I’ve been a ButcherBox customer for a little over a year now. 12 monthly subscription boxes in, and I’m really enjoying my experience with it. In this ButcherBox review article, I’ll explain why I began using ButcherBox in the first place, how it’s been going, what I like about it, what I don’t like about it, and why it may or may not be a good fit for you.
After personally experiencing ButcherBox for myself, I was impressed enough with the company to become an affiliate. That means, if you click the links in this article and make a purchase through them, I will receive a small affiliate commission. Regardless, all opinions are mine and based on my own personal experience and I only recommend products or services that I believe will truly add value to my readers!
What is ButcherBox?
ButcherBox is a meat subscription service offering some of the highest quality meats. You create an account online, choose your subscription plan, meat cuts, etc., and the meats get mailed to you in an insulated, eco-friendly box with dry-ice [if necessary] to keep everything cold. By cold, I mean frozen. These meats are all frozen to maintain their freshness and make them safe for shipping.
All ButcherBox products contain NO antibiotics or added hormones ever, and are humanely raised. The beef is 100% grass-fed and finished, and pasture-raised. The pork is Heritage Breed, raised without crates. ButcherBox’s chicken is free range, USDA certified organic. The bacon is sourced from heritage breed pigs, is uncured, nitrate-free and sugar-free. The seafood is all wild-caught. A big 👍 to all of this!
Why I Started Using ButcherBox
Before finally giving ButcherBox a try, the company had been on my radar for a while. I considered trying a few times, but when it came time to putting in my credit card info and actually subscribing, I’d cancel out. Spending $150 on a box of meat seemed like too much money and too much of a commitment at the time.
Then, the pandemic came. Do you remember at the beginning of the mess, when the grocery store shelves were bare? It was hard to find meat, let alone the good quality, pasture-raised/grass-fed/organic meat. It was also hard to make it to the grocery store with a baby and a toddler!
In September 2020, I got a promo email from ButcherBox offering free ground beef for life (hello!) [click here to see what offer they have going on now], and decided it was probably a better time than ever to join in on this thing. We love tacos in our house.. they’re on our menu practically weekly, so ground beef has always been on my shopping list. It was a good promo to catch my attention.
So, before diving in, I did a pound-for-pound comparison of what I was spending already at the grocery store. I pulled out my recent grocery store receipts and the weekly store flyer, and tallied up everything I was spending on meat. After doing the math, I determined that ButcherBox would cost me about $10-15 more a month than I was paying at my local grocery store, for the same amount of meat. But, I knew that I would be getting better quality meat, wouldn’t have to venture to the grocery store as often with the kids, and I’d be saving fuel money from taking fewer trips. All of these factors were very much worth the small extra cost.
Just 2 days after signing up and purchasing my first box, the package was delivered to my doorstep. It was like getting big cardboard cooler in the mail… the boxes are insulated with recycled paper/cardboard and dry ice is bagged inside with all the frozen meat.
My ButcherBox Review
Here are what I’ve found to be the pros and the cons of ButcherBox.
The Pros:
- High quality
- Humane
- Great taste
- Convenient
- Flexibility and ease to change cuts/bill date/delivery date
- Always free shipping
- Delivered to your door
- Eco friendly packaging
- They usually offer an excellent deal at sign on (like free meat)
- Great value for the quality
- Easy to cancel any time
The Cons:
- More expensive than conventional meat (Though I definitely recommend avoiding conventional meat)
- The vacuum sealed plastic packaging the meat is in tends to easily break due to the cold temperatures
- Each meat cut of the same type gets packaged together, and has to be cut with scissors to separate (ie. one ground beef package it connected to the other ground beef package, and has to be cut to be separated) [see picture above]
- The need to thaw meat prior to cooking
From my very first experience with ButcherBox on, I’ve been a happy customer. I love the eco friendly packaging, the great quality meat, the taste, and the convenience. I also love the fact that I’m supporting great farms with humane practices!
As I’ve written above in the cons list, one issue that I’ve run into is that the plastic vacuum sealed packaging gets so cold that it easily breaks. It’s not an issue when the meat’s in the frozen state, but when it’s thawed, there can definitely be leakage. The first time this happened, I had raw meat juice seep out of the package onto my refrigerator shelf. Yuck! Now though, any time I take a cut out to thaw, I make sure to put it in a bowl. I’m not sure if anything can be done about this on the part of the company, but it’s a good thing to be aware of.
Personally for my family, we get the Custom Classic Box. I find it to be the perfect size for our family of two adults and two kids. It’s always just enough meat to last us through our 4 week rotation, until the next box shows up. Some of my favorite things ordered from ButcherBox are the whole chicken (comes out so good in the InstantPot!), chicken breasts, boneless chicken thighs (love using the breasts OR the thighs for this chicken soup recipe), chicken tenders, ground beef, burgers, brisket, eye of round roast, sirloin steaks, pork chops, bacon, wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon, salmon burgers, and the scallops!
Who ButcherBox May Be a Good Fit For
If you’re someone who knows the benefits of good quality, humanely raised meat, and wants to avoid factory farmed meat, I think ButcherBox is a great option. For anyone who shops for meat at a grocery store and finds that the selection quality and quantity are limited, ButcherBox can be a really great alternative. Also, for anyone who wants to reduce the time spent in a grocery store, ButcherBox definitely offers that luxury. It comes with lots of ease and a ton of convenience.
Who ButcherBox May NOT Be a Good Fit For
If you already buy your meat from a local farm or farmers market, or from a local store that sources their meat from a local farm, and you’re happy with it, I think that’s a great thing to keep doing. As long as the farms practice the same humane methods of taking care of their animals, offer the quality of grass-fed, pasture raised, free-range, organic, etc., I think it’s great to continue supporting those farmers!
All in all, I love using ButcherBox and I think it’s 100% worth the cost. I love getting an entire months’ supply of meat, and not have to worry about running out. It has definitely made things easier on me when it comes to shopping and cooking. When first considering ButcherBox, the fact that the meats were frozen didn’t really appeal to me… I wasn’t sure how that would affect the taste and texture, but I haven’t found it to be an issue at all. Everything I’ve had has tasted great, and I haven’t found there to be any difference in the cooked quality of frozen vs not. Just always let the meat thaw prior to cooking, unless (like the burgers) it specifically says to cook frozen. 😉
If you’re ready to give ButcherBox a try, click here to check the best deal that ButcherBox is currently offering. I hope you found this ButcherBox review helpful, and if you dive in, I hope you love your experience!
As a ButcherBox affiliate, if you click the links in this article and make a purchase through them, I will receive a small affiliate commission. Regardless, all opinions are mine and based on my own personal experience and I only recommend products or services that I believe will truly add value to my readers!