Over the past year or so, my YouTube feed has been inundated with sponsored videos or ads about food subscription services. Blue Apron and Hello Fresh took over as the top two competitors in this field, and after many months of avoidance I took it upon myself to use that amazing $30 off for the first box, and I signed up for Blue Apron. I sort of knew what to expect after seeing so many videos but actually browsing the site myself it became obvious that it was slightly less exciting than I had hoped.
When you first sign up you get to choose through a few options of what you do and don’t like to eat. I chose chicken and fish as I don’t normally eat pork or beef, and I’m not a full vegetarian so I wanted to have some variety in my meals. Once you’ve picked your preferences you’re taken to a screen that lists the meals you’ll get for the next few weeks. You can add and change which meals you want that week from the options listed.
My first two meals were ratatouille tarts and fusilli bucati pasta. It arrived in decent condition, the box did get damaged but the local UPS drivers are not the most gentle so I wasn’t surprised. Everything was neatly packed and labeled and it was easy to distinguish which ingredients were for which dish as they were all pictured on the recipe card.
I would say that the cards are pretty helpful and the time they state for cooking is pretty accurate if you don’t get distracted or sidetracked easily like myself. Each recipe was easy to follow and didn’t require any skills that I didn’t already have (cutting vegetables isn’t that hard if you have a good set of knives). While I did make both recipes I was only able to eat one as the tarts contained peppers and I unfortunately cannot eat peppers but I gave them to a friend so they didn’t go to waste.
I was able to eat the pasta and I LOVED it. It was fresh and had a good variety of flavor and texture. It was only supposed to feed two people but I ended up eating it over three days because of how large the portions were. I am definitely going to make this pasta again on my own and I might try it with some grilled chicken as well to give it a little something extra.
While I did enjoy not having to look up recipes, write down ingredients and shop for the food on my own; I couldn’t see this as being something I could do long term. It’s $50 for the smallest box (which is what I have) and being on a college budget it isn’t completely logical to spend that much on just two meals when I can buy food to last me two or more weeks for about $150 at the store. I think that if you go half with someone or you have the extra money then it may be something you’d enjoy but if you’re like me and on a stricter budget it may just be better to stick to Pinterest and a grocery list.
So, yes Blue Apron is totally worth it. It’s convenient, quick, easy and virtually stress free. You can always take advantage of their first box discount of $30 off so you can try it out and cancel if you don’t think you can afford it every week or you can skip a week and they won’t charge you. It’s an innovative service and I would suggest that anyone try it if they are looking to try new recipes or even just learn how to improve their cooking abilities.
Image Sources:
All Pictures from Ashleigh Griffin, except the rep image. (From Pexels.com)
All Gifs from Giphy.com