meal kits It’s now part of the culinary mainstream, after gaining popular support during the pandemic. As one of the category creators, blue apron Still both The best In general and most sustainable The meal kit service we tested (Full review here). And we’ve tested them all – over 10 and counting.
Blue Apron meal plans start at just $8 a meal: That’s definitely cheaper than Get out or delivery, but is it cheaper than if you Buy all groceries yourself?
With all those convenient, ready-to-cook sets flying into kitchens, and competitive prices that remained mostly inflation-proof, I thought about the true cost of Blue Apron meal kits versus cooking from scratch. To check the true value of the brand, I priced the cost of three Blue Apron meal kits with the cost of an individual purchase grocery shop needed to make the exact same meals.
This is what I found.
But first…
How much do Blue Apron meal kits cost?
Blue Apron has a few different meal plan options and the more meals and servings you order per week, the cheaper it gets. For four-meal families who require four meals per week, the price per meal is $8. If you order smaller meals only twice a week, the price jumps to $12 a meal. Blue Apron also charges a flat $10 per shipment per box.
Below is a quick snapshot of Blue Apron’s cost per service for all of the company’s plans. I included the flat $10 shipping cost and spread it over the number of meals included in each plan.
Blue Apron pricing
Recipes per week Meals for 2 2 Meals for 4 $2 $14.50 $10.743 $11.60 $9.324 $10.74 $8.62 * serving price
* Includes shipping cost
How much does it cost to make Blue Apron recipes from scratch?
You priced the cost of three Blue Apron meal kits if you were to buy groceries yourself.
blue apron
Trout with feta cheese, couscous and vegetables
Ingredients: Price: 2 hard-headed trout fillets $11.50 24 ounce cups pearl couscous $1.251 grape tomatoes $1.25 red onion $1.29 or local currency equivalent Crushed pepper flakes $0.101 or an ounce Cheese Feta $21 Seasoning Blend $0.256 Green Beans $32 Tbsp Roasted Sunflower Seeds $0.501 Nicoise Olives $0.64 Total Cost $22.53 Per Serving $11.26
Mexican style steak with green beans and sweet potatoes
Ingredients: Price: 2 sirloin steaks (5.5 ounces each) $7 1 cup chili sauce $11 lemon $0.502 1 tablespoon raw pitas $0.592 cotija cheese 0.601 lb sweet potato 36 ounce green beans $31 1 tablespoon Of Smoked Seasoning Mix 0.252 Garlic Cloves 0.16$ Total Cost 16.55$ Price Per Serving 8.23$
Chicken with cream sauce, mashed potatoes and vegetables
Ingredients: Price: 2 boneless chicken breasts 6.504 oz grape tomatoes $1.251 1 tbsp Dijon mustard $0.353 / 4 lb potatoes $1.001 1 tbsp Italian seasoning $0.151 zucchini $1.001 / 4 cups grated Parmesan cheese $2.001 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar $0.502 1 tablespoon marsaspone $0.15 serving $6.70
What is the price of Blue Apron for grocery shopping?
Blue Apron is the original meal kit service.
blue apron
The results were interesting and varied greatly depending on which recipe I was analyzing. For example, Blue Apron’s steelhead trout recipe costs $11.25 per person to purchase with ingredients that he makes at home. This is actually more expensive than most Blue Apron meal plans, barring the most expensive.
This Blue Apron Mexican-style steak dinner costs just $8.23 per serving if you’re going to buy the groceries yourself. This is in line with Blue Apron’s cheapest meal plan (four out of four meals a week). If you were to opt for one of the mid-priced plans and include the cost of shipping, Blue Apron takes the edge and becomes more affordable than buying groceries, but only a coin or two per meal. The chicken recipe was the cheapest to make at home, clocking in at less than $7 per serving when bought at the grocery store and made from scratch.
Ordering steak and seafood recipes will give you the most of your earnings.
blue apron
When I averaged the cost per serving for the three recipes, one serving was $8.73 for a Blue Apron meal when the ingredients were purchased at the grocery store. That’s about 10 cents more expensive than Blue Apron’s cheapest meal plan and only 7% more expensive than Blue Apron’s mid-price plan. If you think about the convenience of a meal kit, it certainly starts to feel really valuable. In addition, meal combinations are known Reduce food waste Which helps save more.
How did you do the math
To find out how much it would cost to make Blue Apron meals, I priced the ingredients for three actual recipes—one fish, one steak, and one chicken—all of which are currently included with a standard subscription. When pricing groceries, I used the cheapest version of the ingredient I could find from one of the three grocery retailers, Target, Fresh Direct, or Instacart, which pull prices from local grocery stores. Because Blue Apron recipes only include the amount of ingredients called for, I’ve broken down the cost by how much you’ll actually use, not the full price per bottle, jar, or bag.
Blue Apron does not specify organic ingredients, but the service does stress the use of organic meats and produce. I also chose non-organic grocery options to calculate the totals.
And if you’re wondering if you need to spend more than what’s indicated here to make the recipes yourself, the answer is yes. You really can’t afford one ounce of sesame oil or two teaspoons of pepitas, so you have to buy them in larger quantities and hope to find a use for them later.
In this exercise, you have calculated the cost of two meals. In theory, the cost of making meals at home gets cheaper since you’re buying “in bulk,” but jumping from two to four servings doesn’t make much difference.
In my view: Blue Apron is a very good deal
While most recipes aren’t necessarily cheaper to make at home, when you think about all the convenience of having pre-cut ingredients sent to your doorstep ready to cook, Blue Apron starts to seem like a much better deal. Not to mention that you are cutting out potential food waste Because you won’t buy whole jars of sauces and spice mixes or bags of rolls and hope to use them up before they go bad. In most cases, Blue Apron is just a dollar or two more per serving then buying groceries yourself. In some cases and some recipes, Blue Apron is actually cheaper.
Take advantage of Blue Apron’s seafood recipes
Blue Apron’s seafood recipes including trout, salmon, and shrimp are a pretty good deal.
blue apron
While most Blue Apron recipes are at least more expensive than buying the groceries yourself, some are actually cheaper than if you bought the groceries yourself. This is especially true for seafood recipes such as salmon, shrimp, and trout offerings. If you’re looking to add more fish to your diet, Blue Apron may not only give your dinner routine a health boost, but it may also save you money on inflated grocery store prices and a seafood market.
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