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Blue Apron review: Why it's our No.1 pick for best time-saving meal delivery kit service
So good that it's our No.1 pick for the best time-saving meal kit delivery service.
A delivered meal kit is a great way to make sure you're getting enough veggies and protein in your diet—and it allows you to skip grocery shopping. One of the most popular meal kit brands is Blue Apron, and if you've been wondering if it’s worth it, you'll want to keep reading to learn why the brand is our favorite budget-friendly meal kit delivery service for its variety of flavorful recipes and the ability to customize meal options. I tested out all the major meal delivery kitsBlue Apron rated quite high, with meals for as low as $8 and $9 per serving.
Let's learn more about this meal delivery kit's basic features, and then we'll get into more specifics about why we recommend Blue Apron as a top meal kit company.
Price: $9 - $12 per serving | Menu/diet choices: 70+ weekly choices | Skill level: Beginner-friendly Taste: 7/10
What is a meal kit delivery service?
A meal kit delivery service contains premeasured ingredients and an accompanying recipe, enabling you to create a fresh-cooked meal at home without having to run to the grocery store or measure your own ingredients.
Most meal kit delivery services offer a variety of meal plans that range both in size (from two to four servings per meal, two to five meals per week) and in food preferences, such as omnivore, vegetarian or plant-based, high-protein or reduced-calorie options.
The story behind Blue Apron
Launched in 2012, Blue Apron offers fresh, chef-designed meal kits delivered to your doorstep. The company puts a focus on reducing food and packaging waste, and addressing its carbon impact. Blue Apron’s culinary team includes renowned chefs who have worked in some of the country’s best restaurants — such as Blue Hill Stone Barns, Gramercy Tavern, Craft and Franny’s. By working with trusted suppliers to source specialty products, Blue Apron is able to create unique recipes designed around the freshest ingredients for each season.
Blue Apron's plans and pricing
Pricing: $9.49 per serving if you order meals for four people. Three meals per week for four people costs $113.88, plus a $10.99 shipping fee.
Menu plans: There are 70-plus weekly options that range from classics to plant-based to wellness and beyond. The weekly menus also include add-on items like breakfast kits, microwavable meals, à la carte proteins and desserts. You may order a maximum of four servings per meal and up to five meals per week.
How does Blue Apron work?
You can browse the Blue Apron website or download their app, for easy access to order and account info when you're on the go. Once you choose a plan, it's time to select a delivery date and browse the week’s menu for meal planning. When that scheduled delivery day comes, you'll receive a box filled with preportioned fresh ingredients (which helps eliminate food waste) and step-by-step instructions for each meal.
We really appreciated that there are recipes designed in collaboration with nutritionists, with each meal under 600 calories. Blue Apron is, which explains why we also voted it Best All-Around Nutrition-Conscious Meal Kit in our Best Healthy Meal Kit Delivery Services for 2023 review alongside services like HelloFresh, Home Chef, EveryPlate, GreenChef, Purple Carrot and Dinnerly. I felt very efficient using a Blue Apron kit for weeknight dinners. Plus, I liked the variety of the weekly menu, which could be tailored to specific dietary restrictions. In terms of flavor, I found these meals to be hit or miss — one night it was pretty average salmon, vegetables and rice and another a big winner chicken dinner with tons of bright spots. But I really appreciated the easy and clear recipe instructions — and the fact that I was able to put dinner on the table relatively quickly.
And that's not all: In 2022, Blue Apron donated 1.3 million meals to Feeding America and over 400,000 meals in its free, weekly Farmers Markets for our fulfillment center employees in 2022 as part of its waste diversion strategies.
How we tested Blue Apron
For this review, I tried all Blue Apron meal kits at dinner with my family. I’ve been eating for a living for many years now, have a degree from the French Culinary Institute and have worked for various food publications. I’m also a mom with an active teen and tween, whom I cook for daily.
I evaluated Blue Apron based on the following criteria:
Subscription price, because everyone has different budgets.
Ease of use, because you’re getting a meal kit to make your life easier, so you don’t want anything too complicated or time-consuming.
Menu choices, because you want a good number of meals, a variety of recipes and quality ingredients.
Taste, because above all, you want a delicious meal!
Packaging: Is there too much? Too little? Is it putting out excess waste into the world? We factored sustainability into our reviews.
In making the selections, I also considered feedback from other on-staff meal kit testers for a variety of opinions (we got reviews from a family of five, a family with both an infant and a tween, and a family of three with vegetarians and vegans). I also weighed info from Facebook Groups devoted to discussing meal kits that include both calorie-smart members and picky eaters, plus expert advice from Jaclyn London, a New York City–based registered dietician.
Every one of the best meal delivery services has different strengths and weaknesses. Some are very easy, others offer frequent new recipes and more variety, some are great for families and others are geared toward vegetarian options (and omnivores who love veggies).
Let’s learn a little more about meal kits and answer some commonly asked questions.
What can I expect from a Blue Apron meal kit?
Cooking dinner is enjoyable and not stressful. With each delivery of preportioned ingredients and recipes that may feed two or four, you won’t have to worry about what’s for dinner, and you can easily follow recipes. There are options to suit some dietary needs. You can filter meals by dietary restriction or preference (omnivore, vegetarian, wellness, etc.) and servings desired. You can usually choose your delivery day and even add on extras like portions of protein, veggies, breakfast foods, microwavable meals and desserts.
The meals I made and how I liked them
The meals I made included Za'atar Chicken and Farro with roasted vegetables and Pistachio-Crusted Salmon with rice and roasted vegetables. The chicken dish was slightly more successful for my family for a few reasons. This meal consisted of sautéed chicken breast, roasted vegetables (delicata squash, red grapes, red onions and green beans), cooked farro with a pan sauce, and a separate goat cheese sauce for the whole dish. The many components ultimately contributed to layers of flavor and a more complex dish than I expected. Having said that, my kids did not go for the farro. I ate some with dinner and the rest with lunches later in the week and enjoyed the change of pace.
As far as the salmon goes, we all enjoyed the fish itself, but my daughter immediately swiped off the pistachio crust and everyone declared the roasted vegetables (grape tomatoes, mushrooms and onions) a bit weird. We are used to eating more green vegetables and none of us were thrilled with the idea of roasted tomatoes. The rice was fine, though I opted out of making it with lemon, capers and mayo, as I suspected the kids would prefer it plain. In short, I felt like this meal was actually counterproductive to our trying new things and getting out of our dinner rut.
Who Blue Apron meal kits are good for
Anyone looking to mix up the weeknight routine and those looking for inspiration would benefit from Blue Apron's variety of international flavors that are still family-friendly. And if you're concerned about food waste, meal kits offer you a way to use ingredients in small quantities that may languish and spoil if purchased in their usual quantities. Do you need just a tablespoon of pomegranate seeds? No need to buy a full container of them when you're cooking from a meal kit.
Who Blue Apron meal kits are not so good for
People who have a hard time with lots of recipe components. These kits come with pre-portioned ingredients, but there are still many more moving parts to each dish than one might normally have in a weeknight meal. The prep might be overwhelming for some cooks.
What if I'm nervous about trying Blue Apron?
Blue Apron offers major discounts to first-time customers, making it very affordable to try your first box before you commit (or don’t) to any one plan. All you have to do is take advantage of any one of these offers and then mark your calendar with an alert for the date by which you must cancel the subscription.
What if I need to skip a week?
You can use the Blue Apron app or website to skip a week, pause your membership or cancel anytime if your needs change.
Where can I find the Blue Apron nutritional information?
On the website, you can view all each meal kit's nutritional information, including ingredients, calorie count, carbohydrates, protein, dietary fiber, sugar, sodium, unsaturated and saturated fat and cholesterol.
How do Blue Apron ingredients stay fresh during shipping?
All ingredients arrive in a Blue Apron box with insulated thermal liners and refrigerants, so your food stays cool until you get home.
Can I recycle the Blue Apron packaging?
Yes! Blue Apron provides all the information you may want to know about recycling its different forms of packaging.
The final verdict on Blue Apron
The chicken and salmon portions were adequate for adults and generous for younger kids, leaving us with the potential for lunches the next day, though there were never enough vegetables in our meals. I would definitely try Blue Apron again, though I would not opt into their pasta dishes which seem overpriced compared to their other dishes.
Price: $9 - $12 per serving | Menu/diet choices: 70+ weekly choices | Skill level: Beginner-friendly Taste: 7/10
