My Review of Blue Apron Meals

Last week, we tried something a bit new!  My sweet friend Sharon sent us a 1-week trial of Blue Apron Meals.  She and her husband have been enjoying their meals and thought we might like to try it also.  I am always up for trying new foods as well as new ways to plan our menu and prepare foods.

So, after having 3 of their meals, here is my review.  Being Type A, I absolutely LOVE the whole idea of this type of service.  Blue Apron is one of the many companies out there now who plan your meals for you, ship you foods, and have recipes ready for you to make.  It's really pretty ingenious.  Blue Apron's service includes a few different options for ordering based on the size of your family and also the foods your family wants to eat.  Their menu changes each week.  Then, it shows up at your door in a box that has everything you need to prepare your meals that week.  And don't worry if you aren't home...it's packaged with ice packs so that your food stays fresh until you are able to unpack it all.

On to the meals themselves...we had three meals shipped to us.  Our trial was free, but usually a week costs $59.95 for 3 meals that serve 2-3 people.  So, you are looking at $20 per meal.  Based on how your family typically eats, you can decide whether this is money-saving for you or not!

Here were our meals:

Dukkah-Spiced Cod

  They send you a wonderful color card with the entree and step-by-step instructions...

And all of the ingredients are pre-measured and ready to go!

And, they are SUPER beautiful once they are plated.  Seriously...the pretty plates were one of my favorite aspects!

Steak & Eggs

The cabbage slaw on this was amazing...

Chicken Fried Chicken

This one was also really good!  The sides were especially easy to prepare.

The verdict...I absolutely love the idea of this, and the food was really quite delicious.  But, for our family, it's not the best use of $60 per week.  I can shop for our groceries a little less expensively for foods that we eat a little more regularly.  For each of the meals, I substituted different foods for the kids because some of them were definitely things my kids would not have eaten enough of to be full.  Also, some of them would have been a bit too spicy, or there wouldn't have been enough meat for all 5 of us.  

However, I will take some of the ideas of these recipes and incorporate them into more of our meals.  I learned about layering flavors in a different way, and I always love finding new ways to flavor foods and prepare them in a better way.  But, all 3 meals took 30-40 minutes for me to prepare over the stovetop.  While I may make a 30-minute stovetop meal 1 time a week, I cannot do this 3 times a week.  It's a little too much standing and chopping for dinner all at the same time...I typically make foods that I can prepare earlier in the week or day so that I don't have to do so much right at dinner time.  My kids enjoy a variety of proteins, fruits, and vegetables, although they don't always like them layered and mixed together.

But, if you are a busy family who needs more ideas for dinner and even help with the shopping, I definitely recommend your giving this a shot!  Blue Apron and other services could be the PERFECT fit for a busy mom who doesn't have time to menu plan and shop for all of her family's meal each week.  With a service like Blue Apron, you would know you had 3 meals, ready to make, at home and in the fridge, which may keep you from hitting the drive through.

So, that's my review.  For this time in my life, it's not a fit.  But, the food is incredible, the recipes were easy to follow, and the fact that groceries show up on your doorstep is pretty much magic.  Give it a shot if you think it would be a good fit for your family!