1. Blue Apron

    Great Pricing but Limited Subscription Options
    2 Person or Family Meal Plan Options

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Rating breakdown

  • Plans & Pricing

    Subscriptions and Meal Cost

    • 2-Person Plan

      $9.99 per meal
    • Family Plan

      $8.74 per meal

  • Taste

    It's All About The Flavor

  • Food Quality

    Quality of Ingredients

  • Menu Options

    Variety and Combinations

  • Recipes

    Completeness and Presentation

  • Additional Services

    Other Services or Items Available

  • Customer Experience

    What Real Customers Think

  • Chef's Review

    What Our Expert Chef'sThink

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Chef's Review

Blue Apron Review

Blue Apron was founded in 2012 by Matthew Wadiak, Matt Salzberg and Ilia Papas. Their mission – To make incredible home cooking available to everyone and reduce food waste by providing meal delivery kits sourced with quality, sustainable ingredients. Blue Apron now delivers 5 million meals a month and is currently valued at $2 Billion dollars. The Blue Apron mission is realized from the fact that Blue Apron ordered over 3 million pounds of produce from 100 family-run farms last summer.

What We Like Blue Apron review positives

We like what Blue Apron stands for and recognize them as “the elephant in the room” when it comes to dinner-in-a-box companies. Blue Apron has pioneered many ideas and techniques which are now standards throughout the meal delivery companies of today. The ingredients they provide are, in many ways, remarkable given the fact that they show up at your door in peak freshness.

The Pièce De Résistance Blue Apron meal for us was the Triple Pork Mazemen with Roasted Garlic & Pea Tips. This glorious dish delighted our tastebuds and left a memorable silky smooth mouth feel. Achieving this balance of flavors and specialized ingredients is remarkable considering we opened a box and followed an intuitive recipe. Everything about this dish made our mouths sing. Combined with Blue Apron’s recommended palate cleanser, As De Copas Verdejo/Sauvignon Blanc Blend, we had achieved dinner bliss from a box.

What We Don’t Like Blue Apron review negatives

We found that some weekly menus were better than others like most of Blue Apron’s competitors. This is made more apparent when one of you meal choices is absolutely stunning making some others pale in comparison. This isn’t from a lack of effort on Blue Apron’s part but rather our experienced palates ability to recognize the unicorn type recipes that arrived in a box.

While we understand that Blue Apron is a big business and the goal in business is to profit we aren’t fond of their ideas to monetize every aspect of cooking at home. Wine pairings aside, they are now becoming a source to sell cook books, cookware, cutlery, seasonings, etc. We hope they don’t lose some of their reputation providing family-farm ingredients for higher margin items just because it’s “good for business”.

The Bottom Line

Blue Apron is one of our favorites, if not our favorite meal delivery service provider. They take bold steps when it comes to cooking dinner. They are sourcing and delivering innovative ingredients when it comes to meal delivery providers. Their recipes are organized and intuitive, making most dishes a success. Sustainability means a lot to us and we are proud that Blue Apron is sticking to their mission and showing factual evidence that they are supporting family-run farms.

Plans & Pricing

Blue Apron Meal Plans & Pricing

Blue Apron allows customers to choose between the 2-Person Plan and Family Plan. Those who opt for the 2-Person Plan can choose from six meals, created by the company’s culinary team and famous guest chefs, each week.

The Family Plan is designed to feed a family of four. Those who opt for this plan decide whether they want to receive two or four recipes per week.

Our Blue Apron review revealed that customers can easily alter the “Delivery Schedule,” to skip a single delivery or multiple deliveries with just a few clicks of a mouse. Blue Apron displays the “Changeable By” date in each customer’s Delivery Schedule, making it easy to understand the cut-off day for skipping a meal delivery or canceling your subscription entirely.

When choosing weekly meal recipes, Blue Apron customers can select based on their dietary preferences. Each week’s menu includes meat-based dishes, seafood-based dishes and vegetable-based dishes. However, Blue Apron does not offer consistent Paleo, gluten-free, or vegan options.

Blue Apron 2-Person Plan

The Blue Apron 2-Person Plan provides two people with three seasonal recipes per week. Customers can choose from six weekly recipes, including three vegetarian recipes, two meat-based recipes, and one seafood-based recipe. The price for this plan is $9.99 per meal, and each weekly six-meal delivery costs $59.94. There is no additional cost for shipping.

2-Person Plan Specifics

  • People Fed: 2
  • Total Dinners: 3
  • Price Per Meal: $9.99
  • Price Per Week: $59.94
  • Shipping: Free
  • Total Weekly Cost: $59.94

Blue Apron Family Plan

Blue Apron’s Family Plan is the larger of the two meal plans offered. It is designed to feed a family of four, and customers can choose whether they want to receive two or four recipes per week. The company provides four new recipes each week, and families can choose which ones they prefer based on their dietary preferences. This plan costs $8.74 per meal and $69.92 for the two-recipes-per-week option. Those who wish to receive four recipes per week will pay $139.84. Shipping is also free for the Family Plan.

Family Plan Specifics

  • People Fed: 4
  • Total Dinners: 2 or 4
  • Price Per Meal: $8.74
  • Price Per Week: $69.92 (for two weekly recipes) or $139.84 (for four weekly recipes)
  • Shipping: Free
  • Total Weekly Cost: $69.92 (for two weekly recipes), $139.84 (for four weekly recipes)

Blue Apron Shipping and Delivery

As stated previously, Blue Apron offers free shipping for both meal plans. The customer can enter his or her zip code and receive several options for delivery days based on where they live. The company’s “Delivery Schedule” page makes it easy to find when the meal has shipped, tracking information, and the delivery date.

During our review of Blue Apron, we noticed that it is very easy to skip a meal delivery (or multiple meal deliveries), but the company makes cancelling your subscription much more difficult. Subscribers must send an email to cancellations@blueapron.com, and follow the steps provided in the reply to opt out of the program.

The customer does not need to be home for a Blue Apron box to be delivered. The food is packaged with heavy-duty insulation and gel packs that keep your food fresh and cold until you’re able to put it in your fridge the same day. Blue Apron delivers throughout the continental United States, and the company makes it easy to see delivery options once the sign-up process has been completed.

What’s in the Box?

Each Blue Apron box is carefully packed to keep all of the ingredients fresh for several hours after delivery. The amount of packaging is modified based on the customer’s location and the time of year.

Each box includes the ingredients and easy-to-read recipes needed to prepare the meals chosen by the customer. All ingredients are provided in the correct proportions, but you’ll be expected to have olive oil, salt, and pepper in your pantry.

Meal Options

Blue Apron Meal Options

Blue Apron’s weekly recipes are designed to introduce home cooks to seasonal, farm-fresh ingredients. The recipes teach new cooking ideas and techniques while helping customers eat higher-quality, fresher ingredients for an affordable price.

As stated previously, the 2-Person Plan allows customers to choose from six weekly recipes, and the Family Plan allows customers to choose from four weekly recipes.

Menu for the Week

Those who opt for Blue Apron’s 2-Person Plan have more options when choosing weekly recipes. Each week’s menu includes two meat-based recipes, one seafood-based recipes, and three vegetarian recipes. The Family Plan’s weekly menu includes two meat-based recipe, one seafood-based recipe, and one vegetarian recipe. Our Blue Apron review revealed that this is not the most vegetarian-friendly meal delivery company, especially if choosing the Family Plan.

2-Person Plan Menu

This menu includes carefully-sourced, seasonal, and often USDA certified organic ingredients.

The following are two examples from the 2-Person Plan menu:

Seared Pork Chops and Plum Salsa with Corn, Kale and Farro Salad
Brown Butter Cod with Corn, Shishito Peppers and Purple Potatoes

Family Plan Menu

The Family Plan Menu also always includes carefully-sourced, seasonal ingredients that are often USDA certified organic.

The following are two examples from the Family Plan menu:

Crispy Cod and Roasted Corn on the Cob with Mashed Purple Potatoes, Marinated Cucumbers and Basil Butter
Cheesy Stuffed Peppers with Queso Fresco, Monterey Jack and Mexican Crema

Recipies

Blue Apron Recipes

Blue Apron provides healthy, unique, and seasonal recipes carefully designed by their culinary team and acclaimed guest chefs.

Recipe Cards

Blue Apron’s recipe cards provide colorful photos and descriptive step-by-step instructions to help customers create and plate the recipes properly every time.

Recipe Difficulty

Blue Apron’s recipes are designed to suit a wide range of home cooks. They help everyone from novice cooks to experienced home chefs create restaurant-quality meals without having to leave the house.

More Info

Blue Apron Notables

Blue Apron was founded in 2012 by Matt Salzberg, Ilia Papas, and Matt Wadiak while testing recipes in their New York City homes. They packed and delivered the first Blue Apron recipes to friends and family in search of feedback. Four years later, the company sends more than 8 million meals per month to home chefs around the country.

Food Quality and Source

Blue Apron provides customers with quality produce, specialty ingredients, and naturally-raised meats. All of the seafood comes from sustainable fisheries, and the company works with more than 100 family-run farms. Many of Blue Apron’s ingredients are USDA certified organic.

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