Blue Apron is a subscription meal delivery service. Every week, they send seasonal recipes created by their culinary team and all of the pre-measured ingredients you need to make them at home.
Check out all of our reviews of Meal Delivery Services to see every meal kit subscription box option!
In addition to their 2-Person Subscription Plan, which features seasonally-inspired meals for two, Blue Apron also offers a Family Plan that features kid-friendly recipes and family-style meals for four. (Note that this is a review of the 2-Person Subscription Plan.)
Blue Apron also offers a monthly add-on wine subscription. You can find a review of that subscription here.
It’s easy to skip deliveries and cancel your subscription through the Blue Apron website.
This box was sent to us at no cost for review. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
This review is of the 2-Person Plan, $59.94 box.
The Subscription Box: Blue Apron
The Cost: $59.94 for 3 recipes on the 2-Person Plan, $69.92 for 2 recipes on the Family Plan, $139.84 for 4 recipes on the Family Plan.
The Products: Fresh ingredients and recipes to make healthy meals at home.
Ships to: U.S.
Check out all of our Blue Apron Reviews and find other meal boxes in the Meal Subscription Box Directory!
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When I placed my order with Blue Apron, I was automatically assigned 3 recipes; however, it was easy to go back into my account to pick new ones. Certain combinations of dishes are not allowed, though, so depending on which recipes I selected first, certain other recipes became unavailable.
(Check out the weekly Blue Apron Menu to see what's coming up!)
Unlike many meal boxes, Blue Apron doesn’t group their ingredients by recipe. I like that this limits packaging, but it does slow down the meal preparation process slightly. (I also try to quarantine the Blue Apron ingredients in my fridge, so I don’t use a recipe ingredient for something else by mistake.) The “knick knacks” for each recipe are bagged together, though, which helps.
Inside each baggie of knick knacks, I received a list of the nutritional information for each recipe. This is a new addition, and I think it’s a nice touch!
I received a copy of “Season’s Best,” Blue Apron’s newspaper that shares stories and spotlights seasonal produce.
Recipe #1- Spicy Shrimp & Korean Rice Cakes with Cabbage & Furikake
Calories: 580 per serving
Cook Time: 25-35 minutes
I had Korean-style rice cakes for the first time a couple of months ago, and I’ve been thinking about them every since! Unlike most of the rice cakes that are stocked on U.S. shelves, these rice cakes are boiled until soft and then added into soups or tossed in sauce. (They’re kind of like pasta but with a chewier texture.) I’m really excited that this dish was on Blue Apron’s menu. I couldn’t wait to learn how to prepare them myself at home!
After cleaning and chopping my produce, I cooked the cabbage followed by the shrimp. I set both aside and then made the rice cakes. I arranged the rice cakes in a single layer in my sauté pan and let them develop color on one side. I then added a cup of water and cooked them until they absorbed it all.
I added the shrimp and the cabbage back into the pan and mixed in black bean sauce, soy glaze and sambal oelek.
I removed the dish from the heat, stirred in some creme fraiche, transferred the dish into a couple of bowls, and topped each bowl with scallions and furikake, a dry Japanese seasoning made of seaweed.
This dish was really tasty! The rice cakes were chewy and delicious, and I loved the flavor of the sauce. It was rich, creamy, and a little spicy. Now that I know how easy rice cakes are to prepare, I’m on the hunt to find them for sale locally. Hopefully, I’ll be able to find a nearby Asian grocery store that stocks them!
Recipe #2- Seared Chicken & Couscous with Broccoli & Lemon-Yogurt Sauce
Calories: 570 per serving
Cook Time: 25-35 minutes
For my second meal, I picked Seared Chicken & Couscous with Broccoli & Lemon-Yogurt sauce.
I began cooking by sautéing the provided broccoli and making the couscous. When the broccoli was tender, I mixed it into the couscous. To make the chicken, I dredged breasts in seasoned flour and cooked them in a little olive oil.
I made the yogurt sauce by mixing together garlic paste, lemon juice, lemon zest, olive oil, and Greek yogurt.
The yogurt sauce seemed like an odd addition to me, so I decided to skip it. (My husband used it as a dipping sauce for his chicken, though, and thought it was tasty. I decided to top my plate with a little bit of soy sauce instead, which was yummy.) Regardless, this was a simple and healthy dish that made for a quick and tasty mid-week meal. It’s not the kind of dish I couldn’t make myself without a recipe, but I enjoyed it.
Recipe #3- Guacamole Burgers with Roasted Red Onion & Sweet Potato
Calories: 790 per serving
Cook Time: 20-30 minutes
The last meal I picked for my box this week was Guacamole Burgers!
To start, I roasted red onion and sweet potato slices in the oven. (I mistakenly added the sweet potato for this dish into the photo of the ingredients for Chicken Couscous, so it’s not in the photo of ingredients for this meal. Oops!)
I seasoned the provided ground beef and made it into two patties, and I cooked them in a pan on the stove top.
While the burgers cooked, I made guacamole by mashing an avocado with chopped red onion, minced jalapeño, and some lime juice.
When the burgers and veggies were ready, I toasted the buns and plated the burgers.
This dish was simple and tasty, but I felt the burgers were a little naked. I ended up adding lettuce, tomato, and onion to mine to give it some freshness and crunch.
Verdict: Overall, I’m happy with my Blue Apron meals this week. I liked all of my meals, but my favorite has to be the rice cake dish! It was really delicious, and I love that I was able to learn how to cook something new. Value wise, Blue Apron is competitively priced (about the same cost per meal as Hello Fresh and cheaper than Plated). The biggest issue for me is with the meal variety. I really wish Blue Apron would offer more choices each week and allow for every possible combination of dishes.
Do you subscribe to Blue Apron? Which meals did you pick this week?
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