I am happy to report that this Blue Apron taste test was a severe improvement over the last test. But, was it good enough? No. I hate to kill the suspense, but while this taste test was an improvement, I still enjoyed the other companies more. And I will tell you why after the jump.

Stir-Fried Rice Noodles with Peanut Sauce, Gai Lan & Snow Peas

The first meal I cooked was the Stir-Fried Rice Noodles with Peanut Sauce, Gail Lan & Snow Peas. I actually made it for a dinner party that I went to and the portion size was pretty large. That is a plus for Blue Apron; the portion size has been fairly larger than the other companies. However, this was countered by the fact that the recipe was complicated and made me use like 20 dishes.

Ok–this is not complicated but I put a pot of water on to boil.

While the pot of water boiled, I prepped all the veggies. We have the snow peas, ginger, scallions, lime and gai lan. Ok–this was not complicated either but it was a bit time-consuming. Cutting ginger is a pain and trimming the snow peas was tedious but I somehow managed to survive. This is where I ran into my first major issue with Blue Apron.

My scallions were gross. I had to borrow some from my own pantry. I can forgive one time but every meal suffered from some QA issues.

My water was still working up to a boil so I made the coconut milk. Yes. I made it. It was dehydrated coconut milk and no matter what I used, spatula, whisk, blender, I could not get those lumps out. Not sure if it made a difference in the end but I found it to be a little weird.

Once the coconut milk was rehydrated, I put the noodles in the pot. Honestly, the water still wasn’t fully boiled yet but at this point I was starting to jump to far ahead of the recipe.

While the noodles were boiling, I sautéed the ginger and part of the scallions.

I added the Snow Peas and Gai-Lan. In the future, I would cut up the Gai-Lan into smaller stocks. It took longer to cook and it was a little difficult to eat.

While my veggies were getting soft, I made the peanut sauce which consisted of peanut butter, sriracha, water and sweet soy sauce. I was liberal with the sriracha and would maybe add more in the future.

I added the coconut milk and peanut sauce into the veggies and mixed it together over the flame.

Then I mixed in the noodles.This part was fun and squishy. I also added the juice of all the limes.

Done! When I served it at the party, I topped it with scallions and peanuts. It was pretty good. It definitely was not as good as going to the corner and getting pad thai but it was decent and worked as a nice “pasta” side dish for a dinner party. Once I got to the party the noodles were cold and I preferred them this way. Some of the other party goers heated them up. My main complaint about the dish was that it was a tad bit creamy. Maybe that is why I liked it better cold, when it was hot there was a bit too much sauce. My other complaint is how many dishes I went through to make it.

 

Curry-Spiced Chicken Thighs with Sugar Snap Peas & Fingerling Potatoes

The second dish I made was the Curry-Spiced Chicken Thighs with Sugar Snap Peas & Fingerling Potatoes. I did not care for this dish which is odd because I am a huge fan of curry. I love curry. This was just disappointing.

I started by pre-heated the oven to 475. This was a bit extreme.

I prepped my veggies. These sugar snap peas were a bit on the bitter side and some of them were really beat up. My mint was also brown. You can see both in the picture above.

Here are my potatoes tossed in oil and salt and pepper. I was a bit inconsistent with my cut (per usual) and due to the 475 heat, the smaller potatoes burnt.

I seasoned the thighs with the curry spice.

I added the grated cucumber, lemon juice to the greek yogurt. It was basically like tzatziki except it was not good. It was way too cucumbery. I was supposed to squeeze the grated cucumber to get as much water out as I can and I thought I got most of the juice out but it was definitely too cucumbery.

I put the thighs skin side down.

And covered it with a piece of foil. Flipping half way through.

I do not know why but this chicken did not taste good. It was oddly oily and there was very little meat on the cut. There was a lot of skin.

In the same pan with the drippings, I made the sauce for the veggies. Again, I do not know if the chicken was off but this sauce also did not taste good.

I tossed it with my overcooked potatoes and snap peas.

Then I plated them for work. I made these the same day as the dinner party and took them to lunch the next day. This dish was really just alright. It was not horrible but there were some weird tastes. Like I said, I love curry so I am not being ignorant of taste or culture but this was just odd. The curry and the oil just did not sit well with me. The reason I am not dismissing this dish altogether is because it seems like something I would absolutely love. I plan on trying this dish again but maybe with boneless skin less thighs or breast. I also loved the idea of the ginger potatoes and peas. So hopefully on my second try, it will come together.

 

Chicago-Style Italian Beef Sandwiches with Roasted Vegetables & Giardiniera

This sandwich was my favorite. I would like to think that I am a sandwich connoisseur and one of my favorite things to eat is sandwiches, so I am not surprised that I loved this. The recipe only had one flaw which was easily fixable but right off the bat I was met with some less than fresh produce. I mean you can see that my bell pepper looked bruised.

But the potatoes were also not good. Half of one was fine but the second one was completely bruised. I hate wasting but I ended up tossing them all and using red potatoes from my own pantry.

These potatoes were an improvement but it would have been a bummer if I did not have any potatoes lying around.

I arranged my potatoes, onions and peppers on a sheet pan and tossed with oil and salt and pepper. I needed a larger sheet pan as I could not even fit the onion and the potatoes let alone the peppers but this was all I had.

While the veggies were in the oven I cooked the beef in a demi-glace and water combo. I also added an ambiguous spice packet at this point. I am not sure all that was in it but it was pretty delicious and imagine it was Italian seasonings.

When the beef was done, I put it in the sandwich roll and added cheese. You can see on the left I cut my roll and little too much and it split. Oh well.

I added it to the oven to melt. I do not know why I did not use the toaster oven considering I used the toaster oven pan. Hindsight. Anyways, this is where the meat and bread became too dry.

My veggies came out perfect except for literally one onion. It was kind of weird.

I plated the veggies and topped the sandwich with the giardiniera. Then I ate it. This sandwich was so good. I loved it. The only issue was that the sandwich was a little dry. I added a bit of mayo (sorry if that ruins the integrity of the sandwich) and it tasted delicious. This was one of my favorite dishes of the entire experience. I honestly could talk about this sandwich for forever. I even took it for lunch the next day and had it cold and it was delicious. I actually want one of these right now!

While the sandwich and the noodles raised my opinion of Blue Apron, I still found the other companies to be better. The lack of quality with the vegetables is a little frustrating and this company consistently has had my least favorite meal. Do not get me wrong, Blue Apron is still good and it is still a good option, I just think the other companies are better.

 

Disclaimer: All opinions are my own. This post is not sponsored by Blue Apron and I did not receive anything in exchange for this review.