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 soup is looking fabulous! I’ve been wanting to give Blue Apron a shot for so long — hope I win!
My first pick would be the Tom Yum shrimp and noodles, but they all look amazing! I’m going to gift my mom a week or two of Blue Apron for Mother’s Day.
turkey chilli for real.
The turkey child sounds amazing!
I just had a baby 7 weeks ago and have been wanting to try blue apron! I would love to try the shrimp and noodles! They all around amazing to me!
Pan roasted salmon! Gotta get those healthy omega 3 fatty acids!!
The Baked Fontina Pasta looks to die for!
The Baked Fontina Pasta looks delicious!
I would love to try the Roasted Poblano Chilaquiles with Sunny-Side Up Eggs & Avocado! These all sound so good!
The baked fontina pasta – it looks incredible!!
I would love the turkey chili.
Just in time for St Patrick’s day, I’d love to try the Corned Beef-Spiced Flank Steaks. Definitely out of my comfort zone.
TURKEY CHILI!! YUM YUM 🙂
I keep seeing Blue Apron meals all over the blog world but have yet to try. This would be great. I would love to try the Tom Yum-Style Shrimp & Noodles. Thanks for the giveaway.
Pan roasted salmon! Can never.get.enough.salmon!!
Man that fontina pasta sounds amazing. I love fontina
The tom yum noodles sound amazing-and like something I would never make on my own!
The pupasas sound so unique and delicious!
The Salvadoran Black Bean & Cheese Pupusas sound great! Would love to learn to make them.
The Tom-Yum Style Shrimp sounds so intriguing and different than what I normally cook!
Corned beef-spiced Flank Steak for me!
With St. Patrick’s Day coming up, how could I NOT go for the Corned Beef-Spiced Flank Steaks with Braised Cabbage & Buttered Red Potatoes. I love the idea of Blue Apron and plan to ask for a subscription for my next birthday!!
Baked Fontina Pasta!!
Definitely the Baked Fontina Pasta!
oh, the Salvadoran Black Bean & Cheese Pupusaswith Cabbage & Radish Curtido looks delicious!!
The shrimp and noodles looks fantastic!
I’d LOVE to try to the baked fontina pasta, brussel sprouts, cheese and pasta are all my favorites 🙂
Would LOVE to try the shrimp and noodles!
Shrimp and noodles look fantastic!
Turkey Chili!
That baked fontina pasta looks amazing!!! I am so intrigued by Blue Apron and would LOVE to try!
Hands down the baked fontina pasta!
We had the chilaquiles this past week too. Sooo good. Loyal blue apron customer over here! 🙂
Oh the flank steaks look amazing! I have the worst fear of cooking meat because I’m afraid of undercooking or overcooking. I need to get over my fear! I can do this! 🙂
That was a lot of exclamation points…
I am totally in a pasta mood. I would love to try the baked fontina pasta. yumm
The corned beef-spiced flank steaks sound amazing!!!
Turkey chili looks yum.
Corned beef sliced flank steaks! I never cook red meat but my family loves it on occasion.
Definitely the flank steaks!
The flank steaks look amazing!!
Tom Yum-Style Shrimp & Noodles! Yum!
That turkey chili looks delicious!
Tom Yum-Style Shrimp & Noodles look delicious, and unlike any dish I would normally try on my own!
I would love to try the flank steaks!!
Tom Yum-Style Shrimp & Noodles sound very tasty!
Oh my… the shrimp and noddle dish sounds so delicious!! I’ve been wanting to try Blue Apron for a while.. this mama CAN. NOT. COOK. to save her life, haha 😉
The Tom yum looks awesome, as does the black cod you had!
The turkey chili looks so yummy!
That baked pasta looks amazing!
Baked Fontina Pasta for sure! Im always looking for new yummy ways to incorporate brussel sprouts!