Meal delivery services are a great way to reduce trips to the grocery store, round out your weekly meal planning, and expand your palate. When looking for a meal kit, you want one that offers flavor-packed, nutritious ingredients delivered to your door that are easy to put together for a healthy meal. Our testers tried Blue Apron to see how the service compares to its competitors based on our first-hand cooking and tasting experience.
Blue Apron has a variety of whole foods to choose from and can help you if you’re trying to eat healthy and cut down on processed foods, which can increase the risk of overweight and cardiovascular conditions. (1, 2)
Our team product tester tried Blue Apron for a week to give you an honest review of the signup process, recipe quality, convenience, and more. Read our full review to determine if Blue Apron is right for you.
Medical disclaimer: This article is intended for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for medical advice. For health advice, contact a licensed healthcare provider.
Key product features
What you should know
Blue Apron is named after the blue aprons worn by chefs in training. The service offers a mix of breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and some extras like soups and desserts.
- Our tester was impressed with the vacuum-sealed packaging of the meats that were kept perfectly cool in the recyclable box.
- The price for servings start at $7.99 which is less expensive than comparable brands on the market.
- Blue Apron is great for people who want to round out their weekly planning with meal kits, premade meals, and add-ons like desserts.
How does Blue Apron work?
To get started with Blue Apron, you can explore the delivery menu on the website, which includes meal kits, prepared foods, and add-ons. Then, you can begin to fill out a brief questionnaire. That will allow you to select meal kits or prepared meals, the number of people in your household, your diet preferences (like “carb-conscious”), the number of servings meal week, and the number of meals per week.
Each week, the menu changes, and you can keep the menu items Blue Apron staff selected or make adjustments. During sign up you can personalize your meal subscription by selecting meal kits or prepared foods and further customize it by selecting your preferences, servings per meal, and meals per week.
You can manage your subscription from the Blue Apron website or on the app, which you can download on an Apple or Android device.
Choosing meals
Blue apron subscribers can choose from wellness, low-calorie, low-carb, fast, family-friendly, and vegetarian options. The service offers a variety of cuisine types as well: American, Italian, German, Japanese, Thai, and Mexican. Many dishes require only a cutting board, knife, and single sheet or saute pan to prep ingredients.
Subscribers can choose from two to four servings per meal and between two and five meals per week with a meal kit. Alternatively, you can choose four to 10 prepared meals. You can also mix and match meal kits and prepared meals. Blue Apron offers add-ons including salads, wine, and desserts like lemon scones.
Changing orders
Blue Apron meals are pre-selected for you each week based on your preferences, but you can choose different meals if one of them doesn’t appeal to you. If you choose any meals other than what’s been selected for you, you need to do so before the week’s deadline. If you want to skip a week, you can easily pause your subscription or change your delivery date and time.
To reschedule your Blue Apron order, you’ll need to do the following:
- On the website or app, click on “Upcoming” and find the order you’d like to change
- Click the “Manage” button
- Click “Delivery Date” and select the day of the week you’d like to reschedule
- Click “Save”
You will receive your order on the new date.
Blue Apron offers a 50% discount for the first four consecutive weeks to new subscribers, medical personnel, first responders, students, teachers, and active duty, retired military personnel and people aged 55 and up.
Specs
| Starting price | $7.99 |
| Shipping cost | $10.99 |
| Shipping area | Continental U.S. |
| Meal type | Meal kits, prepared meals, soups, and desserts |
| Number of meals per week | Two to five |
| Meal options | Vegetarian, low-calorie, high-protein, low-carb, fast and easy, family-friendly, wellness, chef’s favorites, and keto-friendly. |
| Cancellation method | Online |
Our Blue Apron experience
After testing Blue Apron for ourselves, we noted a few key takeaways:
Packaging
The meal kits arrived neatly packaged in a box kept cool with freezer packs and insulation. Our tester estimated the box weighed between 10 and 15 pounds. Everything in the box was individually wrapped and in good condition. In fact, it was wrapped better than some of Blue Apron’s competitors. Of note, the chicken was wrapped in vacuum-seal packaging and a second plastic bag, reducing the risk of raw meat juice spilling into the box or in the refrigerator.
Preparing the meals
Each meal kit comes with a recipe card with step-by-step instructions. Our tester thought the recipe card could be improved with a larger font size and smaller pictures. You can also view the recipe card online if you prefer to use a tablet in the kitchen while cooking.
If you use a screen reader or other assistive technology to visit the website or app and are having problems accessing content, you can call 844-462-8299 for Blue Apron customer service assistance.
Our tester enjoyed the step-by-step instructions that Blue Apron provides, as it helped her time out the meal she was making correctly. First, she heated the oven to roast the asparagus and then cut up and boiled the potatoes. While the potatoes cooked, she sauteed the chicken and set it aside to rest before serving. Once the potatoes were boiled, she creamed them with mascarpone cheese, butter, and a sprinkle of salt. She pulled the asparagus from the oven, made the sauce for the chicken, and plated her meal.
Quality of meals
The packaging was easy to open with scissors, and the ingredients looked and smelled fresh. According to the recipe card, the meal should take approximately 30–40 minutes to prepare and cook. It took our tester about 45 minutes from start to finish.
Our tester found the instructions to be straightforward, but the temperatures recommended were a bit too high and may cause food to burn for some, depending on their oven and pans. She cooked the chicken in a pan on medium heat, not medium-high, as requested by the instructions. Overall, our tester enjoyed the balsamic chicken, with mascarpone mashed potatoes, and asparagus. She particularly enjoyed the sauce that went on the chicken.
Nutrition facts
Although Blue Apron meals are tasty, some are high in sodium. The Balsamic Chicken and Mashed Potatoes meal, for instance, contains 1,970 milligrams (mg) of sodium per serving. For reference, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends capping your total sodium intake each day at 2,300 mg. (3)You can look at the Nutrition Facts label for each meal when selecting your meal plan for the week if you want to avoid meals with high amounts of sodium. You could also simply alter the meals by avoiding specific ingredients that are high in sodium. For example, our tester could have left the soy glaze out of the dish if she wanted to lower the sodium content since a tablespoon of soy sauce has 878 mg of sodium (4)
How we test meal delivery services
Signing up for a meal delivery service can save you planning and prep time. For people who want a pre-portioned meal and don’t have time to cook, meal delivery can be a time-saver and we test to see if the meal is enough, too much, or just right. For new chefs, meal delivery kits like Blue Apron are a great way to learn to cook with pre-measured ingredients. We make sure everything is fresh, confirm the foods are organic, and well packaged. Delivery services can also provide meals that meet your dietary, caloric, and macronutrient needs, no matter your goal or situation.
Not every meal delivery service is a great fit for every person or scenario. That’s why Fortune Recommends™ aims to personally test every meal delivery service we review. Our goal is to provide unbiased, honest feedback to help you pick the right service for you.
Here’s why you can trust our organic meal delivery service reviews.
Every Fortune meal delivery review features:
- In-depth analysis by testers and/or authors who are certified nutritionists and/or registered dietitians
- Testing for portion/ingredient accuracy, taste, and freshness
- Fact-checking and reviewing by qualified experts
At times, we may feature meal delivery services we haven’t yet tested. Until we can try them, we examine each service’s cost, meal variety, nutrition breakdown, and customization options. We then update our reviews once we’ve tested them to highlight everything we liked and didn’t like.
Learn how we test meal delivery services here.
Testing criteria
Meal choices—30%
A meal delivery service should provide numerous healthy, nutritious options for every meal of the day. It should also give you as much authority as you want over what you order. Here’s what we take into account in our meal choices rating:
- Multiple options
- Substitutions
- Guidance
- Label transparency
Food quality—30%
If you’re not looking forward to the meals from your delivery service, that’s a problem. We aim to match you with companies that use delicious chef-designed recipes and have the dietary firepower of nutritionists and/or registered dietitians behind them. Here’s what goes into our quality rating.
- Flavor
- Healthiness
- Freshness
Value—20%
Meal delivery services vary in price, but what you receive should feel reasonable for what you’re paying. Here’s what we factor into a program’s value rating:
- Fair price
- Multiple quantity options
- Customization
Customer experience—20%
- Packaging
- Ease of preparation
- Reviews
- Customer service
Compare Blue Apron
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| Blue Apron | Hungryroot | HelloFresh | Purple Carrot | |
| Rating | ||||
| Price | $7.99 | $7.99 | $9.99 | $11 |
| Shipping | $10.99 | $10.99 | $10.99 | $10-$20 depending on location; free shipping on orders over $100 |
| Shipping area | Continental US | Continental US | Continental US and select areas in Hawaii and Alaska | Continental US |
| Diet of food allergy options | Vegetarian, low-cal, low-carb, family-friendly, wellness | Vegetarian, diabetes-friendly, low-calorie, seafood | Vegetarian, seafood | Vegan, high-protein, low-cal, low-sodium, nut-free, soy-free, gluten-free |
FAQs
Are Blue Apron meals already cooked?
Blue Apron offers prepared meals that are already cooked and just need to be heated in the microwave. The meal kits, on the other hand, come with raw ingredients you will need to prep and cook.
How many meals per week can you get with Blue Apron?
For meal kits, you can choose between two to four servings per meal and between two and five meals per week. For prepared meals, you can choose four to 10 meals per week. You can also mix and match meal kits and prepared meals.
Is Blue Apron expensive?
Blue Apron costs about $7.99 per meal, which seems reasonable, but we find the $10.99 for shipping steep. The company does offer discounts for new subscribers that may help counter the cost, at least in the beginning. Ultimately, while this cost may be expensive for some subscribers, others may consider it an affordable convenience.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any diseases.
Our experts
Lily Moe
Lily is a Brooklyn-based writer and editor with over seven years of experience in health media. As a former Fitness Coach, Lily’s editorial prowess has largely focused on fitness, nutrition, and weight management. She has also spent a fair share of time in testing labs, analyzing everything from protein powders to yoga mats. Her work has appeared in Verywell Fit, Verywell Mind, Health, and more.
Amy Beney, RD
Amy Beney is a registered dietitian based outside Buffalo, New York. After working with many people who have blood sugar issues and were diagnosed with diabetes, she pursued and received an advanced certification as a Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist (CDCES). She enjoys breaking down complex medical information into smaller pieces that people can apply daily.
Lauren Davis
Fortune Recommends Staff Writer
About Author
Lauren Evoy Davis is a health journalist with expertise in cancer and other chronic conditions. She holds a master’s degree in journalism from American University and a bachelor’s degree in English from Elon University. Her work has been published by the American Society of Clinical Oncology, National Council on Aging, HelpGuide, WebMD, Everyday Health, and Verizon. She tests meal kits, meal delivery services, and fitness apps. When not writing or reading, Lauren enjoys paddle boarding on the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, weightlifting, and gardening.