Review: Get ready for grilling season with ButcherBox meat delivery

Fire up the grills, it’s time for summer eating and we have an appetite.

Grilling is a great American pastime and starting Memorial Day Weekend, the ultimate activity for getting the gang together and feeding the group burgers, brats, veggies and more, out in the sunshine.

Even if your version of grilling out is burgers and hotdogs inside on the skillet, everyone deserves the fun memories of a burger spread with all the fixings or a dinner of ribs and steak. To get in on the fun, rain or shine, indoors and out, you really only need one thing — the meat.

For some, the butcher counter can be daunting, and so we have a solution. What is the butcher came in a box, right to your door?

Introducing ButcherBox, which, hence the name, is really just that — a butcher and all their favorite cuts of meat, poultry and fish in a box delivered to your door. You can order it as a subscription, a one-time order for a special cookout or even as a gift for a foodie or master griller.

We ordered our grilling box in time for a girl’s weekend in upstate New York, in which we knew there would be a grill, a griddle and a gaggle of hungry guests I would need to feed. How did it all go down? Read on for the price breakdown, shipping and of course, the cooking with ButcherBox.

• What is ButcherBox
• What meats can you get with ButcherBox?
• How much does ButcherBox cost?
• Our review of ButcherBox for summer 2023

What is ButcherBox

Really, a mail-order butcher.

ButcherBox is a subscription-based or a one-time order of meat, poultry and fish. The food is sourced sustainably as well, working with farmers in the U.S., Canada and Australia to bring you grass-fed beef, sustainably harvested and wild-caught fish and free-range, organic chicken.

Meat arrives on dry ice, made to be frozen when you unbox, or thawed in the fridge if you plan to grill right away. Plans are also tailored to your liking, with multiple options for cuts of meat as well as some boxes made for specific times, like a brunch box with bacon and a grilling box and even a Father’s Day bundle available on site right now.

What meats can you get with ButcherBox?

You can really get a full spread of red meat, poultry and fish when you shop at ButcherBox. Here is a breakdown of it all, sorted by type.

Beef: Bottom round roast, coulotte, flat iron, filet mignon, ground beef, ribeye, steak tips

Pork: Bacon, pork chop, ground pork, butt, ribs (St. Louis and baby back), tenderloin

Poultry: Chicken breast, drumstick, tenders, thighs (boneless and bone-in), whole chicken, turkey (seasonally)

Seafood: Salmon, scallops, shrimp, cold-cracked lobster and lobster tails, cod, halibut

How much does ButcherBox cost?

When choosing a plan, opt for the Custom Box or the Curated Box. Custom allows you to choose your own cuts, while Curated lets you pick the type of meat, but they choose the best cuts from their stock.

Then, choose your box size. The Classic Box costs $169 and contains nine to 14 pounds of meat. The Big Box costs $306 and contains 18 to 26 pounds of meat, perfect for freezing or larger families. The best part is that shipping is always free, so the price you see if the price your get.

When it comes to the gift boxes for holidays and special moments, these are priced individually. Our Grill Masters Favorites Box that we reviewed cost $239 and contained a full rack of baby back ribs, burgers, hot dogs, ribeye steaks, NY strip steaks, chicken wings and chicken drumsticks.

Our review of ButcherBox for summer 2023

This box was a saving grace for me. After somehow getting 12 of my best friends to agree to come upstate New York with me for a birthday, I then realized… I had to make sure they were all fed through the weekend. Since our rental home had a grill and a griddle, why not have a cook out?

I was lucky enough to get a rush order of the Grill Masters Favorites Box, which came with full rack of baby back ribs, burgers, hot dogs, ribeye steaks, NY strip steaks, chicken wings and chicken drumsticks. I ended up packing up the burgers, hot dogs, steaks and the ribs in a cooler and hit the road.

I was impressed that the meat stayed frozen from the moment it arrived at my doorstep to when we unpacked it all at the house upstate. We then let it all thaw in the fridge and sure enough, when lunch rolled around the next day everything was thawed and ready to cook.

Sadly, it was a very rainy weekend, and so we had to scrap the outdoor grill and turn to the griddle. The good news is that these meats were super easy to cook inside, making sure to turn on the vent and the fan, as the air started to smell like a barbecue restaurant pretty quickly.

We didn’t end up getting to the ribs, but because they were vacuum sealed, I was able to bring them back home for the next day, while the chicken wings are still in my freezer for my next summer cookout — hopefully in the sunshine this time.

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