As a wife and mom, it is nice to be able to cut corners where possible, especially after a long day of running errands, going to and from activities with a toddler in tow, and going to and from appointments. On days like that, I have often turned to using a meal kit delivery service in order to save time and get dinner on the table before my hubby gets home from a long day at work.
My family has used both Blue Apron and Sunbasket to save time on meal prep and planning. In this post I will review the pros and cons of each of these meal kit delivery companies.
I’ll start by going over the pros for Blue Apron. First of all, I really thought that Blue Apron had great produce and delicious recipes. There were very few meals that my family did not like. Most of the recipes I continue to make even though we are not using this company at this time. I also liked the fact that the recipes were on a 8×10 recipe card, and that all the instructions were on one side (I despise having to flip back and forth). I also liked the fact that we were continually introduced to new ingredients.
However, as far as saving time on meal prep, Blue Apron really wasn’t ideal for us. All the produce came packaged in a way that you had to wash and prep before cooking, and most all the sauces for the meals had to be prepped and made from scratch. Also, the items for your meals were mixed in with other items for other recipes for the week. So, I always had to sort those items out before starting to prep to make sure that I had the right ingredients for the right meal. Finally, the reason that we decided to go with another company is because at the time Blue Apron did not offer any meal options that were paleo. My husband was following the paleo diet pretty strictly then, and it was always a challenge to figure out how to adapt the recipes we received to comply with his diet.
Currently, my family is using Sunbasket. We first started using them because they offered a paleo meal plan, among other diet plans (like vegan, Mediterranean, diabetic friendly, and gluten free). The pros for this company are that I really do feel like I save time using them, especially when prepping ingredients for their recipes. They packaged each recipe’s ingredients in separate bags so you don’t accidentally leave out an ingredient (like I did with Blue Apron all the time). They also give you prepared sauces so you don’t waste precious time making a sauce that may or may not be used. I also like how the flow of the instructions for the recipes read. Instead of prepping everything at once (like with Blue Apron), you are instructed to prep as you go.
For the cons, I would have to say that I am not a huge fan of the recipe books they provide. I would rather just have one recipe card out at a time. However, I do appreciate having all the recipes for the week at my disposal.
In conclusion, I believe you just have to try out each meal delivery service for yourself because they all seemed to have their pros and cons. Choosing a service is like choosing your clothes. It’s very individualized. One size does not fit all!
If you have used a meal delivery service like Blue Apron or Sunbasket, let me know what your analysis is of the service and whether or not you’d recommend them to others.
Some affiliate links to try that include coupons:
Snack River Farms – a family owned and operated business dedicated to producing the highest quality beef and pork in the United State
VitaFarms – company that offers vitamins, health supplements, and other healthcare products at discount prices
Photo by Katie Smith on Unsplash
