Blue Apron Meal Delivery Review

Show of hands: Who could use some help in the kitchen? Whether you’re time crunched or you can’t tell your can opener from your cooktop, if you find yourself struggling to get a healthy, home-cooked dinner on the table, a home delivery meal kit could be a great option.

In this review, we’ll cover everything you need to know about Blue Apron, from the menu to delivery options—and of course, the cost. We’ll also compare Blue Apron to some of the other top meal kit delivery services on the market, so you can figure out which is best for you. So, whether you’re considering signing up with Blue Apron or are just curious about what they have to offer, read on for our complete review.

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Blue Apron Meal
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9.8

9.8

$110 Off & First Box Ships Free

Highlights
Meal kits starting at $7.99 per serving, with heat-and-eat options available
Quality-focused ingredients sourced with strict standards for sustainability
All ingredients are non-GMO, antibiotic-free & hormone-free
Options include vegetarian, family friendly & WW™ recommended meals
Wine subscriptions & “a la carte” market items available
85 percent of Blue Apron packaging materials are home recyclable

Blue Apron Menu, Meal Options & Recipes

Blue Apron offers a variety of menu options and recipes to choose from. Whether you’re in the mood for something light and healthy or want to indulge in a hearty meal, there’s something for everyone. The menu options change each week, and you can view a whole month of meals at a time on the Blue Apron website.

Blue Apron offers five menu categories to choose from:

Chef Favorites: This menu option has the most variety since it features a rotating selection of meat, fish, vegetarian proteins and health-conscious offerings.

Family Friendly: Here’s where families with little ones in the house can find kid-friendly meals the whole family will love.

Wellness: This category features Blue Apron’s nutritionist-approved recipes, including WW™ recommended options.

Fast & Easy: For those with little time on their hands, the Fast & Easy category features meals that are ready in 30 minutes or less, along with Blue Apron’s heat and eat options.

Veggies: This is where vegetarians or the veg-curious can find Blue Apron’s meat-free menu options featuring fresh, seasonal produce and plant-based proteins.

Each meal comes with step-by-step instructions and all of the necessary ingredients, pre-portioned with exactly what you need, so there’s no food waste. The only items you’ll need to have on hand are salt, pepper and oil.

For those looking to save time, Blue Apron offers heat-and-eat meal options in almost all of their menu categories, which, as the name implies, are perfect for those nights that you need to get dinner on the table in five minutes or less.

Wine lovers: You can opt to add on a wine subscription, featuring three 500-milliliter bottles (perfect to share between two people) per month of red wine, white wine or a mix of both. The wine box is priced at $75.99 per month, which comes out to $11 per bottle.

In addition to Blue Apron’s weekly meal kits and wine subscriptions, customers can also select from add-on items like side dishes, appetizers, breakfasts and desserts to round out your weekly meal kit. They also have an online marketplace where you can stock up on pantry items, kitchen tools, seasonal meal kits and specialty wines.

Blue Apron Menus

Next, let’s take a look at a sample menu. Recipes vary between menu options and from week to week, so we’ve given you a taste of what you can expect in each category:

Chef Favorite Family Friendly Wellness Fast & Easy Veggies
Pan-Seared Strip Steaks & Rosemary Butter Sauce with Arugula Salad & Garlic-Parmesan Potatoes Balsamic-Dijon Chicken with Mashed Potatoes & Sauteéd Veggies Shawarma Chicken & Vegetable Farro Bowl with Cilantro Sauce & Greek Yogurt Romesco Beef & Vegetables with Spanish-Spiced Rice & Lemon Mayo Veggie Tacos with Mexican Street Corn
Oven-Baked Pesto Chicken & Orzo with Spinach, Tomatoes & Ricotta Vegetable Quesadillas with Roasted Sweet Potatoes & Lime Sour Cream Sheet Pan Trout with Honey-Dijon Potatoes & Arugula Shrimp Tacos & Peach Salsa with Roasted Potato Wedges Potato Hash & Eggs with Kale, Bell Pepper & Hot Sauce
Hot Italian Pork Sausage & Pepper Subs with Roasted Potatoes Garlic Ricotta Pizza with Bell Pepper & Olives Baked Tofu & Creamy Tomato Curry with Brown Rice & Cashews Thai-Style Glazed Tilapia with Sauteéd Vegetables & Crispy Onions Chilled Vegetable Ramen with Soft-Boiled Eggs & Corn

Blue Apron Meals: Serving Sizes

Blue Apron meal kits are available in two servings or four servings per meal. Two-serving kits will feed two adults, or provide one meal plus leftovers. Four-serving kits will feed a family of four, or are great for those who like leftovers on hand for even easier weeknight meals or lunches.

Blue Apron Nutritional Information

When it comes to nutrition, Blue Apron puts the quality of their meals first. All of their ingredients are fresh and responsibly sourced, so you can be sure you’re getting the best possible meal.

You can find nutritional information and ingredients for each Blue Apron meal on their website. A full list of nutrition facts is made available for each recipe up to 10 days in advance.

Blue Apron Meal Delivery Options

Blue Apron delivers to most zip codes in the contiguous United States. They do not deliver to Alaska, Hawaii or Puerto Rico.

Blue Apron Cost

At the time of this review, Blue Apron meal delivery kits start at $7.99 per serving. The price varies depending on the number of servings per meal and the number of meals per week that you choose. The more meals or servings you choose, the cheaper the price per serving.

For example, a plan with two servings per meal and two meals per week is priced at $11.99 per serving, or $47.96 per week. And a plan with four servings per meal and four meals per week is priced at $7.99 per serving, or $127.84 per week.

Shipping is an additional $9.99 per box. The company also offers occasional discounts for savings on the price of a weekly box or shipping fees.

Blue Apron Discounts, Coupons & Deals

Blue Apron occasionally offers discounts and deals for new customers on their website. For example, their current deal saves subscribers a total of $110 across their first five boxes, plus free shipping on the first box.

Additionally, Blue Apron offers discounts to active military members, veterans, students, teachers, seniors age 55 and over, medical staff and first responders.

About Blue Apron

Blue Apron was founded in 2012 by Matt Salzberg, Ilia Papas and Matt Wadiak in Long Island City, N.Y., where the trio got their start by packaging and shipping orders themselves out of a commercial kitchen space. The company has since expanded to include fulfillment centers across the U.S., but remains headquartered in New York.

Blue Apron’s mission is focused on improving the way that food is grown and distributed, partnering with farmers to raise the highest-quality ingredients and adhering to strict sustainability and environmental standards.

Contact Blue Apron

Blue Apron makes it easy to get in touch. Simply fill out their online contact form or reach them by phone at 888-278-4349. You can also contact Blue Apron by email at contact@blueapron.com.

Blue Apron Customer Service Information

Blue Apron has an extensive help center online where you can find answers to frequently asked questions about meal deliveries, account information and more.

If you don’t find the information you’re looking for in their help center, you can contact Blue Apron customer service by calling 888-278-4349, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. EST and Saturday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST.

Blue Apron Competitors: How Do They Compare?

Now that we’ve covered everything Blue Apron has to offer, let’s take a look at how they stack up against some of the other top meal kit delivery services.

Blue Apron vs Hello Fresh

HelloFresh is the most similar to Blue Apron in terms of pricing (both start at around $7.99 per serving) and sustainability and sourcing practices. While HelloFresh has a variety of menu categories (meat and veggies, fit and wholesome, quick and easy, veggie and plant based), their menu has a limited number of vegetarian options each week and they don’t offer heat-and-eat menu options.

Home Chef vs Blue Apron

Like Blue Apron, Home Chef offers a subscription-based meal kit delivery service. Home Chef’s plans start a little cheaper than Blue Apron at $6.99 per serving, and they offer meal kits as well as heat-and-eat options like Blue Apron. Where the two brands differ is that Home Chef doesn’t have as big of a focus on sustainability and quality ingredient sourcing as Blue Apron, and they don’t have a wine subscription, “a la carte” market or a dedicated vegetarian menu (though some items can be customized to include a plant-based protein instead of meat).

Green Chef vs Blue Apron

Green Chef is owned by parent company HelloFresh, and has broken out into the meal kit delivery space with a heavy focus on lifestyle meal kit offerings. Like Blue Apron, Green Chef offers vegetarian and health-conscious recipes, but Green Chef goes the extra step with specific options for Mediterranean, vegan, gluten free, keto and paleo lifestyles. Green Chef does not offer heat-and-eat meals like Blue Apron does, and they don’t have a wine selection or online marketplace. Green Chef is also considerably more expensive than Blue Apron, starting at $11.99 per serving, but it may be the better option for people with specific dietary needs or preferences.

Our Verdict

Blue Apron is our top pick for quality-focused ingredients and sustainable sourcing. Their meal kits are easy to make, varied in cuisines and flavors and they offer a good selection of options for vegetarian, carb-conscious and calorie-conscious eaters. And we love that they offer heat-and-eat options, a wine subscription and weekly add-ons for those who want to add breakfasts, lunches and desserts to the mix.

Blue Apron’s pricing is competitive in the market, and with their frequent discounts for new customers, can be a great option for those looking to make (or learn how to make) fresh, delicious meals at home. Whether you need a time-saving tool in your kitchen toolbelt, or are looking to learn some new cooking skills to impress your friends and family, Blue Apron is a solid choice.

FAQs

What is Blue Apron?

Blue Apron is a meal kit delivery service that aims to help chefs of all levels cook delicious meals at home. With each weekly Blue Apron box, subscribers receive pre-portioned ingredients and easy-to-follow recipe cards to help make cooking easy and fun.

The idea behind Blue Apron is that it’s cheaper and healthier than eating out and helps save time on meal planning and grocery shopping, making it an excellent choice for those who are new to cooking or short on time. The company also emphasizes sustainability and local sourcing, so subscribers can feel good about the food they’re eating.

How much is Blue Apron?

Blue Apron’s pricing varies depending on the number of weekly meals you choose and the number of people you’re cooking for. At the time of this review, their two-serving plan starts at $47.96 per week, while their four-serving plan starts at $75.92 per week, plus a shipping fee of $9.99 per box.

Does Blue Apron have gluten-free options?

Blue Apron does not offer gluten-free meals. The company states that all of their ingredients are packaged in a facility that also processes the eight major food allergens as identified by the FDA (milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat and soy). Because of this, Blue Apron does not recommend ordering their meal kits if you have a severe food allergy.

How does Blue Apron work?

When you sign up for Blue Apron, you’ll choose your meal plan, number of meals per week, number of servings per meal and delivery date. You can also select any dietary preferences for you and your family. Each week you’ll pick new meals, and you can change your delivery date, skip weeks, add extra boxes or cancel your subscription at any time.

Blue Apron meal kits contain all the seasonal produce and specialty ingredients you need to create unique, flavorful meals—all you need to have on hand is salt, pepper and oil. In each box, you’ll receive pre-portioned ingredients and detailed recipe cards with step-by-step instructions to make each meal.

Does Blue Apron have keto meals?

Blue Apron does not specifically list keto meals on their menu options. However, they do offer a Wellness menu, featuring carb-conscious and WW™ recommended menu items.

Does Blue Apron deliver to Hawaii?

Blue Apron meal delivery is only available in the contiguous United States, and the company does not offer delivery to Hawaii, Alaska or Puerto Rico at this time.

Methodology

The Consumer Rating Difference

Behind Our Best Meal Delivery Service Ratings

We make choosing the best meal delivery service easy with expert reviews and rankings.

Here’s the methodology behind our ratings:

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Exhaustive Research

From ingredients to nutritional information and allergies, we dive deep into the data to determine the best option for every kind of eater, no matter what your goals are.
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Meal Delivery Service Reviews

We combed through hundreds of consumer forums and customer reviews to find out which meal delivery service real people like best.
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Personal Experience

Our nutrition and weight loss experts personally tested the best meal delivery services, keeping in mind the criteria consumers care about most—like convenience and food flavor.
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Side-by-Side Comparisons

From Home Chef to Blue Apron to Dinnerly, we compare the best meal delivery services across a number of key criteria to determine how each one ranks.