Blue Apron (starting at $47.95 per month) is one of the best meal kit subscription boxes, according to our readers. Like other meal kits, Blue Apron’s meal delivery service sends members the pre-portioned ingredients and easy-to-follow instructions they need to cook up to four restaurant-quality recipes each week. Unlike the other meal kit delivery boxes, we find that Blue Apron recipes have a slightly more “foodie” feel, with globally inspired touches and clever combinations.
We appreciate how flexible Blue Apron’s meal delivery service is—you can set preferences for what you get or handpick your recipes week to week. You can schedule deliveries in a way that’s convenient for you, and you can skip deliveries if you’re busy or out of town. (The Blue Apron app makes this process easier.) You can also switch up your plan (the number or pre-set type of meals you signed up for) from inside your account.
A Blue Apron meal kit comes chilled and insulated, so that the meats and produce inside stay fresh in transit. Just pop everything in your fridge within a few hours of your box being delivered. (In our experience, ingredients stay recipe-ready for at least a week after they’re unpacked.) And because everything is pre-portioned, you’ll only get as much of an ingredient as you need to make the recipes you picked that week.
Blue Apron does expect you to have a few staples on hand—usually salt, pepper, olive oil, and water—as these common ingredients get used recipe after recipe. You’ll also need a few common kitchen items, such as pots and pans, a baking sheet, mixing bowls, a colander, and tools like a chef’s knife and basic utensils for meal preparation. (Note that you can always read recipes in full before they ship, so you know everything you’ll need ahead of time.)