This weekend I’m planning to replicate three Blue Apron meals myself. Tonight, I bought the ingredients, hoping to spend less than I would have through Blue Apron.
Blue Apron meals for two people cost $10 per serving (slightly cheaper for the family box). So it’s typically $60 for 3 meals for us.
Tonight I spent about $40 for the ingredients, but I left some items out for one of the following reasons:
- I already had some things on hand
- My grocery store didn’t have some items (8 out of 33 items were unavailable)
- I had to substitute certain items that I couldn’t find or were too expensive (buying mascarpone AND creme fraiche was too much)
Some items I bought were more quantity than what I needed (hoisin sauce, gochujang, mascarpone, etc). I now have to think about how to use up the rest of these items before they spoil.
I was able to measure out exact amounts on certain produce and bulk bin dried goods. But cheese would have been a major expense had I not already had some on hand. One recipe required 1 ounce of piave cheese. The specialty cheese counter doesn’t sell cheese in that small amount. I substituted some asiago I already had.
In addition to money, I spent a lot of time planning the menu, researching ingredients and substitutions, writing the grocery list, and shopping. The total time for all this was about 4 hours.
So, in conclusion, it’s definitely cheaper to buy your own ingredients. But if convenience, less food waste, fresher and fancier ingredients is important to you, Blue Apron is still a good deal.
I plan on continuing to use the Blue Apron service a couple times a month, but I’m proud of myself for being able to replicate some fancy meals on my own!
