Blue Apron is a meal kit delivery service. Every week, they offer seasonal recipes created by their culinary team with the pre-measured ingredients needed to make them at home.
If you're looking to make mealtime even easier for your family, check out our Returning to Learning back-to-school guide for our meal kit recommendations and more.
This is a review of the 2-person, 2-meal subscription plan ($9.99 per serving + $7.99 shipping, or $47.95 per week).
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-serving plan or a four-serving plan.
- 2-Serving Signature
- $47.95 ($9.99 per serving + $7.99 shipping) for 2 meals/week
- $59.94 ($9.99 per serving + free shipping) for 3 meals/week
- 2-Serving Vegetarian
- $47.95 ($9.99 per serving + $7.99 shipping) for 2 meals/week
- $59.94 ($9.99 per serving + free shipping) for 3 meals/week
- 4-Serving Signature
- $71.92 ($8.99/serving + free shipping) for 2 meals/week
- $95.88 ($7.99/serving +free shipping) for 3 meals/week
- $119.84 ($7.49/serving + free shipping) for 4 meals/week
The Products: Fresh ingredients and recipes for delicious, chef-inspired meals at home.
Ships to: The U.S. only.
Blue Apron Review August 2020
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My delivery arrived in this big silver cooler bag with the recipes tucked under the flaps. A tip from me to you: the bag is sealed with a little bit of adhesive, so if you have long hair, I recommend tying it up before unboxing. Speaking from experience, over here.
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Inside, we find this month's ingredients, which I think were supposed to be secured inside of this floppy cardboard shelf, but it did not manage to contain the items well. The ingredients come labeled in bags, but you have to check out the recipe cards to know which meal they go to. Smaller items like butter or sauces come in a “knick knack” bag so they don’t get lost in the shuffle, and those bags are also labeled with the coordinating recipe title. They are the same as the ones larger ingredients come in, and they are also recyclable. There was an ice pack at the bottom of the box where the proteins were kept.
Let's get into the recipes, shall we?
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Meal #1: Feta & Beet Grilled Cheese with Pear & Butter Lettuce Salad
Calories per serving (as prepared): 680
Total cook time according to Blue Apron: 25 minutes
Actual time: 46 minutes (largely because I was distracted by talking to my partner!)
A quick tip: Before storing everything in the fridge, I recommend taking a minute to gather all the ingredients and place them in individual grocery bags per recipe so everything stays together.
All right, I'll be honest—I forgot to keep an eye on my Blue Apron account and after realizing my inbox had been eerily quiet, I logged in to find a delivery already auto shipped and would arrive later that day. In the past, Blue Apron was pretty good about flagging orders via email before they ship out, but not this time! Oh well, I was low on groceries and we all know what a nightmare it is to go to the store these days. As the box flaps always say, let's get cooking.
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After washing and drying the produce, I cored and sliced up the pear, diced the shallot, chopped the beets, sliced the Monterey jack cheese, and crumbled the feta into a small bowl before mashing it into a paste with the smoky spice blend. I also roughly chopped the lettuce and mixed the pears with the shallots, vinegar, lemon pureé, 1 tablespoon of oil, and some salt and pepper to marinate for at least 10 minutes.
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Assembling the sandwiches was simple. The bottom of each received the feta spread, followed by the sliced beats, Monterey jack slices, and some salt and pepper. In a large non-stick pan over medium heat, I melted half the butter packet before introducing the sandwiches. The first side cooked for 4 minutes under a lid, and at the 4-minute mark, I spread the remaining half of the butter over the top-facing bread before flipping to cook for another 4 minutes. That golden brown, though!
As the sandwiches were toasting, I wondered, where's the salad dressing for this meal? After a quick review of the recipe, I mixed the marinated pears with the sliced butter lettuce and voila, a dressed salad. I threw in some more salt and pepper for good measure.
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When I discovered what was included in my surprise delivery, I thought, is this grilled cheese really going to be worth $12/serving? Yes, yes it was. First, the salad portions were very generous and I was shocked at how a few simple ingredients I usually have on-hand made for such a light, refreshing, and unique side dish. The pears had a wonderful crunch but weren't too sweet while the vinegar kept things bright and punchy. As for the grilled cheese itself—oh my gosh. I didn't notice the Monterey jack all that much because the seasoned feta spread stole the show. Combined with the soft, earthy beets and the crispy, buttery bread, this dinner was to die for. There's a fancy grilled cheese restaurant a few blocks from my home that easily charges $14 for a sandwich like this without the side dish, so this was quite a treat.
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Meal #2: Beef over Curry-Spiced Rice with Creamy Cilantro Sauce
Calories per serving (as prepared): 770
Total cook time according to Blue Apron: 25 minutes
Actual time: 20 minutes
This is one of my all-time favorite Blue Apron recipes, so imagine my delight when this arrived in my surprise delivery! I've had a tab open in my phone for the Brooklyn Delhi tomato achaar used in this dish for well over a year because I keep meaning to buy a jar. Also, this is the meal that prompted me to reach out to Blue Apron's customer service team for their amazing cilantro sauce recipe. They were super kind and shared it with me right away (spoiler: turns out, it's just chimichurri). Are you ready for a tasty trip down memory lane?
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To get things started, I threw the rice into my prized stainless-steel rice cooker with half of the curry powder, a generous pinch of salt, and 3/4 cup of water. This cooked up in no time at all and because it was done in the rice cooker, it stayed warm without drying out.
The prep work could not be any easier. I just peeled the carrots, sliced 'em up into half moons, and quartered the lime.
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In a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat with a touch of olive oil, I cooked the ground beef and carrots together with some salt and pepper for about 7 minutes. Then I added the tomato chutney (an absolute explosion of flavor and a dream come true for savory food lovers like myself) with 2 tablespoons of water to create a vibrant sauce and to soften the carrots just a bit more. Off to the side, I mixed the sour cream cilantro sauce, 2 lime wedges, and salt and pepper to produce one of my favorite sauces, ever.
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Do you hear that? It's just my stomach growling all over again because I'm wishing I had leftovers. Not only is this recipe an absolute tsunami of complex and unique flavors from the curried rice, tomato-chutney beef, and creamy cilantro sauce, it's also so, so quick to put together. Seriously, it only took me 20 minutes from start to finish which is wild. My partner and I are huge fans of this recipe. Though, if we have one critique, it's that there could have been just a bit more rice included to make this a bit more filling, as we were both digging into my stash of chips and hummus later that night.
Verdict: Even though I had no idea Blue Apron was going to show up at my door this month, I'm really glad it did. The dishes I received were such a unique, sophisticated, and downright delicious departure from all the predictable comfort meals I've been cobbling together. (I'm looking at you, Hamburger Helper.) I'm actually feeling much more inspired in the kitchen after this box than I have been in quite awhile. The ingredients were fresh and interesting, the recipes were super easy and quick (even the 45-minute grilled cheese; I could've had that done in 20 if I hadn't spent so much time venting about my day), and the experience as a whole was fantastic. It's no secret that going grocery shopping right now is kind of a nightmare, so being able to put off that chore for another few days in exchange for some excellent eats was well worth the $47.95 total cost of this box. My advice to you, dear reader, is to keep an eye on your account! And if you're sometimes forgetful like me, then a Blue Apron surprise might be enough to brighten up your week.
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? Recipes change every week, so these are gone for now, but popular ones always come back in the future. Sign up today to choose from a whole new crop of meals.
Value Breakdown: At $47.95 ($9.99 per serving + $7.99 shipping), you’re paying $11.99 per serving.
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