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There’s nothing I like more than trying new restaurants, stopping by my neighborhood bistros, and spending (a little too much) time hanging out in my favorite bars. However, while I would love to eat out every night and let my stovetop languish in disuse, in my house, we cook most of our meals at home — which means my girlfriend and I hit the grocery store at least once a week. And, even though we both love the fleeting rush of dopamine that comes on as soon as you stroll into a Target or Trader Joe’s, since we live in Brooklyn, it’s still a hassle to score the choicest pieces of produce, since by the time we get there on, say, a Sunday afternoon, everything is usually picked-over, and the fresh fruits and veggies section looks like a scene out of The Last of Us.
Oh, and don’t even get me started on meats and proteins: By the time we wade through the sea of shoppers of our local grocer and get to that section, we’re lucky if we can get our hands on a single pack of eerily pink chicken from a Mega Producer or a pound or two of ground chuck whose origins are a mystery. We tried hitting the farmer’s market a few times, and while the produce, meats, and fish were all excellent, it was tough to plan around the market’s hours, and we were paying a premium for the quality — which these days, adds up fast. Luckily, I recently found what’s quickly become my favorite solution for snagging high-quality meat, poultry, and fish (the most expensive part of our grocery store trips) at a fair price with zero hassle: ButcherBox.
ButcherBox is a super-simple meat delivery subscription service that delivers 100% grass-fed beef, free-range organic chicken, humanely raised pork, and wild-caught seafood directly to your door — and, they source premium meats from partners who meet high standards for animal care and quality, which is huge. You can choose one of their curated boxes (Spoiler Alert: They’re all excellent) or you can design a custom box of your own, tailored to your specific needs. And, while that might sound too good to be cheap, it’s surprisingly affordable: When you snag a box, you get a selection of choice cuts that ends up being less than $6 per meal. Oh, and did I mention shipping is free?
When my box came, I realized that I failed to mention to my girlfriend that we were expecting a package. (I wish I could have been there to see her face when she opened a massive box full of a month’s worth of meat.) And, when I tell you my freezer was absolutely stocked with meat, I’m not kidding — I could barely close the door, which is, for the record, an awesome problem to have. Since I was lucky enough to get to try a laundry list of ButcherBox’s offerings, I went on a cooking spree, and I’ve gotta say, they didn’t disappoint. Because I received such a wide selection of items, I felt like a chef in a restaurant. Salmon tonight? No problem. Perhaps a strip steak this evening? Easy. Watching the big game? Break out the wings. And, not only were the cuts and types of protein varied, they were outrageously high-quality. I even gave a pack of filet mignon to my parents, who love to grill (and, you know, have a grill) and even though it’s already their favorite cut of beef, they reported back that the flavor and texture of the beef was far superior to anything they were used to getting in their local market in the ‘burbs.
As a huge fan of breakfast foods, my favorite items in my box were the bacon and the breakfast sausage, which were both delicious and leagues above anything I’ve snagged from the refrigerated aisle in the supermarket. The bacon fried up like a dream, and the sausage had a depth of flavor that literally made me go to sleep early, just so I could get to the next day’s breakfast faster. My girlfriend, on the other hand, loved the rib eyes, of course, and the sleeper pick: the wings! While she’s the first one to chow down on a butter-basted steak, we don’t always have wings in the house, since deep-frying uses a ton of oil, and baking the wings in the oven never really delivered that sports-bar-style crunch that we love. However, we tossed the wings from ButcherBox into the oven with a little Black Garlic Ginger Salt and they came out meaty, crispy, and seriously delicious.
Now, while having a ton of killer cuts of meat, fish, and poultry in the house at all times is enough to make me whack that “subscribe” button, there’s another big reason to jump on the ButcherBox train: convenience. While it’s true you should always strive to support your local farm or butcher, not all of us live near a place where we can do that, and sometimes it’s tough to fit an extra stop into our busy schedules. I live in the city, which means when I go to the grocery store, I walk. So, I usually only buy what I know I’m going to be able to lug home in two hands — but with ButcherBox, I can skip snagging what’s often the heaviest part of my haul: meat. I also don’t have to hope that my heavily trafficked grocery store has certain things in stock, I don’t have to get there super early, and I don’t have to go out of my way to stop by a specialty market if I’m looking for specific cuts.
Not convinced? Well, that’s not all: For the next 24 hours, new users can use the code GREEN60 for $20 off your first three boxes ($60 total). So, if you’ve been struggling with finding high-quality proteins on a budget, are hoping to lessen the load when you hit the grocery store, or just looking for an easy and affordable way to have a box full of delicious meats show up at your doorstep on command, look no further further than ButcherBox — you’ll never go back to grocery store meats again.
Ian Burke
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