Blue Apron or Hello Fresh

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Replies

  • redversustheblue
    redversustheblue Posts: 1,216 Member
    I use Home Chef on and off too and I quite like it. I love that you can choose from a variety of like, nine different meals every week and can choose any one that you want. The variety makes it worth it, although sometimes the meals are a bit high calorie for me -- but a lot of times I'm able to get 3 meals instead of the typical 2 out of one recipe (I live alone so this is great). It is a bit expensive though, so I just get a box 1, maybe 2, times a month.
  • dw920
    dw920 Posts: 41 Member
    My mom sent us a free week of Blue Apron, and then we stuck with it for a couple of months. Only have it paused now since I'm doing a Whole45 until the beginning of April. We really like it. Every meal has been really good and I love trying new things. I like that I can see ahead of time what's on the meal plan and can skip weeks that don't really have anything we would like. The meals do typically take longer than they say, but I don't really mind. I don't love that the two-person plan doesn't often leave leftovers, as that is what my husband and I usually eat for lunch next day, so on BA weeks I try to have frozen soups/chilis or sandwiches available. For us, BA meals are like date nights at home, and we like to work it into our budget a few times a month.
  • kikicooks
    kikicooks Posts: 1,079 Member
    Stella3838 wrote: »
    I have tried both, but ended up with Home Chef for about 6 months while the budget allowed. I thought they had better meal choices.

    I agree, I like Home Chef better of the 3. Plated and Terra's are really great too but more expensive. I think Plated has had my favorite meals. What I dislike about Blue Apron the most is that if there are 6 options to choose one week, you might not get your favorite 3, picking one sometimes makes the option of one of the others go away. There are no other meal delivery services that I've used that do that.
  • Bbeliever215
    Bbeliever215 Posts: 234 Member
    I just signed up for a free meal from Green Chef so I am excited! I usually lurk and on another post a member suggested this brand and how to get a free meal and free shipping. I will update once I receive my order. Hopefully it's enough to feed a family of four.
  • FreyasRebirth
    FreyasRebirth Posts: 514 Member
    edited March 2017
    Another option might be Shipt. Locally, we get our food through Meijer. Organic is totally an option and you can get a delivery in as little as 2 hours I believe. It isn’t meals but I've always used online recipes and ordered what I didn't already have.

    http://share.shipt.com/h6CVj ($10 off and 2 week trial)
  • FreyasRebirth
    FreyasRebirth Posts: 514 Member
    A side note, like $9 per serving for those two? Whoa.
  • smelius22
    smelius22 Posts: 334 Member
    I've been on Blue Apron for the past 6 or 7 months. My husband and I love it. You can see what is coming up in the next few weeks, change menus, skip deliveries. You can also print out shipping labels and ship their packaging back to them (for free) to reduce waste. We love that they give you literally every ingredient you need and it's all pre-measured.
  • shonna77
    shonna77 Posts: 4 Member
    We have used Blue Apron and loved it. It was too high in calories though for us. I did switch out items (ex. cauliflower rice for regular rice) and not use the olive oil they want you to cook in. We tried Chef'd which has a weight watchers option. While the food was good, it was overpriced for what you get. Because it is low calorie it was simple stuff - chicken and veggies for example. Then we tried to do it on our own and we find that the delivery service actually saves us money so we signed up with Terra's Kitchen and this is perfect for us.
  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
    I found Blue Apron considerably more time consuming than Home Chef, both good. For example, if a recipe calls for corn, Blue Apron sends an ear of corn, whereas Home Chef sends it already off the cob. More low calorie options with Home Chef. Ultimately I got tired of both. But FYI, the recipes and nutrition info for every meal are online.
  • kikicooks
    kikicooks Posts: 1,079 Member
    nowine4me wrote: »
    I found Blue Apron considerably more time consuming than Home Chef, both good. For example, if a recipe calls for corn, Blue Apron sends an ear of corn, whereas Home Chef sends it already off the cob. More low calorie options with Home Chef. Ultimately I got tired of both. But FYI, the recipes and nutrition info for every meal are online.

    This is one of the reason's I love Terra's Kitchen. Everything is chopped up for you and ton of meal options. Just wish it was cheaper, but I understand you pay for better quality and convenience so I only do it occasionally to try new things.
  • TX_Bluebonnet
    TX_Bluebonnet Posts: 244 Member
    edited March 2017
    I was thinking about doing Hello Fresh, but decided it's too much for my budget, so I bailed out before finalizing my first order. Now I get "abandoned cart" type emails from them on a regular basis. Mostly though, I'm posting to remind people who collect American Airline miles to sign up through the AA Shopping Portal. For example, get 1,000 miles for Hello Fresh (which is partly why I was considering trying them out). Below is a link to the food/dining category.

    https://aadvantageeshopping.com/Food-Dining/bc_42___.htm#

    ETA: I forgot to mention that Blue Apron, Home Chef, etc. are at the AA portal also. Just scroll through the list in the link.
  • annaskiski
    annaskiski Posts: 1,212 Member
    We've been doing Blue Apron for several years, and love it! Another vote for BA
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    Bumping because Bed Bath & Beyond sent me a coupon for $30 off Blue Apron and I was looking for more thoughts on this topic. Also, it seems like their business model has changed? Looks like I can only get a week at a time, with a choice between two meals or three. But if coupons for free boxes still work, I'll take one!
  • annaskiski
    annaskiski Posts: 1,212 Member
    Its now 8 meals (Blue Apron).

    Its always been a week at a time. Its fresh and would go back otherwise.
    We love it. It IS a lot of prep work though. You make your own salad dressing. You have to mash, peel, slice all ingredents, but the end meal is fantastic....

    And you can cancel, or skip weeks at will.
  • CattOfTheGarage
    CattOfTheGarage Posts: 2,745 Member
    I have never used either, but speaking as a keen, experienced cook, they seem like an excellent way to learn to cook. Teaching yourself from recipes can be quite difficult, actually having the stuff sourced and portioned out for you must make it less daunting, and some things can only be learned by just getting in there and doing it. I'm sure they're relatively expensive, but for what's basically a cooking lesson plus ingredients, you're probably not paying too much.
  • mom2kateRH
    mom2kateRH Posts: 178 Member
    One thing I have LOVED is a service called Platejoy. now, it does NOT deliver groceries, but it does generate recipes/meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner, with an aim to reduce food waste. it is super personalized--you fill out a survey detailing how many people you are cooking for, food preferences, if you are any special diet (low carb, FODMAP, whole foods, vegetarian, etc), how long you want to spend cooking, if you use packaged foods or not, and can list off foods to avoid. You specify exactly how many meals you want recipes for (eg 4 breakfasts, 3 lunch, 3 dinners, etc). It then generates recipes and a shopping list.

    It's really helped me expand what I cook/eat, AND reduce food waste. It's also given me a lot of variety. the one complaint people have sometimes is that in a given week, you may eat a specific ingredient in a couple different recipes in one week, because the goal is if you buy a bag of potatoes, you use up the entire bag of potatoes (or oranges, or chickpeas, or whatever).

    anyway, I've loved it much more than I thought I would! and it's been great because my daughter is also eating much healthier breakfasts/lunch. Not that she needs to lose weight at all, but I'm trying to get her to eat healthier.

    anyway, I have a $20 off coupon if you are interested in the service. Just PM me if you want the link!
  • maybe1pe
    maybe1pe Posts: 529 Member
    I have really liked HelloFresh. I have enjoyed all but 1 of the meals that I have tried so far.

    You can also look on groupon and get it for at least 50% off as a new customer. That's why I tried it in the first place.

    I like their meal options. I like that everything for the meal pretty much comes with it (except like olive oil if it calls for that). It's really helped me try things that I wouldn't have tried otherwise.

    For me calories per dinner are right on target for what I would usually try to make and everything has been delicious.

    I had one week where the produce in 1 of the 3 meals they sent in my boxes was bad. Contacted customer service and they credited me for a full free week no questions asked. Was still able to make the meats and everything for that week.

    I also like that you can favorite and save recipes in your account. I could go out a buy the ingredients to make one of their meals on my own and have no problems doing it.
  • Cathalain
    Cathalain Posts: 424 Member
    Are there any services like this that will send meals for just one person? I hate to spend the money for 2 people when it's only just me and I may not necessarily want leftovers.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    mom2kateRH wrote: »
    One thing I have LOVED is a service called Platejoy. now, it does NOT deliver groceries, but it does generate recipes/meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner, with an aim to reduce food waste. it is super personalized--you fill out a survey detailing how many people you are cooking for, food preferences, if you are any special diet (low carb, FODMAP, whole foods, vegetarian, etc), how long you want to spend cooking, if you use packaged foods or not, and can list off foods to avoid. You specify exactly how many meals you want recipes for (eg 4 breakfasts, 3 lunch, 3 dinners, etc). It then generates recipes and a shopping list.

    It's really helped me expand what I cook/eat, AND reduce food waste. It's also given me a lot of variety. the one complaint people have sometimes is that in a given week, you may eat a specific ingredient in a couple different recipes in one week, because the goal is if you buy a bag of potatoes, you use up the entire bag of potatoes (or oranges, or chickpeas, or whatever).

    anyway, I've loved it much more than I thought I would! and it's been great because my daughter is also eating much healthier breakfasts/lunch. Not that she needs to lose weight at all, but I'm trying to get her to eat healthier.

    anyway, I have a $20 off coupon if you are interested in the service. Just PM me if you want the link!

    I'll pass on the Platejoy coupon, thanks for the offer! Wanted to let you know in case someone else was interested in it.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    CattOfTheGarage wrote: »
    I have never used either, but speaking as a keen, experienced cook, they seem like an excellent way to learn to cook. Teaching yourself from recipes can be quite difficult, actually having the stuff sourced and portioned out for you must make it less daunting, and some things can only be learned by just getting in there and doing it. I'm sure they're relatively expensive, but for what's basically a cooking lesson plus ingredients, you're probably not paying too much.

    Right, on a lot of cooking shows the stuff is already portioned out, making it seem like the recipe will take much less time that it actually does. When I used to try Rachel Ray's 30 Minute Meals, I planned on them taking more like 45 minutes.
  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
    I did Blue April and Home Chef, Haven't tied hello Fresh. With blue apron, I thought the choices were too limited and many of the meals took an eternity to prepare. Eventually, I just ended up with about 12 meals that we enjoy and I shop for and cook them regularly.
  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,997 Member
    Interesting how so many people here apparently use these services.

    Looked into Blue Apron once but the prices seemed extravagant and the selections limited. Could eat out every night for the same cost.

    I prefer to buy, prepare and cook my own food but I can see how these services can be of benefit to others.
  • Basilin
    Basilin Posts: 360 Member
    My fiancé and I are subscribed to Blue Apron. We really enjoy the quality and tastiness of the meals and ingredients (especially the meat). We rarely get something we don't like. BA allows you to return all the packaging for recycling, skip weeks, choose any combo of six options now, and always seems to be trying to improve the service (we have seen a lot of changes over the past year).

    The cons are it does get pricey, but the alternative is probably eating nothing but macaroni and cheese and frozen pizza half the week. The prep can be time consuming, as well - although I am pretty efficient and find it straightforward, my fiancé always takes longer than the directions say. There is always a lot of cleanup, which can get tiresome. BA seems to be simplifying meals to address this, which has made them less adventurous with recipes than they used to be.

    I have invites for Blue Apron. If anyone wants to try it, pm me an email to send the invite to for a free first box (3 meals). You can look up what recipes are going out for several weeks in advance on their website.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,977 Member
    I find them to be too expensive. But I often buy the ingredients and cook the recipes nonetheless. With a scale I can work out the calories easily and thus adjust the recipe to my needs. I mean, those things easily cost £5 per meal! I can cook them myself for about £0.8-1.5. The recipes and cooking instructions are online. No problem.
  • Chesirekate
    Chesirekate Posts: 72 Member
    I've done blue apron for over a year now. It's me and my 8 year old son, and I typically get 3 meals out of each recipe so I can bring it to lunch at work the next day. Their customer service has always been good. They just changed so there are more meal choices and you don't get blocked out from certain options or combinations. We really like it, my son reads the recipes and helps with the prep work which makes it all that much more rewarding when we finish and get to eat it. It's exposed both of us to different types of food, and I find the price to be reasonable (we live in an are where groceries are expensive though).
  • sarasmiles124
    sarasmiles124 Posts: 138 Member
    I haven't tried Blue Apron but have been on Hello Fresh for a while. I really enjoy the Hello Fresh meals and they normally have a pretty good selection of meals and the fact that select items are already prechopped (I hate cutting onions) is always good in my books. I also like that I can opt in and opt out every week. If we don't like the look or sound of 3 out of 5 meals then we skip the box that week.
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