Plated vs. Blue Apron Mini Review

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The first week in the new house we picked up Blue Apron and Plated.  I wasn’t happy with Blue Apron the last time around, but my husband had a voucher, so we tried it again. We are always happy with Plated.  Briefly, they’re both menu/ingredient subscription services. Blue Apron will send you 3 meals for 2 every week – there’s no meal selection (huge downside) but it’s a bit less expensive. Plated has a set price per meal, plus a monthly subscription fee that if you’re a big user of the service, will help bring down the price. You can try Plated and get 2 free plates with my link (that’s like half off). There are infrequent voucher deals for Blue Apron.  There are 2 main things that annoy me about Blue Apron, and my husband independently finds these annoying:

  1. The recipes are fiddly and time consuming. There are many more ingredients and they require time-consuming preparation methods (like matchsticking). While Tom appreciates my readers’ comments about his knife skills, these menus take too long to prepare.
  2. Blue Apron sends its boxes with ice on the bottom AND on top.  It’s wasteful (even in the hottest heat it is unnecessary – Plated and Hello Fresh are both very capable of shipping food without doing this – and we have both found that it ruins the delicate ingredients (tomatoes, breads) that are always packed at the top of the boxes.  (Note I didn’t pick up a HF box only because I didn’t pick one up – it’s probably my favorite!)

Blue Apron Review

Classic B.L.T. Sandwiches with Tomato, Avocado & Cucumber Salad – I didn’t take any photos. I think I had a bacon sandwich. We added cheese to them and Tom ate all the veggies. I dislike raw tomatoes & cucumbers. No meal choice!

Chicken & Snow Pea-Radish Sauté with Candied PistachiosIMG_5071Really quite delicious although it got a little starchy!

Fresh Cavatelli & Sun Gold Tomatoes with Basil Seed Ricotta & Opal Basil

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This was amazing. But let me note – this was a portion size for the ENTIRE MEAL. I had a voucher for 4. Given my experience (I have eaten my way through quite a few weekly food subscription boxes) Hello Fresh serves almost twice as many as Blue Apron.

The flavor of the last 2 meals was great, and the pasta was fresh and not difficult to prepare as usual, so I was happy with that. I have found that usually at least one meal on Blue Apron is a bummer for me though!

Plated Review

This was easily my favorite Plated box ever! I even saved the recipe cards (they are available in your Plated account!). I would make each of these meals again.

Steak with Pear and Radicchio Salad


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I loved the seasonal pears along with the steak. It was nice and balanced – sriracha, rice wine vinegar, and honey was the main flavor.  This came together quickly.

Pork Chops with Cauliflower, Olives, and Spinach IMG_4992

Like really, I will make this every week. The olives were bright and briny and perfectly complemented the other flavors, and set off perfectly with the lemon. I appreciated the nutritional profile (lower carb) on all the dishes I picked!

Chicken and Poblano Posole IMG_5098FYI, I added the sour cream. I couldn’t help it. My husband cut down significantly on the water to make a thicker soup and it still made a totally ridiculous amount of soup. I loved the hominy (I make a veggie chili that uses it) and I will add this one to my personal recipe book.

As always, I’m happy to answer questions about anything I don’t cover in any individual review. Have you tried one of these? What do you think? Which is your favorite?

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  • Diana Garza
    09.26.14

    Plated for the win, as always! I’m a MAJOR fan of Plated and always will be. Even my husband LOVES Plated – which really speaks volumes. Blue Apron really needs to step up their game and reevaluate all that extra ice and all the work they make their customers do – like the matchsticking.

    • Brandy
      09.26.14

      As always we are on the same page! We just think they can use the cost of the extra ice & resulting costs and add some more food! We had a WAY better experience with Blue Apron last thanksgiving, but I think really it was because it was a special menu!