Smart Home Cooking with Blue Apron
Update April 17, 2020: This was our first review of Blue Apron on our site. See our 2020 Meal Kit Update for the very latest on Blue Apron as well as the other services we recommend.
After testing three other boxed meal delivery services, we once again went back to Blue Apron to complete our Smart Home cooking comparison.
It has been a few months since our last delivery but everything is just as we remembered. Our delivery arrived on Thursday with three meals, Merguez Lamb Sausages, Seared Chicken and Caramelized Fennel, and Spinach and Fresh Mozzarella Pizza.
The Blue Apron box and packaging is the same, an insulated box with all the ingredients packaged separately, with the ice packs protecting the cold meats at the bottom.
One thing that is new since the last time we ordered is that Blue Apron now offers to pick up the leftover box and materials and recycle them for you, if you are not able to recycle them on your own. We have a pretty comprehensive curbside recycling program where we live, but if we didn’t, this would be a nice option.
Another difference was that we only got one bulb of garlic for three recipes that all needed two or three cloves. When we were getting Blue Apron regularly we were collecting tons of extra garlic so this is a nice change.
The ingredients are all labeled but packed in the box all together. The small items such as butter, vinegar, cheeses, etc needed for each recipe are packed in small brown bags labeled, “knick knacks.” It’s not as simple as some of the other services but it’s still pretty easy to pull the right ingredients when you are ready to cook.
After comparing all the other services, one thing that definitely stands out about Blue Apron is the ingredient quality. Everything looks amazing and is often sourced through providers in our area. The portions are generous too – a really large piece of fennel, a big bag of spinach. Even though the blue apron meals are generally around 600 calories they all feel very filling, almost too filling sometimes for two people.
Cooking the meals is not the easiest of the services we have tried, but the instructions, especially focusing on doing all of the prep first, make it feel pretty easy. In general they all seem to take around 30 minutes including prep and cooking time.
After comparing the four different services, Blue Apron definitely remains our top choice. Some of the other services have better websites, more flexible delivery and more meal choices, but Blue Apron’s ingredient quality, ease of cooking, seasonal, fresh ingredients and overall meal taste make it the clear winner.
If you have yet to try one of these services, we would encourage you to check them out. They not only save time and energy planning and shopping for groceries, they also help you experiment with new ingredients and in general, make healthier choices. With the time you save you can spend more time configuring your smart home devices.
