- Like
- Digg
- Del
- Tumblr
- VKontakte
- Buffer
- Love This
- Odnoklassniki
- Meneame
- Blogger
- Amazon
- Yahoo Mail
- Gmail
- AOL
- Newsvine
- HackerNews
- Evernote
- MySpace
- Mail.ru
- Viadeo
- Line
- Comments
- Yummly
- SMS
- Viber
- Telegram
- Subscribe
- Skype
- Facebook Messenger
- Kakao
- LiveJournal
- Yammer
- Edgar
- Fintel
- Mix
- Instapaper
- Copy Link
I really feel that a meat delivery service like ButcherBox that delivers 100% grass-fed beef, free range organic chicken and heritage breed pork directly to your door is one of the best way to get high-quality meat these days.
I won’t beat around the bush here. This is my honest Butcherbox review. I’ve been a Butcherbox member for many years now and I’ve only had great service, high-quality meat, and on-time delivery. That is why I’ve chosen to write this review and to also become an affiliate, in order to share my experience with others who might also like this type of subscription meat service.
🥳New customers to ButcherBox get 2 lbs of 100% grass-fed and finished ground beef in every box for the life of your membership.! SIGN UP HERE
Whenever people ask me if ButcherBox is worth it, I say a resounding YES! In this review, I will lay out the reasons I believe that and why I continue to be a member after more than 3 years.
If you’ve tried any of the beef or chicken recipes on this site, you know I’m always talking about ButcherBox. Most of the meat I use in my cooking comes from them, including chicken, beef, pork, ribs, fish, and more.
Why I Think ButcherBox is Worth It
- The meat comes from farms that are transparent about their practices, so you can be confident about what you’re eating. And isn’t that what we’re all looking for?
- They have great deals and specials that drop into my inbox regularly (weekly, if not more), so there’s always new ways to save or stock up on Butcherbox meats.
- Everything I’ve ever received has been the highest-quality, well-packaged, and delivered on time.
- The meat is portioned well. For instance, the pork chops come 2 per pack, the ground beef is in 1 pound packs, the cod is individually packaged.
- The Butcher Box customer service has been great. I’ve heard people say they’ve had trouble with orders, but I’ve never experienced that myself in over 50 deliveries.
You can start a new membership here.
What is ButcherBox?
ButcherBox was started by Mike Salguero who wanted to make grass-fed beef (and now heritage-bred pork and organic chicken) accessible for everyone to purchase, not just those who have access to a farm, or a grocery that stocks it.
Did you know that only 1% of the beef consumed in the United States is grass-fed? ButcherBox’s meat is not just grass fed. All of their animals are humanely raised and free of antibiotics and added hormones. It’s a game changer for your health and your table.
ButcherBox believes in making the planet a better place, improving the lives of animals and the livelihood of farmers. If those are things you want too, then this is a great way to start making a difference.
All of their meat comes from animals that were humanely raised on a farm with sustainable practices.
How Does Butcher Box Work?
When you sign up for ButcherBox, you will get a box of meat delivered at the frequency of your choice (every 2 weeks, every 4 weeks, etc). The meat is delivered to your door, frozen and on ice in an insulated, recyclable box. Shipping is free.
There are 2 options to choose from currently. They are:
- Custom plan
- 9 – 14 lbs of high quality meat
- Free shipping, cancel anytime
- Choose your type of meat
- Choose your specific cuts of meat
- Options for seafood & more
- Curated plan
- 8.5 – 11 lbs of high quality meat
- Free shipping, cancel anytime
- Choose your type of meat
Below is a picture of a box I recently received, with steaks, ground beef, pork loin, and chicken. I chose the cuts I received in this box. NO surprises. Every time I get these cuts, they look exactly the same. Always packaged the same, always weighing the same.
How Much is ButcherBox?
A curated box starts at $129 a month. A custom box starts at $149 a month. It “starts at” because you always have the option of adding on a few extras, which will increase the price.
This comes out to less than $6 per meal, which I think is a really great price for such high-quality meat. I’m hard pressed to find that price in the store for the same quality. So for me, the cost is not an issue. Plus they are always running specials and deals that help cut down on cost as well.
If you’re used to getting all of your meat at Costco, you won’t be able to match the price with Butcherbox. It’s more expensive, but it’s also the price you pay for buying direct from farmers.
Custom Boxes
The custom box was created for those who want to choose their meats, in case you want something specific or need to stock up on certain things. For the classic box you select 6 things and for the big box, you select 12, from things like ground beef, ribeyes, boneless pork chops, wild-caught gulf shrimp, etc.
- Classic box with 9-14 pounds of meat – starting at $169 or a big box (18-26 lbs) for $306.
- 12 additional extras you can add on, if you want.
Curated Boxes
If you choose a curated box, the cuts of meat will be chosen for you. They select a well-balanced assortment of easy-to-cook foods, like chicken breasts, and a few interesting cuts, like Denver steak. You can select beef, pork and chicken or beef and pork, or beef and chicken.
- Classic box with 8-10 pounds of quality meat (enough for 24 meals) – $146.
- Big box with 16-22 pounds of meat (enough for 48 meals) – $269.
- 12 additional items you can add on, if desired.
What Cuts of Meat are Included?
Below is a sampling of the cuts you can expect to receive. Of course, you won’t get every cut of meat every time in curated boxes. You’ll receive a mix of things, depending on the options you choose. If you want to always choose your own cuts, be sure to go with the custom box.
- Beef: bottom round roast, flat iron, filet mignon, ground, ribeye, steak tips, tomahawk steak, pot roast, meatloaf
- Pork: bacon, pork chop, ground, butt, ribs (St. Louis and baby back), tenderloin, carnitas, bratwurst, pulled pork, Italian sausage, uncured hot dogs.
- Chicken: breast, drumstick, tenders, thighs (boneless and bone-in), whole chicken, wings.
- Turkey: Ground turkey, whole turkey
- Seafood: salmon, scallops, sablefish, shrimp, lobster, cod, salmon patties, halibut
- Addons: Crab legs, bone broth, ground bison, charcuterie, cheese, smoothies
Why Choose ButcherBox Meat Subscription?
The reasons I choose a service like ButcherBox is convenience and quality. Those two things are my top priority, so this is absolutely the way to go for me.
You might be considering other reasons and want to know how ButcherBox stacks up. So I’ll go over the main reasons you might choose this service below.
Butcherbox Quality
I have always been apprehensive about purchasing meat at the grocery when I don’t know where it comes from or how it was raised.
Perhaps you already have a source of high-quality meat that you trust, but if you don’t then ButcherBox is a great place to start. All of their products are humanely raised or wild-caught, and they’re never given antibiotics or added hormones. I’ve never questioned Butcherbox quality. I’ve never received anything that I’ve had to question.
I’ve also been very satisfied with the appearance and taste of the meat. The cuts are generous, the meat tastes good, and it cooks well. These are all important quality measures for me in determining if it’s worth it. I actually get really excited when I pull a ButcherBox steak out of the freezer.
Convenience
There’s really no easier way to source meat that to have it delivered automatically to your door. I do still purchase some meat from the grocery or a local butcher, when I need something specific, but otherwise there’s no need to think about purchasing other meat.
Once you’ve ironed out the type of box that fits you best, and the frequency of delivery, you’ll be able to forget all about purchasing meat. It just shows up. If there’s a time when you don’t need the box (for vacation or something) you can always skip a delivery in your online account.
Price
For a meat subscription to be worth it, there has to be good value in the box, not just high-quality meats, but good deals and specials offered that can cut the cost of buying meat. I mean, why be a member if you don’t get the products and value that you expect.
If price is one of your main concerns, you might want to do a bit of comparison shopping with the meat you’re currently purchasing to see if ButcherBox is a good deal for you.
For the quality of the meat, to me the price is worth it. It comes out to around $4.97 per meal on average. I’ve found that for the same quality (humanely raised, grass-fed, organic, hormone-free meat), the price is on par with what I can get elsewhere. Add in the time and gas it takes to go to the store to purchase it, and ButcherBox comes out ahead.
This might not be the case where you are, so you’ll have to do a little homework to see how the price looks to you.
One bit of good news: they don’t charge for shipping!
Taste
Taste is obviously one of the most important factors, too. I find a lot of meat to be lacking in flavor and either fatty or watery. These are not complaints I’ve ever made about ButcherBox meat.
- The chicken I’ve received has always been tender and well-trimmed. It’s plump and juicy when cooked, but not fully of water that has to cook down.
- The steaks from ButcherBox are one of my favorite cuts. They’re impressively sized, robust cuts. The flavor is restaurant quality, in my opinion.
- The heritage-breed pork has a slow maturation process, so they develop the fine marbling and great flavor that nature intended them to have. If you like bacon, get ready for ButcherBox’s delicious bacon!
Want to try ButcherBox? Click here to sign up!
Packaging
I’ve recently been trying to avoid excess trips to the grocery store, so my freezer has been looking a bit like a Tetris game. It dawned on me how much I appreciate ButcherBox’s minimal packaging, because it’s very streamlined, with no extra bulk. This makes fitting things into the freezer much easier.
Yes, it’s still shrink wrapped in plastic, which I don’t love, but I also don’t think there’s an alternative at the moment, so I deal with it.
The box is recyclable and the other packing materials are biodegradable or recyclable.
You Can Cancel Anytime
With subscriptions, I think the main worry is that you might not be able to cancel at any time you choose, that you might be roped into more than you want, or that you can’t pause your subscription during vacation or when you don’t think you need it. None of that is a worry with ButcherBox.
There isn’t a set amount of time you must stay on the service, so if at any time you want to cancel, you can; even after your first shipment, if you find it isn’t for you.
You can also pause your subscription if you’re going to be away, or just need a temporary break. You do all of these things easily with one click in your account page.
The only thing you can’t do is shrink your order. My household only has 2 members. Sometimes I feel like we have too much meat from the previous box and wish I could get a half order instead. The classic box is as small as they come. However, when this happens, I just pause my subscription until I need it again.
Final Thoughts on ButcherBox Meat Delivery
If you’re looking for meat that is humanely raised, antibiotics and added-hormone free, then I can’t recommend ButcherBox highly enough. The whole experience has been easy, reliable, and high-quality. Is Butcher Box worth it? I definitely think so.
I don’t think you’ll regret giving it a try. Best case scenario, you fall in love with it like I did. Worst case, you’re out one order and a little bit of your time. You can cancel right away if you’re not happy. I’m pretty convinced you will be, though. It’s a good value.
Don’t have time right now? Pin it for later.
Laura is a home cook, with 25 years experience behind the stove, who spends an extraordinary amount of time in the kitchen cooking. She loves making new recipes and finding wonderful new things to eat, both at home or abroad. She spends a lot of time researching, crafting, and perfecting her recipes and currently has a cookbook in development.
Hi Patrick. They do offer the option of a customized box where you choose what’s in the box. You could choose only ground beef.
ButcherBox informed us that the custom box still starts at $149 and can go up in price based on what you’ve elected to have in it.
I’m sorry you’ve had that experience, Shawn. We’ve never had freezer burned or water-logged meat in a Butcherbox. It’s always been very high-quality.
I would hope that that a customer service rep would provide their contact info and seek more info, rather than praising how great their product is and just leaving it at that.
Probly not even an authorized purchaser. There are ppl that make a living giving bad reviews, unsubstantiated
I purchased and received my first and only box about a month ago, we cancelled after how fatty the meat was. I really wanted this to be good because of it’s convenience but we did not get good quality cuts of meat. If you need me to show a receipt to prove I was an “authorized purchaser” I can do so.
I couldn’t agree more. It’s a shame but, unfortunately, it’s also very true. The one thing that this world will never have a shortage of is the type of person who values money over honesty and ethics. (How low can you go?… and all that.)
I’m sorry to hear that Mercedes. I haven’t had that experience with the steak. I will ask Butcherbox what they say about this.
My chicken came in little pieces like left over pieces from something else. Dont even know what to do w these pieces of thighs?? We owned our own grocery store/ butcher shop for 30 yrs in Calif. I know what quailty meat is…this isnt
I’m sorry to hear that Carroll. Not all of their chicken is done that way. They do have diced chicken thighs, but also whole chicken breasts. I’ll pass along your feedback to the company.
we had the same experience. We now call it “butchered box” because the cuts all looked like a child cut them up. We tried a second box thinking that maybe there was a problem with the first box. Just as bad the 2nd time. The fish was great, but the beef and chicken were sad.
I agree! Complete waste of money. I get fresh Longhorn beef. Blows this away all day.
Same here. cannot get in touch with Butcher Box.
How do you like Good Chop?
Don’t worry too much about it. From the reviews I’ve been reading, this business doesn’t look like it’s going to be around long. Their QOS appears to leave a lot to be desired. Have a good day and thank your blessings for seeing what a bunch of “shrewdies” these folks obviously are. Have a good one!
I’ve been concerned about this because I used to do Omaha Steaks and I got the same thing with them. Not sure if I want to go down that same path with a new company. Your review was helpful.
I’m sorry to hear that. I’m surprised they aren’t being more helpful actually. I don’t agree that the meat is no better than store bought though. It’s definitely higher quality.
My wife and I are in the same bout. we used to order from them years ago when they 1st became known when we started keto. It was great but now in the past year or so the quality is undeniably a big step down. I personally wouldn’t recommend them anymore after many times of late getting poor quality and 1 time spoiled meat. We now get our meat from the local market since they started carrying grass finished beef.
There is a reason people are writing bad reviews. I’m sure they’re not lying. Why would they? I was going to ordera subscription for 4 guys for Father’s day, but too many bad reviews, and I don’t see a customer service phone number. I was all excited, but I’m not going to order now. No one would just make up a bad experience. They are obviously doing it to help others.
Linda, I’m sorry that the bad reviews have led you not to want to try Butcherbox. I have been using them for years and have never had any of the issues expressed by others here. The meat has always been high-quality and delivered on time and in great packaging. I do think that competitors can sometimes put out negative campaigns that’s what’s happening here.