Tickled Pink is Cooking- Blue Apron Review

I have to share one of the most highly anticipated boxes that I have gotten the chance to review lately, Blue Apron!  I cannot tell you how excited I was to find out that Blue Apron actually shipped to Washington, and when they offered to send me a courtesy box! Whoo hoo. I was like a kid on Christmas waiting for this box!

What is Blue Apron?

Blue Apron delivery comes with all the raw ingredients you need to produce 3 meals for the week, in exactly the right portions.  Each plate is designed to be a well-balanced, healthy meal.  In addition, each delivery comes with beautifully printed recipe cards and step-by-step instructions. You can pick from one of two options for your food choices: One that includes Poultry, Meat or Fish with each meal, and one that is Vegetarian.You also pick how many people you are serving. The Cost is $9.95 per person per meal, so for two people that comes to $59.94( 6 meals total).

1^st Blue Apron Delivery

(Week of November 1^st)

I decided to go with the Poultry, Fish and Meat option. And Blue Apron sent me a package full of three meals for 2 people. Right away I noticed that Blue Apron is packaged very nicely. Very organized, and still VERY fresh when received. The ice packages surrounding the meat were still ice cold, and the meat was very tightly packaged so that it was not near the other ingredients. I am very cautious about spoiled meat, and I have always been very hesitant about cooking boxes being sent to me, because I do not want anything to spoil. However, Blue Apron’s packaging and keeping the ingredients fresh was impeccable.

1^st Meal

Mexican Albondigas Soup

With Kale and Quinoa

Everything was perfectly packaged and labeled so their was no confusion as to what ingredients went with each meal. We quickly separated all the ingredients so that we knew what meals they went with. We then decided that we would make this Mexican Albondigas Soup first. I was a little worried because to be honest, I have been such a meat and potatoes cooker for A the last year, I really have not used my real cooking skills for awhile. However, the Blue Apron directions were very good, and everything was super simple.

The Recipe card was laminated so that if there is a spill, which happens in my kitchen, it will not make the directions unreadable. Very good!

The only thing for me is that sometimes I tend to stray a little bit from a recipe, and since we actually were cooking for 4 instead of two, I added a little extra veggies and meat to make it serve more portions. It worked and turned out excellent!

2^nd Meal

Chopped Shirmp Salad

With Watercress, Honeycrisp Apple and Sweet Potato

I really like Shirmp, but A, well… not so much. Good thing I had others at home to eat this with me. I have to say the salad was huge, definitely enough to serve more than 2 people.

The Recipe card again was super self-explanatory, and was easy to follow. This time I followed the recipe pretty well, until I got to the salad dressing. I typically would not use any salad dressing, but since I was trying to follow the Blue Apron recipe, and use what they gave me, I made it. I thought I actually had messed up, since I added some extra tarragon and chives to my dressing as well, but it turned out very tasty!

What I really liked about this Shrimp salad was that the shrimp just added to entire flavor of the salad, they really were so tasty. And I liked the watercress and the sweet potatoes addition to this salad. I would have never thought to add sweet potatoes to a salad, but it was very delicious.

3^rd Meal

Korean Chicken Lettuce Wraps with Pickled Daikon and Cellophane Noodles

I think this meal took a little more planning, since I thought the picked daikon needed 24 hours to soak in the pickling mix before we ate it. I also, being a strayer of recipes that I am, decided that the pickled daikon also would include sliced carrots, green apples and red radish. It really did turn our delicious!

However, even though this took preparing a part of the meal ahead of time, everything else was super easy. The chicken only took a little while to cook, and everything else just was easy and 1-2-3. I think for the next time I make this meal I will marinate the chicken more, and add a little bit more flavor.

TICKLED PINK OPINION

I really loved trying out Blue Apron, and think it is a great box for people on the go. For me and my family it really did save a lot of time. Instead of having to go to the grocery and actually plan the meal, I find the convenience of Blue Apron wonderfully enticing. The only downside of a subscription like Blue Apron, is that possibly for a family on a budget spending $9.95 per person/per meal could be a little pricey, even though the meals in themselves are definitely worth $9.95, if not more if you bought something like it in a restaurant. The plus is that I found after cooking the meals that were included in this Blue Apron box is that they actually, with a little additions here and there, feed more people than it is made for. I guess that would just depend on the appetites in your household, haha. I also really appreciate that the meals are pretty healthy, which tends to be hard sometimes when you do not have time to make plans for meals. Overall, I really loved Blue Apron, and like that it brought me the convenience and the ease of having great meals already planned out and 100% ready for my family. I cannot see me getting this every week, but maybe once or twice a month.

If you are interested in learning more about Blue Apron or sign up for this wonderful subscription box, you can HERE. And right now if you are a new subscriber you can save 30% on your first set of meals.  The selection of meals also look fantastic this week, two in particular are the Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese and the Chipotle Steak Salad. Yummy!

Until next time…

Stay Tickled Pink,

Stephanie

*This box was received for reviewing purposes. However, all opinions and views about the box are my own, and no compensation, other than the box, were provided for my honest opinions.