Gourmet Dinners At Home With Blue Apron

The following post is sponsored by Blue Apron. While I was compensated to write a review, all thoughts and opinions of this service remain my own. I hope you enjoy the copious amount of colorful food pictures, and make sure to scroll down for a special discount offer at the bottom!

 

Do you ever find yourself making the same old dishes week after week?

Are you looking to spice things up in the kitchen and impress your family in a surprisingly affordable way? Friends, I have some great news for you!

Blue Apron allows you to create delicious, chef-designed recipes you could easily find at upscale restaurants in the comfort of your own home. Simply choose the plan that works for you, and Blue Apron delivers all of the farm-fresh ingredients you need, already measured out, right to your doorstep.

This service is great for anyone wanting to snap out of a dinner rut or cut back on ordering take out. With just three recipes, Blue Apron brought me to a new level of cooking by introducing new ingredients and cooking techniques I would have never had the confidence to try on my own.

Fun fact: chefs in training around the world wear blue aprons. It’s a symbol of lifelong learning in cooking, and that is exactly what I felt like preparing these gourmet dishes!

 

Blue Apron offers a large selection of recipes and is always adding new dishes to their menu every week! All recipes are delivered in a refrigerated box so the ingredients will stay fresh, even if you’re not home when your package arrives at your doorstep.

As soon as got the opportunity to receive a week’s worth of recipes, I jumped at the chance!

I loved my experience of high-class cooking at home, and I enjoyed assembling the following recipes in the course of a weekend:

 

• Chile-Blackened Cod

As someone who never cooks fish at home, I didn’t know what to expect with this one.

Not only did I like eating cod, I also realized that cooking fish isn’t all that scary. This recipe had me pat each side of the fish with spices and cook in oil on the stovetop. That’s it!

Chile-blackened cod with epazote, avocado, and red rice salad.

The overall dish had a bitter taste, thanks to the grapefruit. If you aren’t one who likes that flavor, I would suggest sprinkling a little sugar or stevia onto the diced grapefruit before you mix it into the rest of the recipe. Still a win!

 

• Navarin-Style Lamb Meatball Stew

Just like fish, lamb is something I never attempt to cook at home. I’m not going to lie… it kind of breaks my heart to think about where it comes from. It sure is good though.

The meat came grounded in its package, and forming the meatballs was super simple. Once again, I cooked them on the stovetop in a pan of oil and it was browned in no time!

Navarin-style lamb meatball stew with pea tips and carrots.

This was probably my favorite recipe of the three. I really liked the fingerling potatoes, and I might just have to make it again on my own down the road!

 

• Pan-Seared Chicken Verjus

I made this meal on Sunday afternoon and kept it covered in the refrigerator for a day and a half as part of my meal prep for the week.

Pan-seared chicken verjus with pearled barley and mushrooms à la greque.

I kept it sealed tight in a casserole dish and heated it up in the oven (uncovered) for about thirty minutes to serve later that week. It certainly did the trick!

 

The biggest reason I stray from cooking at home as often as I would like is having to make special trips to the grocery store. Knowing I can have the exact proportions of every ingredient I need packed with a matching recipe is huge!

The service is available nationwide and ships (without extra fees) to over 80 percent of the country. Each menu item is between 500-700 calories per person, and all meals can be prepared in 40 minutes or less.

Side note: Two out of my three recipes took me over an hour to prepare! I’m either clueless or a perfectionist. Maybe both. I’m hoping that my future meals — yes, I plan on using this service again! — don’t take me (and even the hubby) quite as long.

 

Blue Apron offers two types of plans, and shipping is always free for both:

• The 2-Person Plan ($9.99 per person per meal) sets you up with one delivery a week, each with three unique meals for two. Each week, the culinary team creates six new recipes for this plan, and you will be sent a menu of three recipes based on your dietary preferences.

• The Family Plan ($8.74 per person per meal) is perfect for a family of four. This plan gives you the option to receive one or two deliveries per week, each consisting of two meals to be served family-style.

 

Each recipe comes with a mix of fresh produce and pre-measured dry ingredients or knick-knacks.

Simply follow the instructions (preferably in order to save you time!) and look forward to serving a gourmet meal that will easily impress your family or dinner guests.

In under an hour (assuming you aren’t as slow as me in the kitchen), a fantastic and fancy dinner will be ready to serve.

I like that these restaurant-worthy recipes are already planned out for me, and I love that you can skip or cancel the service at any time!

Also, I appreciate their passion for using fair-trade, local farmers for produce and ingredients. Check out this video for a look into how they carefully select ingredients from quality suppliers and artisans.

Love that. 

 

Blue Apron Discount Offer

I am happy to be teaming up with Blue Apron to offer a special discount just for Life In Leggings readers. The first 25 readers will get two free meals on their first Blue Apron order.

Just click here to enter!

As I briefly mentioned above, the only drawback I experienced with this service is underestimated recipe prep and cook times. I planned about an hour for each and easily went over that for two of the three recipes! Maybe I am just a slow cooker, since that tends to happen on a lot of the new recipes I try and make at home.

Overall, I was very happy with my Blue Apron order and look forward to placing more in the future. I’m dying to try the Swedish-Style Turkey Meatballs and Pan-Seared Steak & Salsa Verde meals! Yummm.

You can check out more of their recipes here. Enjoy!

 

Questions of the Day

• Do you often find yourself getting into food ruts?

• What is your favorite gourmet-style recipe to cook at home?

 

Just to throw this out there, I wanted to include that I do not receive any affiliate credit or compensation for anyone who signs up to use this service. I hope you take advantage of the discount offer if you’re interested in cooking with Blue Apron, and I genuinely appreciate your support on this and all sponsored posts that appear on this blog! <3