I didn’t believe the hype.
I had heard about Blue Apron for years. Everyone has. But I never stuck with it long enough to see if the promise held up. So I changed that. I ordered boxes for four straight weeks. I cooked, I ate, I tracked every receipt and ingredient. Sixteen meals in, the answer isn’t complicated.
Blue Apron is good. It’s messy. It’s plastic-heavy. But the food? It stays.
The basics
Blue Apron is an old hand in this game. Launched over a decade ago. Since then they added sides, desserts, and heat-and-eat options. The model is standard: you get pre-portioned ingredients and cards that tell you how to cook them.
You pick your meals on the app or site. You tell them how many people eat (two to four) and how many dinners you need. No minimum order. That last part is huge. You aren’t locked into a subscription unless you want to be. Order one box. Skip a week. It’s flexible.
What I actually cooked
I wanted to test variety. Proteins, veg, weird flavor combos.
- Week 1: Honey Mustard Chicken with farro. Sheet Pan Soy-Miso chicken. Roasted squash with chickpeas. A curry with paneer.
- Week 2: Pork bolognese on fettuccine. Za’atar chicken in pita pockets. A pizza that somehow used truffle honey. Beef curry with rice. Steak sandwiches with chimichurri.
- Later weeks: Seared chicken with a scallion sauce. Carrots with pistachios. And again—the soy-miso chicken. I loved it. I ordered it twice.
The menu is massive. Over fifty choices every week. Filters exist for quick meals, high protein, or low calorie. You can dig deep.
Delivery and packaging
Most boxes arrived on time. The notifications help. Email when it ships. Text when it drops off. One box showed up a day late. The ice packs kept the chicken cold anyway. No spoilage.
The ingredients were fresh. Veggies bright. Proteins separated and cold under the insulation. I never found bruised lettuce or crushed tomatoes. That is impressive for a package traveling across the country.
There is a catch. Plastic. Lots of it. Every single ingredient is wrapped in its own little pouch or tray. It feels wasteful. I stacked it up and sighed. There’s no solution here. I just tossed it all and hoped for a greener future.
Occasional swaps happened. No sauce for the scallion chicken one week. An email came before it arrived explaining the sub and how to fix the recipe. I appreciated the heads up. It didn’t ruin dinner.
Time and money
How much does it cost? It depends. Prices float between $7.99 and $14.99 per serving. Shipping is flat $11.49 per box.
You can spend as little as $31.96 on two servings if you are cheap and clever. Most people won’t.
Blue Apron+ costs $9.99 a month or $100 a year. You get free shipping and a small discount on auto-ship orders. If you order regularly the math might work out. I didn’t track it that closely. I just looked at the final receipt. It was more expensive than grocery shopping from scratch. Less expensive than takeout. Is it a bargain? No. Is it convenient? Yes.
The cooking time? Mostly thirty to forty-five minutes. The Honey Mustard Chicken took fifteen minutes flat. The pork schnitzel took an hour. The estimates on the cards were accurate. No surprise delays.
Verdict
I cook most of my own dinners. I like the control. Blue Apron stole that control and gave me a better night out.
The instructions were clear. Photos helped. I rarely had to guess. The Soy-Miso chicken was just seasoning and a tray in the oven. I kept the card. I will make it again without the box eventually. That is the point of a meal kit, isn’t it? Teach you something. Then save you the hassle next time.
Should you try it? If you hate planning. If you hate guessing if the milk is spoiled. If you want a steak dinner without the trip to the store. Yes.
If you love browsing the aisles for obscure spices. No. Save your money.
The food was consistent. Sixteen nights in. No flops. Just dinner, sorted, arriving at your door with a bit of trash attached.
