Blue Apron: Potato Chowder

A family member sent me a coupon for a free Blue Apron meal kit.  I've heard a lot about meal kits and how they're popular with working moms, so I was excited to try it.

Part of Blue Apron's mission is to encourage home chefs to try new ingredients and new cooking techniques.  That should tell you a lot about their recipes.

It took me a few weeks to order my box...I needed to wait for a week when I had time to cook, and when the meals were family-friendly.  I ordered a box with three meals that would each serve two people.

My first Blue Apron meal was Potato Chowder with cheddar cheese toasts.  The estimated time required for cooking is 35-45 minutes, plus prep time.

Blue Apron sends you all of the ingredients except salt, pepper, and extra virgin olive oil.  They also send you a step-by-step recipe with photos.

The chowder required a lot of chopping -- Blue Apron sends a whole onion, potatoes, a carrot, celery stalks, etc.  The cooking steps were not difficult except for the fact that I was making the soup and the cheese sauce at the same time.

The chowder was good but not great.  I added some of my own shredded cheese which improved it quite a bit.  I actually thought the chowder was better the next day when it had had time to thicken.

The cheese toasts were a ciabatta-type bread with a homemade spicy cheese sauce.  They were delicious!!!  (cheese and carbs is a favorite combination of mine)

Blue Apron definitely eliminates the time spent on planning and shopping.  However, the prep and cooking time take a while.  It's definitely for people who love to cook and who are a bit adventurous in their eating.

Another meal kit like Hello Fresh would be a better fit for people who want simpler meals (kid-friendly and ready in 30 minutes or less).

I priced several meal kits and they run about $10 per person per meal.  You definitely pay a premium -- it's less expensive than eating a similar meal in a restaurant, but much more expensive than doing your own planning and shopping.

I was impressed that Blue Apron has instructions for recycling all of their packing.  Or you can ship your packaging back to Blue Apron and they'll recycle it for you.  Another benefit of Blue Apron is that they only send the amount of food you will need for the recipe, so there is no waste.