Does Blue Apron Have Vegetarian Options?
In the United States, five to eight percent of adults label themselves as vegetarians. That is over 7 million individuals and growing. Frequent shopping for fresh fruits and veggies is time-consuming and requires more frequent trips to the grocery store.
Moreover, it can get VERY easy to eat poorly as a vegetarian if you don’t pay attention to what you’re eating. Even if you look around the internet searching for new exciting recipes, it is still hard to come up with new balanced meals.
In today’s time-constrained world, many people just don’t feel like searching for the foods or dealing with the long lines—instead, they opt to go with a meal delivery service.
Luckily, meal kit subscription delivery companies, such as Blue Apron, have stepped to the plate and are now offering vegetarian recipe choices at a relatively affordable cost.
In this review, we decided to go hands-on and try the Blue Apron vegetarian plan for 2 weeks and tell you about our experience and thoughts. Here, you can also find helpful information about the program, the meals we’ve been cooking and tasting, the level of ingredients, and more.
Blue Apron Vegetarian Plan: How it Works
It’s hard to think of new vegetarian recipes to keep dinner exciting. However, Blue Apron offers a bevy of delicious vegetarian meal kits every week. Your boxed meal kits are delivered right to your door. Simply open the insulated box, follow the easy-to-understand step-by-step recipe cards to start cooking the meals.
What to Expect With the Vegetarian Meals Subscription
Each meal is nicely portioned and fresh. Also, the ice packs and packing are recyclable, so it cuts down on unnecessary mess. You also can rest easy knowing you have done your part in limiting waste at the landfill and thus reduce your carbon footprint.
With very little prep time, the Blue Apron company meal kits’ take approximately 30 minutes to prepare for two.
In some instances, the vegetarian menu items take only 20 minutes from start to finish. The only thing you might want to add to each recipe is a pinch of salt and pepper to tailor it to your liking.
Blue Apron’s Vegetarian Plan
Currently, a full weekly vegetarian meal box can only be provided under Blue Apron’s Signature 2 plan. Every week, Blue Apron offers three to four vegetarian recipes with their Signature for two meal plan. With the program, you can select from two to three recipes every week, and you get two servings from each recipe.
Blue Apron vegetarian dishes are made with fresh veggies and fruits and often contain grains like rice or farro, healthy nuts, legumes full of protein, and artisan cheeses. The meals can also include honey and/or eggs.
Please remember that the vegetarian meals offered by the Blue Apron company are not just for vegetarians. Anyone can enjoy the delicious meals. They are great for people striving to eat heart-healthy, shed unwanted pounds, or overcome type 2 diabetes. Tasty meals are created to provide the body with good-for-you foods.
How to Start Your Blue Apron Meal Delivery Service?
Once you create your Blue Apron account, you can then visit the ‘Dietary Selections’ section and check the box that says “We’re Vegetarian.”
Once the box has been checked, the Blue Apron meal delivery will automatically default to vegetarian recipes each week. However, even though the vegetarian default takes place, rest assured, you can still customize your menu.
The Signature two-person vegetarian plan offered by Blue Apron is designed for two people. It will contain two or three recipes per box, as you choose.
Blue Apron X Beyond Meat Meals
Blue Apron also offers what is known as Blue Apron x Beyond Meat meals with their Signature plans. The 100 percent plant-based Beyond Burger is an excellent vegetarian choice, becoming a more popular food among vegetarians.
Non-GMO and Organic
All of the produce that goes into each Blue Apron meal is certified non-GMO. Some of the ingredients are certified organic, but not all of them. However, Blue Apron does strive to support farmers with sustainable farming practices while also ensuring that each ingredient in the meals is of high quality.
What We Got for Our Two Weeks Meals Experience
To give you an unbiased, honest review of Blue Apron vegetarian recipes, we decided to try it for two weeks.
Both deliveries came in a labeled box, with the refrigerated proteins placed at the bottom of the box with a suitable ice pack.
Some sorting needs to be done when unboxing the delivered box since not all ingredients are packed per meal. They wrap the smaller ingredients for each dish into individual plastic bags, but sorting for the more oversized items like vegetables, pasta, and rice is still required – but this only takes a few short minutes.
As part of the Blue Apron delivery box, we also got detailed and colorful recipe cards per dish. The cards are friendly and easy to follow, making the Blue Apron cooking relatively light and fun.
Quality Of Ingredients
We are happy to say that the company’s promise to ship only excellent quality of the ingredients is true. The level of ingredients was notably high. Super fresh veggies and green leaves like the kale and bock-Choi, artisanal tart pre-made dough, and high-quality pasta, just to name a few.
The Tate Test
Here is what we got for our two-week experience:
Week One
Our three vegetarian meals included the following
Hot Honey Brussels Sprout & Sweet Potato Grain Bowls
A remarkably filling grain bowl. It features barley, sweet potato, kale, pickled shallot, and Brussel sprouts with a splash of honey. The bowl even boasts yogurt and walnuts for added crunch. Total calories are 740 per serving.
The prep and cook time is 50 minutes which is a little longer than the other two vegetarian meals we received during week one, but the extra time is worth it. We’d recommend this for dinner, but you can also enjoy it for lunch. The food is very feeling and almost on the level of what many people consider ‘comfort food’.
Kale & Ricotta Tarts with Romaine, Apple, & Almond Salad
In only 45 minutes, we enjoyed delectable tarts filled with creamed kale, egg, and ricotta. The pastry crust is light and flaky. The kale offered in this meal kit recipe does vary from dark green to green curly or red. It just depends on what is in season and available.
There is a side of crisp romaine and apple cuts that pairs nicely with the tarts. The meal is 930 calories per serving. The ingredients are not extensive, and the pre-formed pie crusts make preparation a breeze.
Spicy Black Bean & Caramelized Onion Tacos with Roasted Zucchini
Prepare these tacos in 35 minutes. They feature aged cheddar, warm flour tortillas, roasted zucchini, caramelized onion, black beans, and fresh lime juice for a tangy twist. Top with Mexica crema or sour cream to add a finishing touch. Serve for either lunch or dinner.
Out of the three meals delivered for week one, this one was by far the easiest to prepare. The ingredients are very straightforward.
Week Two
Our three vegetarian dinners for week 2 included the following
One-Pan Udon Noodle & Spicy Peanut Stir-Fry with Mushrooms, Carrots & Bok Choy
Meal preparation doesn’t get any easier than this irresistible recipe that has an exotic flavor all its own. We fell in love with this noodle and veggie meal. The udon noodles have the right about chew, and the umami-rich sauces with the peanut butter spread and soy sauce are really good.
Anyone who enjoys Asian cuisine is going to fall in love after they take the first bite. In our opinion, the final touch of togarashi (paprika, dried orange peel, and sesame seeds) finishes the meal off nicely. At only 650 calories per serving, it fits in well with any weight loss plan too.
We loved this meal because of the fast preparation time, fantastic flavors, and low-calorie count as a bonus.
Vadouvan & Cashew-Crusted Tofu with Chutney-Braised Vegetables & Cilantro Sauce
In 30 minutes, we prepared these crispy tofu steaks that feature a layer of cashews and sunflower seeds along with a sprinkle of curry powder. The drizzle of cilantro dressing and the sweet side of vegies (Carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, and onions) that are braised with Blue Apron’s Indian-style tomato chutney quickly make this meal exotic and mouthwatering.
The whole meal is easy to create and very filling. It makes a marvelous dinner for couples. At only 690 calories per serving, it can easily fit into a weight loss plan too.
Butternut Squash Pasta with Kale & Brown Butter Walnuts
Pasta on a cold day is ideal. This seasonal pasta creation has creamy roasted butternut squash (comes already peeled and cut for easy preparation). Sautee the Mafalda pasta with the kale and garnish the meal with walnuts prepared using rosemary and brown butter. Again, the kale might be red, dark green lacinato, or green curly. It just depends on what is in season.
In our opinion, the quick preparation time coupled with the diverse flavors makes this a real stand-out meal that just about anyone will enjoy.
Pros and cons of the Blue Apron Vegetarian Diet Meal Plan
Pros:
- Healthy and delicious chef-designed dishes to cook at home.
- High quality of service with fresh ingredients.
- Recipes offer plant-based protein, including beyond meat.
- Easy to follow recipes.
- Preparation times are accurate.
- Recyclable packaging.
- Ever-changing vegetarian recipe choices so you get to try new and exciting foods.
- Some meals are also dairy-free
- Log in to your account to skip weeks or cancel at any time.
Cons:
- It would be nicer if there were more than three vegetarian choices per week.
- The vegetarian menu is offered only as a two-person plan and not for a family of four or more.
- Although some of the food is organic, not all of it is.
- Not all recipes are suitable for a vegan diet since it’s not free of eggs, dairy or honey.
Other Recommended Vegetarian Menu Options:
- Pesto & Kale Pasta with Mascarpone.
- Beyond burger & mushrooms baguettes with roasted Carrots & Spicy sauce.
- Roasted veggies with lentils, fried eggs, and a lemon-shallot dressing
- Roasted bell pepper pasta with broccoli & Cheese.
- Asian-Style ponzu-sesame tofu and Vegetables over brown rice.
- Roasted Cauliflower & Lentils Salad.
You can read more about each recipe on the Blue Apron website or app.
Bottom Line – Do We recommend Blue Apron for Vegetarians?
Over the two weeks that we spent preparing and sampling the Blue Apron company vegetarian recipes, we were very impressed with the service.
The recipe cards guide you every step of the way in preparation. The process and time allotted to prepare each dish are reasonable, and the taste test was 100% enjoyable.
The diversity of the flavors and menu options was always a pleasant surprise. Overall, once you complete cooking each dish in your home settings, they genuinely taste like chef creations that you would dine in a nice restaurant.
If you are looking for vegetarian food service to arrive at your door on a weekly schedule, Blue Apron steps to the forefront as a leader. Sign-up today to get a great coupon and lower your costs!
What would a vegetarian eat for dinner?
Different people can follow different types of vegetarianism. The most common vegetarian diet is the Lacto-Ovo vegetarian, eating eggs and dairy products while completely excluding meat, seafood, and chicken.
Since this diet is so popular, there are more tempting choices than ever before— way beyond basic foods like red source pasta or a sandwich of peanut butter and jelly.
To make your health in good balance, you should make sure that the meals contain enough fibers from vegetables and fruits and enough proteins that can be sourced from consuming eggs, cheese or other milk products, legumes, etc.
Some good options for a vegetarian dinner:
- Bell pepper grilled cheese with a big side salad
- Red curry veggie noodles with peanuts
- Tofu stir-fry with vegetables and rice
- Black bean & pepper tacos with Sour Cream and zesty red cabbage slaw
- Mushroom & cheese quiche with an arugula salad side
- Meditteranean farro bowl with Chickpeas, veggies, and yogurt tzatziki sauce.
Which of the meal delivery services is best for vegetarians?
While some food delivery services are 100% plant-based (like Purple carrot, splendid spoon, and more), we think that the more conventional options are better for vegetarians, mainly due to the level and taste of the dishes on the weekly menu.
Our number one most recommended is Sun Basket, followed by Home Chef, Hello Fresh, and Blue apron.
READ HERE our full review of the best vegetarian delivery services.
