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Oct 01, 2023

Best Meat Subscription Boxes of 2023

ButcherBox offers the best selection for meat subscription boxes We

ButcherBox offers the best selection for meat subscription boxes

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Does the idea of receiving a delivery box full of hand-butchered steaks and chops each month sound appealing? Cue the meat delivery subscription box, a wonderful way to keep your kitchen stocked with your favorite proteins, try a new style or cut of meat, and spice up your dinner routine. Whether you are a beef jerky aficionado and crave a monthly fix of cured meat or you love a good splurge and want to sink your teeth into an award-winning Japanese A5 Wagyu steak, there is a meat delivery subscription box for you. Read on to discover our seven favorites.

ButcherBox takes pride in providing accessible, high-quality meat and seafood at a reasonable cost. In addition to sourcing foods that uphold strict animal welfare standards, this company is dedicated to supporting racial equity among farmers and fishermen and focuses on sustainability as well as environmental and charitable giving initiatives.

Pros

Cons

ButcherBox offers great subscription flexibility and plenty of boxes to choose from. Customers begin by selecting from a custom, curated, or basic plan. With the custom plan, your box will contain tried-and-true favorites from over 25 protein options. The curated plan lets you choose your proteins but not the type of cuts, and seafood is not included. The basic plan consists of smaller protein portions selected by ButcherBox butchers and is geared towards smaller households.

After choosing a plan, you select a box size–classic or big–and the subscription frequency of four, six, or eight weeks. You also pick the combination of protein in your box, such as beef, chicken, pork, or all beef, and there is an option to add on extra proteins, such as ground beef, burgers, or sausages.

Items arrive portioned and frozen in an eco-friendly delivery box. Shipping is always free, and you can cancel your subscription at any time.

Craving double-cut Kurobuta bacon or dry-rub barbecue ribs from a North Carolina smokehouse? Now you can get your bacon and barbecue fix thanks to a Goldbelly subscription. Each month, enjoy a unique variety of meats from the nation's top butchers.

Pros

Cons

When it comes to variety, Goldbelly is our top choice. The famed gourmet mail order delivery service offers curated subscriptions, like a bacon-only plan and a barbecue club. Goldbelly sources from across the country, so you can order finds like bacon from Snake River Farms, Central BBQ's dry-rub ribs, or Snow's famous ribs and sausages. Shipments are sent monthly; you can choose from a subscription duration of three months or six months, and shipping is free.

Porter Road procures pasture-raised meat and poultry from small, family-operated farms. If you want hand-cut meats but don't have access to a local butcher shop, Porter Road may be for you.

Pros

Cons

Porter Road butcher shop was founded by two friends who were determined to make reasonably-priced, humanely-raised meats widely accessible. The company prides itself on only sourcing from farms that adhere to strict sustainability and humane meat husbandry practices.

Customers can select from an assortment of five curated boxes, such as the Butcher's Choice box or the Weeknight Heroes box. Delivery preferences can be set for two, four, or eight weeks, and there are also options for add-ons, such as hot dogs, bone-in chicken breasts, pork spare ribs, and seasoning salts. Most meat is shipped fresh rather than frozen (depending on location) and is sent using sustainable packaging.

For those who love assembling a charcuterie board, consider Carnivore Club, a service focused entirely on cured meats and jerkies. It's an excellent choice for on-the-go snacking or creating a cheese board that is sure to impress.

Pros

Cons

Carnivore Club curates and sources cured meats, jerkies, and charcuterie from around the world. With four different snack boxes options–such as Snack box and Jerky club–subscribers receive a new selection of artisanal meat-based snacks and goodies each month. From Spanish jamon to chorizo to American jerky, you can try new cured meats every other month or on a quarterly basis.

In addition to the subscribe-and-save model, you can shop for other curated gifts and sets, such as a Wild Game meat sampler or a charcuterie serving board and knife set.

If you covet the unique marbling of an exclusive Japanese Wagyu or a luscious grass-fed New York strip steak, you can now enjoy these delicacies at home, no reservations required. Crowd Cow partners with trusted global purveyors to send meat and seafood lovers restaurant-quality proteins minus the steakhouse markup.

Pros

Cons

Crowd Cow offers carnivore lovers high-quality meats that have been hand-selected and taste-tested to ensure optimal quality. The service has both a curated best sellers box option and a build-your-own custom box. The Best of Crowd Cow uses a mix of best-selling proteins, such as steaks, bacon, chicken, and sustainably-caught seafood. The Crowd Cow team assembles the box and alerts customers with an email or text that it's time to review theshipment. You can customize cuts, swap proteins, or approve the selection before the shipment is processed. If you prefer, the custom box lets you select your protein preferences from Crowd Cow's online marketplace, where you can choose from an impressive selection of meats, sides, desserts, and seasonings.

Proteins are vacuum-sealed and sent packed in dry ice to ensure they arrive frozen. With the subscription program, delivery is defaulted to monthly shipments, but you can specify delivery days, control frequency, and cancel your subscription in your account settings.

Good Chop is a one-stop source for everything from bone-in pork ribeye chops to pork tenderloin. All of their pork is pasture-raised, and you can also find other sustainably-sourced meat and seafood products on their site.

Pros

Cons

If you want to know where your pork is coming from, Good Chop is our top choice. All of its meats are sourced from U.S. farms that adhere to strict farming and agriculture practices. Pigs and hogs are raised in climate-controlled barns and fed a vegetarian diet and farmers are trained in animal welfare wellbeing and Pork Quality Assurance Plus practices.

Good Chop has a medium and large box subscription model. The medium box is geared towards smaller households with about 36 portions of meat, while the large box is great for bigger households, featuring 72 portions of protein per box. Both are fully customizable. Choices include beef, chicken, pork, and seafood. Meats and seafood are frozen at peak freshness and shipped with dry ice. Shipments are sent monthly, but you can pause and skip your subscription as you please.

If eating organic is important to you, then you may appreciate a subscription from Greensbury. This mom-and-pop meat delivery company takes pride in sourcing from certified USDA organic farmers and ranchers.

Pros

Cons

For over a decade, Greensbury has been a leader in the grass-fed, grass-finished meat movement. Greensbury partners exclusively with farms that adhere to strict sustainable and organic practices. Livestock roam freely outdoors, are fed an organic diet, and all proteins are audited twice to ensure quality.

Using a subscribe-and-save model, customers can save 5 percent from several subscription boxes or packs. Greensbury offers four subscription boxes, and each shipment has a range of 15 to 25 portions of proteins.You can choose to have your deliveries sent every four, six, or eight weeks.

The company also offers 13 types of packs or bundles, such as the breakfast sampler pack or the organic grass-fed beef sampler. Packs and bundles can be shipped weekly, monthly, every two months, or quarterly. All meats and poultry are organic, and the seafood is wild- and sustainably-caught. Proteins are flash-frozen and will stay fresh in your freezer for up to a year.

Not only does ButcherBox offer grass-fed and grass-finished beef, free-range organic chicken, and wild-caught seafood, but the company takes pride in sustainable agricultural and fishing initiatives and fair labor practices. With plenty of subscription boxes to choose from, customers can enjoy a variety of meats and cuts each month. ButcherBox subscriptions are also very flexible; you can choose your delivery frequency, and shipping is always free.

Meat subscription boxes offer customers recurring deliveries of butcher-quality meats to their front door. Depending on the service, meat subscription companies may create custom packages of meat and various cuts, grades, and styles, or let the customer build their own package. Having a meat delivery subscription is a great way to both sample new proteins and savor your tried-and-true favorites.

When subscribing to a meat delivery service, you will select the preferred type of subscription package and shipping frequency. There may be an opportunity to add on additional proteins, seafoods, sides, and desserts. Count on inputting your credit card payment details, confirming your delivery details, and placing your order. Your subscription will arrive in a matter of days and, in some cases, overnight. Depending on the service, your proteins will either be fresh or flash-frozen, and will need to be refrigerated or placed in the freezer immediately upon receipt of delivery.

Not sure how to cook your protein or just need some inspiration? Many meat delivery companies feature free cooking tips, resources, and recipes on their website.

If you are a carnivore who appreciates having meat delivered on a recurring basis, then subscribing to a meat delivery subscription box may be worth it. While some meat subscription services may cost more than visiting your local supermarket, the quality, grade, and styles of meat can be worth the splurge. Plus, investing in a meat subscription box is probably more cost effective than going out to a high-end steakhouse.

Many meat subscription boxes offer customers high-quality, premium meats that are sourced from family-run farmers and ranchers, ensuring high animal welfare standards. You may be introduced to a cut of meat that normally wouldn't be available at your local grocery store. Additionally, many meat delivery services offer special discount options, rewards programs, or sales promotions, which help cut down on costs.

Depending on the meat subscription box you choose, you will have the option to build your own box or select from a curated meat delivery box. Many services have preselected boxes, while other services let you build as you go. While many services may hand-select the meat in each shipment, several services let the customer pick their proteins.

Yes, you can cancel, though each service may vary slightly in how it handles cancellations. Some services enable the customer to control the subscription via their online account. Others may ask you to reach out to customer service for the company to cancel the subscription.

Our team independently reviewed over 30 online meat delivery services. Researchers looked at many factors, including the variety of meat delivery offerings, pricing, animal welfare standards, shipping fees and timelines, delivery areas, customer service, and gift options. After careful review, our team identified which meat delivery subscription services were best for a variety of categories.