While my Plated reviews were decent, they didn’t wow me. So, I was absolutely thrilled to get my Blue Apron delivery.I opted for a Wednesday delivery and it was at my door step by the time I got home at 5:30. Although it was actually delivered to my neighbor’s house, so this is his door. Blue Apron is pretty similar to Plated in operation but it works a little different financially. You can order 3 meals for 2 people for a cost of $59.94, which is $9.99 per person. There is also a family plan where you can order 2 or 4 meals for 4 people; the 2 meal plan is $69.92 which is $8.74 per person or the 4 meal plan which is $139.84 (still $8.74 per person). Like Plated, you can skip weeks you don’t want and cancel at any time. Blue Apron has more delivery days though, Wednesday through Saturday, which is nice for flexibility, while Plated just has Tuesday and Friday. Besides that, the packaging was pretty similar. Click for the unveil!

The selection process for Blue Apron is really easy. You just pick 3 dishes that you want. Some combinations cannot be chosen together but that hasn’t been an issue for me actually. I selected:

*Orecchiette Pasta with English Peas, Pecorino Cheese & Mint

*Vegetable Bibimbap with Asparagus, Shiitake Mushrooms & Fried Eggs

*Stewed Mushrooms with Creamy Goat Cheese Polenta & Fresh Herb Salad

I am not sure why I went with the vegetarian dishes (as notated by the leaf) but that is what looked good to me. These dishes ranged between 500-800 calories and have a cook time that ranges between 15 minutes to 45 minutes. I forgot to check the tracker so I can’t remember what exact time it was delivered but as I said above, it was delivered by the time I got home.

The boxes always look little on the porch until they take up most of my table.

Thank you! I will enjoy.

I like these insulated bags over the strips of insulation because I can use these when I go to the grocery store.

My recipes were hidden behind the insulation.

The cards have a cool style. I like the style and I like they include pictures of what the vegetables look like. That was the only real difference compared to Plated’s cards.

And these are the recipe directions. Similar to Plated, they want you to prep everything first, which I have found to a little much because the cook times often allow you to prep while cooking. Minor problems.

Blue Apron also gives you this letter that describes the dish and give a little summary. I thought this touch was cute but not necessary.

Back to the food. All of my food seems thrown in the bag haphazardly. Plated (and HelloFresh, which I will be reviewing next) give all their items in a large bag by recipe, rather than several small bags.

When I see it all spread out, I can see how some folks think there is a lot of waste. Thankfully, I reuse the baggies and recycle the cardboard. I do like how they give you whole onion and garlic because with Plated, the garlic and onion has been pre-cut. It has been helpful but also leaves the veggies a little dried out. One cool thing BlueApron does is combine all the little items in a paper bag called knick-knacks. I think this is nice for the little items to be all in one place.

The cold items go into the fridge.

The dry items go into the cabinet. I barely have enough room between the ridiculous amount of sauces I have.

First Impression: After a week of cooking, am I going to be able to continue this? Will these meals be better than Plated?

Second Impression: Why did I pick high carb meals?

And I will have all those answers for you in my upcoming reviews.

 

Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored by Blue Apron, nor did I receive any compensation for this review.