Blue Apron vs Home Chef Meal Kit Comparison (2024)

Meal kit services are the latest and greatest way to enjoy healthy, scrumptious meals at home. Two major giants in the US of this emerging industry are Blue Apron and Home Chef. You might have seen the name Blue Apron shining on the lists of top meal kit services, but Home Chef is also rising in this category quickly.

While both are excellent services, there are some stark differences. Whereas Blue Apron has chef-curated recipes that are sure to give your taste buds a rollercoaster ride, Home Chef is all about simple yet satisfying meals to help you enjoy homemade meals on hectic weekdays.

If you are hesitant about trying meal kits, it’s best to analyze which service ideally suits your needs, budget, and preferences. You should consider who you’ll be cooking for: is it just you (then check out our guide to meal kits for Canadian singles), you and your partner, or a family? Some meal kit companies offer better portions for families and others focus on individuals. Of course, diet and allergies may also come into play, and budget is usually a main factor when deciding on a brand. We’ve even dedicated an entire page to help you find the cheapest meal kit in Canada.

In this article, we compare US-giants Blue Apron vs Home Chef to help you decide which is the right fit for you (if you live in the US, of course).

Blue Apron vs Home Chef Comparison


Detailed review	Blue Apron Review	Home Chef Review
Established	2012	2013
Delivery area	USA (Not Delivering in Canada)	USA (Not Delivering in Canada)
Number of meals to choose from each week	4-16	30
Сooking time (min)	20-55 min	10-60 min
Groupon Rating
Downloadable App
Price per serving	From $7.99	From $8.99
Weekly Total	From $57.95	From $49.95
	None No promo available	None No promo available

Pros & Cons

Let’s look at the pros and cons of each brand to see what their biggest advantages and disadvantages are:

Blue Apron Pros	Home Chef Pros
✔️ Uses certified non-GMO ingredients	✔️ Fresh, high-quality ingredients
✔️ Have wine and gift options available	✔️ A wide range of add-ons (breakfast, desserts, snacks, beverages)
✔️ Good meal options for people with diabetes	✔️ Reusable packaging
✔️ Fresh, high-quality ingredients	✔️ Some recipes are customizable
✔️ Recyclable packaging	✔️ More weekly variety in recipes
✔️ Discounts for students, military, and seniors	✔️ Low-carb and low-calorie meal options

Blue Apron Cons	Home Fresh Cons
✖️ Lots of plastic packaging	✖️ No free delivery
✖️ Less variety in the weekly menu	✖️ Not suitable for people with severe food allergies

Home Chef vs. Blue Apron: Pricing

Home Chef and Blue Apron are two of the most established meal delivery services in the industry, allowing them to bring you delicious meals at lower prices. While each service has different offers, Both offer numerous add-ons to double the fun.

Home Chef

Home Chef offers one meal per week with a premium option included and three lunch options. They have a Customize It option at additional charges. They also offer protein packs, bread, dessert, etc to make your meals more interesting. The key here is that the more servings you order, the more appealing discounts you will get.

The shipping with Home Chef is $9.95 per serving for major meals irrespective of the number of servings you will order.

Blue Apron

Blue Apron offers four different meal plans to its subscribers:

• Signature
• Freestyle
• Vegetarian
• Signature meals suitable for 4.

Blue Apron charges $7.99 for two meals a week and is free for three and more meals. The Signature of 4 plan also comes with free shipping. Blue Apron also has a wine subscription option that offers 500ml of six wine bottles monthly at $66.

Quick Conclusions

After our thorough analysis, we realize that Home Chef is the meal kit service best suited for couples and small families. They bring high-quality ingredients, step-by-step recipes, and heavenly flavours to your table that is ideal to serve you on your busy days and tough schedules.

Whereas despite the tough competition we found Blue Apron serving pretty well against its counterparts. They are affordable options that can be prepared at exactly the time mentioned on the recipe cards. Their wine and gift options are our other favourite things about Blue Apron. Plus, they also serve well to crowds and big families as the more you order from Blue Apron the lesser the rates you will get.

For sustainable packaging, both brands have maintained high standards that endure quality products at your doorstep. Both have quite a similar setup and subscription plans, the difference arises in their menu options. Blue Apron has great meal options even for people with diabetes. If you still want to explore these services intensively then check out our reviews of Home Chef and Blue Apron.

Home Chef vs Blue Apron Meals Choices

In terms of quality and variety of meals, both have comparable options to offer. For calories per serving Home Chef meals have 400-600 calories, whereas Blue Apron has 500 – 700 calories. Home Chef focuses on lesser calories than Blue Apron, as their aim is to bring healthy home-cooked food to its customers.

However, we could not find the list of allergens with the recipes of Home Chef which Blue Apron has been greatly concerned about. Blue Apron has even partnered with ADA to create recipes with low-starchy vegetables, fewer calories, saturated fat, and sodium.

The History of These Companies: Blue Apron vs Home Chef

We believe that a meal kit company’s background can give you a good insight into whether it’s right for you. The journey is often interesting as you watch them develop and adapt to customers’ needs and desires. Some start off “green” from day one, whereas others become more environmentally conscientious over time. Or, they may have a massive shift in their pricing over time. The subtle and not-so-subtle changes are why many customers end up using different services over the years (as well as being able to claim first-time subscriber discounts).

Blue Apron’s History

Matt Salzberg, Ilia Papas, and Matt Wadiak were the founders of Blue Apron. They first started sending meal kits in August 2012, working from Long Island City. The company expanded rapidly over the years and today employs around 2,000 people! Along the way, it launched Blue Apron Wine, which delivers wines to customers. The wines go from the vineyard to Blue Apron, then directly to customers. This cuts out the middleman so they can offer better-quality wines at affordable prices. Cleverly, the wines come with pairing notes and customers know which Blue Apron meals go with which wine.

Blue Apron partners with farmers so they can offer the highest-quality ingredients. They are committed to sustainability and seafood in their meal kits are recommended by Seafood Watch, animals aren’t fed antibiotics or hormones, and they don’t ever include GMO ingredients.

Home Chef’s History

Home Chef is from Chicago and was started by Patrick Vihtelic in June 2013, so it launched just nearly one year after Blue Apron. As well as selling its meal kit subscriptions online, Home Chef also sells products in Walmart, Walgreens, and Kroger (who now owns Home Chef). Home Chef is regularly in the news, and for all the right reasons. For example, there was the time it featured for partnering with Impossible Foods for creating ready-to-cook meatless meals, and countless magazines and review sites have included positive updates on the brand.

Today, it’s winning customers over by being one of the most environmentally-friendly meal kits on the market. Ingredients are delivered in reusable packaging, which is high on the list of priorities for many people.

Final Thoughts

Meal kits have captured the limelight from restaurants and fast-food chains due to the affordable meal plans and the opportunity to enjoy healthy, gourmet meals at home. If we look at Blue Apron vs Home Chef, they have many similarities, but also have differences you can’t ignore. Blue Apron has more variety in its meals so will be better for you if you’re someone who gets bored. It’s also possible to get free delivery with Blue Apron, whereas it’s not with Home Chef. In regards to per-serving pricing, both brands are pretty similar. When choosing between these two, it will likely come down to your taste and the types of recipes you’re after.

If you’re in Canada and can’t use these services as a result, we have dedicated Canadian meal kit reviews and comparisons. Our articles are specifically curated to help you analyze those differences and make your decision based on those findings.

Our experts summarize their findings by studying the customer’s experiences and their reviews posted on social media platforms, including YouTube unboxing and the first-hand experience of our team. We explain the prices, reviews, menu, and meal plans thoroughly.

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