Do you live in a town or area where there are no nearby artisanal butcher shops or markets where you can buy a fresh, premium quality or a rare meat cut? Do you want to save time, avoid the crowds but still enjoy a Michelin star quality steak at home?
Thankfully, there is a wide selection of reputable online butchers and meat stores that will deliver the meat cut or product of your choice at your doorstep. Not only is this a huge convenience, but you will be supporting the sustainable butchers and farmers during these trying times caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Here is a list of the best, safest and most reliable websites where you can buy meat online in 2022.
Best variety
Crowd Cow
Crowd Cow is a unique website that allows customers to crowdfund animals from selected local farms and then receive fresh handpicked meat cuts and products from those cows.
The founders of this brilliant idea Ethan and Joe decided to help both the customers and the local ranchers by selling shares of individual cows to interested customers.
Today, Crowd Cow offers top-quality humanely raised beef and other meat and poultry sourced by sustainable farmers and ranchers.
You can find some exceptional cuts, from 100% grass-fed or pasture-raised and grain-fed animals on this website, including imported or domestic Japanese Wagyu beef, lamb, pork, chicken, and seafood on the Crowd Cow website.
You can also find some unique craft beef and other meat gifts to send to a foodie friend.
Currently, the online meat store is offering a limited time offer to become a member and receive free heritage bacon forever. Members also receive significant discounts from most of the popular products offered by Crowd Cow.
You can select the exact supplier of the specific meat you are interested in. the company offers a wide selection of grass-fed beef, domestic or imported, heritage pork, lamb, free-range chicken, bison, and sustainable fish and seafood.
The site is user-friendly, and you can search through the different farms or search by specific cut.
You can also subscribe to receive a customizable box of top-quality meat cuts and products monthly or whenever you need a new delivery.
You can start shopping at Crowd Cow at prices starting from $8 here.
Leading for dry-aged meats
DeBragga
DeBragga is among the most famous butcher shops in New York City and in the USA and has been the leading supplier of USDA Prime dry-aged beef and Japanese Wagyu beef to the top restaurants and steak houses in NYC since 1927.
Today, thanks to their website and online sales, you don’t need to travel to New York in order to get a taste of these incredible steaks and other amazing meat cuts.
DeBragga is among the few licensed distributors of the award-winning Wagyu beef from Japan, namely the Miyazaki-Gyu beef from Kyushu. This beef won the local Japanese Culinary Olympics and is sourced from animals that are barley fed, hormone and antibiotic-free, and graded with the highest A5 grade by the very strict grading system in Japan.
It is the top recommended online source for buying dry-aged steaks. Since the process of dry-aging is long and very expensive, it is worth buying this kind of meat from the leading supplier in the country, namely DeBragga.
You will also find a wide selection of other meat cuts and products on the website, including Australian lamb, veal, smoked meats, sausage, venison, poultry. There are even unique craft meat gift sets such as an Executive Prime dry-aged sampler or a Wagyu Kobe Beef Style Selection, to name a few.
The company delivers its steakhouse quality products to every part of the continental USA and offers overnight delivery.
You can view all of the incredible meat cuts and products offered by DeBragga starting at prices from $13 here.
Perfect for subscriptions
ButcherBox
ButcherBox offers a subscription service for monthly deliveries of boxes of top-quality meat to your door.
The meat offered by the online meat delivery and subscription service comes from eco-friendly meat from pasture-raised and hormone and antibiotic-free animals.
One of the four specifically selected boxes, such as an all-beef, beef and pork, beef and chicken, or mixed box, is available for subscription. You may even design your own personalized box and select from more than 20 different cuts if you have specific requirements. The meat is from grass-fed beef, free-range organic chicken, heritage breed pork, or wild-caught seafood.
ButcherBox offers a box for any meat enthusiast because the boxes are available in various sizes and pricing ranges.
You will receive freshly frozen, vacuum-sealed, and ecologically friendly meat at the precise time you want it. The shipment dates may be modified and can be monthly or biweekly, depending on your demands.
The boxes can include up to 60 servings each, so you will have enough meat to feed the family and friends before your next box arrives.
The prices are very reasonable, and a box full of premium quality meat starts at $129 per month.
You can sign up for your meat box today and will receive a free BBQ bundle of over 7 lbs. of meat for free with your first order here.
Most recommended craft butcher
Porter Road
Porter Road is a craft butcher company that offers hand-cut meat from pasture-raised and antibiotic-free and hormone-free animals.
The company sources the meat from local farms and cuts and processes it itself at its facilities in Kentucky.
All meat cuts have been cut by hand by the professional butchers from Porter Road.
You can pick from a wide selection of top-quality meats, including dry-aged beef, over 50 popular and rare beef cuts, and can buy or subscribe for the company’s carefully handpicked curated meat boxes. The subscription can be for 2, 4, or every 8 weeks.
Most of the meat cuts and products are delivered fresh and not frozen, in suitable and environmentally friendly packaging.
You can start shopping for fresh meat at Porter Road now and get free shipping for orders over $100 here.
Top choice for value
FarmFoods
If you want to buy fresh meat from a specific vetted farm without breaking the bank, then FarmFoods could be the best online meat store for you.
You can browse through the detailed descriptions of each of the farms represented at FarmFoods, and thus select the exact farm where you will get the meat from.
The website offers a wide variety of usual and rare cuts and meat products. Apart from the beef, pork, and chicken cuts and products, you can also order ostrich, pheasant, quail, grass-fed lamb, wild-caught seafood, game meats, and more.
There are different value packs, and the prices at FarmFoods are very reasonable, starting from $8. Check them out here.
Favorite for buying in bulk
Snake River Farms
Snake River Farms is a family-owned company based in Idaho. It is also one of the leading suppliers of top-quality American Wagyu beef as well as Kurobuta pork to the most prestigious and Michelin star-studded restaurants in the country.
This is the website to go to for the best American Wagyu filet mignon, tomahawk steaks, porterhouses, and other delicious and richly marbled beef cuts.
The company offers a detailed meat grade guide to help you choose the meat cut and product according to your preferences.
But you can find all kinds of high-quality meat cuts and products and have them delivered fresh and packed in ice, directly ready for prepping and consumption.
Snake River Farms is the leading online supplier if you are looking for an online meat delivery service that can handle extra-large deliveries and bulk orders.
You can also subscribe to the specially curated packages offered by the company or start shopping at prices beginning from $10 here.
Leading in alternatives to conventional red meat
Fossil Farms
The Fossil Farms company slogan says “wild, natural, sustainable,” and this is exactly what you will find on their website and online store.
If you want to try out some exotic meats and products such as kangaroo, antelope, emu, yak, or other meats different from the common red meats, then you should go to Fossil Farms.
The company also offers conventional meat cuts and products. The total list of products you can find on its website is over 200 different proteins.
All meat comes from all-natural, top-quality farm-raised animals. There are curated boxes and special packages which you cannot find anywhere else online, including Alpha-Gal, Game Birds, Reptiles Exotic, and more.
You can check out the impressive product list of Fossil Farms and shop online at prices starting from $6 here.
Finest cured meats
Carnivore Club
If you are a cured meat lover, then the Carnivore Club is the online meat store you should try out.
This company specializes in premium artisanal meats and has an awe-inspiring list of products for a stunning charcuterie board.
The online marketplace offers over 22 different and absolutely unique subscription boxes filled with various delicious cured meats, meat sticks, jerky and more products. There are boxes such as keto-meat and gluten-free meat sticks and jerky. You can also select a specific cured meat from all over the world at the Carnivore Club website.
You can take a look at the fantastic product range offered by Carnivore Club and start shopping here.
Greatest authentic Wagyu
Holy Grail Steak Co
The Holy Grail Steak Company is the one to thank for making the world-famous Kobe beef steak available online to the wide public in the USA. Apart from being the only company licensed to sell the best Wagyu Kobe beef online, the Holy Grail Steak Company offers some of the other premium beef products such as USDA Prime Black Angus, American Wagyu, and more.
If you are willing to splurge out and are not sure which steak to choose, you can go ahead and order the stunning “God of the Grill Collection,” which includes 8 of the best steaks from around the world.
You can order top steakhouse-quality beef and meat easily by visiting the website of the company here.
Specialized in products free of antibiotics, hormones, and steroids
Rastelli’s
Ever since it was established in 1976, the family-owned Rastelli’s butcher shop has become famous for its fresh and US-sourced products completely free of antibiotics, hormones, and steroids.
Now, you can buy these hand-cut meat products online at the company’s website.
There is a very wide array of high-quality meats offered by the online butchers, including gift boxes with special selections. You can also buy plant-based proteins and special mixed sampler boxes.
The prices of the organic meat products offered by Rastelli’s start at $19. You can check out the product list and order some clean and fresh meat here.
Exceptional for bacon-lovers
Goldbelly Bacon Subscription
If you are a huge bacon fan and are looking for the best place to buy bacon online, then you should check out the Goldbelly Belly Subscription. This unique and mouthwatering subscription will cost you $59 per month, and you will receive from 2 to 5 lbs. of premium quality bacon every month for the next 3 or 6 months.
Sign up for receiving a box full of bacon every month by Goldbelly here.
Perfect for gifts
Omaha Steaks
Omaha Steaks calls itself “America’s Original Butcher” and is the first-ever butcher in the USA to offer mail deliveries of meat. In fact, the butcher started delivering meat back in 1953.
Today, the online store offers top-quality meat sourced from the USA and takes pride in its grass-fed and grain-finished dry-aged beef.
You can also find a lot of other meat cuts and products, including pork, poultry, lamb, bison, fish, and more, on the Omaha Steaks website.
The online butcher store is a top choice if you are looking to order a gift for the meat-lover in your life. You can select from a wide range of gift boxes and options for personal and business needs, including gifts for special occasions, personalized gifts, and wine baskets, and even dog treat gift boxes.
You can browse through the gigantic variety of different meat-related gift boxes offered by Omaha Steaks here.
Famous for specialty meats
D’Artagnan Foods
D’Artagnan Foods was established in the 1980s and today specializes in offering the most decadent specialty meats and products. The company, which is part of the farm-to-table movement, offers unique meat and other food products, including foie gras, truffles, charcuterie, mushrooms, and sustainable seafood.
These are all products that are difficult to find both online or offline. If you are shopping for something very special and wish to spoil yourself or somebody else with premium A5 grade Wagyu beef, Kurobuta pork, artisanal duck mousse basquaise, dry-cured saucisson, duck foie gras, rillettes, rabbit, wild boar, caviar, and others, you should visit the company’s website here.
Pros and cons in buying meat online
There are many advantages and some downsides to buying meat online. Read on to find out what the pros and cons of shopping online for meat are.
Pros
- Shopping online is a huge convenience, as you can avoid crowded stores, travel to the nearest butcher, and carry the groceries home
- Online you can find some specialty meats, rare cuts, and steakhouse quality meat which is difficult to find in regular stores and butcher shops
- You are likely to get a wider selection online than when going to your butcher
- You can select the exact cut and the type of animal it has been produced from, including pasture-raised, grass-fed, free-range, hormone-free, and antibiotic-free online, while at most stores, there is no guarantee where the meat comes from
- You can save time for shopping, especially if you sign up for any of the periodic subscription services offered by online meat stores. Plus, usually, the ordered meat will be delivered overnight or very quickly
- You can enjoy eating restaurant and steakhouse quality meat without going to a restaurant and without leaving your home
- Most of the online butchers use eco-friendly packaging, and the products are processed or packaged in a way that will ensure that they are delivered safely to your home, which means less food waste
Cons
- Online meat can be more expensive than buying it from your local store. then again, you can expect to pay more for a premium quality Kobe beef steak as compared to a regular steak sold at the local supermarket
- Choosing the right online store to buy meat from can take a lot of time and effort for research and vetting the seller, farmer, and butcher
- You will need to be home and sign off for the package when it is delivered, or else it may become dangerous to eat if left out in the open for long