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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Tom Yum Shrimp dish looks so good. I LOVE Shrimp
I would love to try the Salvadoran Black Bean & Cheese Pupusas! It looks so good!!!
Tom yum shrimp
Baked fontina pasta is calling my name! Yumm!
Mmm I always love a good chili! The chili looks delicious
The turkey chili looks so good!
The shrimp noodle dish looks amazing!!
The Tom Yum-Style Shrimp & Noodles look so good! I would definitely want to try that!
Ohhh the tom yum shrimp is calling my name! I would love to try cooking something that I dont normally make so the tom yum shrimp sounds perfect!
Baked Fontina Pasta! Gotta carb load for my long runs 🙂
Those smokey beluga lentils!!
Tom yum shrimp! I’d love to learn to incorporate more seafood into my diet.
Baked fontina pasta!!
The Tom Yum-Style Noodles and Shrimp is a dish that I would not normally make but looks delicious!
Smoky beluga lentils!
The turkey Chili looks amazing!
The turkey chili sounds perfect!
OMG the Salvadoran Black Bean & Cheese Pupusas look amazing!
Those blackbean and cheese papusas look amazing and now I’m starving.
Corned beef spiced flank steak looks delicious!
Ooh either the Tom yum noodles or brown butter gnocchi! Love both but have never cooked either at home!
The baked fontina looks out of this world!
The brown butter gnocchi!!! : )
I think that the Corned Beef-Spiced Flank Steaks look delicious!
flank steaks sound yummy!
The smokey lentils look yummy!
The baked fontina pasta looks delicious!
Moroccan Root Vegetable Tagine sounds good!
Definitely the turkey chili!
The Tom-Yum Shrimp & Noodles because it’s unlike anything I’ve made before and would be a great learning experience!
The tom yum-style shrimp and noodles looks delicious!
The Tom Yum-Style Shrimp & Noodles looks amazing!
The flank steak looks amazing!
I’m a pasta girl. Love to try the baked fontina pasta.
I would LOVE to try the Tom Yum-Style Shrimp & Noodles! Yum!
I’d love to dig into that baked fontina pasta!
I would love to try their Tom Yum-Style Shrimp & Noodles
The stroganoff! My grandma makes the best Stroganoff and I miss it so much!
Fontina pasta please!
The turkey chili looks fantastic!
I would love to make the Tom Yum Style Shrimp & Noodles! I’ve never made anything like this & it would be so fun to try it!!
Moroccan root vegetable tagine looks the best!
Yuuum definitely the smoked beluga lentils! Look at the egg!
The flank steak for sure!
I’ve never tried a meal service like this but have heard a lot about them. The Salvadoran Black Bean & Cheese Pupusas sound yummy!
Baked fontina pasta is my 1st choice although everything looks delish!
Salvadoran Black Bean & Cheese Pupusas
Baked Fontina Pasta
The Tom yum noodles and shrimp dish looks yum! Hope I win! 🙂
tom Yum shrimp definitely!