I used a referral sample for one shipment of meals for two. There was a choice of 3 out of 6 options for your shipment. There were seafood, beef, chicken, and three vegetarian options on the menu. However, you were restricted in your choice of three, and couldn't do {Beef, Chicken, Seafood}, which basically meant you would be paying $20 for a pasta dish for two, because you also couldn't pick {Beef, chicken, heartier non-meat option}. The total cost of ingredients was probably less than $15, maybe less than $10, for the pasta dish. It's hard to justify that as a value proposition in my book. Overall, the quality of the ingredients wasn't anything more special than what a local, non-budget, supermarket would carry in my market (NYC). (In fact, some of the labels on the ingredients seemed familiar from local delivery trucks in the area.) I agree with the GP: $10 a portion for a home cooked meal is expensive, <$5 is ideal. At $10 a portion, why make your own food, when you can get a gourmet healthy meal when you eat out?

When all was said and done, I felt that the best value proposition would be to just go on the Blue Apron website, look at the recipes, buy dry good ingredients in bulk, and make the recipes myself as time went on, buying the fresh ingredients as needed. As always, YMMV.

Edit: as many others have also pointed out, the packaging is "neat", and probably necessary for their workflow, but it feels ever so wasteful. You could supply a kindergarten arts and craft class with leftover materials from each shipment.

I have never seen that you are forced to get a vegetarian option.

Where can you get a "gourmet healthy" email when eating out for $10? That would barely cover a Shake Burger + fries.

Well, if this was a one off occasion for forcing a pasta option, it possibly cost them a customer. If I picked two meats, I was forced the pasta option. I couldn't pick 2 meats + lentil option, or 2 meats + vegetable salad option. The pasta was good, but I felt a little cheated when I was forced to get it, especially at the hypothetical price of $10 per plate.

Perhaps it seemed that I suggested you could get a healthy meal + restaurant experience for under $10, but I was more thinking take-out options. Whole Foods' hot and cold (salad) buffet bar is like $9 per pound if I remember correctly. [1] Fairway, a competitor to Whole Foods in NYC, has a deli counter or buffet bar where you can get close to 1lb of veggies + grains + meat for under $10. [2] The only way Blue Apron makes sense over Fairway and Whole Foods, to me, is if you are either looking for the experience of cooking, or if you are a variety fiend and are going to tire of the flavors that the supermarkets use.

[1] https://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/department/article/daily-me...

[2] https://www.fairwaymarket.com/content/uploads/06_05_15_REDHO... Scroll to the bottom: those build your own meal options are listed as sale prices, but they are representative for regular non-sale options too.

Bonus how-to maximize value at the salad bar: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/08/03/whole-foods-salad-b...

You're comparing a fresh meal from scratch to mystery mixes sitting under heat lamps for hours?

Wait, the Whole Foods salad with meat is more expensive. And the Fairway meals are as expensive or more for what looks like slop.

Do you really think that the ingredients that Whole Foods/Fairway uses are much different than what Blue Apron is shipping you? I have no illusions about Whole Foods being any more "organic" or "natural" than any other supermarket, but, if anything I would venture to say that they use the same, if not fresher, ingredients than what Blue Apron can get you. There's pretty much zero "mystery mix" factor associated with the cold salad bar at Whole Foods. I'm guessing you've never seen one of the Whole Foods hot buffets either, because it looks perfectly appetiizing every time I've gone there from 11am to 7pm. (Peak meal times)

Also, how do you figure that the Whole Foods "salad with meat" is more expensive? You're getting a pound of prepared food for $9: hot, cold, meat, vegetarian, salad, whatever you want. The Blue Apron portions do not contain a pound of food.

https://www.google.com/search?site=&tbm=isch&q=whole+foods+b...

https://www.google.com/search?site=&tbm=isch&q=fairway+deli

You seem pretty closed minded with respect to your meal planning. [1] Best of luck. Getting things delivered to you in 15 tiny little plastic baggies, with limited protein choices, seems pretty boring and ineffective to me, but, different strokes for different folks.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10330283

I've eaten the Whole Foods buffets dozens of times. Never for under $10/portion (even before tax). Absolutely it's tubs of slop with unknown ingredients that sit there for long periods of time under heat lamps. The article you cited said your preferred meal is going to be well over $10 unless you cut out the meat. Many people like Blue Apron specifically for the variety!! That they would never get at a buffet or cooking without help! Blue Apron meals are more than 1 lb of food.

I am quite open minded about my meal planning. I do Blue Apron, Din, Soylent, Caviar/fastbite, local delivery, Sprig, Munchery, Trader Joes pre-made and scratch, Whole Foods buffet, mall food court (we have a great one in SF), etc. My sense is that you don't really know what you're talking about.

From your link calling me closed minded about my meal planning:

"people fall into a few habitual meals"

"choose the meals based on what you have"

Goes without saying that you're pretty much dead wrong.

The only way that could happen is if you are blocking 1 of the 3 meats for that week. Otherwise, you will always be able to get 3 meat dishes every week.