I think I am officially the last person in the world to jump on the Blue Apron bandwagon. But I finally tried the food delivery service and I loooooved it.
You would think that since I’ve gone freelance I would make time to grocery shop and prepare luscious meals for myself and my husband-to-be. Instead, I have not done that.
I hate grocery shopping in New York City. Hate hate hate hate hate it. I love Whole Foods, but I hate having to have a plan and walk through the crowded aisles finding stuff, and it’s hard to do a big food shop when you can’t just throw the bags in your trunk and drive them home. I have so many excuses. I am awesome at excuses.
Even though I don’t really know any cooking techniques, I do enjoy cooking and following recipes. My issue is that I don’t want to plan for them or shop for them or deal with the leftover ingredients I’ll never use, like half a clove of garlic or two broccoli rabes.
I am Blue Apron’s ideal client.
I assume you’ve heard of Blue Apron by now, but if you’ve emerged from underneath a rock recently, the gist is that it’s a food delivery service that delivers all the ingredients and recipes you need to make meals for your family (we did the two-person plan, so we got three meals for the week, but you can also do the family plan for larger servings).
The recipes are suuuuper easy to follow (and I can screw up even the most basic step-by-steps) and are all created by Blue Apron chefs. The ingredients are farm-fresh, and they tell you all about them based on what’s in season, which I thought was cool.
I loved not having to go to the grocery store, I loved not having to plan anything in advance, and I loved not having to measure any of the ingredients because everything is perfectly portioned. Blue Apron also posts all of the recipes on their website, which is cool because now I know there are 30,283 other things I want to attempt to make some brave day.
You have the option of customizing your profile based on your dietary restrictions. I forgot to write that I don’t eat corn, so Brian made the meal that included corn on a night I wasn’t home. He ate both servings.
Most meals are 500–700 calories per person. I don’t track calories (#sheddingforthewedding), but the portions seemed perfect. I was full but not grossly stuffed, which is the point to which I usually eat my giant meals.
Blue Apron is 100% something I will use again. The two-person plan is $9.99 per person per meal (the family plan is $8.74 per person per meal), which is definitely cheaper than the junk Brian and I order off Seamless most nights. And it’s a lot cheaper than going out to eat, especially in this crazy city. Plus, it was nice to sit down for a meal that I actually cooked! I realize it’s pathetic how rare that is, but I loved the whole experience.
And now I feel like I actually know how to cook! These recipes were all things I would never know how to make on my own, so I loved getting to try new ingredients and flavors, and I learned some cooking techniques beyond “put in microwave.”
If you’ve been wanting to try Blue Apron, I think you should! Now. Because the first 25 readers to click here will get two free meals on their first Blue Apron order!
This post is sponsored by Blue Apron. You probably figured that out already. But now you know officially.
16 Responses
Glad you’re enjoying the Blue Apron. Big bummer–they don’t deliver to Alaska. We also have no Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s up here. Such hardships! But we do have mountains, trails, moose and bears. So even though I’ve got to cook, it ain’t all bad.
I tried Blue Apron and liked the food and the interesting recipes. It was a lot of work for weeknight meals for me though. Maybe I’d use it if I was in a meal rut or something.
I have been trying Blue Apron the last few weeks and I LOVE it! I got the same plan as you and I am just cooking for me so the meals literally last me all week! And I am a pescatarian and they have had wonderful meals for me!
I keep reading reviews of Blue Apron and want to try it, but sort of hate the idea of someone else picking my portion size. I too love a huge sized meal, especially if I love something… and maybe, say, ONE portion of leftovers.
Ali, I loved your review. Even though many other blogs have reviewed blue apron, your review was hilarious and really makes me want to try it. I live in NYC too and the food shopping sucks! I recently nearly killed myself from carrying too many grocery bags on my bike. This service could save a life:)
I HATED Blue Apron, I am glad you enjoy it
I love BA too. Although it’s probably too expensive for us to do on a regular basis. I need to know if the skyline shot behind the salmon is really your view. REALLY??? Maybe I will come to visit. Will you make me the salmon?
YES that’s our view. YES we will feed you salmon. YES book your flight. See you soon byeeeee.
I tried Blue Apron once about two years ago. (Free one week trial!) While the recipes were really good, it was hard since I was living alone at the time and my kitchen was one wall of my “room.” It was nice to have leftovers to eat, but I felt that it took a long time to cook (way longer than the suggested time), and I just didn’t have enough space for a bunch of steps.
I felt like a lot of waste. The huge box, all the plastic bags, the ice packs. I’m not exactly the best at saving the environment, but it seemed like a lot.
I’m not sure it’s the best deal either. Certainly better than eating out, but you could buy ingredients and such for less. Although I did appreciate not having leftover cilantro when all I needed was two tablespoons…
I suppose it says something that I never ordered it again…
Agreed that the recipes took longer than indicated, but I had read plenty of reviews so I was prepared for that. I also have a fairly flexible schedule at the moment, so I didn’t mind spending a little extra time in the kitchen. As for the waste, which lots of people hate, I agree that it’s a lot butttttt I clearly don’t protect the environment as much as I should.
Hubs has Crohns so I was hesitant to try be of his limitations (down with broccoli!). Did you have to eat around anything? Or you were a-ok with it?
The only thing I couldn’t do was the corn. Everything else was fine. You can also customize your dietary preferences in your profile according to your needs.
I have used Blue Apron but their meals are sometimes awful and not to my liking at all. We switched to Home Chef.
I love the idea of Blue Apron but I live alone and I don’t have time to cook 3x/week. I really wish they had a two meal option – then I’d definitely try it.
More importantly – where did you get those lobster plates?!?!? I love them!
I got them at The Christmas Tree Shops! Only $1 each!
I like the *idea* of Blue Apron but I just can’t get past all the waste. All those plastic bags? Shipping stuff across the country? The cold packs they don’t reuse? I just can’t…