Blue Apron is a subscription meal delivery service. Every week, they send seasonal recipes created by their culinary team and 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!
Blue Apron really cares about sustainability, high-quality produce, responsibly raised meats, the success of smaller farmers, and reducing food waste—which is all important to consider when choosing a meal kit subscription to go with.
You'll see the recipe cards right on top when you first open your box.
Blue Apron ingredients come packaged in a big silver bag that's a lot like bubble wrap. Along with the plastic-wrapped ice packs in the box, the bubble wrap bag keeps the ingredients cool while they travel.
If you choose recipes with meat, you'll find them all the way at the bottom, against the ice packs to stay cold.
In addition to their standard 2-Person subscription plan, which features three weekly seasonally-inspired meals for two, Blue Apron also offers a Family Plan that features kid-friendly recipes and family-style meals for four.
This is a review of the 2-person, 2-meal subscription plan ($9.99 per serving, or $47.95 per week). I normally cook for myself, but having meal kits delivered to my home has given me a way to lure friends over to help and enjoy the recipes with me. It's so much more fun with a buddy if you can spare one. No buddies? You'll have some leftovers then, so this doubles your value!
My Subscription Addiction paid for this box. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
About Blue Apron
The Subscription Box: Blue Apron
The Cost: You can choose from a 2 person plan or a family plan.
For the 2 person plan, it's $47.95 ($9.99 per serving + $7.99 shipping) for 2 meals per week or $59.94 ($9.99 per serving + FREE shipping) for the 3 meals per week.
Family plans start at $69.92 ($8.74 per serving + FREE shipping) for the 2 meals per week, $104.88 ($8.74 per serving + FREE shipping) for 3 meals per week, or $139.84 ($8.74 per serving + FREE shipping) for 4 meals per week.
The Products: Fresh ingredients and recipes to make healthy meals at home.
Ships to: U.S. only
Blue Apron December 2017 Review
Almost all of the ingredients from Blue Apron come in bags, labeled, so you know which recipe they belong to. Smaller items like butter or sauces come in a brown paper "knick knack" bag so they don't get lost in the shuffle.
Seared Chicken & Mashed Potatoes with Mushroom Pan Sauce
Calories per Serving (as prepared): 670 calories
Total Time According to Blue Apron: 40-50 minutes
Actual Time: 45 minutes
Cold weather calls for heavy meals for me so I chose two comforting meals this time, beginning with this chicken with mashed potatoes and kale.
The recipe didn't call for anything out of the ordinary from my point of view. All basic things here!
Once I got a pot of water boiling and added the potatoes, I turned my attention to sauteeing some garlic in a large pan with olive oil.
I then added the kale (my least favorite thing to prep since it entails washing, patting dry, then de-stemming) to the pan and watched it wilt a bit before adding half of the verjus and some water.
After the kale was cooked, I set it aside and used the same pan to cook the chicken breasts I had salt and peppered, for five minutes on each side.
The po-tates were done.
So I smashed 'em up real good with the butter and a drizzle of olive oil.
Next, it was time to make the mushroom pan sauce! I put the quartered 'shrooms in the same pan (including any chicken bits that were left in there) and added a few sprigs of rosemary.
After they browned a bit, I added the rest of the verjus and some water.
After 3-4 minutes, I turned off the heat, removed the rosemary sprigs, and added the creme fraiche to make this delish sauce. It's not as thick as I hoped it would be, but it certainly did the trick.
Here is everything plated, with the mushroom pan sauce that I chose to also put over the mashed potatoes.
I really love mushrooms, so this was super duper tasty and hit the spot for a nice comforting meal. Garlic + kale are also a winning combo for me, so it was the perfect additional side. The chicken was also nice n' juicy!
Beef Medallions & Brown Butter Caper Sauce with Italian-Spiced Potatoes & Turnip
Calories per Serving (as prepared): 610 calories
Total Time According to Blue Apron: 30-40 minutes
Actual Time: 40 minutes
The second meal I chose had a similar "meat + potatoes" comfort-food vibe to it, but with slightly different ingredients. Beef medallions instead of chicken, chard instead of kale, and the potatoes are cut into fries here instead of mashed.
Similiar to the previous meal, there was nothing over complicated with this recipe. Though the prep was a bit more involved due to the slicing of the potatoes and turnip. I don't recall using turnips like this before, so that was new to me.
I sliced up the potatoes and turnip into fry-sized sticks and coated them in salt, pepper, half of the Italian seasoning, and olive oil before placing them on a baking sheet. They went into the oven for 25 minutes.
The directions told me to separate the stems from the leaves of the chard, then chop up both. I started with the stems in a pan with garlic and added salt and pepper.
After the stems softened, I added the chopped leaves, half of the vinegar, and a little bit of water until the leaves wilted. They were then placed in a bowl to keep warm.
Using the same pan, beef medallions were cooked, after seasoning with salt, pepper, and the remaining Italian seasoning for three minutes on each side.
They were then laid to rest on a plate.
The fries came out of the oven, all toasty.
And lastly, I made the brown butter sauce.I kept the fond leftover from the medallions and added butter to melt. Then, I turned off the heat and added the capers, the rest of the vinegar, and all of the red pepper flakes (though you can add less if desired).
Here we have the plated dinner with garlicky chard, potato and turnip fries, and rare beef medallions slathered in brown butter sauce.
Capers are high on my list of tasty additions, so I loved seeing them in this recipe. Cooking the stems from the chard was new for me, so that was interesting to see used. I thought everything tasted delicious and was cooked to my liking.
Verdict: I chose comfort recipes this month from Blue Apron and they did not disappoint me. I knew what I was getting into with both of these, and neither were very discovery-based for me, besides the turnips and chard stems. I will probably try to be a bit more adventurous next time, though I love a classic meat and potatoes dinner.
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? Since Blue Apron menus change weekly and you must choose them ahead of time, you won't be able to order these dishes unless they are offered again in the future.
Coupon – Get three free meals on your first order! No code needed, just use this link
Value Breakdown: At $47.95 ($9.99 per serving + $7.99 shipping) for this box, you're paying $11.99 per meal.
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What did you get from Blue Apron this week?
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