Plated and Blue Apron

smr09012

Has anyone used either Plated or Blue Apron (or a similar service)? Just looking for general thoughts and wondering how well it went with your calorie goals!

Thanks!

JennJayBee

I have a current subscription to Plated, and I love it. The meals are pretty healthy, using fresh ingredients and lots of veggies, but the portion sizes will leave you with meals that are anywhere from upper 400s to lower 700s in calorie count. For someone like me who generally likes to hit in the 300s for dinner, I solve this issue by cutting my meal in half, giving me a nice dinner and a lunch or dinner for the next day. You can also eat smaller meals throughout the day and save up a bit for a larger dinner if that's more your thing.

I usually order two meals per week with a dessert (for an occasional treat) to get free shipping. You can skip as many weeks as you like or order more if you like a particular week's menu. I'm actually skipping this week myself as I'm far too busy to do as much cooking as I'd like. It seems pricey at first, but I did realize that I'd likely be spending as much at the grocery store anyway. Overall, it's been a good experience so far.

girlviernes

I had a Plated order recently - 3 meals and 1 dessert. The trout was amazing, and the dessert (poached pears plus marscapone) was also delicious. One of the meals was not my favorite. I didn't continue my subscription though because I found it stressful to have the time to make the meals before the ingredients started to go bad, and it is pricier than I would like to spend on my regular meals. It is a nice way to force yourself to learn new techniques and try new foods though, if it fits in your budget.

crazycatlady88np

I've tried both...I alternated weeks for a few months before deciding I liked Blue Apron better. Plated's major advantages are that they give you the menu farther ahead of time, they have more choices each week, and they offer desserts. As far as the meals being healthy and the number of calories the two services are practically identical, they offer very similar menus and portion size. The meals are typically a meat, a generous portion of a vegetable, and a rice/pasta/potato/bread (they do have vegetarian options but I've never tried those). I prefer Blue Apron because I found the quality of the recipes and ingredients to be a bit better (Plated's are good, but Blue Apron's are often excellent). I did once get a moldy pepper from Plated, and once they didn't send me all the meat they were supposed to (I complained and they gave me one of the meals on my next order free), I haven't had any similar problems with Blue Apron. I also like that Blue Apron doesn't require a subscription. Lately I only order when I'm really enthusiastic about the menu that week because they really do take a while to prepare and I don't always have that much time to cook 3 nights a week. Both services let you skip as many weeks as you want but if you're paying for a Plated subscription and skipping a lot of weeks you're just throwing away money on the subscription.

_cdaley

I get Hello Fresh, which is essentially the same thing. You choose 3 meals out of 5 options per week (if you eat meat/fish- the vegetarian plan only offers 3 options, so you get those three). I wouldn't always classify the meals as low calorie, as they range from about 400 to as high as 950. Most are right around 550-750, though. It costs $69 per week for 3 meals for 2 people.

I LOVE it because I don't care to spend time looking up recipes or shopping for ingredients. My boyfriend and I also don't really like to eat leftovers. Hello Fresh sends everything you need to make each meal in the exact quantity you need. The only things they don't include (and assume you have) are olive oil, salt, pepper, and butter. The meals take between 30-45 minutes to prepare. Also- the quality of the meat/seafood they send is excellent. I've been using this service for a couple months and there has only been one meal that I didn't really like. Most are very good and some are great- like restaurant quality.

I would recommend trying a service like this if it fits into your budget, you can spend 30-45 minutes in the kitchen a few nights a week, and you want to try new dishes without having to put any effort into planning or shopping. As far as calorie goals go- I make it fit, but I also have a pretty high daily goal since I walk most places and work on my feet. But, as someone else said, if the calories are too high you could always half it.

lishie_rebooted

BlueApron publishes all of their recipes on their website for free.

I'd just go through and print the ones that sound good and shop for the stuff myself.

The price for these services is a turn off for me.
I've also heard that if you actually weigh & log the ingredients sent to you in the recipe builder, the calories don't match what they state on the recipe card.

auntstephie321

I've done Blue apron and Hello fresh. I found it very easy to modify slightly as I eat low carb. I loved it, they also have their nutritional info online so it would be very easy to add in to mfp. I only order if they give me a coupon code for it, they do have their recipes online so you can easily purchase the items locally to cook at home.

smr09012

Thanks for all of the info!! My fiancé and I were talking about how we are in such a food rut, that we thought it would be a good way to switch some things up. I think I'm going to put it on my to do list for the summer!

auntstephie321

@smr09012 my boyfriend and I love it for that reason. We always make the same stuff week after week because we are used to it and know what we are doing, it was so much fun to make some new stuff, and now I can add those meals into our regulars because they are so simple to make.

naturesfempower

I have been using Blue Apron. I've found that if I put the individual ingredients in MFP, the calorie count is much higher than what they say on the recipe card. I'm going to try another meal planning service called "Fresh 20" rather than the ingredient delivery service. It should save me quite a bit of money as well as calories.

tudoroaks4

I tried Hello Fresh for a couple of weeks, both the meat and vegetarian options. The meat was not as high quality as I'm used to. I would rather shop for my own groceries and get the USDA prime steak or a wild caught fresh salmon if I'm having a meat entrée. The calories per serving was 600-800 which was a little high for me as well. The vegetarian option was better - 500-600 calories per serving and the ingredients were fresh and delicious.

Hello Fresh does publish all their recipes on their website. I'm going to try using their recipes but shopping for myself for awhile to see if the service is worth the cost or if I can just get by on my own.