Becoming A Quarantine Chef With Blue Apron Meal Kits

This sustainably-focused meal delivery service has made me a better, healthier, and more confident cook while I stay home in quarantine.

Ever since the pandemic hit, I have been pretty averse to leaving the house and try to stay in whenever possible. Needless to say, I was ecstatic when my aunt and uncle offered to send me three Blue Apron meal kits. I mean, how could I refuse free food and an opportunity to avoid the grocery store? On top of that, the Blue Apron vision focuses on delivering sustainably-grown, high-quality food from their partner farms and ranches. Meaning, there are no antibiotics, hormones, or GMOs in their ingredients. It seemed like a win all around, and I couldn’t wait to try it out!

I had the option of selecting meals from the Signature menu, healthier dishes with meat, or from the Vegetarian menu, both coming in two or four servings. Being that Martín and I would be cooking together, we chose our three recipes from the Signature menu for two. As soon as the box arrived, I dug in to find perfectly-proportioned ingredients, simple step-by-step recipe cards with pictures, and recyclable ice packs, demonstrating their commitment to the environment.

While Martín and I do have some culinary knowledge, we are by no means chefs and tend to stick to simpler recipes. We were curious as to how difficult the dishes would be and if it would actually take the amount of time the recipe cards claimed.

So, we got to cooking, and here are my thoughts on each meal:

Cajun-Style Pork & Farro Salad with Pepper Yogurt

This meal was full of firsts: First time making/eating farro, first time cooking corn, first time cooking celery, first time making pork, and our first Blue Apron meal! Just to come right out with it, I loved it! I am used to preparing my food with normal onions, not green onions, so I wasn’t sure how flavorful everything would be. Obviously, I was pleasantly surprised, and everything blended well together and tasted unique. My only gripe is that I wish it was spicier, but I’ve already repeatedly duplicated the farro salad recipe and adjusted the heat level accordingly.

As for the time, it took us about 30 minutes, like the recipe card stated! With that said, I think that’s because Martín and I were cooking together. It might be part of our beginner-chef status, but it probably would have taken us longer if we were cooking apart. Still, this meal was such a success, and it’s happily been added to our recipe rolodex.

Creamy Spinach Beef Burgers with Roasted Potato Wedges

Making my own variation on a burger and fries was never something I even considered, so I was so thrilled for this recipe! However, we ran into a roadblock when we started: the kit didn’t come with hot sauce or buns like it promised! We picked some up at the store and then decided to make sliders instead. That way, we wouldn’t be wasting an entire bag of buns.

Despite that, these were delicious and didn’t take very long to make. Like the cheese enthusiasts we are, we added cheddar cheese to the burgers, enhancing the overall flavors. The potato wedges were incredible and not hard to make. By the end of it, I felt like I had made a fancy, expensive burger and fries from a restaurant, like one of those restaurants that have three dollar signs $$$ on Yelp. Also, we’ve remade this one, too!

Ras El Hanout Steak with Roasted Vegetables & Crispy Saffron Potatoes

This one proved to be the most time-consuming and intricate with all its ingredients and moving parts. Amongst many things I’ve never tried, we had to cook a steak, rehydrate prunes, roast a sheet pan of vegetables, boil potatoes, somehow pit olives without a pitter (which is apparently almost impossible, but I did it), and more.

Yet, it was totally worth it, and the taste and aromas were out of this world! Ras el Hanout, a North African blend of spices like cumin, coriander, and cinnamon, gave us a flavor profile that we had never known before. I almost considered omitting the prunes and olives because they aren’t my favorite foods, but I am so glad I didn’t. Everything came together beautifully, and the whole meal was the epitome of chef’s kisses. This dish also feels particularly special to me because it ended up being the last meal Martín and I cooked and ate together at our Bellingham place.

Overall, I had a great experience with Blue Apron, and I actually think I’m a way better and healthier cook for it. I feel like a potato connoisseur, a sheet-pan vegetable queen, and a versatile chef (who should maybe buy an olive pitter). If you’re looking to avoid the grocery store in the quarantine and you want to expand your cooking skills and log of recipes, this is a fantastic option!

They have a weekly subscription service where the meals run about $10 per plate, and it can be an amazing value considering how much some of the individual ingredients can be. The delivery is convenient and the guarantee of sustainable, good-quality ingredients is nice, too. However, Blue Apron does offer free access to their cookbook if you want to try out the recipes that way, too! I personally think it’s worth checking out—their flavors are impressive!

Thank you to my aunt and uncle for sending this to me!

Thank you to Martín Bilbao for these images.