Recipes,  Reviews

A Month of Meal Kit Menus; Home Chef vs Blue Apron

Home Chef Tonkatsu Salmon in Home Chef vs Blue Apron Review
Home Chef Tonkatsu Salmon

I’ve been feeling uninspired lately when it comes to cooking dinner during the week. I work full time and have a heinous commute (1.5-2 hours each way) at least 3 days a week. Some days I’m away from home 13+ hours and by the time I get home the last thing I want to do is think about what I want to cook. Much of this could be solved by deciding what I want to cook each week, making detailed menu plans, and shopping for the ingredients on the weekend. But honestly, that’s not me. Rarely do I plan in that type of detail; typically I buy a bunch of core ingredients (various proteins and vegetables) and anything that catches my fancy and wing it.

Cue Dr Phil, “How’s that workin’ for you?”

Answer: Not so good. Because of this, I’ve decided to give a couple of the meal prep companies a try. if you’re not familiar with the concept, these are companies that send you all the ingredients for several meals and the recipes, and you prep and cook the meal yourself.

I have several friends who have tried these services and loved them, yet I resisted. I’m a (former) chef, right? This would be great for someone else, but not me.  It’s easy to get all judgy and think “why can’t you just shop?” I know, because I thought that myself.  So, why would I need something like this? Well, for exactly the reasons listed above. For me, it’s time, lack of desire to plan, and a lowering of food waste.

But for others, the reasons might be different. Some people are intimidated by the thought of planning and cooking several meals per week because they don’t know how to cook and plan. These kits can help alleviate the stress and they even might teach people how to cook. If that happens, it’s all good in my book.

Fortunately, the initial risk is fairly low in terms of cost. Both companies offer free or discounted trials. Neither of them approached me for this review and I paid for it out of my own pocket. If you want to try one, see the details at the bottom of the post.

Home Chef (referral link with discount) and Blue Apron were the companies friends had tried and liked so that’s where I started. There are at least a dozen other similar companies out there that fill all kinds of niche dietary markets; vegan, paleo, southern, organic, it’s all out there.

My plan was to try two weeks of each company so I could get a broader impression than the reviews I’d read which had done as little as one meal or much as one week. I went online and selected Home Chef first simply because based on my order date, they would be able to deliver first.


I’ve now been cooking Home Chef meals for over 3 years:
Click here to see my updated 3-year review.


Home Chef vs Blue Apron:

Cost: 

  • Both companies cost the same, about $9.95 per person or $19.90 per meal (each meal is for two people).
  • Home chef allows you to order as many or as few meals as you want and offers free shipping for boxes over $40. Without that, shipping is $10 so it makes sense to order three meals instead of two (when you have to pay for shipping on two).
  • Blue Apron is fixed at 3 meals per week (for two people) and shipping is included for the $60. They also offer a family meal plan that 2 meals a week for 4, for $70.

Choice:

  • Home Chef offers 10 main course choices each week plus breakfast, and a smoothie, and a fruit basket (the last two cost less). You can pick from any of the items and there are always at least 3 vegetarian options, plus a couple each fish, chicken, pork and beef options. If you want, do nothing and they will send you an auto-selection each week or go in and pick what you want.
  • Blue Apron offers 6 choices; one each of meat, chicken, and fish and 3 vegetarian. You can de-select one of the meat proteins options, but doing this does not always allow for a vegetarian option. I found this very frustrating (more on this below).
  • I did not order the vegetarian options from either company. While some of them sounded delicious, I didn’t feel the “value” was there for $10 per person and I would have liked to see more alternative proteins added like tofu.

Packaging:

  • One of the criticisms of all these companies is that there’s a lot of packaging, and while there’s truth there, it’s also necessary. You can’t just throw a bunch of meat, chicken and fish lose in a box with a bunch of vegetables and expect it to arrive safe and sound.
  • When you shop at a grocery store you put vegetables in plastic bags and meat comes wrapped and packaged so it’s not much different.
  • The biggest amount of excess packaging is for small items. For these items, Home Chef uses hard plastic bottles and jars with screw caps on them. These seem pretty wasteful, but I’ve saved them and re-used them for packaging items for my lunches. Blue apron uses more disposable-type containers for pantry items, similar to what you’d get in a restaurant’s to-go orders and they aren’t meant to be re-used.
  • Home chef puts each meal’s ingredients in a separate bag with the proteins separate. Blue apron has them all loose in the box so you really need to take care when unpacking that everything is there and that you don’t accidentally misplace or use an ingredient meant for another dish.
  • Both companies say all the packaging is recyclable.
  • For me, the flip side of all this packaging is that there’s a lot less food waste. Things like demi-glace, figs, fresh herbs, and creme fraiche are all delivered in the right size for the recipe and I’m not throwing away the molding rest of the container 2 weeks later.

Portions and Ingredients:

  • Both offer two portions for every meal. I found the portion sizes to be generous, especially with the vegetables and carbs (rice, potatoes, grains, etc). We often had leftovers of the sides.
  • Protein portions were typically around 6 oz per person.
  • There was some repetition of ingredients. Depending on what you select, it could be more cost-effective to shop on your own, but then you would have to plan each meal too. Many of the meals used garlic, ginger, green onions, green beans, or lemons. There was one week with Home Chef that had green onions in every meal and one week with Blue Apron that had lemon zest in every meal.
  • Single people might find meal kits a bit more of a challenge but I know several singles who have enjoyed it. It may mean eating one of the portions from each meal as leftovers or cooking it separately. On the other hand, they found that many times they could stretch the 2 portions to 3 meals for one person.
  • Blue Apron makes an effort to use all-natural (no hormones or antibiotic) and sustainable meat and seafood and I very much appreciate it. Their packages of proteins are clearly labeled as such and Home Chef’s are not. I found the quality of the meat and chicken coming from home chef to be fine (though unlabeled as to providence) but the salmon to be basic farm-raised Atlantic (which I would not normally buy).

The Actual Meals; Home Chef vs Blue Apron:

Home Chef:

  • It arrived around noon on the day scheduled and was opened at 4pm by my husband. He said everything was well packed and cold. The box was insulated and had at least 6 ice packs in it.
  • When I got home I pulled out everything to take a look and my first impressions were good. There was a thin flexible plastic binder and 3 hole punched full-color recipe cards to go in it. Everything was well labeled and organized into separate bags for each meal, with the protein separate.
Home Chef Recipes in Home Chef vs Blue Apron Review
Home Chef Recipes
  • Then I noticed that one of the protein items (a flatiron steak) was missing. We searched the box. Not there. We searched the refrigerator. Not there. In inside any of the meal bags. Just. Not. There. By this time it was too late to call the company so I emailed them my disappointment. It took until 1pm the following day to get a reply; it was very apologetic and they offered full credit for that meal. Still, not a great way to make a first impression.

Home Chef, Meal #1

That night I decided to make the first meal; shrimp pad thai. This is not a dish unfamiliar to me. I’ve traveled at lot in Thailand, and I live in Los Angeles, home to the largest Thai population outside Thailand and to literally hundreds of excellent Thai restaurants. It was decent, but not the best version or even in the top 10 I’ve ever had. It was too sweet and too spicy.

Ingredients for Home Chef Shrimp Pad Thai
Ingredients for Home Chef Shrimp Pad Thai
HomeChef003
Home Chef Pad Thai Shrimp

Home Chef, Meal #2

Steak salad with caramelized onions and blue cheese. This was the item with the missing protein but I didn’t want to waste it so I used my own steak. The salad was good, though there were a lot of steps. Both mustard and honey ingredients came in little foil to go packets and the walnuts were pre-chopped instead of whole as in the photo. A day after the box was shipped Home Chef sent out a warning about the spice mix for the steaks saying the feedback was that it was too spicy. Glad they did and because of that I used only about 1/10th of what was provided and it was plenty spicy.

Home Chef, Meal #3

Pork chop with kumquat butter- there were lots of steps in this recipe, which might be a bit of a challenge for inexperienced cooks or for people who don’t like cooking. But for people who want to learn and try new things, this is a good way to gain experience. The mix of flavors wad interesting and I never would have made something like edamame fritters if I were doing my own meal planning do it did get me making something out of the norm.

Home Chef Ingredients for Pork Chop with Kumquat Cilantro Butter
Home Chef Ingredients for Pork Chop with Kumquat Cilantro Butter
Home Chef Pork Chop with Kumquat Cilantro Butter
Home Chef Pork Chop with Kumquat Cilantro Butter

Home Chef, Meal #4

Salmon Tonkatsu with miso ginger vegetables- green beans, red bell pepper (plate photo at top of page). This could have been better if they’d used a better quality salmon, but we enjoyed it and vegetables had good flavor. Nice to have a meal not loaded with carbs.

Ingredients for Home Chef Salmon Tonkatsu with miso ginger vegetables- green beans, red bell pepper
Ingredients for Home Chef Salmon Tonkatsu with miso ginger vegetables- green beans, red bell pepper

Home Chef, Meal #5

Berbere chicken thighs with green beans and cous cous with almonds and apricots. This was one of my favorite meals. Again, I learned something. I’d never heard of Berbere spice which is a blend of spices commonly used in Ethiopian food. Again, I went lighter on the spice, saved what was left and was able to use it again in a later meal. I even turned the leftover cous cous and green beans into a salad the next day.

Home Chef ingredients for Berbere chicken thighs with green beans and cous cous with almonds and apricots.
Home Chef ingredients for Berbere chicken thighs with green beans and cous cous with almonds and apricots.
Home Chef Berbere chicken thighs with green beans and cous cous with almonds and apricots.
Home Chef Berbere chicken thighs with green beans and cous cous with almonds and apricots.

Home Chef, Meal #6

Steak with grains of paradise spice, zucchini and mashed sweet potatoes. This recipe was fairly easy and the grains of paradise spice was an interesting and new to me ingredient. The recipe included veal demi-glace which makes a very rich sauce but wouldn’t be something I’d normally have on hand.

Ingredients for Home Chef steak with grains of paradise, zucchini and mashed sweet potatoes
Ingredients for Home Chef steak with grains of paradise, zucchini and mashed sweet potatoes
Home Chef steak with grains of paradise, zucchini and mashed sweet potatoes
Home Chef steak with grains of paradise, zucchini and mashed sweet potatoes

Blue Apron:

When planning for the two weeks of Blue Apron, I looked ahead at the options and while the first week looks ok, the second week has chicken wings which neither my husband nor I especially enjoy. Unfortunately, Blue Apron offers no other choices if I want to change out that meal. Sure, there are 3 vegetarian options, but none were available if I want to get something instead of the wings. I’d have to change out the beef or salmon dish instead. So basically, I’m stuck with the wings. the lack of choice leaves me unhappy.

  • Like Home Chef, our first week was scheduled to arrive on a Tuesday with 3 meals in the box. BA sent an email the day before letting us know it had shipped and with a tracking number. We followed it all day Tuesday, but the package did not arrive at our house until well after 7pm.
  • Opening the box; even with the late delivery, everything was quite cold and the two giant ice packs were still mostly frozen.
  • All the ingredients were in the box and labeled with what they were, but not for the dish in which they were to be used. This means you need to be very careful to pull out all the ingredients for the dish when you make it and also not to accidentally use any of those ingredients (like whole lemons which are just loose, not packaged).
  • The box came with 3 recipe cards set up similar to home chef with a large photo and description on one side and instructions on the other, as well as an ingredient focus card, this week on fresh mint. The recipes are not 3-hole punched and did not come with a binder. My husband noted that all of the 3 meals looked the same this week; a protein on top of a starch in a bowl.
  • My first impression is that there are far fewer ingredients per meal, which leads me to feel like Blue Apron might be the better option for a more inexperienced cook.

Blue Apron, Meal #1

Wild salmon on top of warm creamy barley “salad” with zucchini. Blue Apron gets an extra point for their commitment to sustainable and wild seafood. Our salmon was clearly marked as wild. However, it was sockeye, not king and we got two very thin tail pieces. The barley-zucchini mix was tasty but didn’t wow us with any innovation.

Blue Apron Lemon Butter Salmon with creamy barley and zucchini.
Ingredients for Blue Apron Lemon Butter Salmon with creamy barley and zucchini.
Blue Apron Lemon Butter Salmon with creamy barley and zucchini.
Blue Apron Lemon Butter Salmon with creamy barley and zucchini.

Blue Apron, Meal #2

Chicken Thighs with lemon picatta buccatini. Again, very flavorful but protein on carbs. The garlic chives were a nice addition to dish otherwise devoid of color and vegetables. It was nice to have chicken clearly marked as antibiotic free. Chicken demiglace and use of pasta water in sauce was a good option instead of butter. This was the 2nd meal with lemon zest.

Blue Apron Chicken Thighs with lemon picatta buccatini
Ingredients for Chicken Thighs with lemon picatta buccatini
Blue Apron Chicken Thighs with lemon picatta buccatini
Chicken Thighs with no antibiotics
Blue Apron Chicken Thighs with lemon picatta buccatini
Blue Apron Chicken Thighs with lemon picatta buccatini

Blue Apron, Meal #3

Spiced lamb and beef tagine. This was one of my favorites from Blue Apron. The ras al hanout seasoning was delicious and the addition of the labneh (yogurt cheese) was made it even more “authentic”. Again, it was nice not to have to buy a whole container of labneh, there was just enough for the meal. The only downside was that the mint was missing from the ingredients but I have some in my garden. This was the third meal in a row with lemon zest.

Blue Apron Spiced Lamb and Beef Tagine
Ingredients for Spiced Lamb and Beef Tagine
Blue Apron Spiced Lamb and Beef Tagine
Blue Apron Spiced Lamb and Beef Tagine

Blue Apron, Meal #4

Pork Chops with fig compote on top of kale and barley. This was really tasty and the pork was all natural antibiotic free.

Blue Apron Pork Chops and Fig Compote

Blue Apron Pork Chops and Fig Compote
Blue Apron Pork Chops and Fig Compote

Blue Apron, Meal #5

Salmon with thyme potatoes and green beans. This was good, very simple, and not much different from something I’d make on my own.

Blue Apron Salmon with Thyme Potatoes and Green Beans
Ingredients for Salmon with Thyme Potatoes and Green Beans
Blue Apron Salmon with Thyme Potatoes and Green Beans
Blue Apron Salmon with Thyme Potatoes and Green Beans

Blue Apron, Meal #6

Miso glazed chicken wings with purple rice. Ah, the dreaded chicken wings. They were tasty, but I would skip the week rather than be forced to have them again.

Blue Apron Miso Glazed Chicken Wings
Blue Apron Miso Glazed Chicken Wings
Blue Apron Miso Glazed Chicken Wings
Blue Apron Miso Glazed Chicken Wings

Tools:

Both companies use the same format in cooking in that they try to keep the pots and pans to a minimum. In this way, they often have you cook something in a saute pan, move that item to a plate and then cook something else in the same pan. They also recommend, rightly so, that you prep your mise en place in advance.

Useful tools* (these are all items I use in my own kitchen)

If you’ve made it to the end of this post, chances are you might be interested in trying one of these meal kit services.

If you’d like to try Home Chef, please click here and you’ll get $35 off your first box (and I’ll get a referral discount as well, so thanks!).
I no longer have any Blue Apron free boxes to give away.

Have you tried one of these companies or a different one? I’d love to hear what you thought about it. Let me know in the comments!

*Amazon links are for examples. If you choose to order something your cost is the same, but I get a teeny-tiny percentage which goes to help support this site.


I’ve now been cooking Home Chef for over 3 years:
Click here to see my 3-year review.


 

71 Comments

  • Susan De Masi

    I think this is something I should try-for the longest time meals around here have been a lot of the same old thing. I like the fact that ingredients that are not the norm are provided in exactly the amount you need for the meal-this will save me from having an almost full bottle of some exotic spice that I will never use again.

  • Deborah Lyons Jacobs

    Well, I would like to try Home Chef.
    Your coupon will make me try it
    Thank you for an honest review.
    Deb Jacobs

    • formerchef

      Fran- I think I presented all the pros and cons and why it was in general a positive experience for me. No, it’s not for everyone, but that’s the beauty of this life, we don’t all have to like the same things or even see things the same way! Cheers!

    • formerchef

      To a certain extent, yes. For your “taste profile” at Home Chef, they ask if you “avoid” things like soy, dairy, gluten, shellfish, nuts, etc and say “We will not assign meals containing the ingredients you choose to avoid, but we will continue to show you all the meals in our weekly menu.” but I don’t know down to what level. OTOH, you can view the ingredients in every meal before selecting them, so you can double check before you order. But if a recipe includes something to which you are allergic, I don’t think you can request for it to be left out.

    • formerchef

      Hi Kim!
      Sorry for the delay, I just saw your comment. For some reason I didn’t get notified. Tried to send you an invite but it told me you were already a subscriber. Hope you enjoy it!

  • Morgan

    Mm, all of these look sooo delicious! It can be hard sometimes to stay on track with a diet, but options like this really make it a lot easier! Thanks so much for sharing your recipes!

  • Brandon

    I’d like to try the Home Chef service and receive a code if it is still possible. I know it’s been a while.

    I have always wanted to really get into cooking as my family has a pretty great history making delicious food. I’ve had some serious digestive health problems arise in the last two years that are going to require me to really change the way I eat if I want to have a normal life. It’s no longer an option. I have to do it, so I might as well do it well.

    I think these services would be an excellent place to start. I’m not intimidated nor do I feel a lack of capability when it comes to cooking. It’s more like deficits in everything actually leading up to preparing a meal. These services solve that for me.

    Thanks for your article. I think I’ll try these services and some others over the next few months.

  • Pam

    I tried both services and currently subscribe to Home Chef only. I found that Blue Apron, aside from not having any meal choices, also consistently used the same types of ingredients, had the same theme, indian, and some of the meals were not sufficient for 2 people. We love Home Chef and enjoy choosing our meals weekly and the variety of choices they have. We have found that it is economical for us and well worth the cost. We also have not had a meal yet that we truly did not like. I have years of cooking experience, just lacking in meal planning enthusiasm for just the 2 of us on a nightly basis and don’t want to eat out all the time.

  • Andrea Piccinetti

    Thank you for being so open about both companies. I just finished my first week of Blue Apron. I tried foods and spices for the first time….because you get what you get. I’d like to try Home Chef. If you still have a coupon code, I’d greatly appreciate it!

    • formerchef

      Hi Angie-
      I tried to send you an invite to Home Chef, but it said you were already a subscriber. If you have a different email address you’d like me to use, let me know.

  • R. Birdsong

    I have been thinking about trying both of them out to see which one I like. I also thought this would be a nice gift for my parents. As they have gotten older, it seems like they go out to eat too much. I think they just don’t like the hassle of going to the grocery store, hauling in the groceries, and trying to piece meal their dinner. I appreciate the reviews. Do they allow you just to purchase one week to try the service? Is there a contract? Thank you.

    • formerchef

      Hi- There’s no contract, but you do have to opt out of each week or cancel the service or they will automatically send you a box and charge you for it. Let me know if you want me to send you an invite for Home Chef.

  • Bob

    I found your post very informative and I agree with your reasons for subscribing to such services.

    I’m currently on Blue Apron but I’d like to try Home Chef. If you have a coupon discount you can provide me, that would be most wonderful!

    Thanks for the great article!

  • Alixa Totten

    Thanks for your insight I’m interested in trying both out I get so tired of having to come up with menus every week and the same things…

  • Noni Brown

    Please send me an invite I would like to try both of them but I have one question how hard is the prep. Have you tried Terra’s Kitchen because there stuff is already cut and ready to go.

    • formerchef

      Hello-
      I’m not familiar with Terra’s Kitchen, but the food coming from both HC and BA is not prepped. You have to cut and prepare everything.
      Home Chef says you are already a subscriber so I cannot send an invite, sorry. I’ve sent you an invite for Blue Apron.

      • Noni Brown

        Thank you I did look into Home Chef but I didn’t order anything but I guess that makes me a subscriber. If you ever try Terra’s Kitchen let me know what you think about them as well. I am going to try BA I will let you know how I like it.

  • Laura

    Hello! GREAT reviews. Saw another on another site and you both seem to agree Home Chef wins over Blue Apron. They just don’t see kid friendly so while I’d love to try Home Chef I know I can’t prepare 2 meals a night! Another blog tried a few other services and their favorite was Peach Dish- a Southern themed service. Anyway, I’ll keep looking but if you send me a Home Chef invite I’ll use it if I decide to try it. Or I’ll forward to my cousin or something. He’s single and could use more cooking skills to impress ladies and to help him eat better overall.

  • Rakesh Patel

    Hello, I would like to try both if possible. The idea of having my grocery shopping done and waiting for me when I come home from the week on the road is very appealing to me.

    Thanks in advance

  • Rachael

    Thank you so much for posting this review. I’ve been mulling over trying one of these sites, because as a working mom of 3 there is not much time left over for meal planning and grocery shopping. It seems like this would take so much hassle out of figuring out what’s for dinner, and eating something healthy, not takeout. I would love to try both if you could send invites!

  • Vanessa Gates

    Great review! I have been looking for reviews each company as I am very interested in streamlining my meals and a healthier way of eating. Long hours and 3 1/2 round trip commute to work leaves little time for planning and cooking which leads to very bad habits. I like your idea of trying each one for two weeks to find which is a better fit for what I am looking for. Thanks for the information.

    Vanessa

    • Larry Johnston

      Great review of these 2 services. I am single and have enjoyed Blue Apron now for several weeks. Usually I have alternated between one fresh meal and one leftover meal, which has worked out well for me. It’s a great way to get some cooking experience. One thing I appreciate is the all natural commitment shown by Blue Apron. The Blue Apron meals have generally been quite tasty. But I have noticed a certain sameness in the style of cuisine and would like to see if Home Chef offers more variety in that regard. Do you have any invitations left for Home Chef?

  • Jackie Vannoy

    Thank you so much for the information and especially the pictures! I would love to try Home Chef. It seems like it is the better choice for my family. I commute 2 hours round trip and work full-time so it’s hard to plan and put together healthy meals during the week. I’ve also heard good things about Green Chef and may just try a handful of the plans for a few weeks each to see what works best. Thank you again for posting!

  • Scott Anderson

    Hi, Thank you for the fair and un bias comparison of these two companies. Me and my fiance have been talking about trying out one of these companies because we are tired of throwing out food and eating left overs. After reading your article we would like to try Home Chef. We would appreciate a invite and thank you in advance!

  • Greer Dickerson

    I’m a widower with two boys, aged 15 and 12. My choice was/is Home Chef and I couldn’t be happier. Single parent or not, this is a fantastic deal. Cooking has now become a relaxing and therapeutic activity at the end of a stressful workday – a far cry from the stressful scramble or regrettable fast food fare we were accustomed to. One of the best benefits is that the boys and I enjoy time around the dinner table at home again. And interestingly, my 15-year-old has been making the meals recently so that a fresh and delicious home-cooked dinner is ready when I get home form work. Can’t beat that!
    BTW, very well-written piece! I’ll be suing it to convince my friends to follow my/your lead!

  • Bellyn

    Thanks for your article!! Unfortunately, I just signed up for Home Chef before I found your blog. One thing I have noticed on all these companies is that there isn’t a category for ‘single’. And considering that there are a lot of baby boomer singles, this would be an excellent market for that particular category. Although I have thought about using the boxes as an excuse to get together with a friend, I don’t think I want to do it on a weekly basis. Thanks again.

  • Linda

    Enjoyed reading your comparisons. Waited for my Homechef to be delivered today. Nada. Didn’t happen. After 8:15 p.m. sooo…

    Have used Blue Apron for a couple of months. Had them on skip this week in order to try Homechef.

    With that said – I have been rotating between Blue Apron and HelloFresh. I much prefer HelloFresh. Their packaging is wonderful. Pull 3 boxes out of the delivery box – place on shelf in refrigerator – pull out 3 proteins – place one on each box. The size of the veggies in Hello Fresh is indeed very different. The recipes – to me – are more flavorful. I like having a little ‘spice’ – nothing over powering but definitely not bland. The only thing I would like to see from HelloFresh is the offering of a fresh fruit on the size with a extra cost of course. I have one free coupon left for HelloFresh if you would like it. Let me know.

    Thanks again for this blog. Well done.

    • formerchef

      Hmmm…That’s very odd about the HC box not showing up. I’d be interested to hear what you think about them once it does. Did you get the confirmation email that it shipped with a tracking number? That should tell you where it is. You should email them asap. Their customer service is very good and hopefully they can compensate you a little at least.
      In 8 months of ordering HC, it’s never showed up later than 2pm.
      Thanks for the info on HelloFresh. I will have to take a look at them. In the end I wasn’t thrilled with Blue Apron and I cancelled my subscription. That’s the beauty of all these different companies, there’s something for everyone.

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