I first heard of Blue Apron, a service that delivers all the ingredients you need to make three gourmet-quality meals, back in December 2013.
My friend Merri followed a Blue Apron recipe and made us a delicious dinner of udon noodle soup during one of my visits to New York City. She initially signed up for Blue Apron to teach herself how to cook since she was not really comfortable in the kitchen and absolutely raved about the step-by-step instructions that came with each shipment of the meal delivery service.
I came home from New York and spoke highly of the service to Ryan… so much so that he ended up giving me four weeks of Blue Apron meals for Christmas that year! We had so much fun trying new recipes and using fun, flavorful ingredients. We continue to use the service regularly and I promise you we have yet to make one meal we didn’t love. I now have my mom and dad hooked on regular deliveries, too!
In case Blue Apron hasn’t been on your radar up until now, here’s how it works: Blue Apron is a service that sends you all of the farm-fresh ingredients you need to make three delicious meals a week for $9.99 per person per meal (with free shipping). (A Family Plan is also available and feeds a family of four for $8.74 per person per meal.) All ingredients are delivered to your doorstep in a refrigerated box and come with three chef-designed recipes that are easy to follow thanks to gorgeous photos of each step of the recipe. (The Tom-Yum Style Shrimp and Noodles and the Orange Ginger Salmon are calling to me!)
Ryan and I initially opted for the vegetarian meal plan to help ourselves learn to cook more delicious meatless meals, but you can choose whether or not your want your meals to include red meat, poultry, seafood, etc.
For our most recent Blue Apron delivery, we opted for a pescetarian meal plan and received all the fresh ingredients we needed to make two vegetarian dishes and one meal with fish.
Here’s what our menu looked like:
This dish was truthfully the one we were least excited about, mainly because it looked like it might be a little bland since, at first glance, it seemed like simple white fish, cooked rice and wilted spinach. Well, we were in for a very pleasant surprise because this dish was a big-time hit with both of us!! (It actually ended up being Ryan’s favorite!) It was absolutely delicious thanks to the salty miso yuzu glaze and the fresh ginger. Definitely not your average fish and rice dish!
I couldn’t wait to make this salad. The colors from the bright orange sweet potatoes and deep green kale made it look so vibrant and tasty. I am happy to report that is ended up being every bit as delicious as I hoped it would be! The chewy texture of the farro paired together perfectly with the soft sweet potato and the crunchiness of the hazelnuts. I also loved that I learned how to pickle onions while I made this recipe, as that’s something I never knew how to do before! I told Ryan I think this salad would also taste delicious chilled as a summer side dish to bring to a BBQ with friends.
If you put a fried egg on top of something, Ryan will definitely order it at a restaurant, so this recipe caught his eye the minute we pulled it out of the Blue Apron box. (My egg was cooked all way through – pregnancy precaution.) Ryan ended up cooking the sauce part of this dish (for some reason, during pregnancy canned crushed tomatoes are currently making my stomach turn) but by the time he was done following the recipe, the smell encouraged me to give it a try and I loved it!! While he tackled the peppery sauce, I made the tortilla chips that served as the crunchy bed for the dish and fried up the eggs. Team work at its finest! Also, I loved the way this recipe had us toss fresh avocado in lime juice, salt and pepper before using it as a delicious garnish. That really kicked the flavor up a notch!
Giveaway
Now here is your chance to try Blue Apron for yourself! One PBF reader will win a free week of Blue Apron meals for two!
To enter this giveaway, click here to pop over to Blue Apron and check out what’s on the menu for this week and leave a comment below telling me which recipe you’d be most excited to create!
Please note: This giveaway includes a week of meals for two people. Blue Apron delivers to 80 percent of the United States. In order to win this giveaway, you must live in one of the delivery zones. (A map of the delivery zones may be seen here.) I will randomly select a winner on Friday.
And please don’t worry if you don’t win! The first 100 readers who try Blue Apron will receive two free meals on their first order! To receive this promo, please click here to order.
Good luck!!!
***
Disclaimer: While this post is sponsored by Blue Apron, affiliate links are not included and I am not receiving any compensation for orders placed with Blue Apron. Thank you for your support!
![\"Quantcast\"/](\"//pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-1e3-7hOJ_U8Bg.gif\")
Baked Fontina Pasta for sure!!
The lentils and pupusas look delicious!
The baked fontina pasta looks amazing!
Salvadoran Black Bean & Cheese Pupusas look very good!
Oh yum. I know my boyfriend and I would love that baked fontina pasta! I’m a huge fan of roasted brussels, but I’ve never had them in a pasta dish. YUM!
Tom Yum-Style Shrimp and Noodles! I loveeee thai food 🙂 This is a great giveaway!
I would love to try the Salvadoran Black Bean & Cheese Pupusas!
the corn beef and red potatos! ever since being pregnant I crave red meat all the time, but rarely indulge .
Black bean and cheese pupusas! I get emails from Blue Apron, but haven’t tried it, yet.
Thai chicken meatballs!
The baked fontina pasta looks absolutely delicious!!
Tom style shrimp looks and sounds delicious!
The baked fontina pasta sounds delish!
The Turkey Chili looks so good! I love to add new meals into rotation to curb boredom.
The Salvadoran Black Bean meal looks interesting!
The vegetable pot pies look so cute and delicious too!
I would love to try the Tom Yum Shrimp and Noodles!
Salvadoran Black Bean & Cheese Pupusas sounds pretty good!
I’d love to try the salmon – its in the family plan- but so many of the meals look yummy!
The Tom Yum-Style Shrimp & Noodles look so so good and would never be anything I would try on my own!
The Black Bean and Cheese Pupusas look delicious! Always love Mexican!
The Tom yum shrimp sounds delish!!
The smoky beluga lentils look delicious!
I would love to try the shrimp noodle bowl or the lentil dish. However, all the meals look delicious!
I would love to try the baked fontina pasta! 🙂
The fontina pasta! Yummmmm
The Tom-Yum Style Shrimp and Noodles sounds absolutely delicious!
Wow, everything looks great. Especially the flank steak and turkey chili!
“Blue Apron is high if they think that map is 80% blue.” – Impatient Midwesterner
Shrimp and noodles looks so good!
Corned beef flank steaks! Very St Patrickish!
Tom Yum Shrimp! So interesting!
Definitely the Baked Fontina Pasta! It looks delicious!!!
The Tom Yum-style Shrimp & Noodles. Yum!
Tom Yum-Style Shrimp and Noodles sounds delicious and I usually shy away from cooking Thai dishes at home!
I think the Salvadoran Black Bean & Cheese Pupusas look awesome!
I would love to try the Vegetable Pot Pie or the Chickpea Burgers! My boyfriend, Mike, and I have also been trying to eat a more plant-based diet at home and the hardest part is finding things that Mike is satisfied with as a full meal. I’m sure Blue Apron has tons of recipes that would help us in that department 🙂
I would be most excited to the pupusas
the turkey chili looks really good!
I would love to try the Lamb and Beef Shawarma with Creamy Radish Salad
Turkey chili please!
Always trying to build more fish into our meals, so the baked tomato cod looks great! BUT, I am a sucker for pasta and the baked fontina pasta looks amaze balls!
Turkey chili!
I’d want to try the Baked Fontina Pasta. My two-year old loves mac & cheese, so a new variation of that (with some hidden veggies) would be great!
The Salvadoran Black Bean & Cheese Pupusas sound delicious; very different thing with pretty simple ingredients, so I like the idea of trying something familiar but with a cultural twist.
Turkey Chili! Yes! That is my favorite.
I would love to try the Thai chicken meatballs!
Miso Yuzu-Glazed Cod with Black Rice & Water Spinach! I love Miso!
The lamb & beef shawarma looks fantastic! I’ve only ever had shawarma once, but my husband would be thrilled if I made it at home!
The shrimp and noodles look good, but anything wish salmon has my taste buds all over it! 😀