Green Chef vs. Blue Apron 2023: Is Organic Worth More?

Both services offer tasty meal kits – but which one is better for your diet and budget?

I crowned Green Chef as the winner due to its diverse, healthy menu and top-quality, organic ingredients. Plus, there are dedicated plans for vegans and those following certain low-carb and low-calorie diets like paleo and keto. 

However, this quality does come at a cost, and Green Chef is on the pricier side of things. Blue Apron is a solid alternative and may even be the better choice for some people.

To get a better view of both meal delivery services, I spoke with my extensive network of specialists and did my own research to compare meal variety, dietary preferences, price, packaging, and more. I round up the results in this Green Chef vs. Blue Apron review, so keep reading!

At a Glance: Who Won Each Category?

Menu Variety

Winner: It’s a tie 

Compared to other meal kit delivery services, both Green Chef and Blue Apron offer a relatively modest variety of recipes to choose from per week.

While Green Chef offers around nine recipe choices on each of its menu plans, Blue Apron offers only around six weekly recipes on its Vegetarian plan. However, if you’re not a full-time vegetarian, the Signature and Wellness plans offer 12+ recipes.

That being said, they both offer adventurous, interesting meals with a wide variety of ingredients and flavors. Green Chef definitely incorporates more international flavors and more creative and colorful recipes, such as Apple and Farro Bowls with Kale, Red Beets, Brussel Sprouts, Dried Cherries, and Walnuts.

Blue Apron, on the other hand, provides you with delicious twists on traditional meals, replacing well-loved, family favorites with healthier, gourmet ingredients – like Smoked Gouda Burgers with Caramelized Onion and Roasted Carrots. 

In addition, it offers a small selection of prepared meals to make life even easier and also offers a monthly wine delivery service for those who like to wash their meals down with something special.

Meal Customization

Winner: Green Chef

While both services offer a full list of ingredients and allergens for each recipe, neither allows you to filter your meal preferences to avoid allergens. If you’re allergy-free and trying to stick to a particular diet, Green Chef’s the obvious choice.

Green Chef caters to a wide variety of dietary preferences and requirements such as Keto, Paleo, Vegetarian, or Vegan. Plus, the eco-conscious company also prides itself on using completely organic, high-quality ingredients with no GMOs, toxic pesticides, irritation, antibiotics, or steroids.

Blue Apron’s a bit different since its menus are geared towards people who need a diabetes-friendly diet, vegetarians, and people who want to lose weight. However, if you ask me, the options are a bit limited for each of the meal plans. Plus, it’s not uncommon to see the same recipe added to at least two or three plans (if it fits the dietary requirements).

As someone who’s trying to shed some weight, I enjoyed the Wellness plan. Here you can find nutritionist-approved recipes with carb-conscious and Weight Watchers-approved options. However, the same can be said about Green Chef, where there are more options for people on a fitness-related diet.

For the most part, Blue Apron’s a good fit for a general audience since its menu has lots of balanced, family-friendly meals. One great advantage though is the list of wines you can order separately from the main menu. Blue Apron will even help you pair the wine with the food on your subscription, which is quite rare for this type of service!

Overall, customization options for both meal delivery services are limited. The only way to tweak your food is while cooking it by adding or subtracting ingredients, spices, or sauces.

Ordering, Delivery, Unboxing

Winner: It’s a tie

Both Green Chef and Blue Apron make it easy to place an order and manage your subscription (edit, skip, or cancel) from your account. It’s also easy to create an account (while placing your first order). The only notable difference is in the number of meals requested per order. The minimum order for Green Chef is three meals (six servings) while Blue Apron only requires you to order two meals (four servings).

Blue Apron delivers your meals wherever you want, whenever you want, with shipping to all locations in the US and delivery seven days a week. Green Chef, on the other hand, doesn’t deliver on Sundays and is unable to deliver to Alaska, Hawaii, and parts of Louisiana. 

Both services deliver their goods in insulated boxes to keep your ingredients fresh even if you’re not home to accept your delivery. If this happens, the insulation will keep the food inside the box cold until the end of the day it’s delivered.

The ingredients aren’t delivered frozen or dehydrated, so you must make sure to place all perishable items in the refrigerator as soon as you receive the box (or by the end of the day on which they were delivered).

While 85% of Blue Apron packaging is recyclable by weight, it uses way more plastic than I think is necessary. However, its site does clearly lay out all the recycling instructions you’d possibly need.

Green Chef is far more committed to eco-friendly packaging. It uses the most innovative materials on the market, making sure all of its packaging is made from recyclable, reusable, and/or compostable materials – except when it's not possible for food safety reasons.

However, you’ll find plastic film packages inside the Green Chef box. This is because all the ingredients are prepared and packed separately. Plus, the proprietary blend sauces and spices are delivered in small plastic film packets to keep the inside of the box intact.

Meal Prep

Winner: Green Chef

Green Chef wins here since its prep times are a little shorter and the instructions on the recipe cards are clearer.

Green Chef meal kits take between 15-40 minutes to get on the table, and Blue Apron demands somewhere between 20-50 minutes of your time. Overall, the meals from both services average around 30-35 minutes. To me, the five minutes here or there doesn’t make much of a difference.

Both companies clearly display the prep time on each recipe card. Also, like all meal kit services, both Green Chef and Blue Apron deliver pre-portioned ingredients with accompanying recipe cards.

Green Chef includes ready-to-use, chef-curated sauces, dressings, and spice blends, along with super clear and detailed step-by-step instructions – easy to follow for even the most inexperienced chefs. The Mojito-Style Shrimp, for example, takes just 25 minutes to make and comes with the prepared marinade.

A lot of its ingredients come pre-chopped, but you’ll probably still need to do some dicing and grating. However, everything’s explained clearly, with chef tips to guide your cooking experience. 

While Blue Apron’s meals appear simpler, the recipes are harder to follow, with vague instructions that may confuse novices. These instructions for the Chimichurri Shrimp, for example, could’ve been clearer to explain that the jalapeno peppers should be cut on a different board, and placed to the side so that you can carefully add more in to adjust the spiciness.

However, it does offer a specialty Meal Prep plan that includes everything you need to make eight servings of a meal in under two hours. This allows you to keep ready-to-go meals on hand for busy times. 

Customer Support

Winner: Green Chef

Green Chef wins this section due to its easy-to-access customer service number and live chat options. 

Both services provide users with a comprehensive FAQ section where you can find answers to questions about delivery, shipping, meals, customization, and more. However, there are times when you need to get in touch with customer support.

When and if this time comes, Blue Apron and Green Chef both offer two methods of contact. Blue Apron has a Contact Form where you can write your request and two phone numbers available Monday through Friday 10 am to 9 pm ET and Saturday to Sunday 11 am to 6 pm ET.

Green Chef steps it up a notch and offers one phone number (available Monday through Friday 6 am to 11 pm EST, Saturday to Sunday 7 am to 7 pm EST) and easy access to live chat (available Monday through Sunday 9 am to 7 pm EST).

While there doesn’t seem to be much difference in contact methods and both teams are fairly responsive and friendly, I’ll give the advantage to Green Chef in this matter. After all, live chat is way easier to use than a Contact Form. 

Pricing

Winner: Blue Apron

Blue Apron works out much cheaper than Green Chef so wins this round. Blue Apron has special offers for first-time customers and special deals like this one here: Enjoy $180 off across your first 6 orders. The starting price works out to be $5.74 per serving.

Even without the discount, the most you’ll pay for your meal kit box from Blue Apron is $9.99 – which is below Green Chef’s non-discounted starting price. Both services have a flat fee of $9.99 for shipping.

Meals start at $5.99 per serving at Green Chef. However, most of Green Chef’s meals actually come out far pricier. That’s because the starting price is for orders of at least 16 meals per week (four meals per week, for four people).

If you want fewer meals for fewer people, you could end up paying over $13 per plate (price for three meals per week, for two people before applying any discounts). However, Green Chef does sweeten the deal with special offers for first-time customers and seasonal discounts like this one here: Get $250 off + free shipping.

Green Chef’s higher prices can be explained by its high-quality, fully organic ingredients, eco-friendly packaging, and a variety of menu choices and dietary preferences. But if these factors aren’t important to you, it might not be worth paying the extra.

Features Comparison: Green Chef vs. Blue Apron

And The Winner Is: Green Chef

While both services offer delicious, healthy meal kits, they’re pretty different from each other, when you look deeper. Blue Apron specializes in crowd-pleasing, family-friendly meals. Green Chef, on the other hand, caters to those looking for specialized dietary plans, unique dishes, certified organic materials, and eco-friendly packaging.

If cost is a serious factor in your decision, Blue Apron isn’t just the least expensive choice, but one of the best options for meal delivery services on the market today. However, if you have a specific diet or are committed to your health and the environment, the extra cost of Green Chef may be worth it.

FAQ

How much is Green Chef each week?

Like with many other meal kit delivery services, Green Chef’s price per serving fluctuates according to your order’s volume. If you order the maximum amount (24 meals per week), you’ll pay $5.99/meal plus the shipping fee. On the other hand, if you choose the minimum order (six meals), you’ll pay over $13 per serving (before discounts) plus a flat shipping fee.

If you choose the most popular plan, which is eight meals, you’ll pay $12.99 per serving (before discounts) plus a shipping fee.

What kind of meals do you get with Blue Apron?

Most Blue Apron meals are aimed at a general audience without allergies or special dietary needs. The menu includes meat, poultry, fish, seafood, and Beyond Meat™ (plant-based meat), but there are some WW™ Approved recipes and some meals that are diabetes-friendly.

Is Green Chef worth the money?

If you want to follow a specific diet and care about only using organic ingredients, then yes. Even though Green Chef’s a bit more expensive, it can be the right option in the long run for someone interested in having a healthy lifestyle.