Blue Apron vs. Gobble: Which Meal Kit is Right for You? (2022 Comparison)

Pricing

Winner: Blue Apron

To be frank, Blue Apron wins by a landslide for pricing. Per meal, they’re cheaper than Gobble. Plus, Blue Apron offers free shipping, which isn’t available from most meal kit delivery services, so we can’t hold this against Gobble. However, it does make Blue Apron quite a bit more affordable than Gobble.

Conversely, it should be noted that Blue Apron has customizability options that can tack on dollars extra per serving, per meal. So if you’re on the pickier side or just like to take advantage of having a lot of options to really make the meal your own, this can tie up the playing field as far as pricing is concerned.

Additionally, there are a few “Premium” recipes that can cost more. We’ve seen meals as high as $19.99 per serving. 

Overall, Blue Apron is your best bet if pricing is a top priority in your decision-making process.

Plans

Winner: Gobble

Both Gobble and Blue Apron offer a meat and veggie plan and a vegetarian plan. Blue Apron refers to their meat and veggie option as their “Signature” plan. In contrast, Gobble refers to it as their “Classic” plan, but be aware that these are your typical meat and veggie meals. 

While Blue Apron has many customizability options for their meals, their actual plan variety is very insubstantial. Thus, Gobble wins by default because they offer just one plan more than Blue Apron. They call it the “Lean & Clean” plan, which is very much like the “Classic” plan (most dishes are comprised of meat and veggies), only it’s more suited for calorie-conscious eaters. 

If you’re not looking to eat a specific diet, either of these services is suitable for you. However, Gobble offers three plans versus Blue Apron’s two plans, so they’re the winner for this category.

Food variety

Winner: Blue Apron

We’re about to see why plan options shouldn’t always be a key indicator for which meal kit delivery service is better. As previously stated, Blue Apron offers a lot of customizability options. With Blue Apron Customized, you can swap, add or upgrade the ingredients in your box on the “Signature” plans. So while Gobble won for plan options, Blue Apron wins for food variety.

Here’s the low down on Blue Apron Customized; swapping allows you to exchange one ingredient for another, like changing out chicken for tofu or a starch for extra veggies. Adding increases the portion of an ingredient. Finally, upgrading allows you to select a more premium ingredient, like exchanging bistro steaks for NY strip steak.

Furthermore, with Blue Apron, you can choose from an ever-changing mix of meat, fish, Beyond Meat, WW Approved, Diabetes-Friendly recipes and health-conscious offerings.

Because of this, Blue Apron is crowned king of food variety! 

Accommodate dietary restrictions

Winner: Blue Apron

Due to Blue Apron’s customizability options, they’ve won for accommodating dietary restrictions too. 

I mean, overall, both services can do a little better at accommodating dietary restrictions. For instance, neither service offers a “keto-friendly” plan, a “gluten-free” plan or a “vegan” plan. While these diets can be quite complicated, many people follow them both out of necessity and preference. That’s not exactly an excuse because other services have managed to accommodate these types of dietary restrictions. 

However, all things considered, Blue Apron wins because they offer more than just rice and beans when it comes to vegetarian protein with their option of including Beyond meat in recipes. Plus, they have recipes that are diabetic-friendly and WW-approved. 

With Gobble, you get the option of vegetarian recipes or calorie-conscious recipes. That’s pretty much it. However, Gobble’s CEO follows a vegetarian lifestyle, which is something to consider. You may find you like their recipes better because their founder definitely recognizes the importance of creating vegetarian recipes that are actually delicious.

Ingredient quality

Winner: Blue Apron

When it comes to the quality of the ingredients we were sent, both services left little to complain about. Both services sent fresh, ripe produce. There was only one ingredient “incident” with both services. 

One of the packages of meat we received with our Blue Apron meal kit was leaking. Since they package the meat separately from the rest of the ingredients, this became more of an inconvenience than an actual problem. It would have been a different story if the meat had soured or if it had contaminated our other ingredients, but yay for small victories. 

What we don’t love are ingredients that aren’t that good to eat. This was the case with one of our Gobble ingredients. There was a recurring theme throughout our meals… microwaved rice—definitely a time saver. But as the recipes didn’t call for buttering the rice, or even seasoning them, this ingredient was quite disappointing. 

Since the rice “incident” was ongoing throughout our Gobble meals, we named Blue Apron the winner for ingredient quality, as the packaging “incident” may have been a one-time deal. 

Ease of use

Winner: Gobble

The cooking of the Blue Apron meals was rather enjoyable. When you read the recipes, they feel fancy, like they’re not for your average amateur chef. However, they’re easy to make. You don’t need to have special equipment. Furthermore, suppose you do find you have questions. In that case, you can easily find a tutorial for that meal to follow along with on Blue Apron’s website. 

One area in the cooking that wasn’t ideal was the amount of prep work. This might not apply to every Blue Apron recipe, but it definitely did to the meals we received. One recipe called for us to remove the husks and silks from corn before cutting the kernels off…..the kernels were hard to keep track of… they go everywhere. Plus, after that, you have to chop other ingredients.

In general though, even if you can’t read, you can totally make these meals. The video tutorials take all the guesswork out of the cooking process.

However, all things considered, the cooking process of Gobble meals was definitely a snap. A breeze. Dare we say … Effortless? Well, maybe not effortless, but definitely easier than running out to grab fast food. The promise to have the meals on the table in about 15 minutes or less definitely checks out. Gobble accomplishes this by sending some parts of the meals pre-cooked or pre-prepped.

Because of this, I feel Gobble would be an excellent option for people who don’t have a ton of cooking experience. You’ll be able to microwave or reheat some portion of the meal and only have to focus your attention on cooking certain aspects of the dish. 

Gobble would also be an excellent option for busy families and wins when it comes to ease of use.

Ordering experience and packaging

Winner: Gobble

Gobble definitely takes the cake for ordering experience and packaging. We already lamented about the leaking meat package that Blue Apron sent us. However, this wasn’t the only inconvenience with Blue Apron.

If you want to subscribe to this beloved meal kit delivery service, I hope you’re patient. When we ordered, there was about a 5 week-long waiting period before our first box was delivered. When we tried other meal kits, this was the longest we had to wait, with most other services adding us to the following week’s delivery schedule. 

While Blue Apron is tasty and therefore worth the wait, most people who are meal kit shopping are looking to start their subscription as soon as possible. If this is the case for you, Gobble may be the wiser choice.

The Bottom Line

As you can see, these meal kits come out nearly dead even in this side-by-side comparison. Blue Apron and Gobble even scored almost identically in our individual full-length reviews, as well. Yet, they’re still very different services.

Gobble is suitable for you if you need a speedy dinner solution. Plus, they have the added benefit of having vegetarian options. Furthermore, with their “Lean & Clean” menu, you even have low-calorie options if you’re health-conscious.

Whereas, with Blue Apron, their recipes can be a little more time-consuming. However, you have a ton of customization options. Plus, they’re technically the more budget-friendly service because of their free shipping. 

Suppose you have no specific food requirements or preferences. In that case, we encourage you to try different meal kit delivery services to find the one that is right for you. It’s a lot of fun!