It used to be that everybody had a local butcher they frequented when it was time to fire up the grill or just fill up the freezer for the week. You’d walk in and see that glass display case filled with the freshest, most mouthwatering cuts of meat and poultry, the butcher would take out their best meat tenderizer and go to town and you’d walk out with those paper-wrapped prizes knowing you had a seriously amazing meal on your hands.
Sadly, many of those little local joints are gone, and even though the big grocery chains fill in admirably, you might not be all that enthused to spend too much time shopping among crowds these days. Thankfully, meat delivery services have come to the rescue to bring the butcher right to your front door.
That’s right, the best and most succulent meats can come straight to you. Through the power of the laptop or phone you’re reading right now, you can load up on meats, poultry and even seafood, and in many cases help out sustainable farmers and butchers while you do. There’s no shortage of meat delivery and subscription box services out there, so we took a browse to show you some of the best ones.
Keep reading for the best meat delivery services available in 2021.
1. Butcher Box
BEST OVERALL
Butcher Box is a reliable, ethical and sustainable meat delivery service that allows you to subscribe to a curated box of super high-quality beef, chicken or pork, or you can customize your own box and fill it with your exact preferences. They’ve got every kind of meat under the sun and it all comes frozen and very fresh. I subscribe to them in my house and it’s been a convenient life-saver in a COVID world to get meat delivered easily and know that it’s the quality I want to be eating. You can choose between 21 different cuts of meat including their 100% grass-fed and grass-finished beef, free-range organic chicken and heritage breed pork. All of the animals are raised free of added hormones and antibiotics, and everything comes in an insulated, frozen box for optimal temperature regulation. Additionally, every new subscriber right now gets free ground beef included in every one of their orders for LIFE. If you like meat, this is one of the best in the business.
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2. Omaha Steaks
THE OG STANDARD
Omaha Steaks has been in business for over 100 years, and chances are they were the first online meat-delivery service you ever heard of, since they were the first ones to plant their flag in the burgeoning online industry. They’re still there, and they’re still really good. The menu is enormous, including starters, desserts and even wine. But it was quality meats that got Omaha Steaks rolling in the first place, and it’s still their main draw. The huge selection, though, means they offer more customization than pretty much any other site. Omaha Steaks may be the oldest ride in the park but it still has the longest line.
3. Grass Roots Farmers’ Cooperative
BEST FARM-TO-TABLE
If you want fresher than fresh, Grass Roots is a group of family-run farms that are committed to small-batch farming, and raise each one of their grass-fed animals with the highest of standards. They ship their high-quality meat all over the country, and never use hormones, antibiotics or pesticides. SPY’s Editorial Director, Jamie Miles, has personally tried this service and loved it. She noted that “the pork sausage was particularly delicious. It had a clean taste and great texture.” This meat tastes very fresh despite being frozen and is a great alternative to store-bought meat due to the wider selection and assurance that what you’re getting is truly farm to table. They offer a wide selection of beef, pork, poultry and lamb and everything is a la carte, so there’s no need to subscribe.
4. Silver Fern Farms
BEST GRASS-FED
Readily available to ship all across the world from their lush New Zealand farm, Silver Fern Farms provides deliciously grass-fed meats you’ll likely dream about. The farmers here ethically raise beef, lamb and venison to provide cuts of meat unlike any other. Our E-commerce Editor Tyler recently had the chance to test out a few steaks himself where he fell in love with Silver Fern Farms’ ribeye. He mentions how the flavor hit unlike any other steak he’s made for himself and he can’t wait to sear up his next.
5. FreshDirect
BEST FOR ALL GROCERIES
You know FreshDirect at this point. With all of the coupons they send in the mail, how could you not? For meat lovers, FreshDirect is a solid way for snagging some of your favorite cuts whenever you need more than meat. So, you can quite literally do all of your shopping at once. You can shop easily on FreshDirect for meat-type that includes beef, lamb, pork and more. You can even shop specific to butcher shop favorites, sale and value pick, direct from the farm and even organic options. You can even get these express delivered.
6. Belcampo Farms
BEST QUALITY
Belcampo Farms sent a a sample box of their meats and the quality was off the charts. I could taste the difference in the steaks, chicken and bone broth — all of which were delicious and a healthy protein addition to my meals. All of their meat is 100% grass-fed and raised in a way that’s good for you, good for the planet and good for the animals themselves. Eating grass-fed beef adds more vital nutrients to your diet through the protein, and their climate-positive farms raise that standard even more. They’ve got a wide selection online of beef, poultry, lamb, pork, bone broths and more. They’ve also got subscription boxes available you can sign up for to make the ordering as easy as possible.
7. Moink Box
BEST FOR ETHICAL CARNIVORES
Moink (think moo + oink) runs out of Missouri and offers four subscription boxes, each full of great staples at really good prices. The Medium box has an awesome array ranging from sirloin steaks to pork breakfast sausage to sockeye salmon filet, and there are also no-pork and no-salmon choices. But the best part of supporting Moink is that you’re also supporting ethical farming. All of their animals are raised free-range and outdoors. Even the chickens live in moveable pens pulled outside by tractors. Anyone offended by the nightmarish factory farming that produces the vast majority of the meat consumed in this country should check out Moink.
8. Marx Foods
BEST SAMPLERS
If you’re looking for a little bit of dis and a little bit of dat, head straight to the sampler page at Marx Foods. Thirty different options, from the Supreme Steakhouse and Little Italy to sausage, caviar, and heirloom potatoes await you. You can’t substitute items, but with this kind of selection, why would you want to? (Also, your neighbor will likely be thrilled to get a little something.) The already-good prices are even better when you realize that they include shipping. Beyond the samplers, Marx has a huge range of options including produce and seafood. Set aside a good chunk of time to check out the massive selection here.
9. Crowd Cow
BEST FOR BUDGET
Crowd Cow is all about the basics, although ground Wagyu beef (shown below) is a little extra and a lot awesome. Also, sustainable seafood, including wild Atlantic scallops and Icelandic Arctic char, is pretty great. The best part of Crowd Cow is they won’t detonate your wallet. A pound of ground beef costs eight bucks, which considering the fact it’s being sent to your door, is pretty reasonable. The minimum order of $50 is lower than most sites, shipping is free on orders over $149, and signing up for a subscription of over $99 per month earns you five percent off. Delicious fresh meats at a good price without setting foot outside of your house sounds like a pretty good deal.
10. Goldbelly
OMG! BACON!
If you’re signing up for a monthly home delivery of meats and you can’t get bacon, seriously, what’s the point? Goldbelly offers monthly subscriptions for everything from pizza to cakes and pies, but we’re here for the bacon. Every month you receive a box of up to five pounds of the sizzling goodness, curated from different providers across the country. Peter Luger in Brooklyn and the James Beard Award-winning Smoking Goose Meatery in Indianapolis are just two. At $59 per month for three months, the only problem you’ll have is deciding which food you want to improve with your awesome bacon, because bacon improves everything.
11. White Oak Pastures
SOUTHERN COMFORT
White Oak Pastures says the climate in its native Bluffton, Georgia is ideal for pasture-raised cattle. Check out their steaks and how big and beautifully marbled they are, and you’ll be a believer. White Oak has been run by six generations of the same family, going back to 1866. Like Moink, all of White Oak’s animals are free-range and grass-fed without any hint of hormones, steroids, antibiotics, or any of the other evils of factory farming. And the range of meats is impressive: beef, pork, goat, lamb, turkey, duck and more — even rabbit. (Don’t tell the kids!) The poultry, in particular, is lean and delicious — the lean part due to the fact they are not all jacked up on breast-boosting drugs. So they may be a little smaller, but they’re a hundred times more tasty and better for you.
12. Carnivore Club
BEST FOR CHARCUTERIE BOARDS
A good cheese board is not complete without some cured sausage, and your preferred way to relax on a Friday is to sip some wine and enjoy a nice charcuterie selection, you’ve got to join Carnivore Club. It’s a subscription service for cured meats from a variety of artisans that you can get delivered each month or buy a la carte through their website. They’ve got a wide selection of meats, jerky and pairing snack foods to choose from including salami, sausage, prosciutto and more. Their Classic Box option features four to six cured meats you won’t be able to find in your local grocery store and changes each month to feature a different vendor from a different part of the US. They’re a great gift idea for someone in your life who enjoys a good appetizer platter or an easy way to treat yourself to some gourmet goodness.
13. Snake River Farms and Double R Ranch
BEST FOR BULK BUYING
This farm duo has over 50 years in the business of the beef industry and is dedicated to the humane raising of sustainably-focused meats that you can also buy in bulk. They now offer larger quantity provisions of some of their finest cuts and meat selection, including the world-famous Wagyu beef. You can now order a variety of cuts of beef and pork in packs of 12 for a specially-bundled price through their website. If you’re considering stocking up for winter, this is a great way to go for quality and quantity.
14. Rastelli’s
BEST SELECTION
I mean this name just sounds like a butcher you can trust, doesn’t it? Rastelli’s is a family business that’s been in the meat industry for over 40 years, starting with a small meat shop that’s grown into a trusted meat delivery service. They offer a high-quality selection of beef, pork, chicken and seafood that’s been frozen in a state of guaranteed freshness. All of their meat is hormone-free, antibiotic-free and steroid-free, and they offer a variety of sampler boxes to choose from including mixed grill, a seafood sampler, surf & turf and a coulotte + teriyaki sirloin combo pack. Take your pick and enjoy super fresh, tender, preserved meat that you can thaw and cook easily.