Home » Reviews » Blue Apron Reviews 2023 — The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Blue Apron Reviews 2023 — The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Laurice Wardini 244 Reviews

8.5 Total Score

Buy for best price

Blue Apron reviews offer some interesting insight into the service and all it has to offer. The meal kits are prepared and curated by professional chefs and nutritionists. But are they worth it?

In a world filled with subscription options, it’s best to have all the essential information upfront, which is where we come in. Keep reading to learn more about Blue Apron — costs, shipping, plans, pros, and cons.

All About Blue Apron

We’re on a mission to find suitable subscription boxes for everyone. Let’s explore everything you need to know and find out what Blue Apron food delivery reviews have to say. 

Overview and Highlights

Blue Apron began in 2012 with Ilia Papas, Matt Wadiak, and Matt Salzberg sending out the first 30 orders themselves, straight out of a commercial kitchen in Long Island City. 

Fast forward a few years, and the service now provides fresh ingredients and delicious recipes to consumers all over the US. Blue Apron’s popularity is booming and shows no signs of slowing down. 

Fun Fact: A blue apron is a uniform for budding young chefs, hence the name of the business. It’s symbolic of the lifelong journey we all have with food and its many inspirations.

Blue Aprons Sustainability Standards

Blue Apron is all about sustainable farming. All its partners are certified, proving their ingredients are non-GMO. But that’s not all. 

Animal welfare is also very important. The team of Blue Apron meals reviews each partner carefully, ensuring they follow the Five Freedoms principles: 

• Freedom from fear and distress
• Freedom to express normal patterns of behavior
• Freedom from hunger, malnutrition, and thirst
• Freedom from pain, injury, and disease
• Freedom from physical and thermal discomfort

Each supplier is audited by a third party or Blue Aprons’ highly trained staff to ensure all practices are regulated and up to Blue Apron standards.

So rest assured that Blue Apron cares about its ingredients. The service looks after your health and well-being, but it also cares for the ingredients’ sustainability and safety.

What Does Blue Apron Offer?

It’s a subscription that brings you fresh ingredients and meal kits. Blue Apron recipe reviews mention that the service saves you time, energy, and money by taking out grocery stores from your to-do list. Plus, you no longer have to think about what to cook every day. 

The great news is you can pick the recipes you want to try, no matter how much cooking experience you have. Whether you want an easy recipe or something a bit more challenging, there’s something for everyone. 

Let’s check out each of the four meal plans.

2-Serving Signature

The plan offers a weekly delivery of two to four recipes. Blue Apron unboxing reviews confirm that each recipe comes with enough pre-portioned ingredients for two people. 

Meal examples:

• Steaks and Black Bean-Butter Sauce With Miso Kale and Gochujang Potatoes
• Shrimp and Pancetta Cavatelli Pasta With Spinach, Raisins, and Romano
• NY Strip Steaks and Herb-Mushroom Pan Sauce with Spinach

These are an absolute must-try for meat and seafood lovers. 

4-Serving Signature

If you have a family of four, this plan is your best bet. It comes with seven weekly recipes, and you can choose between two to four options. We’ve selected a few examples that Blue Apron meals reviews praised:

• Deviled Chicken and Honey-chipotle Sauce With Cilantro Rice and Tomatoes
• Lemon-caper Tilapia With Orzo, Zucchini and Peppers
• Sautéed Beef and Bok Choy With Marinated Radishes and Spicy Mayo

We love the different flavor combinations, as they’re super unique and delicious. 

Vegetarian Plan for 2

Blue Apron ensures that those who enjoy a meat-free lifestyle can also take advantage of the subscription. The service offers three vegetarian recipes each week, suitable for two people. Also, Blue Apron vegetarian reviews are fantastic and praise the flavor combinations.

Meal examples:

• Cheesy Black Bean Enchiladas With Honey-chipotle Sauce
• Calabrian Pasta and Squash With Ricotta Cheese
• Indian-style Paneer and Creamy Tomato Curry With White Rice

No more boring veggie meals. It’s time to enjoy an exciting meat-free meal. 

Meal Prep

Blue Apron knows that your time is precious and wants to help you save as much of it as possible. The meal prep option comes with eight servings, which you can prepare in under two hours. Blue Apron reviews this selection carefully to bring you a range of delicious options.

Meal examples:

• Chicken and Pork Chorizo Meatballs
• Chicken and Shrimp

These hearty staple dishes are a great choice if you want something quick but filling. 

2-Serving Wellness

Balanced meals are essential for your well-being. So Blue Apron has teamed up with nutritionists to design a plan that’s carb-conscious and Weight Watchers-approved.

Meal examples: 

• Chipotle Turkey and Veggie Casserole With Spaghetti Squash and Jalapeño Sour Cream
• Crispy Skin Trout With Salsa Verde and Farro Salad
• Potato Hash and Eggs With Kale, Bell Pepper, and Hot Sauce

Whether you have experience in the kitchen or not, the service is for everyone to enjoy. The whole point is to fall in love with cooking by trying new recipes and working with farm-fresh ingredients. 

Once you sign up, you’ll enter your zip code and see the available delivery dates. Then, you can pick one that works for you. Thanks to the protective packaging, Blue Apron reviews confirm that you don’t have to be home to receive your delivery. 

You can select your meals up to three weeks in advance, so you know what you’re getting. In short, if you’re looking for customization, the service may be the perfect fit. And if you don’t, you can let the service select everything depending on your sign-up information.

Blue Apron Add-ons

You can take advantage of a few additional services.

More than one Blue Apron wine review mentioned that you could get some fantastic reds at a fraction of the cost. Cutting out the middleman saves a lot of money, with the wine costing just $10 a bottle. So Blue Apron can easily compete against popular wine subscriptions. Check out our Winc review to see for yourself.

What’s more, the service often pairs the wines with the weekly recipes, making your meals that much better. The 500 ml bottles are perfect for two people to share over dinner.

Additionally, Blue Apron has a market section for everything you might need in the kitchen. There, you can get all sorts of cooking equipment, and of course, aprons.

Blue Apron Prices, Discounts & Options 

Here’s the Blue Apron pricing on a per-serving basis:

The service bills you three to five days before the delivery date. It’s a weekly subscription, so unless you change your plan, expect weekly billing.

If you want to see a set Blue Apron price per week, it’s best to check the site when you select the number of servings you want. 

Saving Opportunities

As of October 2021, there’s a special sign-up offer — $110 off, spread over your first four orders.

What’s more, the following people can make use of this offer and get free shipping for their first box:

• Military Personnel 
• Doctors & Hospital employees
• Teachers
• Government workers
• Students
• Nurses
• Seniors (55+)

Check out the Blue Apron website to find the latest offers.

Website Experience 

The website is straightforward to navigate. It gives up-to-date information on the service, what you can expect, and how it all works. Plus, you can even find recipes for the most popular items, like the Blue Apron Black Bean Tacos. 

There are navigation options at the top to help you find what you’re looking for, like the menu and pricing.

Ordering Process

Want to sign up? Here’s how:

• Go to the Blue Apron website or download the app. 
• Click “Sign Up.”
• Enter your email and create a password.
• Choose your menu options.
• Enter your delivery info and go to the billing section. 
• Choose your meals.
• Checkout.

It’s a super easy process and takes only a few minutes. 

Managing Your Subscription

Once you have a profile, you can make changes or skip a week with ease. 

If you want to cancel, send an email to cancellations@blueapron.com. The team will send you further instructions. But looking at Blue Apron customer reviews, this is one aspect of the service that most people don’t enjoy. 

When you make changes, they need to be in by the “Changeable Before” date on your profile. And since the service deals with food products, you can’t return items. 

If you have any issues, contact the Blue Apron team using the online form within seven days of receiving your order.

Shipping & Packaging

Once you sign up, enter your zip code so that Blue Apron reviews your delivery day options.

Note that you don’t need to be home to receive your delivery. That said, some ingredients need refrigeration as soon as possible. If you live in a warm climate and aren’t home for the delivery, it’s best to leave it with a neighbor. 

Your order comes in a cardboard box with insulated thermal liners and refrigerants that keep the items cold. Most packaging is curbside recyclable. Also, recycling the ice packs is easy. You only have to cut open the bag, empty the contents down the drain, and recycle the packaging. 

Blue Apron cost reviews show that orders over $50 include shipping. Otherwise, it costs $9.99. The company delivers to the contiguous US.

Customer Service

There’s a large FAQ section with a search function and different sections, making things a lot easier. 

If you need to contact Blue Apron, here’s how to get help:

• Email: contact@blueapron.com
• Phone: (646) 891-4349 or (888) 278-4349 (Monday–Friday 10 AM–9 PM, ET) & (Saturday and Sunday 11 AM–6 PM, ET).
• Online Form

Unfortunately, our Blue Apron review for 2022 found many customers that aren’t happy with the customer service. They claim it takes very long to get a response, or the team doesn’t handle the issues well. 

My First Blue Apron Meals

It was a little difficult to place my first Blue Apron order because it kept declining my card for some reason, even though it worked everywhere else I used it. After speaking with their customer service, they were able to get it processed, and my first box was here before I knew it!

Shipping + Unboxing

My first two meals arrived in a heavy, refrigerated box. This contained special lining and a few large ice packs to keep everything cool. Upon unboxing, I found two recipe sheets with my ingredients. The main ingredients were all jumbled together, while a few of the small things were packaged inside a small “knick knacks” bag.

Smoky Brussels Sprout + Black Bean Tacos

Tacos are definitely one of my favorite foods. Plus, they’re pretty easy to make. This recipe seemed pretty unique—brussels sprout and black bean tacos! Although the brussels sprouts are a large ingredient in this recipe, I excluded them because I can’t stand them. There was still plenty of yummy ingredients to make these tacos delicious.

Once again, this recipe was very simple to make. First, I roasted the sweet potatoes in the oven for around 23 minutes. While these were cooking, I carmelized the shallots and cooked the beans on the stovetop. The chile paste was for the brussels sprouts, so I mixed a little of it in with the beans instead. Somewhere along the line, I stuck the tortillas in the oven to warm. Then, I threw all the ingredients into the tortillas!

The sweet potatoes were intended to be on the side, but they were actually delicious in the tacos instead of the brussels sprouts. I excluded the sour cream as well since it had dairy (I never liked sour cream anyways). Overall, the tacos were fantastic. Each serving had around 730 calories.

Spiced Cauliflower & Chickpea Bowl

The second meal I received in this Blue Apron review is a spiced cauliflower and chickpea bowl. I love bowls—they’re so easy to make and are delicious! There are hundreds of different bowl combinations you could create. This one also contains farro, avocado, carrots, greek yogurt, and spices to create a delicious combination. I’m not a big fan of farro, so I replaced it with rice.  

This recipe was very simple to make. First, I put the rice on the stovetop to cook while I was doing everything else. Then, I roasted the chickpeas and cauliflower in the oven for about 25 minutes. When the rice was done, I mixed it with the carrots, chopped dates, and vinegar. Finally, I made the harissa yogurt—I substituted the greek yogurt with some dairy-free yogurt that I already had.

Once everything was finished, I combined it all together then topped it with the sliced avocado and harissa yogurt. It was pretty spicy, but I loved it. The meal had around 620 calories per serving (probably less, since I substituted the yogurt). It was definitely enough to feed two people.

Blue Apron Reputation & Customer Satisfaction

The subscription has many loyal customers. Some customers enjoy the service, saying that the food quality is excellent. Plus, they mention receiving recipes they wouldn’t otherwise think of trying. 

But there are quite a lot of Blue Apron negative reviews online. We found customers complaining about delivery issues, with many orders either not arriving or coming late. Also, some report billing problems, or paying without receiving their orders. 

If you’re looking for a Blue Apron rating, the scores vary between 2–4.2 stars.

Blue Apron Alternatives — How Does It Compare?

Are you looking for the best monthly subscription boxes for food?  Their number grows each day, so we like to rely on comparisons before choosing. Here’s how Blue Apron stacks up against some competitors. 

Blue Apron vs Hello Fresh

The two big meal kit delivery giants are constantly fighting for the top. So what makes one more popular than the other? 

Compared with Hello Fresh, Blue Apron has more advanced recipes. The spice combinations are exciting, and you’ll get more meat selections. We’re not saying that Hello Fresh is boring by any means. It’s just not as out there as Blue Apron. 

There’s not much of a price difference. Both cost $7.49 per serving for four people, four times per week. 

Blue Apron vs Home Chef

Home Chef offers a wider variety in its weekly menus. It has four available meal kits and oven-ready options.

The average cost per Home Chef serving is $8.99, which is pretty much on par with Blue Apron. Also, both services offer free shipping for orders over $50. Orders under that amount have a shipping cost of $13.99 for Home Chef and $9.99 for Blue Apron. 

Blue Apron vs Sun Basket

Sun Basket offers non-GMO and organic ingredients. While Blue Apron isn’t far behind, not all its ingredients are organic, but they are sustainable.

Blue Apron has a variety of meal choices but doesn’t offer options for specific meals like breakfast, smoothies, coffees, and snacks. In contrast, Sun Basket has such options, giving it more comprehensive offers to get you through the day.

In terms of price, Sun Basket sets you back between $10.99–$13.99  per serving. Blue Apron costs around $7.49–$9.99 per serving.

If you’re looking for a service to complement your Blue Apron subscription with snacks and breakfast options, check out our Daily Harvest review. 

The Bottom Line — Is Blue Apron Worth It?

The service is certainly worth the money. You might pay more per serving than the average home-cooked meal, but in terms of food wastage, it can save you money. 

What’s more, you won’t have to spend hours grocery shopping or thinking about what to cook. Blue Apron does it all for you. If you’re on a mission to enhance your cooking skills, the service is a brilliant choice.

FAQ 

Is Blue Apron healthy?

Yes! Nutritionists and professional chefs curate all Blue Apron meals. The plans are healthy and full of nutrients from the fresh produce. Plus, the meat, seafood, and veggies are all sustainably sourced. 

Is Blue Apron cheaper than grocery shopping?

Based on the total cost, Blue Apron is more expensive. The average American spends $300 a month on all groceries, whereas a customer will pay just over $200 a month for one meal for six days of the week with Blue Apron. But you’ll waste a lot less food with the latter. 

Is Blue Apron Worth It?

It’s an excellent choice if you want to try a food kit delivery service with high-quality, sustainable ingredients. Blue Apron reviews its menu each week to bring you new options and keep things interesting.