They seem to frequently include one atypical or exotic ingredient, I’ve always figured it was a way to get people to think it’s something they can’t get at the store and thus more likely to purchase.

To be honest it does work on me. I get a BA shipment here or there and it’s always because they’re using something I wouldn’t normally work with or see at the at the store.

I personally don’t mind most of the other common complaints, I tend to do a lot of scratch cooking so these are usually quick recipes in comparison. Likewise it tends to be cheaper per-meal than my normal dinners.

The first meal I got from BA was some sort of poached Cod with ramps. Ramps I had never heard of although I understand now that some people get very excited by them during their short season. (I think I've seen them once in a grocery store--Whole Foods naturally.) However, I'm pretty sure that if you substituted scallions, the world would not come to an end.

I think you're spot on with that last assessment. Generally those ingredients I mentioned I'm sure don't make a big difference over some other reasonable substitution.

For me, it makes for a nice change of pace anyways and as I've mentioned in another comment the BA meals tend to be quicker/easier to prepare than my normal cooking so that's also a nice change of pace. I tend to order one shipment ever 2 months or so on average I'd guess.

There's definitely a novelty factor--sometimes it pays off and other times it doesn't. I think "the standards" for American cuisine have the least payoff. I like that they would rarely repeat the grain/rice. It's likely a lot cheaper for them to acquire something popular in Italy in bulk, interesting to try in a controlled setting, and if I want to make the recipe again I can swap it out for white rice.

> The only reason I'd use something like this is if they did a lot of the pre-prep so it really is a quick meal

That sounds like a different market than Blue Apron is going for. From what I've seen they seem to be focusing on people who like getting whole fruits and vegetables and you cut and peel them yourself. People who are interested in cooking, but don't necessarily have formal training. Other meal kits will probably be a better fit for a quick, weeknight meal with little to no prep.

What's really weird to me is that you can go to the store and get food that's basically ready to serve after you warm it up.

You could eat steaks, fish sticks, brats, chicken, pork, chicken nuggets, fries, a huge variety of vegetables ready to be steamed from the frozen section. You could eat that every day and pay a quarter of what it costs for this stuff to be hand picked for you.

You don't even need to season any of it and it's delicious fried up in olive oil and butter and a little salt.

Most of the prepared food in the grocery store that you just need to heat up isn't very appealing to me for the most part. Fish sticks and chicken nuggets, blech.

However, there are a lot of things like salmon, brats (as you say), etc. that mostly do just need a quick saute or bake. And vegetables can be very quick and simple as well.

However, some people do like the idea of more complex meals and some of those people find BA makes it a bit easier to get there.

Don't tell me blue apron doesn't have fish sticks ;)

I usually use fish sticks or other frozen fish for making fish sandwiches. 10 mins of cook time vs 60+ for fresh breaded baked fish. But to each their own!

I'm probably fussier than I used to be and the fact that I work mostly from home gives me more flexibility than I used to have :-)

I'd be more likely to bread and saute some flounder--which is a pretty quick meal too. (And flounder is sold in vacuum packed individual servings so it can definitely serve as a "what's in the freezer?" meal.)

I buy the family size of Blue Apron for myself (12 meals at $8.99 per serving). There is no food in NYC of any considerable size/quality/taste that is a quarter of that price for that amount of calories. Ramen noodles and tuna maybe..

> I buy the family size of Blue Apron for myself (12 meals at $8.99 per serving). There is no food in NYC of any considerable size/quality/taste that is a quarter of that price for that amount of calories. Ramen noodles and tuna maybe..

I live in midtown Manhattan, and I could easily purchase 12 prepared meals per week of good quality for $9/meal.

In fact, that's one of the reasons I stopped using Blue Apron when I tried it - even before I factored in the cost of my time, it was slightly more expensive per meal than ordering delivery on Seamless. Once I factored in 15-30 minutes per meal (30-60 minutes divided by two servings), it was clearly way more expensive.

The other reason, though, was that I didn't live in a building with a doorman, and the last delivery window they had on weekdays was 6-8PM. I couldn't guarantee I'd be home by 6PM, and I wasn't thrilled with the idea of them just dumping a box of food on the stoop where anyone could take it.

What do you use for good prepared meals for $9/meal? My boss loves CookUnity but that's more like $12 per meal.

You don't have grocery stores in NYC?

I go to cheap grocery stores all the time. You said to find comparable stuff for a quarter of the price. I can't get a high quality meal of the same caloric value for $2.50, that's what I was getting at.

We've been using Gobble and we really like it. Usually the 4-year-old can't/won't eat it, but at least my wife and I don't have to worry about what to make for dinner 3 times a week. The food is really tasty, simple to make, one pan and takes around 30 minutes (not the 15 minutes that they advertise, but still ok.)