Blue Apron Is Updating Its Menu With Families In Mind

Meal kits and ready-to-eat foods have been around for over a decade, with the first meal kit being created in Sweden in 2007. However, it wasn't until 2012 that two of the most popular meal kit companies, Hello Fresh and Blue Apron, were founded and introduced to the United States (via FoodBoxHQ). Meal kits work by sending users pre-portioned ingredients and recipe cards for whichever meals are selected that week.

While they aren't for everyone, there are many reasons why meal kits are a great option for some home cooks. Because meal kits send you the exact ingredients you need for each meal, there is less food wasted and less time spent shopping at the grocery store. Meal kits also help with portion control and healthy eating practices, as opposed to eating at restaurants where the food has extra fat, salt, and other additives (per Newsweek). Now, Blue Apron is adding new meal offerings that make the service even more convenient.

Convenience is the whole premise that meal kits were created on, and Blue Apron ensures its customers have plenty of new meal options to choose from that meet this criteria. Regarding its new menu, Blue Apron's chief product officer Josh Friedman said, "Expanding the variety of our menu options to meet the needs of families and on-the-go customers continues to be a category we are focused on, especially as summer winds down and back-to-school season approaches ... " (via Food Business News).

Friedman revealed a few new meal options to Food Business News, including Mafalda pasta with basil pesto, Parmesan, and baby spinach; cold noodles in a sesame-peanut sauce with scallions and cucumber; and a grilled cheese sandwich on sourdough bread with pancetta jam and smoked gouda cheese. Blue Apron's new pesto pasta and savory grilled cheese are already on its website for viewing. The company notes on the page for the grilled cheese that its culinary team is still working on the full recipe. The pancetta jam grilled cheese will only take 20 minutes to prepare, while the pesto pasta only requires five ingredients and is ready in 15 minutes — talk about convenience! In addition to the brand new menu, Blue Apron also offers seasonal meal kits.