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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This week I’ve been craving Turkey Chili –and what do you know, Blue Apron has Turkey Chili on this weeks menu.
The Tom Yum-Style Shrimp and Noodles looks delicious.
I would love to try the Tom yum style shrimp and noodles – we love shrimp!!
Can I say all 6 meals?!?! They look fantastic!! If I had to chose one it would be smoky beluga lentils 🙂
I love love love corned beef. But since I already know how to make that, and do so fairly frequently this time of year, I think I would like to try the Tom Yum-Style Shrimp & Noodles. It sounds like something way out of my comfort zone cooking wise. But something I would love to order at a restaurant!
I would love to try the Tom Yum-Style Shrimp & Noodles
i’d love to try the to try the Tom Yum-Style Shrimp & Noodles!
I would love to try the Tom Yum Shrimp!
I would love the whole package delivered to my door! I hate to grocery shop at the last minute for dinner. This would definitely solve my kitchen’s lack of ingredients. The shrimp and noodles sound scrumptious!!!
I would love to try the Tom Yum Noodle-Style Shrimp dish! It looks so light and perfect for Spring!
They all look so yummy! If I had to pick one it would be the Tom Yum-Style Shrimp & Noodles. Looks delicious!
The Tom Yom-Style Shrimp and Noodles! That’s never something I would try to make on my own, but with the help of Blue Apron I definitely feel like I could be successful!
Turkey chili, I KNOW my husband will eat that!
Oh my god, that Miso Yuzu-Glazed Cod with Black Rice & Water Spinach looks amazingg!!!
Fontina pasta with brussels sprouts — omg!!!!
Turkey chili!! YUM
Since it is almost St. Patricks Day, I would like to make: Corned Beef-Spiced Flank Steaks
I have heard great things about blue apron from a few people, but was scared to try because cooking is not exactly my strong point. I would love to try the baked fontina pasta. I’m a picky eater but everything in that dish sounds delicious. Even the corned beef flank steak and turkey chili sound delicious. I have to try out this blue apron program!
The Tom Yum shrimp and noodles sound amazing, and I’m intrigued by the Salvadoran Pupusas – this seems like a good way to break out of a cooking rut!
I am really trying to incorporate more Mediterranean type foods into my diet, including legumes and grains. So I would pick the smoky lentils since I have been experimenting with lentils recently.
Definitely the shrimp and noddle dish!
The Tom Yum-Style Shrimp & Noodles looks amazing! I would love to make something like that – I eat Asian-inspired foods a lot, so it would be great to learn how to make it from scratch! 🙂
xo Madie
The Turkey Chili looks amazing..!!
The tom yum-style shrimp and noodles looks awesome! I would love to make something like that.
I agree with Nina, I want to try the Pupusas!! Mine wouldn’t look quite like the pictures, but what a fun dish to try out.
Turkey chili or baked fontina pasta!! Both sounds delicious
The Salvadoran Black Bean & Cheese Pupusas looks so good!!!
Definitely the tom yum-style shrimp and noodles!
The shrimp and noodles dish looks great!
The corned beef flank steak sounds amazing for St. Patrick’s Day and beyond!
that lentil dish sounds so unique and delicious!
The Adobo Style Chicken sounds amazing–thank you for sharing such a yummy giveaway!
I would love to try the Tom Yum-Style Shrimp & Noodles! It is so different from anything I would ever attempt to cook on my own and it looks delicious!
The Salvadoran Black Bean & Cheese Pupusas sound right up my ally. They look like something I would want to try but be scared to make! With Blue Apron, maybe I would be less intimidated to try making this dish!
Being Irish with St. Patrick’s Day coming up, I’m planning our festive dinner… the Corned-Beef flank steak and cabbage meal looks like the perfect fit!
The pan roasted chicken or the lemon butter shrimp both look good. So does the chicken and drop biscuit casserole. Actually they all look pretty good!!!!
The papusas look so good! I’ve never made anything like that before, so it’d be fun to try something new.
The lentil dish sounds so unique! I’d love to give that a try.
The Tom Yum-Style Shrimp & Noodles looks amazing!
The tom-yum style shrimp and noodles look fabulous!
Baked Fortina Pasta Sounds amazing!! I’ve been wanting to try Blue Apron for awhile but wasn’t sure about the vegetarian dishes.
The Salvadoran Black Bean & Cheese Pupusas look delicious, plus they have a fun name! 🙂
Oh man, that Baked Fontina Pasta looks delish!
I would love to try the tom yum shrimp &
Noodle dish! I think this would be so fun for
My husband & I to try together because we never make dinner as a couple.
The baked fontina pasta sounds SOO good!!
I would love to try the Tom yum Shrimp and noodle dish!
They all sound amazing! I think if I had to pick just one it would be the Tom Yum-Style Shrimp & Noodles.
The corned beef looks awesome…or maybe that is because it is almost St. Patrick’s Day! 🙂
You’re brave for getting these deliveries while pregnant! I can’t seem to plan ahead for dinners these days, since I never know what I’ll be in the mood for, so you’re lucky you’ve gotten meals you can actually enjoy!
The black bean and cheese papusas are calling my name! Yum!