Love to Hear Your Meal Subscription Box Experiences!

[1st*toright]

I did Blue Apron for most of a year - at first I completely loved it - it was summer and DD was away, so it was just meals for 2pp - mostly great recipes (a couple that just did not work right), and the quality of the product was really good. Had a few issues with shipping - it would say it had been delivered, but wasn't there until hours later (an issue when it says it is delivered at 8pm, but still not there when I went to bed at 10:30).

Then it was during the school year, and I was getting meals for 4. The menus were still pretty good, but less adventurous than the 2pp meals (too bad, because my kids will eat anything). Portions of starches and proteins were generally plentiful, but they really skimped on the veggies - it would call for half a head of cabbage, which would be fine, but then they would send half of a miniature head of cabbage. Once I was making mashed potatoes (was supposed to be 3 medium or large potatoes), but I got 6 tiny golf ball sized potatoes instead (literally made less than 1 cup of mashed potatoes after they were peeled - about 2 spoonfuls per person).

Then there were issues with proteins leaking (the chicken wouldn't be totally sealed- so gross), then the box would be damaged (and sometimes the contents too), then some of the veggies would be rotting, then ingredients wouldn't be properly measured - they would send 1/2 of a cup of flour when 2 tbs were called for - which may not matter when breading something, but really matters when you are making a roux and the sauce turns out crazy thick. I don't want to have to re-measure everything they send - that is kind of the point of the service!

Customer service would always give me a credit when there was a problem, but it got to the point where there was some kind of issue with every box- I don't want the service to be $10 cheaper every week, I want to just be able to make the recipes I picked as advertised. It seemed like they got so many complaints, they just automatically gave a credit and really didn't care about the issue.

Also, the recipes may take 30 mins if you have 2 people prepping, but they always took me WAY longer than advertised - and I was a restaurant cook once upon a time, so I'm pretty efficient in the kitchen. I could see it being beneficial for people with plenty of time who like to cook, but for a working mom who has to get dinner on the table (and wants everyone to have plenty of veggies to eat) it just didn't work for us.

Eventually I had to give up on it. I've looked at some of the other options, but the recipes haven't appealed to me as much, or they are similar to things I'm already making. I really wanted the service to keep me out of my dinner rut, and to let me try interesting ingredients I don't usually use. I've been looking at the "eating at home" thread and that is helping me keep out of a rut, and I just make it a point to hit my local asian grocery store to get interesting ingredients inexpensively.

 

[Westcoastwild]

I have blue apron.

The portions are actually still above nutritional recommendations. As Americans, I think we are just used to to eating way, way too much. Just enough food for two healthy appetite people. Enough to stretch and make for 3 less hungry people (I did this frequently when visiting my parents. They find the recipes "exotic".) the sil who works out probably supplements his diet with special food anyway- one of my relatives is a body builder and has specific ideas about supplements according to whatever his trainer told him that week.

There are certain patterns. There are definitely things I don't care for (anything with quinoa) but you can easily trade out recipes or just cancel the order for a week via the app. Their customer service is excellent. I've been really impressed by the fish (which can be hard to get here) and although I definitely don't live in a food desert, BA has sent me some stuff that I would not have been able to find or would have never tried on my own (mmm black garlic). And they have clear directions about how to prep certain ingredients.

In my case: I grew up in a family that was very meats potatoes cheese centered. My mother still is- she thinks kale is exotic. She's never been big on spice or sauces. So although I do know how to cook, it's sometimes a little frustrating to pick out the right recipe. My mind wants one thing, body wants another. Blue apron had really helped with the frustration aspect. I agree that the recipes take a little longer to cook if you don't have a prep chef and/or really good knife skills. But realistically, most recipes take longer than 30 minutes in ANY cookbook. I like BA specifically because it truly is mostly from scratch- they may send you some expensive tomato paste but they never say something like "just add a can of cream of chicken soup to your mixture".

When it comes down to it...I think Blue Apron is best for slightly adventurous eaters who don't care for grocery shopping but like cooking. Examples of people who would not like it- 1) My parents would never try the recipes on their own- they'd look at and go ew, but they've loved every recipe- as a cook, a captive audience is the BEST. 2) I know people who are really crazy when it comes to where they get their veggies or profess undying love for one grocery store. Those people enjoy finding parking at Trader Joe's after work- I just do not. 3) People who say they want to cook but by that mean they want to pop a frozen dinner in the oven and have it turn out like a meal from scratch. Cooking takes time. You CAN buy stuff like presliced veggies at the store, but the trade off is that it affects flavor. I have friends who genuinely don't care about that.

 

[TwoMisfits]

No remarks on meal services - I haven't used them...but if the idea doesn't work out, 2 other ideas that might work...
1. My mother-in-law bought us a higher-end-than-we-would-have-ever-bought washer and dryer for our wedding gift. This was an awesome gift! Since the wedding couple are both in the medical field, that might really work for them (if they are currently using a pretty old set).
2. CSAs which deliver meats/dairy along with fruits/veg might work. No recipes are usually inside (although some come with them), but it would give them good items (and probably some off-the-wall ones) to work with for their cooking...

 

[gillep]

Thanks, everyone! I went ahead and ordered from Home Chef first. This one felt the most user-friendly and DH is okay with the menu. It was $29 for three meals for two and is scheduled to arrive Friday, 4/21

I have been doing a combination of Home Chef and Plated for the past few months. I think that for the most part they actually have pretty big portions, I have only had one meal that I couldn't get to stretch past 2 servings. The plated pizzas and empanadas were at least 4 servings for us, and I had an arugula salad sent to me that used an entire container of arugula. I really like both, however, I like the Plated menus more. I don't like meals that are just meat with a side, so I tend to gravitate more towards stir-frys, empanadas, pizzas, curries, quesadillas etc., which is also why I may find larger portions than those that are just doing a piece of meat with a side.

 

[cruisnfamily]

We have tried home chef, blue apron and hello fresh.

Home Chef is by FAR the winner. We love that we can order low fat or low carb. No other service allows us to do that. We also really love the recipes so much more than the other 2 services.

I do have to say the quality and the packaging of the ingredients was slightly better with hello fresh but we didn't enjoy the meals as much and found the recipes confusing.

Blue apron we only got one box, it wasn't a hit and we cancelled.

We had done home chef originally, then stopped for a while, then tried the other 2 services. Now back to home chef. It's a winner for us and we will probably continue this indefinitely. We do 4 meals for 2 people per week.

 

[gorkt]

I have done Blue Apron before and it was a lot of fun - I liked about 90% of the meals. I ended up preparing the meals with my 14 year old and it was a good bonding experience and cut down on the time. I ended up cancelling the service for awhile but just resubscribed since I am in a terrible food rut. I also subscribed to Home chef since I want to try another option this time. I will probably just look at the menus for the week and pick which I like better since it is so easy to skip weeks. I find it a great way to get a wide variety of meals that I otherwise would never want to buy all the ingredients for. Terra's Kitchen sounds really intriguing since everything is prepped for you, but it is a fair bit more expensive and I find the ones I use to be pretty pricey (but cheaper than eating out).

 

[ImDMous]

We are on week 6 of Blue Apron and love it. Other than a couple broken eggs, all our shipments have been still frozen and intact when they get to us. Even recipes that I've been skeptical of have tasted great. It's always plenty of food for us, and we are not small eaters. No problems with meats leaking or veggies being rotten. It took us a few weeks to really get the hang of how the timing and prep of their meals works. They definitely have a base timeline they follow and we've gotten much better at it with experience.

 

[lurkernj]

DH and I have been doing Home Chef since September. We've been pretty happy with the selections and the estimated cooking time is usually pretty close. The portions are mostly enough, but occasionally I will add something if it seems small. Packaging has been good. Only complaint is that I've cut into the potatoes several times now and had them be brown. Hasn't been an issue since I usually have potatoes in the house anyway, but still annoying (I mean, how long does it take for a potato to go brown, they must be hanging around for quite a while). It has been fantasic not wondering what to cook and having to stop at the store for a missing ingredient. Unfortunately our college kids will be home next month and I will need to cancel for a while since it will definitely not be enough food for them.

 

[jessiegirl1982]

I use all 3 (depending who is giving me the best discount). Home Chef is my favorite!

 

[jessiegirl1982]

Oh, for all 3 companies, if you ever have any damaged produce, shoot them a quick email. The will give credit depending on how badly damaged the item is. I once got $10 for a broken egg!

 

[charming23]

I have been using Hello Fresh for the past few months. I don't get it every week but whenever the menu sounds good. I enjoy it. I find the meals easy to prep and more than enough food for mom and I.

 

[moesy4]

They are unfortunately not as common as they used to be, but we have used both Dream Dinners and Dinner by Design and have been very happy with both. They are actual store fronts where you sign up for a time and go and prep freezer recipes that you have picked out. You can also pay an upcharge (usually around $25) for them to do the prep work for you and you just pick up the finished product. I have always enjoyed the meals and generally they are much more cost effective...I think it averaged around $5 a serving. They do not always include a side though, which is something to consider.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

I found the CS at Hello Fresh to be terrible. I had many problems with meals (items missing, moldy food, etc.); they were very slow to respond and would act like it was my fault.

When I wanted to cancel it was near impossible. Then the phone calls started -- with offer after offer after offer. I finally told them to stop e-mailing me and calling me -- I wasn't going to get any more boxes no matter what they offered. It was bordering on harassment. For that reason, even if they offered me 10 free boxes I would not accept. I am glad they have stopped hounding me and want to leave it that way.

Blue Apron I enjoyed. I found their CS to be amazing. I would consider using them again some time in the future. However in the end I decided that I could make the meals myself for much less than the cost of a box.

So if you had to choose based on CS then I'd say hands down Blue Apron. Food was pretty much equally as good between the 2 boxes.

I should mention that there were a few write ups about Blue Apron recently:

http://nypost.com/2016/10/04/blue-apron-workers-report-violent-unsafe-conditions/

http://nypost.com/2016/10/11/blue-aprons-busy-new-jersey-facility-a-real-fight-club/

 

[jsmla]

Thanks for all of the reviews! Our Home Fresh meals are scheduled for 4/21, I'll try to report back. I do plan on trying others. DH can be picky and Home Chef had a more hubby-friendly menu.

DD and her fiancé love to cook together and have adventurous palates so Blue Apron could be a good fit for them. I'm trying to save them the planning and the trying to shop after work in the horrible Atlanta traffic. The interstate bridge that burned there is the one DD was planning to use to get to work!

She will be in a private practice but the fiancé has a few more years of residency/fellowship with the terrible hours that involves.

Thanks again!

 

[MouseOfCards]

Just received this in the mail for a company called Sun Basket. Don't know if they're available where you are. They have a trial offer for $35 off:

http://www.sunbasket.com/try3

Has anyone ever tried them?

 

[Viking7641]

Tried Blue Apron. Cooking for 1

Found it incredibly expensive, but it did get me to get out of my comfort zone.

If I had more $$$$$ i'd do it. It was fine, just came out basically restaurant prices per meal for me.