If you're going to pay someone to deliver ingredients and recipes to your door, what can you expect? The right ingredients, recipes you can follow, and a timely delivery so you can put it all together.
Blue Apron delivers- at least so far. We've now enjoyed three meals* created from the service, and it's actually been better than I've expected. As promised, there are no wasted ingredients-- there's just enough of everything, as called for in the recipes.
We get the four-person box, and it's enough food for four adult-sized people, so we do have leftovers. I use these in lunches, which is very handy because the kids' morning panic can drive them from sleepy to chaos in a minute flat.
Just before that point when chaos is about to overcome us all, I usually finish throwing their lunches together (usually boxed from the previous night's dinner) and we run out the door. Can you call that success? Well, it's not early morning yoga and a serene exit from the abode, but you know what-- I'm going to call that success.
Back to Blue Apron and customer service: The only snafu I've faced is a package of ground chicken that, it turned out, had a tiny slit in it. Meat juices leaked into my refrigerator drawer. I let them know in case there was a more widespread packaging issue, and they quickly credited my account for the whole meal (which I didn't ask for), and asked for my input about what they could do better. So, the customer experience has been great: open and fast communication, willingness to make things right, and overall totally easy and pleasant.
* One sentence reviews:
- Roast pork and delicata squash with farro: a hit and very easy to make. I usually don't mess with pork, but this worked out. I also usually prefer organic meat, so that's the one drawback of this service.
- Mexican casserole: a hit with the kids, who are Chipotle fans. Beans and cheese and rice are their comfort foods. I would have preferred a whole grain over white rice, but the seasonings were excellent. In fact, I've learned that a good spice blend can make a whole meal.
- Garlic shrimp with roasted cauliflower and brown rice: A hit with the adults. The kids loved the roasted cauliflower and brown rice, but they're somehow terrified of shrimp. Even garlic buttery shrimp. It smelled fresh to me, but they might be more sensitive to possible preservatives.
I loved the roasted cauliflower so much, I made another batch. I *thought* I knew how to roast cauliflower, but their recipe turned out noticeably more delicious than my usual.
** This isn't a paid review or anything, just wanted to share my experience.