Blue Apron Subscription Box Review + Coupon – November 2016

Blue Apron is a subscription meal delivery service. Every week, they send seasonal recipes created by their culinary team and all of the pre-measured ingredients you need to make them at home.

Check out all of our reviews of Meal Delivery Services to see every meal kit subscription box option!

In addition to their 2-Person Subscription Plan, which features seasonally-inspired meals for two, Blue Apron also offers a Family Plan that features kid-friendly recipes and family-style meals for four. (Note that this is a review of the 2-Person Subscription Plan.)

Blue Apron also offers a monthly add-on wine subscription. You can find a review of that subscription here.

It’s easy to skip deliveries and cancel your subscription through the Blue Apron website.

This box was sent to us at no cost for review. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)

The Subscription Box: Blue Apron

The Cost: $59.94 for 3 recipes on the 2-Person Plan, $69.92 for 2 recipes on the Family Plan, $139.84 for 4 recipes on the Family Plan.

The Products: Fresh ingredients and recipes to make healthy meals at home.

Ships to: US

Check out all of our Blue Apron Reviews and find other meal boxes in the Meal Subscription Box Directory!

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When I placed my order with Blue Apron, I was automatically assigned 3 recipes; however, it was easy to go back into my account to pick new ones. Certain combinations of dishes are not allowed, though, so depending on which recipes I selected first, certain other recipes became unavailable.

(Check out the weekly Blue Apron Menu to see what's coming up!)

Unlike many meal boxes, Blue Apron doesn’t group their ingredients by recipe. I like that this limits packaging, but it does slow down the meal preparation process slightly. (I also try to quarantine the Blue Apron ingredients in my fridge, so I don’t use a recipe ingredient for something else by mistake.) The “knick knacks” for each recipe are bagged together, though, which helps.

Inside each baggie of knick knacks, I received a list of the nutritional information for each recipe. This is a new addition, and I think it’s a nice touch!

Recipe #1- Chicken & Kale Caesar-Style Salad with Radishes & Almonds

Calories: 600 per serving

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15-25 minutes

I’m a big fan of caesar salad and an even bigger fan of kale caesar salad, so this dish jumped out at me right away!

Blue Apron included an impressive amount of kale for this salad. (Yay for big salad!) I picked the kale from the stems and thoroughly cleaned it. I also sliced the provided radishes and minced a clove of garlic.

I marinated the radish slices in a mix of vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper and made the dressing by combining more red wine vinegar with mayonnaise, parmesan cheese, and garlic paste.

Lastly, I tossed bite-sized pieces of chicken with flour and seasoning and cooked them in a little olive oil on the stove top.

When everything was ready, I tossed the salad and divided it between two plates. I reserved some of the chicken and radishes to put on top of each plate and finished each portion with some black pepper and parmesan cheese.

This salad was really tasty. The dressing was delightfully garlicky, and I liked the addition of the vinegary radishes. (FYI- Blue Apron recommended using up to one clove’s worth of garlic paste, and I opted for the whole clove.) The chicken was great, too, and I think it really helped bulk out this dish and turn it into a meal. I would make this salad again in a heartbeat.

Recipe #2- Spinach & Ricotta Pizza with Sautéed Cauliflower & Clementine Salad

Calories: 600 per serving

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 35-55 minutes

For my second meal pick, I opted for this Spinach & Ricotta Pizza. I very rarely make white pizza at home, so I thought it might be fun to give this recipe a try.

I wilted the provided spinach and then chopped it up into really small pieces. I then mixed it with sauteed garlic and scallion, red pepper flakes, fromage blanc, ricotta cheese, and seasoned it with salt and pepper.

I then stretched out the pizza dough and spread the cheese mixture evenly across the top.

While the pizza baked in the oven, I prepared the salad by sautéing cauliflower with vinegar, oregano, and clementine wedges.

When the pizza was done baking, I topped it with grated pecorino, a drizzle of olive oil, and black pepper and then cut it into slices.

This pizza was really great and pretty huge. (Note that even though I ordered meals for two people, this recipe serves three.) It was super cheesy, and it had just a touch of heat from the addition of the red pepper flakes. At first, the salad seemed like an odd accompaniment to me, but the flavor was really nice— earthy and a little sweet. (I was actually in the mood for a green salad, so I ended up putting my portion over some raw spinach, which was tasty.)

Recipe #3- Balsamic-Glazed Onion Cheeseburgers with Roasted Potato Wedges

Calories: 730 per serving

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 30-40 minutes

My last pick for this box was this cheeseburger recipe!

I began by slicing the provided onion and cutting the potato into wedges.

The wedges went into the oven right away, and I set to work making the glazed onions. I cooked the onion over low heat in a little olive oil and stirred it occasionally until it started to caramelize. I then added some balsamic vinegar and continued cooking the onions until most of the liquid was absorbed.

While the wedges continued to cook, I combined the ground beef with garlic and dried rosemary and formed it into two patties. Next, I cooked the burgers and toasted the buns. (I melted some sliced cheese over the burgers when they were in the skillet, but I have to point out that Blue Apron sent a ton of cheese! I used about half of what was provided, and the burgers still seemed super cheesy!)

This dish was tasty, but I thought the burgers needed something, so I ended up adding a little mustard to mine. The wedges were tasty, too, but I wish there’d been a few more. I served these burgers with a side salad, and I was glad to have an extra side dish. I probably would have been okay with the meal as-is, but I think my husband might have found it a bit small.

Verdict: Overall, this was a great box from Blue Apron— the burgers were tasty, and I absolutely loved the caesar salad and the white pizza. Value wise, Blue Apron is competitively priced (about the same cost per meal as Hello Fresh and cheaper than Plated). The biggest issue for me is with the meal variety. I really wish Blue Apron would offer more choices each week and allow for every possible combination of dishes.

Do you subscribe to Blue Apron? Which meals did you pick this week?