家庭厨师与蓝色围裙 - 哪种餐具套件最好？

It’s not you—most meal kit companies seem really, really similar. Brands likeHelloFresh，，，，家庭厨师，，，，Blue Apron，，，，and太阳篮都在努力在拥挤的市场中定义自己，但是他们听起来同样的名字和重叠的任务使他们很难分开，并确定哪个实际上值得这笔钱。

幸运的是，我们已经完成了所有辛勤工作。我测试了最好的餐具包送货公司over three months and judged them on cost, recipe quality, meal options, and more, ultimately picking家庭厨师正如我们favorite kit overall.

但是，是什么让家庭厨师与蓝色围裙（餐具套件中的原始大牌”区分开来？哪个适合您？继续阅读以查看服务的比较。

What’s the price difference?

Credit: Home Chef

Because Blue Apron and Home Chef are both established companies with large networks of food suppliers, they’ve been able to keep their meal prices competitively low. But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth considering how they’ll each fit into your budget.

Blue Apron目前为客户提供四种不同的“菜单”：签名，自由泳，素食和签名。4。餐点的价格为每份$ 9.99的每份菜单，除了签名4菜，价格低至7.49美元，价格低至4.49美元。每份用四份或更多食用的饭菜。

Customers can switch their menu whenever they’d like, depending on their taste and how much they plan to cook in a week. Shipping is $7.99 for orders of only two meals a week, and free for orders of three or more meals. Shipping is always free for the Signature for 4 menu.

同时，家庭厨师在大多数晚餐中的固定价格每份9.95美元，而不论饭的频率或次数如何。他们每周只提供一个菜单，但这些菜单总是以市场价格提供的“高级”选项（例如菲力牛排配烟熏糖胶 - 果酱is $19.95 per serving) as well as three lunch options for $7.99 per serving. The “Customize It” option also allows for premium cuts of meat to be added for an additional price. Shipping is $10 for orders less than $45, and free for orders above $45.

当您分解时，一对有兴趣每周烹饪三晚晚餐的夫妇将在家庭厨师上花费59.70美元，而Blue Apron的$ 59.94。但是，一个四口之家将在家庭厨师上花费119.40美元，在蓝色围裙上花费95.88美元，以供相同的餐点。您想要的份量越多，蓝色围裙的折扣就越吸引人 - 当您权衡选择时，请记住。

Which has more meal options?

信用：蓝色围裙

When we last tested these services for ourmeal kit round-up,我们家厨师的大印象深刻,多样的menu. Currently, Home Chef offers 14 dinner options and three lunch options per week. Dinners include at least one premium meal and at least two vegetarian, gluten-free, nut-free, and dairy-free options per menu. While vegan meals are not prioritized, at least two recipes a week can be altered to be vegan.

自从我们测试以来，家庭厨师已经引入了他们的“Customize It” option，这使订户可以将蛋白质交换为每周提供的一半以上的晚餐。有些餐点可以免费将一种全新的蛋白质交换为另一种蛋白质，而另一些则可以以额外的价格升级到更多的优质肉。

Kids don’t like pork? Swap in boneless chicken thigh instead for theKorean Noodle Bowl。Mom wants antibiotic-free chicken breast? Upgrade to the premium cut for $1.99 per serving. These options give couples and families a lot more flexibility in how they eat, without deviating from the organized menu and clear recipes we’ve come to expect from Home Chef.

Credit: Home Chef

While Blue Apron presents four different menus to choose from each week (Signature, Freestyle, Vegetarian, and Signature for 4), the first three menus overlap heavily, resulting in just 11 dinner options to choose from per week—and you can’t mix and match across menus, so really the maximum is eight options from the Signature menu. The Signature for 4 menu is independent from the rest and offers five options per week.

Blue Apron’s multiple menus create the illusion of choice, but when it comes down to it, Home Chef offers many more varied meals per week. Home Chef also offers snacks, smoothies, lunches, and other non-dinner foods on their regular menu.

哪个有更好的食谱？

Credit: Reviewed / Jackson Ruckar

在食谱质量和准确性方面，家庭厨师会采取蛋糕。他们的新鲜，高质量的食材和写得很好的食谱将令人生畏的烹饪方法分解为无知步骤，这使我觉得自己正在准备餐厅值得一餐（或至少值得宾客）的餐点，而没有像疯子一样跑来跑去。

Take theirFarmhouse Fried Chicken with Mashed Potatoes, Green Onion Gravy, and Corn。While browsing for meals on the company’s website, I initially saw fried chicken and laughed. How could a food so many people find impossible to cook at home be executed well in the context of a meal kit? I was shocked—and thrilled!—to find that Home Chef’s recipe yielded wonderfully even, juicy chicken with nary an oil burn in sight. I could hardly believe I did it myself.

Credit: Home Chef

If the words “fried chicken” make you clutch your heart in health-related fear, don’t worry—Home Chef isn’t just for indulgent diets. I was impressed by the depth of flavor in theYang-Yang Beef with Shishito Peppers，，，，a lighter alternative to traditional Chinese food, and loved theHot Honey Salmon with Zucchini and Tomatoesfor its summertime simplicity. Vegetarian meals, like the野生大米和布鲁塞尔新芽收获碗，，，，were on the table in less than 30 minutes, but the average box-to-table time on my Home Chef meals was about 45 minutes.

Credit: Home Chef

Unfortunately, Blue Apron’s recipes didn’t impress me nearly as much. In my testing, I had consistent problems with flavors and ratios being off—oregano overpowered orecchiette, jalapeno overwhelmed peach salsa, and my polenta was in desperate need of salt, spice, or anything to make it more than a bland mush. My favorite meal of the bunch was a simple quesadilla that really didn’t require a recipe.

I appreciate how easy and quick my Blue Apron meals were to make, with average cook time at just 35 minutes, but was disappointed by how often the recipes were riddled with problems. In this way, it pales in comparison to Home Chef.

What about packaging?

信用：蓝色围裙

家庭厨师成功的核心是其组织，它扩展到包装。任何经验丰富的库克都知道准备工作是一半的战斗，这家公司也知道。每顿饭的成分分为标有袋子的袋子，这些袋子很容易滑入冰箱。这个组织的冰箱时间比很多竞争对手都更快，为我节省了四次忘记食材和重新阅读食谱的压力。

家庭厨师would, however, be wise to incorporate more biodegradable packaging into their existing model. While it wasn’t the most wasteful packaging we’ve seen, most of the materials were recyclable, not biodegradable.

Credit: Reviewed / Jackson Ruckar

Blue Apron seems to have less packaging overall, but loose produce and random packages in the box made it much harder to keep organized and know which products belonged to which meal. If you know exactly what you’re cooking and care deeply about reducing the amount of waste coming from your meal kit delivery boxes, Blue Apron wins this round—but I preferred the organization of Home Chef.

最后的判决

Credit: Home Chef

尽管比赛取得了成功，但原始的餐具套件服务蓝色围裙仍然剩下一些战斗。时间和经验使他们能够保持价格低，完美的时间估计，并提供有趣的葡萄酒配对和礼物选择。

However,家庭厨师是我们最喜欢的总体原因。高质量的食材，写得很好的食谱和奇妙的口味使您想在工作日的夜晚融入体验，而服务的组织使它变得非常容易。

With such comparable pricing, Home Chef is best for couples and small families—but if you’re cooking for a crowd, theBlue Apron价值可能会吸引您。仍然找不到您想要的这些服务吗？查看我们的综述所有最好的餐具包交付服务。