My First Blue Apron Experience (+Reader Discount!)

With the exception of freak weeks when I meal plan and prep on Sundays, I can be pretty all over the place—sometimes going to the grocery store twice in a single day. Woof. So it goes without saying that I was pumped to try out Blue Apron, the meal delivery service that ships fresh ingredients in the correct portion to your home so that you can make chef-designed meals throughout the week.

How Blue Apron Works

There are two types of plans: 2-Person and Family (feeds four people). The 2-Person Plan (what I did) comes with three meals and can be delivered once weekly. Cost comes out to $9.99 per person per meal. With the Family Plan, you have the option to receive it once or twice a week and it comes with two meals. Cost comes out to $8.74 per person per meal. Shipping is free and there’s no commitment—you can skip weeks or cancel the service at any time.

Each meal is between 500-700 calories and can be prepared in 40 minutes or less. I’m always skeptical when I see the preparation time on recipes because it always takes me way longer, but I actually was able to make all these dishes in about 30 minutes.

My First Blue Apron Experience

So I kinda messed this one up. You can specify certain dietary restrictions so that you get meals that fit you, and I could have sworn I set my preferences so that I’d only get vegetarian and fish dishes … but I must not of because when I opened up my refrigerated delivery box I saw chicken and beef. At first I was totally bummed, but Joe likes meat so I decided to look at it as a culinary learning experience. I’m awful at cooking meat because I do it so infrequently, so I was excited to pick up some new techniques.

For each meal, you have a beautiful recipe card with step-by-step instructions. I found them super easy to follow and appreciated the thick, semi-glossed paper they were on as I spilled ingredients everywhere while cooking.

Let’s look at what I made…

Salmon Burgers with Crème Fraiche Sauce, Arugula & Potato Salad

This was the first meal I made, and Joe and I LOVED it. I’m always excited to try non-beef burgers and these were so flavorful! You can find the recipe here.

Chicken Piccata with Fresh Linguine Pasta and Garlic Chives

I was excited to make these because I’m so painfully uncreative when it comes to cooking chicken. I never really branch out with flavor combos or preparation techniques, so this is definitely one to add to my arsenal. I honestly can’t even remember the last time I ate pasta, so this was a delicious way to shake things up for dinner. Recipe can be found here.

Arepas de Carne Molida with Avocado & Pickled Jalapeno

I really wanted to have an open mind and give these a try, but as soon as I smelt the raw beef my stomach turned and I bailed—I just can’t do red meat. Instead I just ate them without the ground beef, which was still pretty satisfying. Even though I didn’t eat all of the recipe, I still had fun making them—I mean when else would I buy masarepa at the grocery store?! The pickled jalapeno topping was delicious, and definitely a technique I’d use again when cooking! I want to try a similar recipe to these but using fish instead of beef. You can find the recipe here.

Obviously you can’t beat the convenience of having the ingredients delivered to you in perfect portions, but Blue Apron also posts their recipes on their site so that you can go back and make them again. I’ve got my eye on their Hearty Sweet Potato, Broccoli & Quinoa Salad with Tahini Lemon Dressing & Goat Cheese and the Seared Cod with Spring Vegetables & Lemon Mustard Vinaigrette.

I loved my first Blue Apron and would totally use the service again—making sure to select vegetarian and fish dishes only! Especially during the summertime with frequent weekend trips out of town and a total lack of routine, it’d be so helpful to get meals delivered to the apartment. I’ll keep you guys posted when I use BA again!

READER DISCOUNT

Ok now the best part of this post—the first 25 P&I readers to sign up for Blue Apron will get two free meals on their first order! Just make sure you use THIS LINK.

Have you tried Blue Apron? What’d you think?

Disclaimer: This post was sponsored by Blue Apron. While I was compensated, all opinions—as always!—are my own. Keepin’ it real, yo.