If you live in a local area without a nearby butcher shop or you're simply tired of the packaged meat selection available at supermarkets, then meat subscription boxes are the solution for you.
By purchasing from these companies, you also support ethical sourcing and local farmers who genuinely care about their meat quality.
Contrary to popular belief, a meat subscription is quite affordable compared to your local grocery store. Buying bulk can help you save money over time.
In this review, you'll find our list of the best meat subscription boxes we've found that has an amazing assortment of grass-fed beef, chicken, steaks, bacon, charcuterie, and more.
Best Meat Subscription Boxes
1. Crowd Cow (Editor's Choice)
- Best Match For: People looking for premium-quality meats, from sustainably raised seafood to ethically treated animals on farms.
- Commitment Level: One-time purchase; Subscription (5% off)
- Availability: The contiguous US (No Alaska or Hawaii)
- Value:$4-$160/meat package; Members get free delivery for orders over $99
- Type: Frozen premium meat cuts
Crowd Cow focuses on being eco-friendly and providing fresh farm-to-table products for carnivores to enjoy. Their mission is to provide food transparency to the world by only sourcing meats from farms and ranches they have a connection with.
Knowing how the farm animals were raised is important for the overall well being of yourself and your family.
The process is quite simple. Select the cuts you prefer and try their wide selection of meat products from their network of farms.
Every box is customizable, so you're in control. You can adjust the box to meet your schedule or skip the monthly package.
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2. Carnivore Club
- Best Match For: True gourmands who appreciate a premium hand-crafted cut of meat and incredible add-ons you can get when joining this meat club.
- Commitment Level: One time orders; Subscription
- Availability: Everywhere in the US and Canada
- Value: You can join a Carcnivore club subscription for $29.99-$39.99 per month plus $9.99 for shipping. You can also search the Marketplace for previous boxes, individual items, and gifts without having to subscribe.
- Type: Premium aritsan meats, excellent add-ons, and gifts
Carnivore Club is the first-ever monthly subscription box that has been curated by the top artisans around the world.
They specialize in cured meats already prepared, such as ham, bacon, sausage, terrines, galatiness, pates, and others. Each meat product differs based on the unique signature style of each artisan.
This company treats it's meat, similar to wine. Like wine, no two meats are alike in taste or name. Customers who enjoy Carnivore Club treat like to try many selections of meat-based on their theme.
Every month, members get a beautifully crafted faux-wood box with 4 to 6 handcrafted curated meats.
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3. Goldbelly (their bacon subscription)
- Best Match For: Food enthusiasts who want a marketplace that can offer them exclusive and gourmet dishes, sweets, meats, meal kits, pizzas, and pretty much anything food-related.
- Commitment Level: One-time orders; 3, 6, 9, or 12 month subscriptions
- Availability: All 50 states
- Value: Prices and shipping fees vary depending on select items
- Type: A curated online marketplace of the best gourmet foods from small shops and restaurants across the nation.
Goldbelly is an online gourmet food and food-gifts marketplace that links everyone to amazing gourmet meals.
Currently Goldbelly operates in San Francisco, but can have their meat delivered worldwide. This means you can try Nashville's Iconic Southern Bacon even if you live in California. Essentially, you can be Anthony Bourdain without stepping out of your house!
So how does it work? You get to choose between a three or 6-month subscription plan for yourself or a gift recipient. Subsequently, Gold Belly will send you a fresh box of bacon monthly.
Some of their best bacon options include Mild End Bacon slab, Blackberry farm bacon, Artisan Dry-cured bacon, Spanish Iberico bacon, and double-smoked bacon.
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4. Porter Road
- Best Match For: People looking for affordable, high-quality meats sourced from local farmers.
- Commitment Level: One time orders; Subscription
- Availability: The contiguous US (No Alaska or Hawaii)
- Value: You can mix and match any type of meat, from dry-aged ground beef for $7 per pound, 4-pack of dry-aged hot dogs for $8, 2-3 lbs of pork spare ribs for $21, two boneless chicken breasts for $20, to a bone-in leg of lamb for $68. Shipping is free if your order exceeds $100.
- Type: Premium beef, pork, chicken, lamb, curated boxes, and cooking kits
Porter Road operates in Kentucky and Tennessee, where their mission is to eliminate misleading organic and cage-free advertising on meats.
Instead, they focus on the highest quality of standards by frequently visiting their farms to ensure all animals are 100% grass-fed, raised outside with free-range, non-GMO fed, and have been properly cared for.
Once the meat reaches their facility, they hand-cut the beef themselves, making sure none of it goes to waste. This company wants to show there's more to enjoy on beef pork besides ribeyes and T-bones.
Simply select a box, choose the frequency of your meat deliveries and select any add ons to get your ButcherBox.
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5. Butcher Box
- Best Match For: Meat lovers looking for premium-quality cuts from grass-fed or grass-finished beef, organic free-range chicken, wild-caught seafood, and cage-free pork.
- Commitment Level: Subscription with flexible delivery frequency
- Availability: The contiguous US (No Alaska or Hawaii)
- Value: $129-$149/month; Free shipping
- Type: Responsibly sourced frozen meats
Mike Salguero, the brainchild of Butcher Box, first experienced his love for grass-fed after purchasing his first $400 100% grass-fed cow. His passion for grass-fed cows only grew, and Butcher Box became a reality.
The purpose of Butcher Box is to serve as your primary meat option to get high-quality, free-range organic chicken, grass-fed beef, and heritage breed pork directly to your doorsteps.
One of the big advantages of this meat subscription box is their convenient choice of curated or customized butcher boxes. They truly have made healthy eating affordable. Each box only costs roughly $5 per meal.
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Is a monthly meat subscription box worth it?
When it comes to purchasing meat, most people aren't very selective. But once you've tried different cuts of meat and higher quality ones, you'll understand why.
With a subscription box, their food is freshly cut and pasture-raised rather than extremely processed meats with heavy antibiotics on their skin.
Convenience
Also, these boxes are incredibly convenient.
Today, many people live very busy lives. Food delivery, Uber, and Amazon Prime have all become a social norm. With a subscription box, you usually receive your meat product within a few days!
In addition, you usually have total control of your subscription because companies allow you to cancel anytime. Many of them also let you buy add-ons so that you get to choose the exact types of meats you're looking for. But you can choose between different flexible contracts that usually range between 1 to 3 months.
Freshness
To ensure that your cuts stay fresh during delivery, these companies will individually vacuum seal each cut with airtight cryovac packages to retain it's freshness and ensure long shelf life in your freezer.
They're fully packed in an eco-friendly insulated box with dry ice and directly delivered to your door.
Companies also ensure these meats are all USDA inspected.
Gift Options
Subscription boxes have also turned eating meat to be something extravagant.
Many subscription services offer gift boxes to send beautifully handcrafted meats to your carnivorous friend. They usually include holiday box options like Valentines Day or Father's Day.
Many of the boxes also include cutting boards, paring knives, and charcuterie knives.
Ethically Raised
By far, one of the biggest advantages to subscription boxes is their mission to ethically raise their farm animals, so you get the best quality of pork, beef, chicken, and other meats.
These companies partner with a range of farmers from independent to co-ops and take a visit to these farms to check for themselves.
The producers tailor their raising techniques to best suit the animal. Some are wild-caught, while others are farm-raised.
FAQS
Organic meat can be purchased at local supermarkets in the organic section. Although, if you're looking for non-packaged meat, it's best to go to a butcher to get them freshly cut and served right to you.
In general. Butcher meat is much more high-quality and fresher than packaged meat from the supermarket. Butchers tend to provide customers with the highest grades of meat rather than extremely low-quality cuts.
Also, you find that butchers have a much wider variety of meats. Grocery stores are limited in the amount of cuts and specialties available.
For instance, at a Butcher shop, you will find some unique cuts like Wagyu beef, pit-smoked pulled pork, beef tongue, pork roast, and pork liver. This also prevents a lot of wasting meats.
Unfortunately, not all regions may have a nearby butcher shop. Therefore, you only shop may be to just go to a supermarket and select their organic options.
However, with meat subscription services, you can have them delivered to your house. One service, such as Gold Belly, aims to help foodies get access to specialty region foods that you would have to travel before these services.
A Butcher Box is a delivery service that gives customers the ability to have high-quality meat, specially prepared by artisans delivered to your doorsteps.
Most of these companies pride themselves on sourcing through local farms that take special care of their animals, ensuring they are vegetarians and do not contain GMOs. his ensures you get high-quality grass-fed beef.
As a result, you get the benefits of receiving healthier nutrients like healthy fats, fewer calories, fewer bacteria, and a reduced chance of heart disease.
With a butcher subscription box, you support your local economy by helping farmers who work hard to care for their animals and butchers who are craftsmen at slicing beef and pork.
Most people believe that a supermarket is automatically cheaper than a butcher shop, but that isn't the case. A butcher can help suggest alternate cuts that are more budget-friendly.
A butcher box comes with curated meats like fish, chicken, ground beef, beef pork, bacon, and more.
Most of these boxes are curated by a theme based on a Chef specialty, or some services allow you to customize the box to choose the precise cuts and food options that you'd like.
The Best Meat Subscriptions Options
Nowadays, a meat subscription is more accessible than ever before. Simply put, you get to taste the best meat from around the world.
Why settle for the average joe schmoe, when you could have a high-quality butcher box of meat delectable to try every month.
We hope you've found inspiration from our list and ready to channel your inner carnivore.
Crowd Cow
Our #1 Recommendation