few nights per week. I’m not willing to pay $72 for 2 dinners with no leftovers.

I will definitely use my $25 credit and may use the service again on occasion. It would be great when we have a busy weekend and do not have time to plan or prep meals for the coming week.

Have you used Blue Apron? What did you think? If not, do you think you will give it a try?

Stay tuned for my review of 2 more meal kit services. After I review the other services, I will give you the pros and cons and tell you which was my favorite!