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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I love the idea of having all the ingredients, and the recipe, delivered to my door! The recipe I’d enjoy making this week is Tom Yum-Style Shrimp & Noodles.
I would love to try the adobo chicken ! An exotic dish I’ve always been too intimidated to try to make myself
I had no idea how reasonably priced Blue Apron was! My husband and I both LOVE to cook and regardless of if we win or not we’ll definitely be trying it out. He loves bes his red meat and was eyeing out the corned beef flank steak. I would love to try the Tom-yum shrimp and noodles or the baked fontina pasta!
The tom-yum style shrimp and noodles sound taaaaaasty!
Beluga lentils sound delish!
The Tom yum soup looks fantastic!
The Thai Chicken Meatballs sound amazing!
Turkey chili looks great
The corned beef flank steak looks delicious!
Fontina pasta looks delish for a cold night!
Corned Beef-Spiced Flank Steaks! I have never made corned beef before. I have heard about Blue-apron before but never tried them. Thank you!
Wow..these are some really unique recipes! I think it would be fun to make the Papusas…I’ve never tried before.
Corned Beef-Spiced Flank Steaks… yum!!! 🙂
Mmm the baked fontina pasta looks great! I love brussel sprouts!
My boyfriend and I got to try Blue Apron after getting it as a Christmas gift this year and it was great! I actually just made one of the recipes again this past weekend! The Turkey chili looks delicious and something I would love to try!
Drooling over the Tom Yum-Style Shrimp & Noodles! Can’t wait to pull the trigger one of these days and try this service – seems perfect for someone like me (Love to eat, can’t cook!) 🙂
They all sound good, but I think I would have to try the Tom Yum – Style Shrimp and Noodles first, yum!
The flank steak! They all sound great!
I would most look forward to the baked Fontina pasta! Ahhh carbs!!!
Tom yum soup is my favorite to order in Thai restaurants so I’d love to learn how to make it!
I would LOVE to try the Baked Fontina Pasta!
Would love to try the Tom Yum style shrimp and noodles! Looks so yummy!
Smoky Beluga Lentils with Garlic Toast & Soft-Boiled Eggs sounds great!
Uh oh…I’m not pregnant, but am hoping that when I am I can handle canned tomatoes …I use them so often in my cooking!! What an awesome way to try something a little different. I’m always looking for healthy and fun date night at home ideas…this may pop up in our rotation! The baked fontina pasta sounds amazing… Love me some Brussels sprouts!
Have a great day!
I can’t wait to try the tom yum style shrimp and n oodles
Tom-yum style shrimp and noodles 🙂
The Tom Yum-Style Shrimp & Noodles looks especially neat to try! 🙂 I’ve always wanted to try Blue Apron to get more advanced in cooking so thanks for this awesome post!
i’d love to try the turkey chili
The baked fontina pasta!
the baked fontina pasta looks amazing!
Yum the Turkey Chili before the weather gets too warm!!!
Papusas, definitely! Yum!
All of the meals look delicious but I would most like to try the baked fontina pasta with brussels sprouts and sage breadcrumbs.
The tom yum-style shrimp and noodles sound delicious!
The Tom Yum Style Shrimp & Noodles looks delicious!
MMM, I am a sucker for delicious looking steak so maybe the flank steak. But if I were to choose a menu I might go the pescatarian route like you. We semi-recently made the move to Louisiana and have access to a lot of fresh seafood that we have never been able to take advantage of before, so I would love to learn new recipes incorporating fish!
Flank steak! I’m preggars (second baby in a year) and need the iron! Congrats on your little nugget!
The Tom Yum shrimp and noodles are calling my name!
Always wanted to try Blue Apron. Baked Fontina Pasta sounds good!
the flank steak would be the perfect way to celebrate St. Paddy’s Day!
Tom-Yum Style Shrim for sure! I love to order something similar to this in Thai restaurants so it would be fun to recreate at home.
the Pupusa’s look the most interesting to me! I’ve wanted to try Blue Apron for a while now!
Baked fontina pasta sounds AMAZING!
The Baked Fontina Pasta looks AMAZING!!!!
Those black bean papusas are right up my alley!! 🙂
The Tom Yum style shrimp and noodles looks so yummy!
The tom yum shrimp and noodles look delish! I just recently discovered I like thai food, learning how to cook it would be awesome!
I would love to try the Tom Yum-Style Shrimp and Noodles! It is something different that I wouldn’t usually make myself, so this would be a great chance to try something new!
Baked Fontina Pasta looks great!
Honestly they all sound good to me but the Tom Yum-Stlye Shrimpa and noodles sounds amazing.