Looking for really honest ButcherBox reviews or searching for ways to save money on high-quality meat? This is a really comprehensive post on what you can expect from Butcher Box and how to get the best deal when ordering. And don’t forget to check out the latest ButcherBox discount code to save on your first box!
{Note: This post is sponsored by ButcherBox, but all opinions are my own. Read our disclosure policy here.}
Psst! See all my other honest product reviews here.
Have you wanted to try ButcherBox but wish someone would do an honest review for you beforehand? Well, I got ya covered today!
ButcherBox reached out and asked if I’d be willing to try out the service and write an honest review of my experience.
As you well know with my honest review posts, I try to do my very best to give you a comprehensive overview of the product and service and my truthful thoughts on whether it is a good deal.
For those who might be unfamiliar with Butcher Box, they are a subscription service that sends a box of high-quality meat to your door every month.
ButcherBox Reviews: How Does It Work?
When you first sign up with ButcherBox, you can choose what kind of box you’d like for them to send. We’ve tried out a few different boxes in order to get a good feel for the type and quality of meat they offer.
You can choose between five different types of boxes:
- A custom box
- A mixed box (includes chicken, pork, and beef)
- A beef and pork box
- A beef and chicken box
- An all-beef box
I recommend doing a custom box because it allows you to customize the meat that they send and you are able to get exactly what you know you will use.
Once you choose which box you’d like, then you pick your monthly box size. You can choose between a Classic Box ($169/month) or a Big Box ($306/month). The price varies depending on which type of meat box you chose.
After you’ve chosen your box size, then you can customize exactly what they will send you. I like that you can see exactly what your options are and you can figure out how to get the best bang for your buck!
Then, just input your payment information and you’re done. (Psst! You might wait a bit on the payment page, because an offer should pop up to add free bacon to your box if you do!)
Is The Meat High Quality?
ButcherBox is very committed to offering some of the highest-quality meat on the market. They pride themselves on having some of the highest standards for sourcing, sustainability, and taste.
No meat from Butcher Box will ever have added hormones or antibiotics. (Note: Federal regulations prohibit the use of hormones in pork and the use of hormones or steroids in poultry.)
In addition, ButcherBox animals are only humanely raised. Here are some more details on the packaging in our latest box…
Is The Meat Fresh?
I have gotten three different boxes from ButcherBox and, each time, the box has shown up in good condition and the meat is still frozen almost solid when it arrives.
As you can see from the box below, ButcherBox sends their meat in very sturdy boxes and it’s packaged well with dry ice.
My Butcher Box Review
We really loved the meats we tried from ButcherBox and were very impressed with our experience. We especially thought that beef seemed much tastier than store-bought beef.
That said, we typically buy our meat at Kroger when it is on a great sale and/or is marked down. And, as you likely know, we currently only spend $70/week on groceries for our family of 5.
Is ButcherBox a good deal?
From our vantage point, the price of ButcherBox is really expensive for us compared to what we typically pay for meat. However, we also usually stick with very inexpensive meat cuts that are definitely nowhere near the quality of ButcherBox meat.
Is Butcher Box worth it?
While ButcherBox is much more expensive than buying meat when it’s marked down at the grocery store, the overall quality is much higher. If you are looking for a source of quality, humanely-raised meat, ButcherBox might be a good option for you to consider.
Is it Easy to Cancel ButcherBox?
If you want to cancel your subscription or pause it, you can easily do so at any time.
You don’t need to call or email them about it. You can just go into your account and do it — easy-peasy!
What are the ButcherBox negative reviews?
After digging around a bit on the internet, I found a few complaints about some meat juices leaking out in a box, as well as a couple of the items being defrosted when they arrived. Although the article didn’t say how long the box was left on the homeowner’s front porch.
There were also the typical complaints about individual’s food preferences and their apparently dislike of certain ButcherBox meats.
However, it took me a while to find those complaints so I don’t believe they are a common occurrence.
If you do have a negative experienc with ButcherBox, I encourage you to reach out to their customer support immediately as they will likely remedy the situation for you!
ButcherBox Reviews FAQ
ButcherBox offers a range of fresh and frozen cuts of meat, fish, and poultry. The items are high quality, including grass-fed beef, organic chicken, heritage-breed pork, and wild-caught seafood.
Yes, ButcherBox is totally trustworthy. If you’re looking for high quality meat that is organic, grass fed, and antibiotic free – I completely trust their sourcing process. They work with amazing farmers to find great quality meat!
Depending on what type and size of box you order, it will range from $146 – $306 per box — but you don’t have to get a box every month. You may start and stop your boxes at any time.
No. You can set your orders to come every 2, 4, or 6 weeks. You can also skip an order or pause your subscription for several months.
The meat does arrive frozen in vacuum-sealed packages.
Their pasture-raised, 100% grass-fed & grass-finished beef comes from Australia. You may learn more about their sourcing here.
ButcherBox Discount Code
If you’re looking for a ButcherBox Discount Code, be sure to head over here to this post where we update the page any time there’s a new deal!
I am commenting almost one year past the review. This is 2020 and has been the year of COVID. Butcher Box was essential this year. My husband and I, seniors, were unable to sustain our per-COVID shopping routine – visiting specialty shops we loved, ethnic food stores, tracking sales. We had been using BB since 2018 and at times, for all the reasons given – variety, expense – thought of canceling. We kept our custom box – fortunately – switched to every three months and with the additional of single portion fish options (salmon and cod), have been able to have high quality (and it is qualitative better than most store meats) meats for the past nine months. For seniors who will be house-bound through the spring, as well as in the future who can no longer be nimble shoppers – the 3-month custom box – about $50/mo for high quality meat and fish – with our selections we averaged about 11-12 lbs per box – about $12.50/lb – and while we would have been able to find organic chicken thighs on sale for less, would rarely to never have found wild caught salmon for less in ny metro area where we live, so, on balance, we feel it is worth the expense, esp. since it is delivered to our door – important for seniors during COVID – and the convenience of not thinking ahead – but just opening the freezer in the morning to decide what to thaw for the evening meal. Also, the ground beef is not “water-logged” as is a good deal of the “sale” meat, nor is the seafood – so when the 4oz pre-cut/individually packaged piece of salmon defrosts – it is really 4oz of seafood and not 3oz of fish and 1oz of water.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience! We love getting reader feedback. We’re so happy Butcher Box has helped you so much during this tough year. -Jordan, MSM Team
We had a pretty bad experience with ButcherBox. I tried it for six months and then tried to get a 3-month series of gift certificates for a dear friend for her birthday last year and the customer service was absolutely horrible. The process was so frustrating that I ended up asking for a complete refund (which took awhile) and she never got to experience the product. Several times our meat was thawed out due to delays in delivery on their end, and in general, I found the meat to be expensive. What we did eat tasted great – I’ll give them that. But, in the end, it was too expensive and not very user-friendly. We have been better off just looking for local butchers and developing a local network, as well as purchasing high-quality meats when they go on sale at our stores here in town.
Thanks so much for sharing your honest review. I’ve heard that a few people have had issues with meat being thawed but that they’ve replaced it for them. Did they do that for you?
They didn’t; to be fair, it was still cold – just not frozen, so we didn’t ask them. We ate it, enjoyed it, and didn’t get sick. 🙂
(Still too expensive for what they provide, *I think*, though…)
How do you know how much meat you will get? That’s the part I don’t understand.
P.S. I started your meal plans for $40 & LOVE it!!
Crystal, you are so patient. I appreciate your kind heart!
I found your review helpful…thank you!
~Karina
Yay! You’re so welcome! -Jordan, MSM Team
Purchasing from a local farmer can be a substantially less expensive, tastier, and supporting a local neighbor over a corporation. If you don’t know a farmer selling directly, even going to a butcher shop where the local farmers take their meat for processing is less costly, you can chose the specific cuts you want, and you’re supporting local businesses. We have a good number of local butchers around us, I can’t imagine we are the only area that has that. Best meat you will ever have and less expensive.
Thanks for sharing! -Jordan, MSM Team
We love ButcherBox! We’ve rearranged our budget so we can get grass fed/humanely raised meats. We prioritize buying from local farmers but find that ButcherBox helps fill in the gaps for some of the cuts that are either not available locally or cuts that tend to be more expensive than the flat BB rate. I really like that I can control when a box is sent or push it back for a month or two if we’re not needing meat yet. Also, I love the monthly add on specials that ButcherBox offers. Many times the special price is close to what commercially raised/grocery store meats typically cost so it’s a win to get such a good quality meat for a deal.
This is such helpful information! Thank you so much for sharing!
so, you don’t see the benefit of purchasing higher grade meat?
I’m not sure if I fully understand your question… my review was just an honest review of our experience and my thoughts on pricing and what works for our family. I hope that helps!
I loved the high quality of meat. But for me like others I don’t have a huge budget for meat. I shop sales at Lucky’s market and Sprouts and can find grass fed beef and organic chicken at a good price. I think this a a good deal if you are looking for quality meats and can’t find them in your area. I did find the prices cheaper than whole foods.
Quality meats have a price and theirs seems to be $10 per pound. I just cant afford that. My budget is maximum of $5 per pound so I’ll have to say no thanks for now.
I wanted to say we love Butcher Box in our house! We are a family of five going on six and my husband is in grad school which means we are on a tight budget. What I love is that you can customize your box. I choose large cuts of meats for my box and then cut them into portions. For example, I buy the pork loin and cut it into pork chops which makes 3-4 meals for us. I will also buy a roast and cut it into beef tips for two meals. I usually choose the custom box at $150. I really like that I can adjust my delivery date (we choose 6 weeks). I LOVE the add ons! I usually buy a bulk (10lbs) package of beef and bacon for $50 every 3 months. So every 3 months I spend around $400-450 on meats which comes to $33-$37 a week on high quality meats. Needless to say we are big fans!
Thanks so much for sharing this! So great to hear how well this has worked for you!
I have wanted to try Butcher Box because I know they are known for their high quality of meat. However, we found it was way, way cheaper to get beef from a local farmer(we live in rural MN). We now have a local farmer for pork too. We have chickens so that covers the meat department. I think we probably get a year of meat for what it would cost us for 3-4 months of butcher box…just another option for readers!
Thank you do much for sharing!
I’ve been getting Butcherbox meat every other month for a couple of years. The meat is not only healthy, it is delicious. I cannot eat meat wirh antibiotics in it, as I am allergic to most of them. We have not gotten anything that we did not like. We get the smaller box and get the box where we choose what we get. The price is actually a little less than getting organic, antibiotic free meat in the grocery store. And I don’t have to go to the store, it is delivered. They also have add ons and deals that you can add at a reasonable price to your regular box.
Thank you so much for sharing your honest review! We are so happy that you’ve found a service that helps you with your dietary restrictions! -Jordan, MSM Team
I thought your review was very good. As a person who can only eat Kosher or Organic Meats it was something I was thinking about. But when I saw the price I knew I would not be able to buy it. I could have ordered the box with meat I chose but they would have put the salmon in with the other freebies. My husband can’t stand salmon anymore because most is farm raised and they use chicken feed. My husband said that it tastes like chicken and if he is going to eat something like chicken then he would buy chicken. Like you I go to Smiths (part of the Kroger family) and buy food that is on sale or marked down. For Thanksgiving we bought Turkey for $0.39 a lb. It only cost $7 plus change. Then in September we bought 15 chickens for $0.29 a lb.
Both the Turkey and the chickens were organic. We only go to Smiths when we have doctors appointments so when we go we stock up. That is the only way we can afford to buy groceries on 2 VA disability check which only come to a little over $#2,000 a month
Thank you so much for sharing!
Wild Alaska salmon is not farmed!! Fish farming in Alaska is illegal! Your husband probably had some Atlantic salmon that was farmed in British Columbia. The ONLY thing about this review that made me look twice was the Bristol Bay sockeye.
Moink is a company that offers a comparable service for lower price and it is America sourced fresh meats.
Do you know if this is American raised & processed Beef, Chicken, & Pork? We like to support American Farmers & I also trust our country’s processing plants to be more sanitary.
I did not mean this as a negative comment, but as one raised on a farm & seeing many farm families who are struggling to make a living, I like to do what little I can to help.
I looked it up on their site and here’s what I found:
We source our meat from ranchers we trust. That means working with companies and farmers that are dedicated to doing the right thing – never cutting corners, and always looking for ways to improve.
Our pasture-raised, 100% grass-fed & grass-finished beef comes from Australia. Why Australia? Thanks to the balmy climate, our cattle can roam free and graze year-round. Meanwhile, as the US grass-fed industry grows, we continue to seek domestic partnerships. Read our FAQ on grass-fed, grass-finished beef here.
Our pork and chicken come from the US and Canada, and our special items such as wild-caught Alaskan sockeye salmon, lamb, and turkey all come from the US.
Find out more about our sourcing practices and standards by visiting our sourcing page.
Thank you! I may try this out!
So, where is the review? Did you like the meat? Did you think it was a good deal?
This was a LONG post with a lot of photos in it, I know! Sorry about that — I wanted to make sure to cover all the bases! If you scroll down halfway, you’ll see my overall review. Let me know if you have any other questions or if I missed covering anything. I’m happy to help out!
thank you! I scrolled through several times and still missed it! Sorry about that.
I don’t see any review in this post, just details on what the service is about and how to order.
This was a LONG post with a lot of photos in it, I know! Sorry about that — I wanted to make sure to cover all the bases! If you scroll down halfway, you’ll see my review. (I just added a bold section so it wasn’t as hard to miss it!) Let me know if you have any other questions or if I missed covering anything. I’m happy to help out!
I love this idea and have never heard of this service before. So happy you posted the information and I was able to take advantage!
Hi, I think it would be useful to compare more similar products. Granted not everyone has a whole foods or similar nearby, but they seem to be close in terms of product offerings. Just a cursory glance at their website shows that the blended price per pound is far less than $12 for similar quality. Were you able to investigate that more closely?
Is butchers block a better option than Omaha steaks or Iowa steaks (for the new name)