An offer of $50 0ff our first two boxes and a general boredom with our weekly menus prompted us to try Blue Apron last month. We have tried Plated and one other service about a year ago, and we were generally pleased with the menus and service, so we thought that we’d try a few more.
This has prompted a series of blog posts on meal services, as we intend to try more and report on our experience. I’m going to break down each post into several sections, so that we can compare the plans side-by-side, so to speak!
Meal Plans - Blue Apron offers 2 and 3 meals per week for a couple, 2,3 or 4 meals per week for a family of four. Pricing is shown below. We opted for the plan that offered 2 recipes per week for two persons, and we subscribed for three weeks, with a skipped week in the middle.
Menu - First thing that struck us when we signed up for Blue Apron was the meal variety; I want to order something with meat, and the weekly menus usually include eight choices, one of which is generally a burger, a couple of chicken dishes, and then either steak or salmon. This is a pretty good variety, except that the meals are generally Asian or Mexican-influenced. This means they always include garlic (which I cannot eat) and lots of spice. After week three, they tend to start tasting very similar. The meat can be fried or grilled, which is great for summertime, but the rest of the meal often has to be cooked on a stove. Frankly, I buy these services to learn new dishes and new techniques. I know how to fry a hamburger. I can boil potatoes. While I was introduced to new condiments and spices, and the term “fond” in every recipe, I didn’t try any recipes that I would be tempted to try again.
And I left many of the spices behind. I wasn’t too impressed with the steak that we were sent, and there was just enough meat for two adults -- either 10 ounces of burger, two small chicken breasts, or this steak:
But, the plan made it very easy to look ahead at menus, and to suspend delivery for weeks ahead.
Delivery - Blue Apron offers free shipping on their deliveries, although that is easily factored into the price per meal. Right off the bat, though, we had a problem with our second delivery; we were notified by email that it would be late, and it arrived four days later than it should have. It must have been sitting on a truck (the company did say that they would address this with their shipping partner to ensure that it did not happen again!) because the ice packs were totally melted and warm, the chicken breasts had leaked and turned rancid, and the entire box was ruined. Two meals, including salmon filet, into the trash. We were reimbursed for the delivery (our next one was free), and told that we were given an additional $15 credit, but that credit never showed up, despite repeated emails. We tried the wine subscription as well, and the first and only delivery was two weeks late, as well. I imagine that the bottles were sitting in a hot truck, too.
Packaging - the boxes are, with the exception of the one described above, very well packaged and arrived very cold. Both meals are packaged together, with the meat or fish in double plastic in the coldest part of the box at the bottom, and the vegetables each packaged in plastic bags, and the condiments in small containers, baggies, or bottles that are then packaged in plastic bags. This means having to separate the ingredients before cooking, and a LOT of plastic waste.
The materials are apparently recyclable, and can be returned to Blue Apron for free, but I was never able to find the instructions for doing so. The ice packs are only 1% chemical and the rest water, but users are instructed to empty the gel packs into the trash, and then dispose of the bag.
Recipes - The recipes are accompanied by great color photos, which helps stumbling chefs. But I would have liked a bit more direction. Never having cooked with baby bok choy before, for instance, I was unsure of how much to trim, how large to chop its leaves.
Sometimes I was told to use “half of” an ingredient that was bottled or packaged, rather than a specific amount, or to use an ingredient “to taste”.
When I am learning a new recipe, I want specifics!!
The vegetable was often a salad - some fresh vegetables dressed with a vinaigrette, such as kale with garlic and vinegar, or zucchini in a sour cream-based vinaigrette. Interesting, but none that we would ever try again.
Nutritional information - Each batch of ingredients comes with a slip on which are printed the Nutritional Facts about the dish, as packaged and as prepared. I wondered why I would care how many calories are in the uncooked dish??? Oh, well. Any information is good information, right??
Additional -- Blue Apron also offers a wine subscription - but the bottles contain two glasses of wine only - not full-sized bottles. Blue Apron says that this is done so that the wine can be enjoyed with the meal with which it is paired (recipes recommend varieties of wine, each wine is sorted into type with a cute symbol key) and so that there is none left over! Really! Wine left over???
Blue Apron also markets cooking tools, and vegetarian options, and the recipes are available online.
Summary - We were not impressed. The meals were similar from week to week, not very adventurous, and always involved too many spices (and lots of garlic) that we cannot eat. While the service we received was good, overall, we would not pay for these meals in a restaurant, so we would not cook them at home.
This has prompted a series of blog posts on meal services, as we intend to try more and report on our experience. I’m going to break down each post into several sections, so that we can compare the plans side-by-side, so to speak!
Meal Plans - Blue Apron offers 2 and 3 meals per week for a couple, 2,3 or 4 meals per week for a family of four. Pricing is shown below. We opted for the plan that offered 2 recipes per week for two persons, and we subscribed for three weeks, with a skipped week in the middle.
2-Person Plan
Serves 2 People
Recipes
|
Price per Serving
|
Shipping
|
Weekly Total
|
2
|
$10.99
per serving
|
$7.99
shipping
|
$51.95
per week
|
3
|
$10.99
per serving
|
FREE
shipping
|
$65.94
per week
|
Family Plan
Serves 4 People
Recipes
|
Price per Serving
|
Shipping
|
Weekly Total
|
2
|
$9.99
per serving
|
FREE
shipping
|
$79.92
per week
|
3
|
$8.99
per serving
|
FREE
shipping
|
$107.88
per week
|
4
|
$8.99
per serving
|
FREE
shipping
|
$143.84
per week
|
Menu - First thing that struck us when we signed up for Blue Apron was the meal variety; I want to order something with meat, and the weekly menus usually include eight choices, one of which is generally a burger, a couple of chicken dishes, and then either steak or salmon. This is a pretty good variety, except that the meals are generally Asian or Mexican-influenced. This means they always include garlic (which I cannot eat) and lots of spice. After week three, they tend to start tasting very similar. The meat can be fried or grilled, which is great for summertime, but the rest of the meal often has to be cooked on a stove. Frankly, I buy these services to learn new dishes and new techniques. I know how to fry a hamburger. I can boil potatoes. While I was introduced to new condiments and spices, and the term “fond” in every recipe, I didn’t try any recipes that I would be tempted to try again.
And I left many of the spices behind. I wasn’t too impressed with the steak that we were sent, and there was just enough meat for two adults -- either 10 ounces of burger, two small chicken breasts, or this steak:But, the plan made it very easy to look ahead at menus, and to suspend delivery for weeks ahead.
 |
| Soggy packaging material |
 |
| Spoiled chicken |
Packaging - the boxes are, with the exception of the one described above, very well packaged and arrived very cold. Both meals are packaged together, with the meat or fish in double plastic in the coldest part of the box at the bottom, and the vegetables each packaged in plastic bags, and the condiments in small containers, baggies, or bottles that are then packaged in plastic bags. This means having to separate the ingredients before cooking, and a LOT of plastic waste.
The materials are apparently recyclable, and can be returned to Blue Apron for free, but I was never able to find the instructions for doing so. The ice packs are only 1% chemical and the rest water, but users are instructed to empty the gel packs into the trash, and then dispose of the bag.
Recipes - The recipes are accompanied by great color photos, which helps stumbling chefs. But I would have liked a bit more direction. Never having cooked with baby bok choy before, for instance, I was unsure of how much to trim, how large to chop its leaves. 
Sometimes I was told to use “half of” an ingredient that was bottled or packaged, rather than a specific amount, or to use an ingredient “to taste”. 
Nutritional information - Each batch of ingredients comes with a slip on which are printed the Nutritional Facts about the dish, as packaged and as prepared. I wondered why I would care how many calories are in the uncooked dish??? Oh, well. Any information is good information, right??
Additional -- Blue Apron also offers a wine subscription - but the bottles contain two glasses of wine only - not full-sized bottles. Blue Apron says that this is done so that the wine can be enjoyed with the meal with which it is paired (recipes recommend varieties of wine, each wine is sorted into type with a cute symbol key) and so that there is none left over! Really! Wine left over???
Blue Apron also markets cooking tools, and vegetarian options, and the recipes are available online.
Summary - We were not impressed. The meals were similar from week to week, not very adventurous, and always involved too many spices (and lots of garlic) that we cannot eat. While the service we received was good, overall, we would not pay for these meals in a restaurant, so we would not cook them at home.
Comments