For years, whenever I overheard someone enthusiastically praising the convenience and quality of meal kits, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes and assume their excitement was misplaced. The concept always struck me as a marketing ploy — a fancy way to charge inflated prices for something that could be done more affordably by shopping and cooking on your own. As a long-time vegetarian, I was especially doubtful that any meal delivery service would take my dietary preferences seriously. I imagined every menu dominated by meat-centric dishes, leaving only bland or repetitive vegetarian add-ons. Because of that, I simply never saw the point in trying them.
My perspective began to change entirely when I started evaluating vegan and vegetarian meal kits professionally for CNET. Among the many services I tested, one stood out so clearly that it overturned all my earlier assumptions. Blue Apron, with its impressive flexibility and notably no-subscription policy, won me over completely. It became not just the service I admired from a reviewer’s standpoint, but the one I would willingly spend my own money on—an endorsement I do not grant lightly. There was a thoughtfulness to its design that set it apart, which is precisely why it has become CNET’s favored meal kit service and my personal top recommendation.
Early in the year, I tested four of Blue Apron’s vegetarian meal kits, priced as affordably as eight dollars per serving. Each one felt like a carefully orchestrated balance of flavor, freshness, and ease—examples included a roasted cauliflower and farro salad, hearty white bean and vegetable grain bowls, generously filled veggie burritos, and aromatic Thai-style curry noodles. None of these dishes were mere afterthoughts. Their inventiveness and taste surprised me so much that I ended up saving the beautifully designed recipe cards, later recreating the farro salad and grain bowls from scratch in my own kitchen. The process made me realize how these kits could serve as both a convenience and an inspiration to improve one’s home cooking routine.
A few weeks later, I decided to sample another set of offerings to test for consistency. Among them were pimento cheeseburgers made with black bean patties, peanut udon stir-fry, roasted red pepper pasta, and spicy mushroom and onion quesadillas. Once again, each meal impressed me with its flavor, freshness, and distinctive ingredients. If there was any hiccup, it came in the form of one missing ingredient — the pickled peppadew peppers for the pimento cheeseburgers. Luckily, I had a comparable substitute on hand, so the omission didn’t derail the meal. With an added touch of tomato and arugula, plus a side of steamed broccoli, it turned out to be an astonishingly satisfying dinner.
Through these experiences, I developed a deep appreciation for the care behind Blue Apron’s recipes. The culinary team clearly avoids relying on overused vegetarian staples like tofu or compensating for blandness with excessive spice. Instead, each meal displays a balance of vibrant produce, hearty grains, and diverse plant-based proteins, which allows diners to adjust seasonings and spice intensity to personal preference. As someone who cooks regularly at home, motivated by both health and cost savings, I found myself genuinely inspired by these dishes—especially the sauces, which tied every recipe together and elevated them beyond what I expected from a boxed kit.
Considering their creativity and sophisticated flavor profiles, one might assume that Blue Apron’s offerings come with a hefty price tag. Yet the opposite is true: it is among the most economically priced kits available, ranking high on CNET’s list of the most affordable meal delivery services. This balance between cost and quality is rare. For the estimated sixty-one percent of American adults who hesitate to try meal kits because of perceived expense, Blue Apron offers a compelling alternative. Its reasonable pricing structure can also help minimize food waste and reduce the temptation to dine out, which in turn supports a more budget-conscious and sustainable lifestyle.
Equally notable is the fact that Blue Apron no longer requires a fixed subscription, a major advantage for those who prefer flexibility. The brand’s updated à la carte model allows customers to order whenever they wish without being locked into recurring deliveries. For those who enjoyed the subscription system, however, an Autoship and Save option remains, offering discounts for loyal users. The company has also expanded its culinary range, now providing more than one hundred meal options each week—twice what it offered previously. Beyond its standard meal kits, two new product lines now add even greater convenience: Dish by Blue Apron and Assemble and Bake. The former consists of pre-cooked meals ready in about five minutes, ideal for people with little or no time to cook. These start at seven dollars per serving. The Assemble and Bake line, beginning at eleven dollars per serving, includes one-pan dishes that arrive pre-chopped and only demand a few minutes of hands-on preparation before baking. Each one even comes packaged with its own tray, simplifying cleanup.
During a separate round of testing, I sampled several of these prepared and ambient-style dishes. The four-cheese enchiladas with rice and the sweet-and-spicy tofu udon noodles were satisfying and filling, though not quite as nuanced as the freshly cooked kits. Later, I experimented with two Assemble and Bake selections—the pesto gnocchi bake and the creamy mushroom and kale pasta. Both dishes delivered on convenience and had rich, comforting flavors, yet they leaned a bit too heavily on cheese for my taste. For my own preferences, the traditional meal kits retained their edge in terms of freshness and balance.
One element worth noting for potential buyers is shipping cost: each Blue Apron box carries an eleven-dollar delivery fee. However, through the company’s premium Blue Apron Plus membership—available for eight dollars per month—customers can enjoy free shipping on every order, in addition to exclusive discounts and access to Tastemade Plus streaming content. Anyone who plans to order from Blue Apron even once a month would likely find that this membership pays for itself quickly.
For those with specific dietary limitations or preferences, Blue Apron’s lineup includes vegetarian but not fully vegan dishes. Each week, there are generally about five vegetarian meal kits to choose from, serving up to four people, as well as at least two vegetarian options available in both the Assemble and Bake and Dish ranges. Those seeking fully vegan meals might be better served by alternatives such as Green Chef for cook-it-yourself recipes, or Mosaic Foods and Thistle for prepared options—though Thistle leans toward the higher end of the pricing spectrum. Purple Carrot, which offers exclusively vegan meal kits, remains popular, yet in terms of flavor complexity, I personally found Green Chef’s vegan recipes more appealing. Still, when it comes to vegetarian offerings, Blue Apron continues to be my first choice.
The only significant issue I encountered with Blue Apron came from a logistical hiccup: one of my orders failed to arrive on its scheduled date. After several days without an update, I contacted their customer service team via email, only to receive an automated message warning of delays due to a high volume of inquiries. Eventually, I tried their live chat system. It took roughly forty-five minutes before a representative informed me that the order had in fact been canceled—without any prior notification. Fortunately, I received a full refund and easily placed another order afterward, but this experience served as a reminder that it’s best to actively track delivery progress and reach out sooner rather than later if delays occur.
In the end, if I had to choose where to spend my own hard-earned money for a meal kit service, Blue Apron would remain my clear favorite. Its vegetarian selections feel genuinely crafted, never perfunctory or uninspired. It offers remarkable value without compromising on flavor or nutrition, and its flexibility caters to both spontaneous cooks and planners alike. Most importantly, the meals themselves are delicious—delicious enough that I’ve already found myself recreating them long after the boxes were gone. At this point, I might as well save the effort and simply order the ready-to-go kits next time, confident that I’ll receive restaurant-quality dishes without stepping outside my kitchen.
Sourse: https://www.cnet.com/health/nutrition/wrong-about-meal-kits-service-changed-my-mind/
