Five Reasons To Love Blue Apron

This post is sponsored by Blue Apron

Yes, yes, this post is sponsored, so you can take everything I say with a grain of salt. However, I really, truly have been loving Blue Apron, and the more I use it, the more I love it. In fact, I took a break from the partnership through the winter, and Thomas and I paid for boxes ourselves for a while because we loved cooking them together. Here are five reasons why Blue Apron has enhanced my food life.

{Smoky Seared Cod with Roasted Potatoes and Dates}

1. I have become a better cook. Every time I try a new recipe, I learn something new or get a little better at cooking techniques. The time it takes me to complete a Blue Apron recipe has even dropped some, and I now feel comfortable making the recipes on weeknights because I’ve gotten more efficient with them. The way I thinly sliced and roasted the potatoes into chips in this recipe was life changing. And I still make the Dijon-panko salmon using the technique I learned about in this post.

2. I’ve been introduced to so many new ingredients. Black garlic, rice flour, mara seaweed, harissa. I would never think to buy these otherwise, and I wouldn’t want to buy a giant amount either. I love that Blue Apron provides exactly the amount you need.

{Katsu-style Catfish with Black Garlic and Jasmine Rice}

3. I spend a lot less time meal planning and at the grocery store. On the weeks where we do a Blue Apron box, I have a list of staples to pick up and Blue Apron does the rest of the “shopping”, so my grocery store trips are quick and efficient. I do think that the cost comes out about even when I add Blue Apron + staples and get what I’d normally spend on staples + 3-4 meals for the week. This is where the commitment to reduce food waste really shows, and I never throw away a single ingredient (actually that’s not true: I never garnish with green onions, but I try to give them to my neighbors!).

{Chicken Meatballs & Fregola Sarda with Kale & Sicilian Tomato Sauce}

4. I feel good about supporting small farmers while using a big service. I love that Blue Apron partners with Seafood Watch to make the best sustainable seafood choices and recently launched a partnership with BN Ranch to source grass-fed beef.  With a mission to build a better food system over time, Blue Apron is making it convenient for Americans to cook more with small-farm food while not having to spend a lot of time shopping at markets or wasting things they don’t cook. Am I saying you shouldn’t go to the farmers market and should get Blue Apron instead? Absolutely not. That is, of course, the best option. But if you don’t have the ability, accessibility or time to visit a weekly market, then this is a great alternative. I do wish there was a way to get food delivered without boxes and ice packs (although you can recycle them), and I have a vision of the company hiring delivery people and distributing ingredients and recipes to people via bike or electric car. Cool idea, right?

{Penne & Arrabbiata Sauce with Roasted Carrot & Tangelo Salad}

5. Making all these recipes has been fun! Cheesy #5, but it’s true! I enjoy the surprise of each week’s recipe plan, and of the 25ish recipes I’ve made, there have only been two or so that I haven’t loved. Most are fantastic and several have knocked my socks off! We have been eating well.

If you’d like to give Blue Apron a try, the first 25 readers will get three free meals on their first Blue Apron order! Just click here.

This post was sponsored by Blue Apron

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