Sturdy Woman

My recent post What I Eat for Lipedema sparked lively discussion about meat in the comments on YouTube, so this seemed like the right time to share my review of Butcher Box. I started using Butcher Box about three months ago after my nutritionist urged me to eat higher-quality meats. Amid the US’s economic downturn, I had switched from mostly steaks to mostly cheap chicken thighs. According to her, chicken and pork store toxins they are exposed to in their fat – the part we enjoy incorporating into our keto lifestyles – so I may have been unwittingly increasing my inflammation. I researched available options, including just shopping at my local Whole Foods, and decided that ButcherBox struck the right balance of convenience, quality, and price for my lifestyle and budget.

Three boxes in, I share my experience so far. Read on or watch below to learn more. Butcher Box did not sponsor this post and I bought all three boxes with my own money.

Butcher Box allows you to choose from a wide variety of meats in more than 25 different cuts. In addition to mainstays like beef, chicken, and pork they also carry bison, lamb, and a rotation of seasonal holiday meats. Yes, Butcher Box has seafood and fish! The beef is all 100% grass-fed and grass-finished which makes it leaner with a healthier ratio of omega-3 to omega-6.

Where do Butcher Box meats come from? Most of the beef comes from Australia with about 20% raised in the United States and they maintain high animal welfare standards across all their meats. The pork and chicken are sourced from the United States and Canada using sustainable methods. Seafood including salmon, scallops, lobster, cod, halibut, sablefish, and shrimp is wild-caught and sustainably harvested.

I have only two minor complaints about Butcher Box. The first is about the packaging. All the meat comes frozen and vacuum-sealed in plastic. As the meat jostles around the box during shipping, it frequently gets little holes that make it leaky during thawing. The second is that the boneless chicken thighs often still have bones or bone fragments in them, so do a little extra inspection before cooking them up. These haven’t prevented me from continuing to order because the quality, convenience, and value work well for me.

Butcher Box has been a convenient option for me as I’ve recently returned to the office three days a week. Diagnosed with lipedema and lymphedema just days before the COVID-19 quarantine started in the United States in 2020, I’m learning for the first time how to juggle my self-care needs with an hour-long commute in each direction. I literally have less time to grocery shop and cook. Knowing that I have everything I need for the month in the freezer and all I have to do is remember to take it out the night before has been a game changer. No more running to the grocery store only to find that they are out of my favorite ribeye steaks.

How long can Butcher Box sit out? I unintentionally tested this when my third box arrived. I usually work from home on Thursday and Friday so I scheduled it to arrive then. You have a ton of flexibility to pause or reschedule your Butcher Box and know quite accurately when it will arrive. Then I unexpectedly went to the office. I was sitting at my desk an hour away when I got the email that it had been delivered. Ugh. It took me three and a half hours to get home but it didn’t matter. Everything was still frozen rock hard and the dry ice was still intact. Butcher Box‘s website says you can wait 6-8 hours to retrieve it after it is delivered and my box could have gone that long easily. It wasn’t even a particularly cold day.

How much are Butcher Boxes? It depends on how much you need and how flexible you are with what you receive. The Classic box is good for singles and couples and the Big box is better for families and those with large freezers. For flexibility, it comes down to whether you want to choose the exact cuts you receive (custom box) or whether you are okay with letting Butcher Box choose cuts based on your preferred proteins (curated box). See the chat below for a breakdown of options as of March 2023.

In addition to the box you choose, each month you can add on additional things or take advantage of member deals. I got free ribeye steaks for a year when I signed up during the holidays. Want $50 off your first Butcher Box? Order through one of the links in this post.

Have you used Butcher Box or another meat delivery service to support your keto lifestyle and manage your lipedema symptoms? Let us know about your experience below!