Blue Apron Review!

I've been meaning to write a review on Blue Apron for the past few months. Blue Apron is a meal delivery service that delivers right to your door step. They started in 2012 and I kept hearing about them from friends and decided to try it for myself.

Just to give you a background on my cooking skills: I have none. I grew up with a grandma that pretty much cooked all three meals for me while I lived with my parents. It wasn't until I moved out in October of 2015 did I finally learn how to cook, and not because my husband doesn't cook. He actually went to culinary school and originally wanted to be a chef.

When we moved to Atlanta, I didn't have a job so I tried to be the good wife and learn how to cook dinner since my husband was working full time and was really busy. I would feel so bad if he worked AND did all the cooking, ya know? I mean, I would have it made for sure, but I had to at least pull some weight.

So I gave Blue Apron a try. What I really like about Blue Apron besides not having to go grocery shopping is how fool proof it is for someone who has no cooking skills. I was still able to make really delicious dinners that not only tasted great, but looked amazing.

Blue Apron dinner I cooked.

When you sign up, you can specify whether you are a two person plan or a family style plan for four. I opted for the two person plan. Each week, Blue Apron will deliver three different meals. You can also specify if you want vegetarian meals only. However, if you have food allergies they do not recommend using Blue Apron. 

Delivery is free and the ingredients come in a refrigerated box. All the packing is fully recyclable. The box is cardboard, the foil liner is recyclable. The interior liner is bio-degradable. The ice packs  are recyclable plastic. Just drain the water based solution into the trash.

The calories per meal is usually between 500-800. Most of the time they average around the 700 calorie mark. What I really like about Blue Apron is that the ingredients are perfectly measured so that there is virtually no waste. Which also means that each meal is portion controlled, which is something I really need in my life. Everyone who knows me knows that I can eat a lot!

Most of the time the amount of food is just right. Not too much, and not too little. Once in a while if it's a 500 calorie meal, I do feel like I might need a little dessert afterwards. 😁

Below is an example of what a recipe card looks like from Blue Apron. You can click on the image to see a bigger version of it. 

Prep time is usually 15 minutes, but I usually take longer because I'm much slower at using knives. I have zero knife skills, so I would rather take things slow and be careful. Cook time usually takes me about an hour or so. If you not a beginner like me, I'm sure things would go much faster.

Below is the cooked meal that I made.

Here's another example of a meal I made. The top of the card is cut off, but it says Miso Butter Chicken. This one was really tasty. 

While Blue Apron provides 99% of the ingredients, what they do not provide that you will need, is olive oil, salt, and pepper. They will provide you with everything else. The back of the recipe card has step by step instructions with some photos which I find helpful.

Step by step instructions.

So far, besides the stove, I've also had to use the oven on a few occasions. As for pots and pans, I've used a large pot, medium pot, small pot and a medium to large nonstick pan. 

Each week they have new recipes for you to choose from. They do not repeat recipes within the same year, which is really great if you get tired of making the same meals all the time. 

Delivery is free and they deliver nationwide. Unfortunately this is only available in the US. For a two person plan the price is $59.94. For family style meals for four, at two recipes per week it is $69.92. For four recipes per week the price goes up to $139.84. You can skip any week and cancel at any time.

You do however need to remember to skip weeks you do not want meals delivered. I always check the schedule and pick out the meals I want. I usually average a Blue Apron order once a month. 

As of right now, I've ordered enough from Blue Apron that I have five invitations to send to friends. If any one who reads this and is interested, just send me an email to petiteimpact@gmail.com and let me know your first name and last name, and what email address to send the invite to. You will receive three meals for free. The first five emails I receive will get the invitations. 

If you've tried Blue Apron or any other food delivery service, let me know what you think! What I really like most is how I'm slowly learning how to cook. If you have any questions about Blue Apron, let me know and I'll be happy to answer them.

That's all for now, hope everyone has a great week!