Weekly food delivery service. Yes, really.
Since we started subscribing to Blue Apron in January, it has been such a great decision! I was sold after reading a blogger who made a Thanksgiving meal for two. I wanted to give you an honest Blue Apron review after a few months of experience have gone by.
What you need to know about Blue Apron:
- 3 complete meals for 2, for $60 a week. That includes shipping. That’s $10 a meal and sometimes you have leftovers.
- Meals for a family of 4 are offered.
- You pick which day they deliver – Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday.
- Perfectly portioned ingredients are included and labeled.
- Recipe cards have images for all the steps.
- Note when you unpack that meat is hidden under the produce – sandwiched between the ice packs.
- You can decide if you don’t want shellfish, beef, pork, etc. If you’re vegetarian you can cook without the meat.
- No recipe is repeated in a calendar year.
Things to be prepared for:
- Don’t take too long to cook your meals, they lose their freshness after a week.
- Sometimes the meals can be spicy so just don’t add so much – you can control it.
- We once didn’t receive our box for two days (what was the delivery guy doing?) and Blue Apron told us to throw out the ingredients and they refunded us which was great.
- Ingredients come fresh but occasionally I find some things get softer quicker.
- Have salt, pepper, a zester (thank you MB for mine!), olive oil, a non stick pan, and large pot on hand. Those are the common things you will use.
- It can create a lot of dishes so I look ahead to see what ingredients can be clumped together so I don’t put every ingredient in a separate bowl. I don’t have a cooking show.
Why I order Blue Apron:
- I already dislike grocery shopping
- I’m completely unoriginal when it comes to making dishes
- Cooking for two can be expensive with wasted ingredients
- I make too much for two so we have to eat the leftovers for a week
I wanted to revisit this because guess what arrived in my mailbox? A discount code I had to share!
Redeem 2 free meals at: blueapron.com/chef15. Good for first time customers only. Expires June 30, 2015.
And look, a dish I made for lunch!
Stephanie Young says
My dad just gave me an apron that says “Everything Is Under Control” and has burn marks all over it…so yes, I am not the best at cooking or baking or anything that has to do with the kitchen. (Although I am excellent at washing the dishes!) I have been dying to try out this company ever since you first posted about them, and I am excited to get my first delivery next week! Hopefully I won’t mess it up and can impress my amazing chef of a boyfriend for once ;) Thanks for the discount code!
Diana Elizabeth says
Hi Stephanie! LOL on the apron! I’ve set taquitos on fire from the microwave! I’d love to know what you think of it when the first week you get it – I think you’ll be impressed with your skills and the step by step photos that make it much easier. My husband is helpful too now, so team cooking is fun :) Enjoy!
Carissa says
Even though I love cooking (food blogs are how I even got into reading blogs) I’ve still been interested in trying Blue Apron. Grocery shopping with Charlie is increasingly difficult and I have a hard time planning three meals for $60 or less. I’m glad this solution has worked well for you.
Diana Elizabeth says
Oh I sure hope you sign up for Blue Apron or any food delivery service like it! It’s hard to cook for two and all the leftovers of ingredients always spoil. :-/ If you were close I’d let you take one of my meals to try!
Stephanie Young says
Blue Apron is one of my obsessions right now. I anticipate my deliveries on Wednesdays! Your recommendations for simplifying things in life have been a huge help. I recently discovered PrimePantry on Amazon, and thought I should share it with you in case you haven’t already tried it out! You can buy groceries and household anything (almost) for a flat rate of $5.99, but right now it’s only $1.99. This just cut out my monthly trips to Walmart/Target for things like Ziplock bags and toilet paper. Woohoo!
Diana Elizabeth says
Hi Stephanie! I’m so glad, that’s really my goal for myself – to be simple! I was wondering about PrimePantry… how long is the $1.99 rate good for? I didn’t know if that was a monthly subscription auto-delivery. I’m going to look into it, thank you for the tip ;)
Stephanie Young says
I don’t recall seeing how long it’s good for, so I’m not sure. But I do know it’s not auto-delivery, and you can get A LOT of stuff to fit inside the “box”. I ordered 15 items I believe (ziplock bags, foil, bathroom essentials, snacks, cleaning products, etc.) and only filled like 40% of the box’s capacity. Honestly, I will still use the service after the $1.99 promotion is up, because paying $5.99 is better than finding the time to go to the store, wait in the ridiculous lines we have, and lug everything home.
Diana Elizabeth says
OK now I see how it works! And AMEN to that! Same way I feel about grocery shopping, so worth the cost and me not touching it 5 times until it gets back to my house – ESPECIALLY with this Phoenix summer heat. Sold Steph, thanks! :)