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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The Tom Yum shrimp and noodles looks awesome and would be a departure from my normal cooking since I rarely cook seafood!
The Tom Yum-Style Shrimp & Noodles look delicious! Both me and my husband would like that one!
MMM, the tom yum shrimp and noodle dish is the winner in my book!
Wow all the meals look delicious. I would be most excited to try the Tom Yum-Style Shrimp & Noodles and the Salvadoran Black Bean & Cheese Pupusas.
What a great giveaway! I made a new years resolution to cook a new recipe a week in 2015 – so this would be a huge help and inspiration! I’d love to try the Tom Yum-Style Shrimp & Noodles – I always order in thai food, so would be great to cook at home.
I would love to try the Corned Beef Spiced Flank Steaks. Sounds like a perfect recipe for St. Patrick’s Day!
The Baked Fontina pasta sounds so good!
The Pupusas! They sound so good! I would love to win!
Tom Yum style Shrimp and noodles for sure!
I like lentils but rarely make them. The Smoky Beluga Lentils meal would be so awesome.
Baked Fontina Pasta
with Brussels Sprouts & Sage Breadcrumb
ALL THE WAY! I love Brussel Sprouts!
I have never made an Asian dish at home. I’m just too intimidated so we just tend to go out. I’d love to give Tom Yum shrimp and noodles a try. Looks delicious!
Mmmm turkey chili sounds delicious right now! I’m a sucker for chili so I would definitely try that 🙂
The chickpea burgers sound really interesting to me! Like your friend Merri, I don’t really feel all that comfortable in the kitchen, so I’d love to try a service like this!
Oh my gosh!!! The Salvadoran Black Bean & Cheese Pupusas sound heavenly!
Love Blue Apron! The Corned Beef-Spice Flank Steaks sound delicious!
The Baked Fontina Pasta looks yummy!!!
Turkey chili Yum. Just what we need after the cold spell we’ve had here in the South!
The baked fontina pasta looks delicious and would be fun to try!
The baked fontina pasta looks really good – I love sage!
This company sounds awesome! I’d love to try the Tom-Yum Noodle Soup and the Smoky Beluga Lentils:)
I’m a sucker for pasta and the Baked Fontina Pasta looks so good!
Darn it! Blue Apron intrigues me so much but living in Canada hinders me from ordering anything from them. I should look up if there is a similar service here in Calgary!
Oooooh fun! Tom Yum shrimp & noodles sound delish!
I’d like to try the Baked Fontina Pasta!! The price point scares me a little with this service, but hopefully I’ll get a chance to try it and decide that it’s completely worth it!
I would love to make the papusas!
I would love to try the Corned Beef-Spiced Flank Steaks – looks delicious and not something I would normally cook!
The turkey chili looks great!
The smoky beluga lentils dish looks healthy and yummy!
I’d love to try the salvadoran black bean and cheese pupusas. We love food like this but I have no idea how to make it at home.
The papusas and the font in a bake look delicious!!
I would love to make the spicy beluga lentils!
The Baked Fontina Pasta looks great!
The turkey chili looks deeeeelish!
Smoky beluga lentils! Sounds delish
turkey chili- yum!
The Tom Yum Shrimp and Noodles! Yum!
The Baked Fontina Pasta sounds amazing!
I love Blue Apron! I only get it about once a month but I always look forward to it. The Tom Yum-style Shrimp and Noodles looks delicious!
Turkey chili!! I have never had avocado on chili (let alone had turkey chili) before and it looks absolutely delicious!!
The Smoky Lentils sounds amazing! Always looking for ways to incorporate these into my cooking but I need to try something new!
Yum! The baked fontina pasta looks great!
Mmm Turkey Chili without a doubt!
Definitely the Baked Fontina Pasta! Looks delicious and probably not something I would make on my own!
Yum, they all look good! The turkey chili is definitely calling to me, although I would love to try the shrimp and noodles since I’ve never cooked a tom yum-style dish before!
i’ve used my same standby turkey chili recipe for YEARS and would love to try a new version!
I LOVE pupusas!
Baked Fontina Pasta for sure! always love trying new pasta recipes!
The fontina pasta looks AMAZING!
tom yum style shrimp and noodles!