2025 Update: Dietitian's ButcherBox Review

Heard about ButcherBox and wondered if it was worth the cost?  In this review and unboxing, I share the top 3 pros AND the top 3 cons I found ordering from ButcherBox for the last SEVEN years.

Please note this is an unsponsored review, but I am an affiliate for ButcherBox.  This means they did not pay me to do this review, but if you use one of my links to sign up, I will receive a small kickback.  I only endorse products I use in my own home and love for our family.   

I can't believe it's been over seven years since I posted about my first order with ButcherBox.  (Read: Why I Started Eating Red Meat Again.)  Since then, ButcherBox has grown and changed a lot.  Although they were the first of their kind, with innovation comes competitors.  

You now have a lot of options when it comes to online organic & high-quality meat delivery services, so I thought it was time I posted a FULL review of Butcher Box.  If you've been curious to find out if ButcherBox is worth it, then this review is for you!  

So what is ButcherBox anyway?

ButcherBox is an online high-quality meat and seafood delivery company providing 100% grass-fed beef, pasture-raised beef, chicken, lamb, and bison, organic free-range chicken, crate-free pork, wild-caught, and responsibly farmed seafood.  

PS The pasture-raised beef is a new offering; more on that below!  ButcherBox was originally a 100% grass-fed meat delivery company and has slowly expanded its offerings.  

All of the meat is antibiotic & hormone-free.  It arrives on dry ice and will stay frozen all day until you can get home to pop it in the freezer. 

Top 3 Pros of ButcherBox Organic Meat Delivery Service:

1. Exceptional Quality & Variety.   I can never find the same variety for the same meat quality at the store.
2. Convenience Shopping. I can choose what I want in my pajamas, and I don't have to go anywhere.  It's delivered to my doorstep.  
3.  Member Deals. Exclusive deals are offered to members to save money on classic and premium cuts/staples.  

Top 3 Cons of ButcherBox Organic Meat Delivery Service:

1. Frozen Meat: The meat arrives frozen (pros and cons to this.) And occasionally, the meat arrives unfrozen, aka damaged.  More about this later. 
2. Increased Cost Compared To Conventional Meat. 
3. Their Grass-fed Beef is Not Local. It is sourced out of the US.  Explanation below.  

If that's enough for you, you can click here to get an HH-exclusive offer when you sign up for ButcherBox!  If you still need more info, keep reading my friend!

Delivery Options: Choosing Your Box

ButcherBox offers two different box options. 

The Curated Boxes

The folks at ButcherBox curate this box.  You have three options to pick from:

• Beef & Pork Box
• Beef & Chicken Box
• Beef, Pork & Chicken Box

In each box, they select a well-balanced assortment of easy-to-cook items, like chicken breasts, and more unusual cuts, like the Denver steak. In addition, you can always pick from a range of 12 add-ons to spice up your box (more info below)!

It comes in two sizes:

• The Classic Box is $146/month, providing 8.5-11lbs of meat, about 24 servings.  $6.08/serving
• The Big Box is $269/month, providing 16-22lbs of meat, about 48 servings.  $5.60/serving 

*Note - I think it's worth stating that it's been two years since I updated this review last (so since 2023), and the prices have not gone up.  

In the video below, I unbox a curated ButcherBox they sent me to try out.  

The Custom Box 

In this box, you take control of the selection process.  Select up to 21 different cuts of everyday items, like ground beef, as well as premium items, like pork tenderloins – not to mention a wide variety of 12 add-ons for that extra something special.  

• The Classic Box is $169/month, providing 9-14lbs of meat, about 30 servings.  $5.63/serving
• The Big Box is $306/month, providing 18-26lbs of meat, about 60 servings.  $5.10/serving 

*Note - I think it's worth stating that it's been two years since I updated this review last (so since 2023), and the prices have not gone up.  

100% Grassfed Beef:

• New York Strips
• Fillet Mignons
• Ribeyes
• Ground Beef 85/15
• Ground Beef 93/7
• Ground Sirloin 90/10
• Burgers 80/20
• Premium Steak Tips
• Sirloin Tips
• Chuck Roast
• Tri Tip
• Sirloin Cap
• Fully Cooked Pot Roast
• Fully Cooked Beef Barbacoa 
• Uncured Beef Hot Dogs
• Flat Iron Steaks
• Tenderloin Tips

Pasture Raised, Grain-Finished

• Smash Burgers
• Various Member Specials

Free Range Organic Chicken

• Fully Cooked Organic Chicken Meatballs
• Bone-In Chicken Thighs
• Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs
• Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
• Chicken Wings
• Chicken Drumsticks
• Whole Chicken
• Chicken Tenders
• Fully Cooked Breaded Chicken Nuggets
• Fully Cooked Breaded Chicken Strips
• Fully Cooked Diced Chicken 
• Fully Cooked Chicken Maple Breakfast Sausages

Pasture Raised Chicken 

• Ground Chicken
• Whole Chicken 
• Fully Cooked Half Chicken

Humanely Raised Chicken 

• Ground Turkey 
• Turkey Bacon 

Crate-Free Pork (Previously Heritage Breed Pork)

• Bacon
• Thick Cut Bacon
• Ground Pork
• Boneless Pork Chops
• Pork Tenderloin
• Pork Sirloin Roasts
• St. Louis Ribs
• Baby Back Ribs
• Center cut Pork Loin Roast
• Boneless Pork Butt
• Bone-In Pork Butt
• Farmhouse Breakfast Sausage
• Chorizo Ground Pork Sausage
• Ground Sweett Italian Sausage
• Italian Sausage Links
• Fully Cooked Pork Breakfast Sausages
• Fully Cooked BOneless Pork Chops

Wild-Caught Seafood

• Wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon
• Wild Caught Scallops 
• Wild Caught Cod and Halibut 
• Wild Caught US Gulf Shrimp 
• Cold Smoked Sliced Salmon 
• Wild-Caught Pank Breaded Cod

Responsibly Farmed

• Atlantic Salmon 

More Section - Changes Per Availability 

• Fully Cooked Beef and Pork Meatballs
• Ground Bison 100% Grass Fed, Pasture Raised
• Chicken and Mozzarella Ravioli - organic and free range
• Ground Lamb - 100% grass fed, pasture raised 

We order the custom box - classic size.  If I weren't a food blogger or a mom of small, picky children, I'd get the curated box, but for recipe development purposes, I need specific cuts of meat.  

Reoccuring Add-Ons

Reoccurring add-ons are available for any box type.  If you need a little more than what comes in the classic size box but aren't ready for a big box, this is a great option.  Also, if you're signed up for a curated box, the add-ons help ensure you get the staple items you can't live without in every box.  

Member Specials

One of the best new features of ButcherBox is the member's specials section.  I've bought 10 lbs of ground 100% grass-fed grass-finished ground beef for $49.99 three times now.  I've also ordered several other times from that section, including, most recently, a turkey!   Here is a screenshot of what was available in my account on 2/11/2025.  

 

This is also where they will debut new products!  Two years ago, they expanded their product line with pre-made items like chicken nuggets, breaded chicken tenders, pulled pork, sausages, meatballs, and more!  This Mama LOVED those items for the convenience and, of course, the quality you know and love from Butcher Box.  My husband said the chicken nuggets were the best he had ever had in his whole life.  

I also LOVE the holiday feast boxes. We always order one or two of those! They usually include spiral ham, turkey, and more holiday favorites.  The prices shown are from two years ago, as this is an old screenshot!

Frequency

You can select from every 2 weeks, one month, six weeks, or two months interval options for a new box.  Keep in mind it's super easy to change your box delivery date.  I almost never stay on a true "delivery schedule," and I always adjust the date of my deliveries.  I move them forward when we are low on meat and back when I've scored more member specials in a box one week.  

Butcher Box Meat & Seafood Sourcing - New Offerings

ButcherBox has very transparent sourcing information. 

Their pasture-raised, 100% grass-fed & grass-finished beef comes from Australia.  Australia offers a balmy climate, which allows the cattle to roam free and graze year-round.  

I have mixed feelings about the availability of some of their newer products, such as pasture-raised, grain-finished beef, and pasture-raised chicken.  I also noticed they changed the name of the pork offerings from heritage breed to crate-free. I think too many options make things a little confusing for their consumer.  I'm a little annoyed that I have to double-check my selections to see if I'm selecting grass-fed or not.  Honestly, I don't know how I feel about the offering at all, given the price doesn't seem to be a whole lot different (it should be cheaper, or you should get more meat for grain-fed.) Remember, they started as a 100% grass-fed beef company and have expanded their offerings over time.  On the other hand, I love they now offer responsibly farmed seafood because that is INCREDIBLY hard to find. The labeling is very confusing, and there are what feels like 8000 certification programs.  Having them screen that for me is great because I don't like the taste of wild-caught salmon. 

For now, I'm curious to see what kind of offerings they continue to offer, and I will say they make it easy by making the labels clickable so you can see what the difference in terminology means. Here are some screenshots to illustrate what I mean!

Quality

I'm using a lot of terms here that you may think you've seen at other places like say, Costco.  Now I love Costco, in fact, here is a list of my favorite healthy staples from Costco.  That being said, Costco is undoubtedly cheaper because the quality is NOT THE SAME.  That goes for a lot of other places you can get meat as well.  

Costco Grass-fed Beef - is not 100% grass-fed and grass-finished, but ButcherBox is.  That means that it might be grass-fed, but that doesn't mean they are pasture-centered (they give grass pellets instead of letting them roam.)  And if it isn't 100% grass-finished, they still fatten them up with corn and soy at the end. This practice limits the health benefits you should get from 100% grass-fed & grass-finished meat. Costco near us doesn't even sell grass-fed beef in any capacity.  They do have organic, but that is not the same as organic. In fact, 100% grass fed beef will not be organic because the ranchers can not guarantee the wild grass is organic because they dont' 100% control it. (My Costco now carries 100% grassfed burgers in the frozen section.) 

Costco Organic Chicken - is usually (varies by location) not GAP -3 Certified like ButcherBox organic chicken is*.  This may not make a huge difference in nutrition, but it does affect animal welfare standards.  GAP stands for the Global Animal Partnership, and its certified labeling program ensures that animals are raised without the use of antibiotics, added hormones, or animal by-products.  The number indicates how closely the environment mimics the animal's natural habitat. 

Costco Pork - I haven't seen any natural or pasture-centered options at our Costco.  We don't even have uncured bacon at our Costco, I know my in-laws had it in California, but we don't. ButcherBox offers heritage breed pigs who have access to the outdoors with bedding in OPEN barns, plus a nutritious diet.  Moreover, their pork products, like bacon, aren't cured or stuffed with a bunch of fillers like carcinogenic nitrates.  

So, comparing the two meat purchasing options (ButcherBox vs. Costco) is really like comparing apples to oranges, they are just not comparable.  

Seafood, on the other hand, might be slightly more comparable.  Costco and ButcherBox offer wild-caught seafood options.  They both have varying inventory of seafood that is about equal at this point.  I get most of my seafood from Butcher Box because the cost is comparable to Costco.  For example, 2 lbs of wild-caught cod was the same price at my Costco as it was at Butcher Box. 

Packaging

And here is where I've personally seen the most growth and improvement in ButcherBox products.  While the meat was always DELICIOUS, its packaging and shipment processes have had to evolve. When they first started shipping, they shipped in these awesome insulated bags with dry ice.  Since then, their packaging has changed with both the environment and product quality in mind.  

I'm going to bet people are reading this review who tried ButcherBox but stopped their subscription due to errors.  Well, I'm happy to announce that my affiliate manager told me that the error rate is now UNDER 1% for both ButcherBox and SmoothieBox.  They currently feature an insulated recyclable box with dry ice that keeps everything rock-solid frozen.  

Added for 2025 Update: I have had defrosted meat show up at my door or sometimes a missing product, but never once have I had an issue replacing it.  Typically this happens when there is a carrier delay outside of ButcherBox's control.   I've found customer service to be incredibly responsive and willing to replace whatever was damaged in the next box.  

Keep in mind with any meat delivery service, the meat will always be frozen.  Frozen meat comes with a few potential downsides, such as dealing with the packaging, needing extra freezer space, and needing to defrost the meat before use (reasons why I love my Instant Pot so much.)  And reasons why I love their premade section. Frozen chicken nuggets to the rescue in a pinch!

Final Thoughts- Is It Worth It?

If you've followed me on IG (@hungryhobbyrd) or this blog for a while, you already know I think it's worth it. But what about fitting it into your budget?  This used to be a hard thing for me to answer, because we didn't closely budget our food.  Now with three kids eating, we still make room for Butcher Box.  But, we only order about once a quarter and substitute with store-bought meats/products in between.  Mostly just because I like those other products, like the sous vide steak at Costco etc.  

I still shop sales and price match, etc.  I always check out the meat department for 100% grass-fed & grass-finished meat at the grocery store, and it's overwhelmingly underwhelming.  The price is usually much higher than the average cost of Butcher Box, while the variety and quality are far less.  

The store doesn't carry the variety that ButcherBox offers.  Furthermore, there are a lot of fake marketing tactics happening at the store, like advertising grass-fed meat that is grain-finished you don't have to deal with.  No deception. You can bet that ButcherBox is guaranteeing the animal welfare concerns and sustainability practices of the farms they source from, not just by some random packaging at the store.  

Verdict:  Yes, it's worth it.  We love our Butcher Box subscription (which I've had going since 2016.)  If you try it out, let me know what your favorite cut was.  Also, don't forget you can search by ingredients like beef, poultry, pork, and seafood in my recipe index if you need recipes to cook your meat with!

Ready to sign up? You can click here to get an HH exclusive offer when you sign up for ButcherBox today!