The increasing popularity of online meal delivery kit services is surely NOT fated or decreed to go south. On the contrary, the trajectory is only getting higher and higher. And leading brands like Blue Apron and Marley Spoon are proof. But then how does one company come off as the better one when compared with another? Which one deserves your money?
So this time, I’m getting into the detailed comparison of Marley Spoon vs Blue Apron.
If you don’t have much time to read the full article, although I’d highly recommend you to do so, here’s the main difference. There are more seasonal ingredients, a more varied menu, and more transparency about where the ingredients come from – that kind of experience is offered to you by only one of the two services. Find out which one is the best by the end of this article.
Now, here’s the FULL, IN-DEPTH comparison…
Meal Kit Delivery services have become very popular. Why is that?
It’s no accident or fate that online meal kit delivery services are gaining popularity. The most common, logical, and simplest reason for that is that fewer people have the time, energy, or even interest to cook meals at home every day.
Of course, there are still those who make time and cook healthy, delicious recipes in their kitchen. If that’s not you, it’s completely okay and normal because the percentage of people cooking homemade meals daily is dropping with each passing year. The #1 cause is a jam-packed, hectic schedule.
Even when you’ve got the time to cook, you’d rather be doing an activity that’s more social, academic, etc., right? Also to be factored in is if you have a family, meaning kids and all, or maybe you’re too old or downright lazy to cook. Whatever the reason, whatever YOUR reason, justified or not, you still deserve to enjoy a healthy, well-balanced meal.
In such cases, a meal kit delivery service can save the day. So no need to head to the grocery store to buy the ingredients needed and then prep those ingredients for cooking. The services offered by brands like Marley Spoon and Blue Apron get you the required ingredients, thus prep time saved AND you feel excited to try new, delicious recipes.
Compared to takeout or junk food, this way is certainly healthier and more convenient, quicker, and easier than cooking from ground zero. So you’re in for a whole treat if you opt for a meal prep service near you.
- The recipes have low calories without any extra sodium, fat, added sugar, etc.
- The menu contains a wide variety of dishes that include different protein sources as well as veggies packed with minerals and vitamins.
- The meal kits delivered to you come with cooking instructions that introduce you to new, more effective cooking techniques that are easy to follow.
- Just think of how much time and effort can be saved here!
Marley Spoon vs Blue Apron – Pricing
Isn’t price the first thing that comes to mind whenever you talk or even think about choosing a genuinely good meal kit delivery service? If yes, then you’re most likely a budget-conscious consumer. If that’s the case, both options, Marley Spoon and Blue Apron, fit the category.
The difference in pricing between the two is only minimal. Nevertheless, the sale offers of Marley Spoon do bring down the overall cost. Mind you, the quality of the ingredients is not compromised at all. Unfortunately, no such special deals are a part of Blue Apron’s recipes, which consist of equally high-quality ingredients. Although a few of their meal plan prices, sale or no sale, are comparatively lower.
| NO. OF RECIPES | MARLEY SPOON PRICING 2 PEOPLE / 4 PEOPLE | BLUE APRON PRICING 2 PEOPLE / 4 PEOPLE |
| 2 meals per week | $10.25 / $8.49 (per serving) | $9.99 / $8.99 (per serving) |
| 3 meals per week | $8.99 / $7.49 (per serving) | $9.99 / $7.99 (per serving) |
| 4 meals per week | $8.49 / none | none / $7.49 (per serving) |
| 5 meals per week | none/none | none/none |
| 6 meals per week | none / $6.39 (per serving) | none/none |
Marley Spoon vs Blue Apron – Meal Plans / Menu Variety / Meal Prep
With Marley Spoon, you can choose between their plans for either 2 or 4 people. These do include some special dietary preferences and their menu variety is quite extensive. So, if you prefer more options to choose from, you’ll be overly pleased with Marley Spoon since this service has on its weekly menu as many as 20-22 different recipes.
Roughly speaking, Marley Spoon categories are…
- Health & Diet
- Vegetarian & Vegan
- Meat & Fish
On top of that, the many recipes in these categories are tagged as follows…
- Low-calorie
- Vegan
- Kid-friendly
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free
- Under 30 minutes
- No added gluten
As for Blue Apron’s four different meal plan options:
- Signature (2 servings)
- Vegetarian (2 servings))
- Wellness (2 servings)
- Signature for Four (4 servings)
None of these are gluten-free. Also, the calorie-controlled recipes are mainly a part of the Wellness category, thus perfect for Weight Watchers (WW). Under each meal plan, you get only 6 or so different recipes to select from every week.
Go with Blue Apron if you find Marley Spoon’s menu variety too confusing (since there are so many options to choose from). The former’s only 6 meal plans to select from every week, the focus here is more on how utterly delicious and healthy those limited recipes are.
Finally, what about meal prep? Marley Spoon menu, as well as the Blue Apron menu both, consist of recipes that don’t need you to be a professional or experienced chef. In fact, with Marley Spoon, the ‘under 30 minutes’ and ‘one-pot meal’ labels are especially for those just getting into the habit of cooking. But, overall, advanced or chef-level culinary skills are not required with either brand.
Marley Spoon vs Blue Apron – Ingredients
How fresh are the ingredients? Are they seasonal ingredients?
Marley Spoon offers seasonal ingredients that are also the freshest. These are sourced from local producers. The company is also quite transparent about where its meat comes from. The sources are antibiotic-free chicken and grass-fed beef.
Australian-based Meredith Dairy, one of their meat suppliers, is a family-owned farm that prioritizes environmentally-responsible concepts such as offsetting carbon emissions, upcycling dairy waste, controlling animal husbandry practices, and more (pg. 39 of Marley Spoon’s 2020 Sustainability Report).
As for Blue Apron, they commit to GMO-free, hormone-free, and antibiotic-free ingredients. Despite this, the brand doesn’t guarantee grass-fed meat, organic produce, etc. Except that Blue Apron adheres to Animal Welfare Policy’s humane standards when it comes to the treatment of those animals.
Also, Blue Apron’s sustainably-sourced, fresh ingredients come from family-run farms and vendors directly. Each product then goes through strict safety and quality assessments. Even though the company is not “organic” per se, its many ingredients are certified organic.
Marley Spoon vs Blue Apron – Packaging & delivery
Which of the two meal kit delivery service uses eco-friendly packaging? When talking about that, Marley Spoon’s mostly recyclable packaging doesn’t seem like it’s doing more harm than good.
Then you’ve got Blue Apron, which prioritizes maximum freshness of ingredients and flavor preservation through vacuum sealing, which compels them to use extra plastic.
Moving on to delivery, Blue Apron ships all 7 days of the week whereas Marley Spoon meal plans are only for weekdays i.e. Monday to Friday. Both services offer FREE shipping.
With Marley Spoon, you can pick the day to receive your order plus you get to skip weeks but Blue Apron doesn’t provide this kind of flexibility. However, you can skip your delivery with Blue Apron if it has not been processed already. The cutoff date and time are found in the Account Settings section or on the Upcoming page. Unfortunately, the service is not too forthcoming when it comes to choosing what day you want your order to arrive.
As for Marley Spoon’s deadline, you have to go to the ‘Orders > Current orders’ section. Your every upcoming order indicates how much time is remaining for either skipping or editing the current order. In order to avoid food wastage, Marley Spoon bills their boxes 5-6 days prior to the delivery day. You cannot make changes to the boxes once they’ve been billed.
Marley Spoon sends reminder emails as early as 9-10 days before the delivery date, which contains the deadline information of your order.
Marley Spoon vs Blue Apron – Special Dietary Preferences
Marley Spoon has dairy-free and gluten-free meal options whereas the Blue Apron menu caters more to the “Weight Watchers” and diabetic crowd.
With Blue Apron, you get average, American-style dishes in all of its meal plan categories. The ‘Wellness’ plan is all about a well-balanced, low-carb, weight-loss-friendly, and nutritionist-approved diet.
The Marley Spoon menu options, on the other hand, are more varied or diverse. The meal plans here include vegetarian, vegan, meat, and fish-based recipes. What makes Marley Spoon a better choice for those with dietary preferences is their tags or labels like ‘no added gluten,’ ‘low-calorie,’ ‘dairy-free,’ ‘low carb,’ and more.
Marley Spoon vs Blue Apron – Customer Service & Support
Skip a week, pause your subscription or even cancel your account easily and conveniently with Marley Spoon. For any changes in your current order, you have to log in and go to the ‘Orders’ page. You can skip 8 weeks also if you like. As for canceling the subscription, there’s the ‘My Account’ page > ‘Settings’ tab.
Blue Apron is not that flexible to work with. What makes the experience even more unpleasant is that canceling your subscription/account with Blue Apron is a whole project where you have to mail the company and then wait for them to provide you with the link needed for cancellation.
In terms of being on the same plane, both Blue Apron and Marley Spoon let you switch meal plans. A couple of extra points to the former for offering bonus services like gift cards, free trials, and partial or full refund in case you’re not satisfied with their food.
Marley Spoon vs Blue Apron – Vegetarian/Vegan Meal Plans
The truth of the matter is that both Marley Spoon and Blue Apron have vegetarian recipes (although Marley Spoon has the ‘vegan’ tag too!). Since the former also offers a wider variety and number of dishes per week, the options for vegetarian/vegan meals are more numerous as well.
Plus, the Marley Spoon menu, in some instances, can be dairy-free and gluten-free too, just thought you might like to know.
As for Blue Apron, its Vegetarian category includes meat-free dishes alright, but these choices surely feel limited in comparison to Marley Spoon.
Marley Spoon vs Blue Apron – Nutritional Value/Information
Vegetarian Recipes
As for vegetarian protein sources, these include mushrooms, spinach, cauliflower, and more (eggs are also a part of some of them) with Blue Apron. Much in the same manner, Marley Spoon also relies on high-protein veggies.
Here’s one recipe from each brand’s menu that I picked out for comparison. There are other equally good enough options you can compare with/choose instead.
| MARLEY SPOON’S | BLUE APRON’S ROASTED SWEET POTATO QUESADILLAS |
| 940 calories | 780 calories |
| 38 grams of protein | 27 grams of protein |
| 86 grams of carbs | 98 grams of carbs |
| 39 grams of fat | 48 grams of fat |
| 30-40 minutes cooking time | 40 minutes cooking time |
Chicken Recipes
The chicken-based meals on both Marley Spoon and Blue Apron seem to be perfect for non-picky eaters and those who like to experiment. Here are two, from the many, your taste buds will never forget!
| MARLEY SPOON’S | BLUE APRON’S STIR-FRIED CHICKEN & VEGETABLES WITH RICE |
| 710 calories | 650 calories |
| 46 grams of protein | 36 grams of protein |
| 70 grams of carbs | 81 grams of carbs |
| 29 grams of fat | 20 grams of fat |
| 20-30 minutes cooking time | 25 minutes cooking time |
Beef Recipes
As for vegetarian protein sources, these include mushrooms, spinach, cauliflower, and more (eggs are also a part of some of them) with Blue Apron. Much in the same manner, Marley Spoon also relies on high-protein veggies.
| MARLEY SPOON’S | BLUE APRON’S GINGER PORK & BEEF MEATBALLS WITH RICE |
| 1060 calories | 450 calories |
| 36 grams of protein | 21 grams of protein |
| 101 grams of carbs | 66 grams of carbs |
| 58 grams of fat | 12 grams of fat |
| 30-40 minutes cooking time | 5 minutes cooking time |
Seafood Recipes
On Blue Apron, seafood can be this salmon dish or cod, scallops, trout, and more.
On Marley Spoon, you also get a delicious salmon recipe. Other seafood included is tilapia and shrimp.
| MARLEY SPOON’S | BLUE APRON’S CRISPY SKIN SALMON |
| 1190 calories | 720 calories |
| 40 grams of protein | 38 grams of protein |
| 52 grams of carbs | 48 grams of carbs |
| 94 grams of fat | 42 grams of fat |
| 40-50 minutes cooking time | 30 minutes cooking time |
Marley Spoon vs Blue Apron – Website/App, Terms & Conditions, and Add-Ons
Both meal kit delivery service brands have a website and mobile app and they are pretty straightforward to use.
Every single thing can be performed online. Be it starting your account, choosing meal plans, selecting dietary preferences, updating payment methods, etc.
Regarding terms & conditions, the service is subscription-only. You can skip weeks and even freeze the account. To cancel your subscription, going through this particular process is easier with Marley Spoon and trickier with Blue Apron (since you have to mail their customer support team to receive the account cancellation link).
Last but not least, add-ons are also a huge attraction. Marley Spoon doesn’t hold back with its occasional desserts and protein-rich recipes.
Blue Apron, nonetheless, is quite a competitor in this category too by making affordable wines available through a monthly wine subscription service. Plus, the company also has a retail sector that consists of kitchen and cookware items you can use with their meal kits.
Marley Spoon – What’s So Good About It?
- Beginner-friendly, easy-to-follow instructions
- The menu features a wide range and no. of recipes
- Meal selection includes single-pot dishes too
- Vegetarian and vegan meal plans are also available
Marley Spoon – The Drawbacks
- No special diet meals (paleo, keto, Weight Watchers, etc.)
- Some recipes, post-cooking, involve a little extra clean-up
Blue Apron – What’s So Good About It?
- Colorful recipes cards with instructions simplify meal prep
- Veggies are farm-fresh and meats hormone-free
- You can skip meals more easily
- The menu, even though limited, is quite varied
Blue Apron – The Drawbacks
- In comparison to Marley Spoon, meal plan options are limited
- Recipes for specific dietary preferences are also very few
- You have to mail them for canceling your account
The long and short of it – Both Marley Spoon and Blue Apron are EXCELLENT choices!
The Marley Spoon menu is extensive but Blue Apron is more likely to provide the best value for your money. Both are winners in terms of curating tasty, healthy dishes with a sizable portion per serving.
Needless to say, differences between the two do exist. For example, Marley Spoon only delivers from Monday to Friday while Blue Apron does all 7 days of the week. So even the tiniest detail like this with regards to offering a wholesome experience using such online meal kit delivery services is discussed for YOUR benefit
