Blue Apron claims they offer delicious, chef-designed recipes including an ever-changing mix of meat, fish, Beyond Meat™, WW Approved, Diabetes Friendly recipes and health-conscious offerings.
The first recipe we made was Chicken and Farro “Fried Rice” with peanuts & ponzu mayo, which we can’t describe as anything other than gross. Speaking to the finished dish, the ingredients did not go together. But even before then, we had lots of issues with food burning to the bottom of the pan. We actually had to switch pans halfway through so the finished dish wouldn’t taste like burnt. We were hopeful when we first started cooking, as we realized they had double bagging the chicken in case it leaked (a problem we’ve had with other meal kit services). Our hope started to wane when we realized that all of the plastic containers they sent ingredients in weren’t recyclable. Then we made the ponzu mayo sauce, which did not homogenize – it stayed chunky like cottage cheese. Then, following the directions to a T, the farro boiled over and made a mess of our stovetop. Overall this dish was a failure.
Thankfully, the Cajun Spiced Tilapia Sandwiches with roasted broccoli and remoulade was better. We were pleasantly surprised as they didn’t sound good on paper, but came together better than expected. Admittedly, the broccoli was the best part, but the sandwich was pretty decent, too, though a little dry. Unlike the chicken, the fish came single bagged and leaked all over our fridge. The lettuce also didn’t last very well, we had to ditch the outside leaves and ended up not having enough for the last serving. We also ended up having to buy all new rolls to serve the sandwiches on, as the rolls they provided molded before we could use them (though this was user error, as they said to keep them refrigerated but we did not).
The last dish, Romesco Turkey & Ditali Pasta, was also a pretty great meal. The servings were large and hearty, and the flavors went very well together, including a burst of lemon that we ordinarily would not put in our pasta. We were also fans of the pasta shape they chose – a shape we wouldn’t have picked ourselves but worked very well with the dish.
Overall, the dishes were decent and a good change of pace from our typical go-to recipes, but not worth the money nor excessive packaging.