And of all the services, Blue Apron provided the best variety for both our skill sets. What I didn’t expect was how lovely it’s been to have different ready-to-go recipe options on nights when I don’t want to cook. As part of my testing, Nick cooked at least one of the meals from every kit, while I took notes on things he found confusing or difficult, since I figured that having two perspectives from different culinary backgrounds would be helpful.Īn elevated weeknight scallop and truffle risotto from Blue Apron. There’s nothing wrong with these options, but they do get monotonous after a while. That means I usually cook a few times a week and then we supplement with takeout, restaurant meals or one of the few meals my husband knows how to make (boxed rice and beans or one of two sheet-pan dinners). In my household, I’m a cooking enthusiast-but my husband, Nick, isn’t. Weekday meals are just as likely to be a microwave burrito as a beautifully plated panko-crusted salmon fillet. Still, after a long day of talking about food, and sometimes cooking through several recipes, I’m tired of food prep. Finding recipes I’m excited to make hasn’t ever been a problem for me, and I love browsing grocery stores and farmers markets as inspiration for what I want to make. I’m a classically trained cook who has been an editor at Food & Wine and the editorial lead at Food52. I admit that when I launched into testing meal kit delivery services for Forbes Vetted, I approached the assignment fairly convinced that they weren’t for me. The chicken shawarma bowls were also a favorite in my household, since they allowed me to simply supplement my husband’s bowl with chickpeas instead of the meat option. I particularly loved the togarashi-spiced duck with crispy rice, a recipe that smartly used rendered duck fat to add unctuousness to the rice, and offset the tender, slightly sweet duck meat with Japanese togarashi spice. The meals I cooked from Blue Apron were some of my favorites from the entire testing process. If you’re not into those flavors, that’s also fine-you can simply pick something else. That variety ensures that longtime subscribers to Blue Apron won’t get bored by the same set of flavors every week, and it also introduces the opportunity to experience cuisines you might not otherwise. While some meal kits stick to Italian-, Mexican- and American-inspired recipes, in the weeks I was testing, Blue Apron included Japanese, North African, Korean and Chinese influences. I also appreciated the variety of culinary traditions Blue Apron’s recipes used. And there’s even a wine-pairing program, if you’re so inclined.īlue Apron offers a wide array of menu options to choose from, including vegetarian and. ![]() You can include additional proteins in your meal kit box, like shrimp and chicken. Blue Apron also gives you the flexibility to supplement your home cooking with everything from breakfast to fine-dining upgrades. You can see which meals are vegetarian, which meals are on the “wellness” menu (with nutritional information included) and which ones require little prep work. ![]() You can also filter by how many servings you want-maxing out at four per meal in this case, which is something to consider if you have a larger household than mine (though you can order multiple kits if needed). ![]() The site presents a photo of the finished meal, and options are sortable by a variety of tags and how long the meal takes to make. Considering these constraints, this kit was the best I tested.īrowsing Blue Apron’s menus is easy through the website or the app. Blue Apron stood out because of the many options it offers for households like mine, where not every member has the same skill set or dietary restrictions.
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