Blue Apron – Yay or Nay?

So, almost a month ago, my 16 year old son came to me with a request. And that request became more insistent as the day wore on, “Mom, we should try the food service, Blue Apron!” My immediate response was “Why? I already cook, I don’t have an outside the home job, and it’s probably expensive.” And that’s when I discovered that my son does his homework.

He told me that Blue Apron provides non-GMO, organic, no hormones added, whole foods. And they send everything you need to make dinner for up to four people. And, oh yeah, shipping is free! (Maybe his future career will be in advertising.) He also added that it would help him continue to build on his beginner cooking skills.

I talked it over with his Dad, and we decided to shell out some of our grocery budget to try Blue Apron. I signed up online, and the first thing I discovered is you have to provide your billing information, before being allowed to choose the recipes you want to try. Fear not, there will likely be something that interests you.

Our first order arrived around 1 pm on a Thursday. I could have scheduled it for delivery on any working business day, but Thursdays are usually the day I find myself wanting to order pizza instead of cooking. We opened the box, and the insulated bag, and started pulling out ingredients. There are 8 by 11 1/2 inch laminated recipe pages for each meal, and then under those are the vegetables, and “knick knack” bags containing any seasonings or sauces. In the very bottom of the bag is an ice pack on top of the meats. Everything was cold, the way it should be.

Our first recipe was Salmon Picatta with Garlic Rice & Roasted Broccoli. One of the ingredients was capers. The tiny bag of capers had split open, so that went into the garbage. It wasn’t absolutely necessary to the dish, but I emailed Blue Apron to let them know, and they quickly credited my account $5.00. It took about 45 minutes from start to plating, and it tasted great!

The second recipe in that order was Sheet Pan BBQ Pork
with Roasted Vegetables & Maple-Mustard Sauce, and we made that on Friday night. It was terribly easy. We just cut up carrots, potatoes, and brussels sprouts and spread them around the outside of the sheet pan, and placed the seasoned pork roast in the middle. And then we baked it for 45 minutes or so at 450 degrees Fahrenheit. It was a hearty, tasty dinner.

We considered the first week to be a success, so we placed an order the next week, as well. The recipes we tried were Lemongrass-Ginger Turkey Burgers with Roasted Sweet Potatoes & Black Garlic Mayo and Parisian Steak Frites with Roasted Broccoli & Lemon Aioli. These were a little more involved as we had to babysit the steaks a bit, and the same with the burgers, but they were also less time from start to plate. These two dinners were delicious. We’ve already made the burgers again on our own, we liked them so much.

Now, on to the details – we paid for the orders out of our pocket, these meals were NOT provided for review by Blue Apron. Our orders cost us $59.92 each week, after a $20.00 discount for new customers. That was the cost for recipes meant to serve 3 to 4 people. None of us walked away from the table hungry, and there were no leftovers.

We don’t eat out at restaurants very often, and if we did, the Blue Apron meals would definitely replace eating out. The food is just as good, and cost us about half of restaurant prices for the three of us. Also, and I feel like this is important, there is no way I could prepare a non-GMO, organic, no hormones added, whole foods meal for 3 to 4 people for $30.00 buying the ingredients at our local grocery stores. So I consider that a huge benefit.

I’ve decided to become an affiliate with Blue Apron.* And because I have, I can offer you the opportunity to try it (and I receive a small monetary return if you do), and get 5 free meals with your first 2 orders.

Blue Apron: 5 Meals Free With Your First 2 Orders! (April Only))

If you do try Blue Apron, please share your experience in the comments section below. I’d love to hear about it!

• Blue Apron will be compensating me financially or with free product for my review or endorsement.