Let me ask you a question. Is there any gift that says I love and cherish you more than a meatball? A round, savoury, ball of love meat. I think not. Here’s my review of Blue Apron’s Turkey Meatball recipe.
No. The answer to that question is no. There is no gift in the world that says I hold you dear to my heart and would gasp my last breath for you … more than a meatball.
Spaghetti and meatballs, swedish meatballs, sweet and sour meatballs, Frikadeller, Kofta, Polpette, allll of them the greatest gift to mankind.
Meatballs.
On occasion a gift of a matzo-ball can be substituted (provided it’s in homemade soup).
My own regular repertoire of love bites include Italian American meatballs, sweet and sour meatballs and Frikadeller (Danish meatballs). This seems like an obscenely short list of meatball recipes to rely on.
So when Blue Apron (you remember them from my “For people who F’n hate figuring out what to make for dinner“) asked if I’d like to work together with them on another sponsored post for this week, cupid started dancing in front of my eyes when I saw one of the featured recipes for this week is for MEATBALLS. And a type of meatball I’ve never, ever, ever, ever made. Asian Turkey meatballs. Meatballs! Made out of turkey! With an Asian twist!
If nothing says I love you more than a meatball then Blue Apron loves us all very, very much. Upon further meatball digging I found Blue Apron has,
36 different meatball dish recipes. I’m gonna need a little black book because that’s a lotta love to be able to call on, on any given night.
After talking about Blue Apron in April all kinds of you have signed up for the food service and from what I’m hearing from you, you love it. Like, love it. Meatball love it.
For those of you who are all, Huh? What? I didn’t see that first post and I don’t know what you’re talking about, Blue Apron is a food service that delivers fresh ingredients and recipes to your door. You can get the meal plan for either 4 people or 2 people. If you’re single, like I am, you can get the 2 person plan and instead of cooking it for 2 people you cook it for yourself and have leftovers. Which means it works out to be really inexpensive and you cut your weekly cooking time in HALF.
I worked it out and for a single person using Blue Apron you could get 24 of your meals for the month for $240. That’s all the meat, vegetables, spices, and interesting ingredients you could never find anywhere else (like pink lemons) all delivered to your door with the recipes and step by step instructions included. Oh. And everything is portioned.
It’s a cooking enthusiast’s dream. Because even though, personally, I love cooking, I love a lot of other things too, like reading and gardening and running (hahahah I actually hate running). So even though I love spending time cooking I do not always love spending time figuring out what to eat, finding recipes and searching out 4 different grocery stores to find the bag of Indian spices I need.
Blue Apron is for the person who loves to cook but loves other things too!
It all comes in a refrigerated box so when you get home from work it’s all there fresh and ready to cook. I mean they’re delivering things like strip loin steaks and wild caught salmon, not boxes of cereal, so they’re making sure the ingredients stay fresh and delicious for you.
Oh! And the final sales pitch for Blue Apron before I get to the MEATBALLS … If you don’t like the recipes for any week coming up you can just skip it. No charge. Going away for a month in the summer and plan to only eat hot dogs, marshmallows and minnows? Skip it for the month and start up again when you get back.
Want to hear the really, really bad news? I’m in Canada so I can’t get Blue Apron. They’re in the U.S. But Canada has other similar services so look them up, it’s a GREAT solution for people who love to cook high quality, high end meals but are also looking to save time.
The really, really good news is if you’re in Canada (or anywhere else for that matter) you can easily go to the Blue Apron website and use any of their recipes. I’ve tried many of them and all of them have been good. I know. Because this is a sponsored post you’re thinking “Uh, yeah, well as if you’d say their recipes are shit if they’re paying you“. You’re right. I wouldn’t. I would never say something was good if I didn’t think it was. EVER. But I also wouldn’t mention how good they were either. I’d just leave it out.
So they’re all really good recipes.
I wanted to try the turkey meatballs because I’ve never had turkey meatballs before and I loved the idea of them being Asian inspired. The other reason I wanted to give this recipe a shot was because it features zucchini and in a few short weeks I’ll have so many zucchinis from the garden that I’ll be forced to use them in unusual ways. Like as lawn bowling pins. Or hats.
I gathered all my ingredients onto my kitchen island and started the timer because the Blue Apron website claims you can make any of their recipes in 40 minutes or less.
I stopped counting at 5 hours.
Mind you, I had to measure everything out and you don’t have to do that when you sign up for Blue Apron.
Plus you’re probably not going to have to stop every 30 seconds to style, shoot and reset the camera for a new photo.
I don’t think.
I made the Turkey Meatball recipe and it made 2 huge servings, one of which I took over to Betty because I’m building up good daughter points so she buys me a good Christmas present. A pair of Gucci shoes made out of money for instance.
Once the ingredients are prepped for the Spicy Hoisin Turkey Meatballs you get to start making meatballs.
The recipe called for a certain amount of Panko bread crumbs, but I happen to like a few more in my meatballs so I added more. You can do that. The Blue Apron fairies aren’t going to crawl out of the box the food was delivered in and slap the breadcrumbs out of your hand. If you’re confident cooking, just do what you want to do. If you aren’t … follow the recipe, at least the first time you make it.
This recipe for Spicy Hoisin Turkey Meatballs portions 7 meatballs a person! Per meal! 7 of them! Your belly will be full of balls.
Looking good so far? Liking it? Good. Because there’s a discount to Blue Apron coming up for you.
Maybe this will sway you …
A couple of hours after I brought Betty over her bowl, she called me saying how much she loved this. LOVED it. Her only complaint was she’d like a bit more sauce for the rice. She wanted saucy rice. That would just be a matter of making a bit more sauce and putting it on the rice, so no big whoop there.
As I type this it’s the day after I made the Blue Apron recipe and I’m really wishing I hadn’t given my second portion to Betty. I could have had it for dinner tonight.
But that’s what good daughters who want good Christmas presents do. They give of themselves and their food.
And as we all know, nothing says I love you, like a ball of meat.
Interested in becoming a Blue Apron subscriber and having boxes of ingredients and recipes delivered to your door? The Art of Doing Stuff readers get 3 meals for free when they sign up.
PLUS, if you signed up for Blue Apron last time, let me know how you like it. What’s great about it. What you’d change. And how many times you’ve made meatballs.
Hmmm . . . so many zucchini you’ll be forced to use in unusual ways?? Do tell . . .
Sorry, just could not resist. Not.
OMG, Looking fierce with that meat cleaver sister. Something wicked behind that smile. ROAR!!!
I am single and this method of cooking creates less waste, helps me with portion control and keeps me from pretending a tub of ice cream or a pkg. of potato chips is a reasonable substitute for a healthy meal. But because Blue Apron isn’t available in Canada I use a similar but alternative service. Hint. Hint.
Hi Karen! I signed up for Blue Apron the first time around and am on my sixth week of meals. I am single so I get the two person plan and have meals for almost every day of the week! I really like not having to go to the grocery store for food, just paper towels, etc. The meals honestly take under an hour to make. And saving that time, plus thinking about dinner, and shopping for dinner saves me a ton of time. So I took up Salza lessons…for real! The ingredients are generally fresh. I’ve had some issues with their leafy vegetables going bad in the week, so now I rinse them when they arrive and put them in my own container. Better luck there. Thanks for the idea! My taste buds are in heaven!
I loooove meatballs. I make Asian turkey meatballs with a Asian-ish coleslaw (rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, ginger, sesame oil, whatever else is on hand) and it’s so good. The other day I made Greek meatballs to eat inside pita pockets with tzatziki and feta and red onions which was also delicious. Sadly, my husband thinks that most meatballs aren’t worth the trouble and would be better served up as a burger or just as ground beef/turkey. Apparently he has no love for the mid-sized meatball.
The necklace of meatballs reminded me of one of my favorite cartoon characters Wilma Flintstone. She sported a choker reminiscent of that only it was white and not made of meat. Just a thought!
I did order Blue Apron mostly because of your comments about getting out of a food rut.
Upon delivery, there were a few immediate negative issues. The short story is that I was dissatisfied with the packaging, poor financial security, and poor customer service.
The food was good, the recipes were good, I liked the laminated recipe cards. One of the recipes was so good I have used it twice since, and I now have bottles in my refrigerator of Black Bean Garlic Sauce, and [Korean] Gochujang Hot Sauce. No more food rut! J
I really wish Blue Apron had a Canadian distributor – I would sign up for this service in a heart beat I have read about them on other blogs – if you go on vacation in the US they will even ship a box to your vacation place if you order it !! I love cooking, but like doing other things – my husband dislikes cooking but loves trying new foods – this service would be great for him too, and I could be doing other things ;) Thanks for sharing – btw I purchased Cattails Mason Jar lids about a year ago when I renovated my kitchen and I still love them.
The meal looked absolutely delish!! On your right hand, ‘the ring’! tell me about that, please! : )
I saw the link and say Thank You, again :) I think I need those Asian turkey meatballs in my life very soon, with extra sauce for the rice!
It was love at 1st sight when you introduced me to Blue Apron! I’ve been ordering for over a month and love it! Yay you and Yay Blue Apron!
Glad to see you removed those monster sized rings as you played with your meatballs. Who knows what listeria lurks in the crevices of those finger decorators!!
We’ve been grilling a lot of hamburgers lately so I may check out what Blue Apron has for grillin’ meatballs. Anyone got a recipe to share?
I’m so excited! I picked these meatballs for my Blue Apron delivery tomorrow! Can’t wait to try them!
Those look wonderful. I think I’ll grab the recipe because — Hello, Canadian! Nice job on the food styling there, Karen.
I listen to a podcast that is sponsored by Blue Apron and the recipes sound so mouth-watering. Unfortunately, (in this case) we live in Canada and aren’t able to try it out. I will check out their website – thanks for reminding me about the ensuing zucchini onslaught.
I used to live in NYC and Blue Apron was AWESOME. Perfectly proportioned for a single gal who loved to cook but didnt always want to shop after a day in the bustle. Blue Apron gives delicious and easy but still unique and tasty dishes and the recipes are easy enough for my friends who didnt really know what a stove was for to use :). Blue Apron made cooks out of people who used the stove to store shoes (they did take the shoes out first, at least after the first time).
It is economical when you figure that nothing goes to waste AND it is automatic portion control :) Though you COULD eat all of it in one go, you cant eat 7 helpings :)
Cheerios!!
I just signed up for Blue Apron. Since I live alone (empty nest), I figure I can get 6 meals out of a box. I’m good with leftovers and these will be fancier leftovers than usual! The first 3 recipes look and sound scrumptious. We shall see..
I LOVE Blue Apron……..
Yes, everything is recyclable and they pay for return shipping if you want to send the ice packs back to them. I’ve done it for about 2 months now and even though I love the service I am about to try some of their competitors. Some of the others services offer more variety of meal plans…….like gluten free and paleo. Most of the others are also more expensive.
I will report back after I’ve tried several more.
Thanks Nancee! ~ karen
Sounds really great! Is any of the packaging recyclable? That would be a deal breaker for me.
Funny you should mention that Laurie … They just started offering their own recycling program. ~ karen!
Okay… How did you take the picture of your hands crushing the garlic? Did you hold the camera in your mouth or something?!
Also, I want to be eating those meatballs now. They look amazing.
:) I use a tripod with a delay remote Katie C. ~ karen!
Nice nail colour! I live too far out for any of these services to apply to me :-( I still continue to freshen up my meals though from your last Blue Apron post/challenge.
I have used Blue Apron in the past. I love cooking, I love interesting food and this fits that bill. The ingredients are fresh and even in the Texas Summer heat, everything arrived perfectly chilled and packaged.
The recipes are interesting and tasty! Everything you need, including spices, oils and vinegars comes with each recipe. While the DH and I love interesting, tasty food, there is no way in hell my teens would eat kale slaw, baked fish and ratatouille. :(. While they’re palates are a bit more adventurous than, say, Mac n cheese and chicken fingers, we found that many of these recipes are just not super kid friendly. The meals take a bit longer than 40 minutes, on average, but I think that’s because I was reading an unfamiliar recipe. And because I cook, I have a fairly robust spice, oil and vinegar arsenal, so oftentimes the tiny packets of spices etc would g by the wayside. There’s not much cuter than a tiny bottle of tobasco sauce though.
TL:DR. If you love food but hate the grocery store, this is a great service. If you have kiddos, you may need to modify the recipes based on your kid’s weekly/daily changing taste buds. I thought the pricing was very reasonable, and the ingredients were fresh and perfectly proportioned. I would use again. Once the boys leave for college and a diet of delivery pizza and burritos.
Thanks for the info KariMcD! ~ karen
I signed up for the service. The $30 discount off the first week is nice. Hopefully the food will be edible. I also used a credit card which gives 5% cash back so that’s a nice discount too. I’ll give it a try and leave you a know.
Thx Maria! ~ karen
In the late ’70s I worked at a pizza place. I was the prep cook, and everything there was made from scratch. Including the meatballs, for meatball hoagies. (Since you mentioned meatballs, I get to tell my only meatball story.) I lost my job there unexpectedly, so I didn’t get to write the meatball recipe down, and I don’t remember the quantities, but it started with 10 lbs of ground beef. And: 10 eggs, salt, pepper, chopped green pepper, garlic powder, cracker meal, chopped onions, oregano, and the secret ingredient: unflavored soda water (maybe about 16 oz.?). This would all be mixed up together, and rolled into balls, and placed on pizza pans and baked in the pizza oven. See! I know you have a pizza oven outback, Karen! The reason for the soda water is that it fizzed while they baked, and made light, fluffy meat balls! You, Karen, are the most likely person I know to use this top secret meatball information. And I’ve been waiting 39 years to pass it on. May it serve you well.
LOL!!! I feel very honoured to have been bestowed the secret meatball information. And yes. I will try it. The rest of the recipe sounds pretty much like a basic meatball recipe (other than the green pepper) so I’ll give it a shot! ~ karen
Karen, I think you should try anything but green peppers as they are more bitter. Substitute red for a better
not bitter taste!
We always add finely shredded carrot to the mix. Extra veg. snuck in for the child and it makes the meatballs extra moist. Win win. Next time I’m gonna try the soda water!
I really want to do Blue Apron or something like it because I love/hate to cook and hate to find out a grocery store is out of lemon grass and now I get to go to another M#*+~F~¥?!? store in all this M#*+~F~¥?!? traffic.
And I want close to no carbs as possible. I have become one of those PIA people, I’m afraid. So, I sit around eating stringy cheese sticks and pecans and reading about delicious food. But my lipid profile is pretty fabulous. Trade offs.
Ah what I would do to have a service like that in South Africa!!
Would make cooking meals for my now husband so much easier!!
Those balls look very very yummy – will have to grab the recipe off the website!
I want to go to sleep but had to check your post. The picture of the meatball bowl is MAKING ME SO HUNGRY. That is some pretty cool styling you got going on.
Thank you ma’am. ~ karen!
I use fresh city farms in Toronto Area … the recipes I’ve tried were really good and they made big servings so I got more than just 2 meals for the week and everything is measured out and cut up and really well wrapped – great spice packages + herbs – just enough for the recipe … Ther’s s lot to be said for getting just enough groceries and not having to worry about having too much wasted … Those meatball recipes sound perfectly delicious https://www.freshcityfarms.com/store/bags
So disappointed this service isn’t in Canada. When I saw you posting about it my heart leapt with joy because I thought this meant they were finally available in Canada. Boo!
Any chance this collaboration means their considering the Canadian market?
And as a P.S. these pictures are great and your hair looks amazing.
Thanks Laura. At least the 5 hours were worth it, lol. ~ karen!