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!!!
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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!
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Definitely the baked fontina pasta!
I’ve been wanting to try Blue Apron and this giveaway would be the perfect chance to do so! Everything on this week’s menu looks tasty… I’d especially love love love to try the Salvadoran Black Bean & Cheese Pupusas. Thanks for the giveaway, Julie! 🙂
Turkey chili! Yum!
They all look delicious. I would love to try the Turkey Chili with Avacado and cheddar cheese! Yum!
My fiance and I are trying to up our cooking game and would appreciate the guidance of Blue Apron. He loves chili everything – Detroit man 🙂 The Turkey Chili sounds like it’s right up our alley!
The pupusas look amazing! So does the chicken scallopini.
The Turkey chili sounds great!
The Salvadoran Papusas look very tasty.
The Tom-Yum Style Shrimp and Noodles look amazing!
The Salvadoran Black Bean & Cheese Pupusas look very different and interesting. Yum!
Would love to try the papusas! They look like a great spin on a basic sandwhich!
The tom yum noodles and shrimp looks delicious!!!!
The fontina pasta looks like the perfect hearty cool weather meal!
The Corned Beef Flavored Flank Steak would be delicious – I’m very new to cooking steak and I love that blue apron makes cooking new to me to cook foods!
I would love to try the Smoky Beluga Lentils!
Definitely the Tom Yum-style shrimp and noodles!
DEFINITELY the baked fontina pasta! Yuuuum!
Anything with shrimp will be delicious! Tom Yum-Style Shrimp & Noodles
Oooh, corned beef flavored flank steak! Just in time for St. Patty’s Day! Yes please!
I’d pick the Salvadoran Black Bean & Cheese Pupusas
I’m in a dinner rut! I want to try the Pan-Roasted Salmon with Roasted Cauliflower & Farro Salad.
I would like to try the Smoky Beluga Lentils – looks like it would be good (and a new style of recipe for me!)
Turkey chilli looks amazing!!!!!!
I would love to try the Baked Fontina Pasta. They all look amazing!!
Definitely the corned beef!!
Turkey chili!
I would like to try the Tom Yum Style Shrimp & Noodles.
turkey chili!
The turkey chili & the pupusas look yummy!
I’d definitely like to try the Tom Yum-Style Shrimp and Noodles. I’m terrible at prepping Asian dishes so this would be fabulous.
The tom yum soup looks so good!! I love that stuff! 🙂
The Tom-Yum style shrimp and noodles dish sounds delightful!
I would be so excited to make the Salvadoran pupusas!
The tom-yum shrimp noodle dish sounds delicious!
Corned beef all the way! I love flank steak!
The black bean and cheese papusas look delicious!
Ooh that fontina pasta looks delicious! I have been wanting to try this service!
The Tom-Yum shrimp and noodles dish sounds the best to me. I’m all about the Asian flavors!
I’d make the heck out of the shrimp Tom Yum; this baby’s at least 40% thai food so far.
Unrelated: have you read Expecting Better by Emily Oster? It’s a really good common sense look at common pregnancy restrictions — my perinatologist (who’s done fellowships on food borne illness & mercury poisoning in pregnancy) recommended it to me, right after he told me to eat whatever the heck I want, except for fish with high mercury content. (Like, the deli meat thing — 60% of listeria cases in the past 10 years have come from produce, with the next highest percentage from dairy products. Guess how many cases have come from deli meat? Zero. But no one’s telling you to heat up your cantaloupe.)
Anyhow, it’s fascinating, well-researched, and evidence-based. You might like it.
The Tom Yum-Style Shrimp & Noodles – sounds delicious but I’ve never made something like that on my own before.
For sure the Tom Yum-Style Shrimp & Noodles! I have never cooked with shrimp. It intimidates me but I might give it a go with those idiot proof instructions. 🙂
Corned Beef-Spiced Flank Steaks sound good to me……just in time for St Pattys day!
Since it’s almost St. Patrick’s Day. I would choose corned beef-spiced flank steaks
I would love to try the stir-fried black rice or lentils dish! Yum!
the Pan-Roasted Salmon with Roasted Cauliflower & Farro Salad looks good!
Tom Yum-Style Shrimp and Noodles looks amazing!
The turkey chili looks delicious!
I would love to try the Tom yum shrimp and noodles! Sounds so good!
I would love to try either the Tom yum soup (totally out of our normal comfort zone of meals) or fontina pasta, as we have been enjoying Brussels sprouts lately,
The Beluga Lentil Stew looks yummy. I’m a vegetarian and am always trying to find meatless dishes that my carnivore husband will enjoy along with me.