A few weeks ago, we received our second order (for a second sponsored post) from Blue Apron. I shared our experience with our first order, and gave every last detail of how the entire process works in a post a few months ago.
I was excited to see that once again, there were options that I felt confident my family would love. We chose Beef Ragu and Shrimp Etouffee. (Both of which need special little marks in their names, which I don’t know how to do!)
This time, though, I decided to answer the question: Is Blue Apron a good idea for inexperienced cooks? My plan was to have my kids help prepare the meals. They know how to make some basics in the kitchen (eggs, pasta, grilled cheese sandwiches, etc.), but I wanted to see how they’d do with the more involved meals from Blue Apron.
Technically, though, I already knew the answer to my question. A few weeks before I ordered, we were hanging out with my sister-in-law and brother-in-law in their new home. My BIL mentioned they’d been using Blue Apron, and absolutely love it. He shared that on one of their first deliveries, his wife wasn’t feeling well, so he decided to cook the meal himself. And he made it clear that he almost never cooks.
He was so proud of the dish he made, and my sister-in-law was completely in shock at how delicious and FANCY it was. He even took a photo:
Seared Chicken and Pan Sauce
He was able to follow the directions, and loved that there was no wasted food when he was done. Ingredients arrive in the exact amount needed for the recipes.
But he’s an adult. And a college dean.
What about a 10 year old and a 13 year old?
My answer to that question is that they did a great job, but they needed me there to help and answer questions. Maybe this was because I was nearby anyway holding a camera, but I was glad I was in the kitchen with them.
The instructions on the Blue Apron recipe cards are clear, but you do have to follow them, and keep track of where you are. As I shared in my last post, these are not pre-prepared or semi-prepared meals. You receive whole ingredients needed for the recipe they provide. You have to wash them, slice or dice them, and cook them as directed.
It’s real cooking. No boxes or mixes or frozen stuff involved.
Since I don’t use shallots or scallions, I was thankful for the fact that many of the ingredients come in a labeled package.
And, like my brother-in-law, I love that you get just enough of what you need:
We always have honey. Creme fraiche? Not so much. (Again with the needed symbols!)
And yay for the experience of cooking with shallots and creme fraiche, but not searching through the store for them, having no clue what we are looking for.
So the answer to the question about inexperienced cooks?
Yes, it’s good for an inexperienced cook who is interested in the whole process of cooking and has the maturity and attention to detail to follow clear but complex directions.
It was a fun experience to do with my kids, and they learned a lot, but I wouldn’t turn them loose on a Blue Apron box unless they’d proven themselves ready to tackle complicated meals.
For me, as an experienced cook, these meals were very doable. And they were delicious. We loved, loved, loved the Beef Ragu, though my daughter felt bad that we all raved about it (which was her dish) more than we did for her brother’s dish, the Shrimp Etouffee. She’s nice like that.
But the Shrimp Etouffee was really good, too. I especially loved the super fresh shrimp. You really can’t beat super fresh shrimp.
If you watch cooking shows, and would love to try some “real” cooking with fresh ingredients, but the planning and shopping are keeping you from doing it, Blue Apron would be a great way to do that. It’s convenient, thorough, and totally attainable.
NOTE: this trial offer has expired. And the first 25 of you to try it will get three free meals on your first order. Click here to try it.
To be clear, “three free meals” seems to mean three free servings, or $30 off.
But mostly, go check out the recipes. Then try it out with my discount here!
As I mentioned earlier, this was a sponsored post. That means I was paid for my time spent trying the product, taking pictures, and creating this post to tell you all about it. All opinions and experiences and lack of knowledge of the difference between shallots and scallions are mine.
--Nony
I love browsing the recipes on their site because they’re for a full meal. Sometimes on my own I space out and forget a side until I’m serving up. On their own the recipes we tried with our two blue apron orders felt a bit over salted if we followed the directions exactly and cost more than I’d typically spend on the meal. I loved that they introduced new-to-me cooking techniques and sent ingredients that we couldn’t get in our (then) rural southern town. I also like that the recipes are generally from scratch. We make their chicken Parmesan meal all the time.
My wife and I have been doing Blue Apron for about a year now. Neither of us are what I’d call “experienced cooks”. It works fine; we get good tasty meals out of it for quite a reasonable price. In fact, we get leftovers from most meals, making it an even better deal! That said, though, there are a few downsides, *for inexperienced chefs*:
– It always takes much longer than they claim, usually well over an hour. Their prep time estimates seem to be calibrated for experienced chefs (me compared to them is like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B02dsLGLw4E ). The cooking times seem to be dependent on things finishing at the optimal time, rather than having to stand around and wait. It’s even longer if there’s only one person doing it. One recipe claimed to be something like 50 minutes, and took us over two hours.
– Things finishing at the optimal time is a rarity, so it takes some finessing to keep some things hot while other things take extra time to finish.
– They aren’t very explicit about what they mean by the various sizes of skillets, bowls, etc. They just say small, medium, or large, rather than, say, “three-quart saucepan” or “12-inch skillet”. You will have to experiment to figure out what equipment that you have qualifies as what size. Even then, still use your judgement regarding whether they’ve picked the right size; we’ve had several times where they call for a medium skillet and we know darn well that all that stuff is not going to fit into what we’ve determined is “medium”, or where the “small” would do just fine. For sizes of chopping and such, they sometimes do say things like “slice into half-inch pieces” but more often it’s “medium dice”, which again is a starting guide but use your judgement.
– Watch out for leaky packages of meat. They do put meats on the bottom, so it’s unlikely to get raw meat juices on anything else, but we’ve had shipments delivered on their sides or upside down, plus you’ll have to deal with the mess on the meat packages and your hands. Every once in a while something else will leak, but for us it’s usually the chicken. Even that is only one every few months or so though.
I think it would be an improvement if their instructions included some relevant basic tips, like how to peel garlic quickly, what certain terms they use mean, the pitfalls of certain procedures, etc., rather than wasting ink on the history and varieties of some ingredient. After all, they say that the name “blue apron” is after the aprons worn by student chefs, so we should be learning, and not just by trial and error.
Back on the upside, though:
– They’re great about handling any problems that come up, like missing or damaged ingredients. They won’t ship you a replacement for something you could easily get from the grocery store, but they will credit your account, for more than the replacement would cost.
– Their web site makes it easy to skip weeks, though you do need to do it six days in advance.
– The packaging (cold gel-packs inside an insulated bag inside a cardboard box) keeps the ingredients properly chilled and well protected.
And if you like garlic… if any recipe for the whole week includes any garlic, they’ll send you a whole head, rather than bothering to parcel out individual cloves, so you’ll have plenty of that left over.
Just be sure to read the whole recipe in advance. That helps you lay out what equipment, cups of water, etc. you’ll need. One major term I’ve come to love is “mise en place”! 🙂
Love hearing your thoughts, Dave!
Is it just me, or are these meals a bit pricey? I’m pretty sure I never spend more than $4 or $5 per person on a meal, and often it’s more like $2.50 or $3. I’ve considered it for maybe a special dish or special occasion, but if I’m spending $9 or $10 per person, we will go to PeiWei and let them do the cooking and clean up. We RARELY spend more than $40 for our family of 4 to eat out. I guess I’m thinking that if I’m spending that much on my meals, then we would eat out every meal. I’d much rather have someone else cook and clean than do it myself! Just my thoughts.