Review – Blue Apron - Meal Delivery Service

For our second of the Meal Delivery Services, we tried Blue Apron. We found the service to be a mix of good and bad.

Health

I found it frustrating that you had to dive several layers into a selection to learn its nutritional value. I like to know the net carbs of a meal. There is plenty of room on the description page to include that information to compare items, but they make you dive several screens down on each item to learn about calories and carbs.

Receipt

Upon receipt, I always put the meats into a container. Every order has something leak leaving some blood or juice in the bottom of the container. I’m not sure if any of the items were leaking themselves or if they were once in contact with another package that was leaking. In any event, the apparent leakage was disconcerting.  

Quality

We had difficulty with some of the food quality. The prosciutto in the “Creamy Prosciutto & Tomato Pasta” was a terrible ball of stringy fat. I needed to crisp the prosciutto in a pan; then it was edible. The snap peas in the “Spicy Hoisin Noodles & Vegetables” were still tough and stringy even after the strings were removed. The worst of the items was a bunch of thyme for the “Parmesan & Thyme Biscuits.” About 1/3 of the thyme was black from spoilage. 

Preparation

Most of the food was easily prepared in about half an hour. Of the dozen items we tried, only one took more than 45 minutes. A list of ingredients and tools needed for preparation would be nice. 

Taste

Some of the meals were very tasty. The “Miso Butter Steaks” were delicious. The Miso butter was fantastic, and the steak was okay without much gristle; however, the Bok Choy & Carrot Rice was boring. The “Spicy Glazed Beef & Snap Peas” beef had more than half of the meat too fatty and gristly to eat. The meatballs in the “Baked Meatballs & Romesco Mayo” were dry. The Spanish spice blend made the meatballs bitter. None of the meals, except the premium meal, were A’s. 

 Portions

Most of the meals were starch-forward—lots of carbs and little offsetting fiber. White rice and pasta were primarily the side dishes with, in our opinion, too much. We had leftovers from many of the meals because of that. 

Sustainability

One of the orders I received had EnviroIcetm ice packs. I had never seen them before. Besides being drain safe, they are plant food. Just pour the gel pack into the soil of plants and water. I first diluted it in a bucket of water, spread it where needed, and then watered the items. It is a great way to dispose of the gel and much better than wasting water to flush the gel down the drain. Sadly, they only used it once in the boxes I received. Blue Apron also had more of its bags marked as store returnable than other services I’ve seen.  

Price

We did spring for a premium meal, the “Cheesy Truffle Steak Tip Sandwiches.” It was delicious—one of the best steak sandwiches I’ve ever had. However, it was a $19.95 per meal add-on. Considering the cost, I could easily go to the local restaurant and get a comparable sandwich for that price. 

Customer Service

We did not avail ourselves of customer service. Thankfully, canceling the service was easy.  

Rating: 3.8

• Ordering Process: 4 – Easy, straightforward.
• Cooking Process: 4 – Directions weren’t as straightforward as other recipes I’ve encountered. 
• Food Taste: 3 – It was a mix with some very good, some mediocre meals, and some elements inedible.  
• Price: 4 – After the introductory box, the meals ran about $8.75 per serving.
• Sustainability: 4 – We liked the EnviroIcetm and more store returnable packaging. 

Conclusion: We canceled Blue Apron without expecting to return to them for future orders.