Blue Apron or another version?

[NinaBella]

I am thinking of subscribing to Blue Apron. My daughter and I have talked about it a couple times. It seems we are just out of meal ideas. My DH of course is like just get the recipe cards from Publix, but I am thinking of still trying Blue Apron.

Is there another subscription service that is better than Blue Apron? I see some bad reviews on their Facebook. I was also going to start with the lower subscription which looks like meals for 2, and 2 meals a week. If we like it, then I can change it to the family subscription.

Any opinions on Blue Apron or another company?

 

[Alesia]

We tried a few different ones, including Blue Apron. I prefer Plated.

 

[trenty]

I use Blue Apron and HomeChef. I like Home Chef better. I feel they have more choices each week for meals, they have more low-calorie meals, and their recipes take less time to prepare. I order Home Chef just about every week. Blue Apron I order once or twice a month or less often.

Home Chef also has add-ons like fruit, smoothies or lunch salads. I don't usually order the add-ons. However, if I only want two of Home Chef's meals, I add a salad or smoothie to my order so I can get free shipping. This can't be done with Blue Apron.

Feel free to PM me if you have further questions.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

You can often go to these sites and download their recipe cards for free. I do that sometimes when I want to try something new and am all out of ideas. We tried a few different companies, but in the end they were just so expensive for what you got so we stopped.

 

[sjrec]

A friend used Blue Apron and thought the food was good, but expensive and rarely enough for leftovers.
When I get in a rut, I go to Allrecipes.com and look through their recipes.

 

[chartle]

You can often go to these sites and download their recipe cards for free. I do that sometimes when I want to try something new and am all out of ideas. We tried a few different companies, but in the end they were just so expensive for what you got so we stopped.

A friend used Blue Apron and thought the food was good, but expensive and rarely enough for leftovers.
When I get in a rut, I go to Allrecipes.com and look through their recipes.

Yea the first thing that came to mind when I read this is why this is posted on the Budget Board.

 

[wendow]

We have tried Blue Apron and Home Chef. We preferred Home Chef. I felt the portion sizes were a bit better and I liked the meal selections better. Both are too expensive, imo and for a family our size, but they were fun to try and helped get me out a dinner time rut.

 

[1st*toright]

We did Blue Apron for a while. I liked it a lot initially, but over time we had a lot of problems with boxes having insufficient quantities of ingredients (esp. vegetables) or the box being damaged in shipping, or the meat leaking as it thawed (and covering everything in chicken juice - absolutely disgusting). They always gave me a credit, but the issues persisted - pretty much every box would have some kind of problem. My favorite was when they sent me 6 tiny potatoes for a meal that was supposed to serve mashed potatoes for 4 - I measured 3/4s of a cup of mashed potatoes once the meal was cooked - 2 tablespoons for each person.

The meals were also really time consuming (you notice that they have 2 or 3 people happily preparing the meals together in their advertisements - that's how many hands it would take to get the meal done in a reasonable amount of time for a working parent who has to get dinner on the table.) In the beginning it was a good value - not huge portions, but totally appropriate, and good quality, but they just weren't able to maintain it.

 

[MamaBelle4]

Yea the first thing that came to mind when I read this is why this is posted on the Budget Board.

Maybe this post could be moved to the community board? I feel like it would be a better fit there.

Budget board meals would be more so "low cost recipes" "pantry staple meals" "Aldi's" and "couponing" to me. Not expensive mail order service.

 

[Tiki_Sara]

We’ve been doing Blue Apron for a year now and we really like it. We tried a few others (Marley Spoon, Hello Fresh) but they always seemed a bit basic compared to the ingredients and flavours of BA. We have had very occasional ingredient fails (a rotting zucchini, a missing chilli pepper etc) but BA have always financially compensated us for them.

Blue Apron has also taught us how to be better cooks and to be more adventurous with ingredients and flavours so we eat better for the rest of the week too. We spend less time grocery shopping now and that has saved us money on impulse purchases. But above all, we just really cooking together and enjoy the food.

It does seem expensive on paper but there is absolutely zero waste and we eat out less now that we’re having meals like this three times a week

I say try it, why not? If it’s not for you then you’ll soon find out but really, we love it.

 

[Judique]

Maybe this post could be moved to the community board? I feel like it would be a better fit there.

Budget board meals would be more so "low cost recipes" "pantry staple meals" "Aldi's" and "couponing" to me. Not expensive mail order service.

I disagree with you. The budget board is for all of us. Most people's budgets for food are way higher then mine but that doesn't mean I want to read about rock bottom.

 

[Texans_loyal]

I liked home chef better than blue apron. right now they are offering 2 meals for $7. (enough for 2 people, new customers only)
Code is: Ltexas, found it on a deal blog.

 

[NinaBella]

Yea the first thing that came to mind when I read this is why this is posted on the Budget Board.

Because it’s not the frugal board? There are lots of things posted here of varying budget range.

 

[NinaBella]

I am going to research the other companies mentioned. I would do the meals for two although there are six of us... just to try it out. Plus, with our schedule, we don’t all sit down together for meals. DD (who is 15) says she will help me cook them. So it would be an mom/daughter cooking activity.

I really just want the convenience of not haveing to plan or shop. I don’t have a lot of patience for crowded grocery stores anymore.

 

[chartle]

Because it’s not the frugal board? There are lots of things posted here of varying budget range.

I always assumed by most of the thread titles Budget was a euphemism for Cheap.

 

[NinaBella]

I always assumed by most of the thread titles Budget was a euphemism for Cheap.

This is my favorite forum on DisBoards because it is so diverse.

 

[trenty]

I am going to research the other companies mentioned. I would do the meals for two although there are six of us... just to try it out. Plus, with our schedule, we don’t all sit down together for meals. DD (who is 15) says she will help me cook them. So it would be an mom/daughter cooking activity.

I really just want the convenience of not haveing to plan or shop. I don’t have a lot of patience for crowded grocery stores anymore.

This is why I use the services. I have two kids home and get the 2 person plans because my kids are not always home for dinner. If I know they will be home and will eat what is in the meal on any particular night I might just stop at the grocery store to get more chicken (or steak or pork - whatever the main ingredient is). I can make the other ingredients in the recipe stretch to cook for more than two. Then I may add some rice or pasta as a side dish.

 

[trenty]

I am going to research the other companies mentioned. I would do the meals for two although there are six of us... just to try it out. Plus, with our schedule, we don’t all sit down together for meals. DD (who is 15) says she will help me cook them. So it would be an mom/daughter cooking activity.

I really just want the convenience of not haveing to plan or shop. I don’t have a lot of patience for crowded grocery stores anymore.

It is possible to get coupons for most of these services if you know someone who uses any of them.

 

[NinaBella]

It is possible to get coupons for most of these services if you know someone who uses any of them.

Sometimes I have received gift certificates for Hello Fresh in my shipment boxes from other companies, but I think they all have expired. My AmEx has an offer for Hello Fresh offer and one other company. I forget the other name at the moment.

ETA: other company Sun Basket

 

[lovesmurfs]

DH and I are empty nesting now. We tested as many as I could find over the summer - most have the first week at half price. We tried:

Blue Apron
HelloFresh
Home Chef
Gobble
Sunbasket
Marley Spoon
Plated
Fresh Direct

There are some other ones we didn't try:

GreenBlender
Purple Carrot
Peach Dish
Chef'd
Terra's Kitchen
Green Chef
Daily Harvest

The best, in our opinion, were Sunbasket and HelloFresh. With our focus on weight loss, we settled on Sunbasket. I have a 2 hour commute each way, and having the meal delivery service has been really helpful. Yes, it's expensive, but it's a lifesaver for me, and I don't wind up buying a bunch of ingredients I might never use again.