Soba noodle salad,
Blue Apron
Thai Beef with Carrot Noodles
and Siracha Sauce,
Hello Fresh
What’s for dinner? Grocery delivery services like Blue Apron,
Hello Fresh, Plated and Home Chef aim to answer this age
old question. By taking the guess work out of meal time services like this have gained popularity in recent months.
The recipes offered by Blue Apron are a little more complex
in terms of variety of ingredients. These options may appeal
to foodies who like to try recipes from different regions. Our
menu for one week included: Vietnamese Chicken Wings
with Lemongrass Brown Rice, Rice
Every week these companies make
& Beef Stuffed Poblano Peppers,
meal preparation easy by creatand Summer Soba Salad with Corn
ing several meal options for you to
and Soy-Mirin Dressing. These recchoose from, including vegetarian
ipe boxes included a variety of fresh
selections. Fresh ingredients and
herbs and spices to kick up the flastep by step recipes are shipped
vor. Like the meals offered by Hello
to your door in refrigerated boxes.
Fresh they all take about a half hour
Recipes contain seasonal ingreto prepare. Blue Apron boasts that
dients and are easy to prepare.
they do not repeat meals at all withFor one month we put the cuisine
in a one year period. Their Chefs
offered from Hello Fresh and Blue
are consistently working on new
Apron to the test.
recipes to delight your palate. Blue
Apron meals are also healthy, with
Hello Fresh allows you to custommeals averaging 500-700 calories
ize your box based on a family size
per serving.
Charred Shrimp Skewers,
of two or four people. For $69 you
Hello Fresh
receive three meals per week for
It is worth noting when we tested
two people. Pricing is slightly lower
Blue Apron there were some chalfor vegetarian meals. For little more
lenges with delivery to rural Norththan the cost of a fast food meal or a pizza you will be able
east Ohio. Out of the four weeks we tested their service
to prepare a healthy meal for your family! Our menu for one
the meals arrived only once on time. Two times the boxes
week included: Charred Shrimp Skewers with Pineapple-Avarrived one day late and one time not at all due to problems
ocado Salsa and Cilantro Rice, Quick Marinated Steak with
with their distribution provider. We did receive very friendly
Balsamic Glazed Summer Vegetables, and a Thai Pork
and prompt service from their customer service department,
Burger with Cucumber Mint Salad. All of the meals were
including a free week of meals for the inconvenience.
easy to prepare and offered sizable portions. Between the
two services Hello Fresh offers superior packaging, the inBoth services cut down on waste by providing only the ingredients for each meal come individually boxed. This extra
gredients you need for a recipe, like two stalks of celery
step to separate the ingredients offers an additional coninstead of purchasing a whole head of celery. Hello Fresh
venience factor for storage, as well as time saving when
states that Americans throw away an astonishing 40% of the
it comes to preparing the meals. Hello Fresh boasts farm
food they buy. They also site that we spend ninety minutes
fresh ingredients, with specific information on their suppliers
per week grocery shopping. Think of what you could do with
listed on their website. During one of the weeks we tested
that extra hour and a half a week! Grocery delivery services
this service, Hello Fresh substituted ingredients based on
like these may be slightly more expensive than what you
what was in season and ready to harvest with their farm
would spend shopping for your meals, but you are paying
partners.
a little more for convenience. This is definitely a favorable
option for families who want healthy meals with fresh ingreThe cost of Blue Apron is $59 for three meals for two people.
dients. Our winner based on taste: Blue Apron. ✴
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