Blue Apron Review

Blue Apron is a top-tier meal delivery service committed to providing its customers the means to carry out sustainable, waste-free cooking. Blue Apron sources their food directly from family-run farms and upstanding meat suppliers.

MEAL KITS





How does Blue Apron meal delivery work?

Blue Apron's a meal delivery service that sends you all of the ingredients along with comprehensive instructions to cook whichever meals you ultimately end up selecting. You should also note that all the ingredients provided by Blue Apron are fresh, locally sourced, and provided in pre-measured quantities.

Does Blue Apron offer one-time purchases and subscriptions?

Blue Apron meals cost anywhere between $3.24 and $11.99 per serving. Should you sign up for two meals a week, you’ll be charged up to $11.99 per serving. If you opt for the Signature for four meal plan, that will cost you up to $9.49 per serving. Next, if you opt for any of the aforementioned plans, but for three or four meals per week, you will save up to $2 per serving. Shipping also costs $9.99 regardless of which meal plan you choose, however new customers can get free shipping on their first order.

Is Blue Apron good for families?

Blue Apron's a great option for families that are on the lookout for a new meal delivery service. Blue Apron offers families the flexibility of being delivered two or four meals per week. This provides families the added benefit of even greater customization when it comes to the selection process for which particular meals they want.

Is Blue Apron good for singles and couples?

Blue Apron offers a highly competitive price-to-value ratio when it comes to their meals. Additionally, Blue Apron's "Premium Meal" option is a great upgrade for couples out there that are interested in paying the extra cost for even higher quality meals.

What's in the Blue Apron box?

In each box from Blue Apron, you can expect highly intuitive recipe cards that contain detailed step-by-step instructions on how to prepare each meal that you've selected from Blue Apron on a given week. Additionally, Blue Apron pays special attention to ensuring that all necessary ingredients come in each box that's delivered to you.

PREPARATION





How easy are Blue Apron meals to prepare?

Blue Apron meals are by their very design intended to make for an easy prep and cooking process due to the fact that each box from Blue Apron will come with all the necessary ingredients that you'll need to make each meal, save for any other spices you might want to add yourself.

Does Blue Apron offer a premade meal option?

Blue Apron now offers "Heat & Eat" ready-made meals that will provide you the same taste quality that you'd find in a Blue Apron meal that you prepared and cooked yourself without any of the added cooking time.

How long will it take to prepare a Blue Apron meal?

Most Blue Apron meals are estimated to take between 30-and 45 minutes to make. This doesn't include the amount of time that it will take you to match each ingredient with its relevant recipe card.

How long can I store my Blue Apron meals in the freezer/fridge before I eat them?

Blue Apron's site clarifies that the ingredients in their meals may stay fresh for up to a week. However, Blue Apron also recommends that you cook the seafood/shellfish first to ensure that you're enjoying maximum freshness. You should also note that the beef provided by Blue Apron should generally be cooked within five days.

What supplies will I need in my kitchen in order to prepare Blue Apron meals?

Blue Apron intentionally designed their meals so that all that's required of you as a cook is minimal kitchen equipment. This includes a pot, pan, baking dish, and up to three sheet pans.



DIETS





Does Blue Apron offer vegetarian and vegan options?

Blue Apron offers between three and four vegetarian recipes each week on their Signature for 2 meal plan. Should you choose to opt for the Signature for 2 meal plan you'll be provided two or three of the vegetarian recipes that are made available by Blue Apron, each week. You should also note that Blue Apron now offers Blue Apron x Beyond Meat recipes on their Signature plans. It should be noted though that Beyond Burger patties aren't 100% plant-based, and might include ingredients that aren't, in fact, plant-based (e.g. cheese).

Does Blue Apron offer special diet meal plans?

At this time Blue Apron doesn't offer any diet plans outside of their Signature for 2 Vegetarian Plan.

Can Blue Apron accommodate food allergies?

All of Blue Apron's ingredients are packaged within a facility that processes milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, and soy. Due to this current packaging environment it is not recommended that you order from Blue Apron if you have any food allergies.

Are Blue Apron meals healthy?

The majority of the meals that are offered by Blue Apron are relatively healthy due to the fact that they consist of lean proteins, fresh veggies, and grains. With that being said, you'll also have the ability to customize your weekly meal selections with comfort food-themed meals as well.



CUSTOMER SERVICE





Does someone need to be home when my Blue Apron box is delivered?

When you order from Blue Apron you'll have the option to choose your preferred delivery day. Deliveries from Blue Apron most often take place between Tuesday and Friday. Although, some locations will be eligible for deliveries to go out on Monday and Saturday. You should be able to expect each of your deliveries to arrive anywhere between 8 am and 8 pm on the pre-selected delivery day.

What type of packaging do Blue Apron meals come in? 

Each of your orders from Blue Apron is packed with a supple amount of ice packs and insulated liners to ensure that none of your meals go bad during the delivery process.

Is Blue Apron shipping free?

Shipping for all meal plans is $9.99; however, if you are a new customer you will get free shipping on your first order. 

How can I pause or cancel my Blue Apron subscription?

Blue Apron tries to make it easy as possible for their customers to change, pause, or cancel their meal plans. However, should you decide that you want to cancel your subscription, you must do so at least six days before the next scheduled delivery date.

What is the Blue Apron refund policy? 

Should you find yourself displeased with a product from Blue Apron, they will provide you a full refund on all the items that are returned (except food, wine, and gift cards) within 30 days of the original receipt as long as the product is in its original packaging and condition.

Compare Home Chef to Top Meal Delivery Competitors

Blue Apron on its own has quite a few recognizable pros when it comes to food safety, sustainability, customer responsiveness, and more. However, when you’re looking for meal delivery services, you’ll find a whole spectrum of products that are competing for your kitchen. How does Blue Apron look when compared to other top competitors?

Blue Apron vs. HelloFresh:

HelloFresh has followed Blue Apron closely on its heels recently, like launching a monthly wine delivery service, providing gift cards, and more. HelloFresh falls short in the variety of plans it offers, only giving customers the options of Classic, Family, and Veggie plans. Blue Apron has also cultivated a stronger online community to help chefs start cooking from a very beginning baseline, and its momentum is something that is hard to compete with.

Blue Apron vs. Sunbasket:

Sunbasket has Blue Apron beat when it comes to special diets and choosing themed plans. Whereas Blue Apron only has the four plans, Sunbasket has eleven. These are mostly centered around certain diet trends and health-conscious appetites, such as a Diabetes-Friendly meal plan and a Lean and Clean choice. Because of this variety, Sunbasket is priced $2 higher per serving, which can quickly add up.

Blue Apron vs. Home Chef:

Instead of offering certain meal plans, Home Chef allows the users to choose their recipes each week and customizing certain dishes, like adding more protein or removing some ingredients. Home Chef sits on the same tier of pricing as Blue Apron, but Blue Apron is more transparent in their food sourcing and offers a straight-to-supplier look at where each of their ingredients comes from. To dive into choosing recipes with Home Chef, you have to start the process by giving your shipping and billing information, which can be a pain to do for some consumers.

Blue Apron Monthly Wine Delivery

One fun way to spruce up your nightly meals is to pair a complimentary wine with the flavors you’re serving up. Whether you want to send your wine as a gift or include it with your own recipes, monthly wine delivery is a sure way to get your guests or partner excited about the evening. Each bottle is selected to complement certain recipes, and with each wine delivery, you’ll receive a description of flavor profiles, notes, and more. If you’ve wanted to learn more about wine but never knew where to start, this can be the beginning of a beautiful friendship between you and wine.