Food delivery companies

Has anyone tried any of the new food delivery companies like Blue Apron or Freshly? Wondering how good the food is and if they're worth the cost.

Replies

  • 7ElizabethAnn7
    7ElizabethAnn7 Posts: 22 Member
    I did Blue Apron a couple of years ago. The food was amazing and the packaging was fabulous. As a foodie it was really nice to have all the spices and specialty ingredients in such a convenient manner. At the time it was definitely worth the money to me but I found after awhile I just did not care for the commitment of that level of cooking every night. But there was definitely a lot more good about it than bad for the time that I did use it, which was about 3 or 4 months as I recall.
  • CMNVA
    CMNVA Posts: 733 Member
    I've used Blue Apron and Hello Fresh. For a family of 4 big eaters, it was not worth the money. There was also a good amount of prep work. Otherwise, the food was good. If I was living alone, I would definitely use it more often and use the extras for leftovers/lunch.
  • CafeRacer808
    CafeRacer808 Posts: 2,396 Member
    I've been using Blue Apron for several months now and love it. It's been fun getting introduced to new ingredients and cooking methods that I've not tried before. And the variety of choices is good as well - they never repeat the same recipe in any given calendar year. They recently started including nutritional info for all of their recipes, so logging each meal is as easy as copy/pasting the recipe URL into MFP's database.

    I've actually got two free boxes to give away, so if you're interested in trying it, message me with your first/last name and your email address and I'll have them send you a box. There's no commitment and you can pause or cancel your deliveries at any time.
  • Raynne413
    Raynne413 Posts: 1,527 Member
    My guys at work that are major foodies LOVE Blue Apron.
  • I've been using Home Chef for a couple of months. LIKES: Getting out of my cooking & meal planning rut (same old, same old). I love to cook (& family really loves my cooking) so it's nice to try new menu ideas and techniques. Love that the ingredients are (surprisingly) very good quality and are pre-measured. (The only thing called for from my own pantry is usually salt, pepper, olive oil. Everything else is sent to me.) CONS: Like someone else said on this discussion, it does require commitment and planning. I've ended up on a couple occasions having to freeze the meat from one or two of the meals, and salvage the produce to use some other way (& tossing what I couldn't use) because of schedule constraints and/or unexpected trips out of town. SUMMARY: Using the service helps me prepare healthier, interesting meals and motivates me to learn new cooking techniques. Working from home I tend to let the workday go well into the evening and then am too tired to cook anything more ambitious than Top Ramen. Using this service helps me discipline myself to end my workday at a reasonable time in order to prepare a healthy meal. Cooking is one of my 'zen' activities (along with music, reading, yoga), and when I'm in the kitchen preparing one of these meals, I find it to be an enjoyable, creative outlet for me (particularly if I have some nice music playing in the background and a glass of wine nearby.)
  • mbeuchert24
    mbeuchert24 Posts: 204 Member
    I've used Plated, and I absolutely loved it. Only works for me when my husband is gone because he is too picky. It's on the pricey side but the food is amazing, and I've learned a lot of cooking skills from it. I get the 3 night package and it ends up being 6 meals for dinner and/or lunch
  • pebble4321
    pebble4321 Posts: 1,132 Member
    I've started getting deliveries from a local company called Dinner Twist, and it's been great for me.

    The food is very good quality and although they say it is enough for four meals for two people I always have enough for more.

    It definitely costs more than if I did the planning and shopping myself, but at this point in time I can afford it, and I'm eating better because of it.

    You have to be prepared to cook - but that's fine for me, I'm enjoying having a break from the planning and eating some different meals with ingredients or combinations I don't usually buy.

    For any Perth (WA) people, I highly recommend them.


  • sarko15
    sarko15 Posts: 330 Member
    I loved Blue Apron's food, but the price and the sheer gobsmacking amount of packaging really turned me off. Also, if you're looking for low effort weeknight meals you're better off without. I got so backed up on my meals because I only had the time to make them on weekends.
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
    I see OP is in Iowa, but I'm in Connecticut, so this specific example won't apply, but maybe the concept will. There's a couple (she's a dietician, he's a personal trainer) that run a business. They make a number of types of meals every week and you can order and pick them up and just reheat them. Almost always whole foods, good (IMO, for many people's goals) macros, and decent Calorie counts - typically 400-600 Cals per meal. Most of the food is pretty good, although I like to heat the veggies (especially the broccoli) a little longer.

    You may be able to find something like that in your area?
  • unicornumame
    unicornumame Posts: 16 Member
    I guess this is redundant now, but for what it's worth I really enjoy Blue Apron. I tried Hello Fresh as well, nothing really negative to say about it, didn't work well for me because I don't usually eat meat and their vegetarian options were mostly pasta/carb-based.

    But I have liked Blue Apron a lot. The recipes are simple and usually take about 30 minutes to make. I don't think it adds to my food budget as long as I remember what week it's coming and buy less food at the grocery store.

    I think the best thing about Blue Apron is the app. It makes it really easy to pick and choose which meals I want. I only get it every 4-6 weeks so I just decide what menu fits my diet needs best and looks tasty.

    It's usually easy to get a discount code if you wanna try it with a little lower stakes!
  • ModernRock
    ModernRock Posts: 372 Member
    TR0berts wrote: »
    There's a couple (she's a dietician, he's a personal trainer) that run a business. They make a number of types of meals every week and you can order and pick them up and just reheat them. Almost always whole foods, good (IMO, for many people's goals) macros, and decent Calorie counts - typically 400-600 Cals per meal. Most of the food is pretty good, although I like to heat the veggies (especially the broccoli) a little longer.

    You may be able to find something like that in your area?

    Similar to this, one could look for "personal chef" services rather than a "private chef." A personal chef will learn what you want, and then shop and prep multiple days worth of meals at a time. They'll have around 5 families at a time and either do all of the prep work in a commercial kitchen, or spend one or two days a week at each home. Some meals simply need reheated and others need additional prep and cooking similar to a Blue Apron box. Either way, you'll have what you need for the number of meals you request.

    A private chef, on the other hand, usually works for one family. They will handle things like dinner parties and occasionally travel. A friend of mine is a private chef for a family and he splits his time between their two homes. He lives rent free in the carriage house behind their primary home and has his own little suite in their home on the beach. It's an unusual lifestyle but if he wants time off they somehow "make do" with restaurants and various meals he preps and leaves for them.
  • rnedwbt
    rnedwbt Posts: 57 Member
    edited January 2017
    I've been doing Home Chef for about a month now and I'm a huge fan. We have two adults and one toddler in our family (plus a newborn; but she doesn't eat much!). The two-serving option feeds the three of us. To us, the convenience along with the other perks of the service make it worth the $60/week that we spend (that's for three complete dinners). So far, every meal has been delicious and all ingredients have been fresh. There have been plenty of tempting meal options (you get to choose each week). It helps to have at least basic cooking experience. Personally, the amount of packaging doesn't bother me at all. Let me know if you have any Home Chef questions.
  • LulaicaLoses
    LulaicaLoses Posts: 36 Member
    Hello Fresh here. We've been getting boxes for about 6 months now, and while it's pricey, I find it about on par if I were to try buying the ingredients of the same quality from stores. We've enjoyed most of the meals (we had one bad week that was a transition to winter ingredients), and like the variety they give us. And it helps with meal planning since we have 3 boxes each week to go through.

    That said, if you don't have a basic kitchen set (baking sheets, pans, pots of various sides with lids) or aren't comfortable prepping, they can be a bit overwhelming. I shared it with a friend and they do meals once a month to change it up since the prep amount doesn't work for them. My fiance has taken up cooking on of the quicker, simpler meals once a week since I'm working late (and help take a load off my schedule).