My friends all know that I am a subscriber to both TruLocal and Butcher Box for my home meat deliveries. When I invite them to the house for a BBQ I get the same question from them all the time…Which is the better meat delivery service: TruLocal or ButcherBox? Having started this site to help others in looking for answers about home delivery meal kits, I decided to do a breakdown with a TruLocal vs. ButcherBox page to get all my thoughts out on the subject and determine which is the better meat delivery service.
You can also check out our stand alone Review of truLocal for a complete breakdown of the company and an actual taste test delivery we tried.
What Each Meat Delivery Service Offers
truLocal
TruLocal offers you two size boxes of meat (small and large) and after you choose a size, you can choose from over 100 different meat options: Chicken, Beef, Pork, Fish and then cut selections that will make you want to order a second box to try everything! There are sausages, burgers, whole chickens, striploins, stewing beefs, fish, shrimp, chicken breast, pork chops…as I said, over a 100 to go through. Each choice has a point value attached to it and you have for a large box 20 points to add up to create a box. Striploins are 5 points for a package of 3 steaks ranging 11-15 oz. whereas 1lbs of bacon is 1 point or 2lbs of Korean short ribs are 2 points. Each time you order it can be completely different which I like and I tend to order more from them because of the variety that they have in an order.
truLocal currently has well over 50 different types of meat products you can order, some of there most popular products include:
- Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
- Sugar and Nitrate Free Bacon
- Wild Atlantic Haddock
- Wild Pacific Rockfish (snapper)
- Buffalo Burgers
- Ontario Beef Meatballs
- Smoked Boneless Pork Chops
Butcher Box
Butcher Box offers 5 different box choices in both small and large sizes. Unless you get the custom box you are getting a set selection of meats. Although slightly more expensive, the custom box is the way to go which allows you to pick 12 items (for the large box) and you can fill your freezer pretty well with the choices you get to make. Using Striploin Steaks as an example, I can get 24 NY Strips for $270 or for more of a regular order: 4 Striploins, 8 Top Sirloins, 2 whole chickens, 5 lbs. of baby back ribs, 4 lbs. of sockeye salmon and 4 lbs. of lean ground sirloin.
Butcher Box currently lists around 40 products available for delivery, some of their most popular orders are:
- AAA New York Striploin Steak
- Sirloin Burgers
- Wild Sockeye Salmon
- Gluten Free Hot Italian Sausage
- AAA Bacon Wrapped Filet Mignon
- Air Chilled Chicken Wings
Trulocal vs Butcher Box – pricing
TruLocal comes in two different size boxes a $125 box and a $249 box. The smaller box gives you up to 18 portions of meat and the larger box gives you up to 40 portions to have delivered.
Don’t forget you can get an additional 2 Sirloin Steaks at truLocal if you use Promo Code – HDMKSTEAK
Claim Free Offer Now
Butcher Box costs are also based on two size boxes but also depend on which type of box you get: Small is $129- $149 with most boxes having 8-11 lbs. of meat and the custom box having 9-14 lbs. of meat in an order. The large box price range is $238 – $270 and gets you 16 – 22 lbs. of meat with the custom box having 18-26 lbs. of meat in it.
Both meat delivery sites offer free shipping so that’s a nice cost savings you don’t have to worry about with either service.
Meat Comparison – quality and freshness
This one is a dead tie for me! I order meats (most often steaks) from both companies and I also have a local butcher that I have been going to for years to get my steaks. I know where my butcher gets his meat from and I trust it’s of good quality. I have researched where ButcherBox and TruLocal get their source of meat and steaks and it all sounds great coming from local farmers with humane handling of the animals.
The true due diligence comes from the actual taste test because you can tell the difference between cheap steak and quality steak, at least I can after eating it all my life. Let me tell you both companies are top quality and easily compare to my local butcher who I have trusted for years and in most cases taste even better! I have tried to taste the difference and see if one is better than the other and honestly I have had no luck with that. I have cooked for friends and aside from the rave reviews I get for the meal, there is no noticeable difference in the actual quality or freshness. Some of my friends prefer the seasoning of Trulocal’s meats and portion sizes but for my money both are great. If you buy from either TruLocal or ButcherBox…you are getting quality, delicious meats!
The Winner Is?
I got to lean towards TruLocal and quite frankly that is simply for the variety alone. Don’t get me wrong, I love my meat but having the option to choose some wild caught pickerel or sockeye salmon to go along with my beef chicken or pork makes a nice surf and turf meal. There are a lot of choices of meats to pick from and the variety means that I can order different things to try every time. If you are going to order from Butcher Box, the only way to make it worthwhile is the custom box which is a bit more expensive but you can create a nice order to fill up your freezer with. I wish that ButcherBox had more choices of meats to pick from as I can’t complain about anything else as they too offer quality meats that you won’t found in most grocery stores.
Visit Trulocal today and don’t forget to claim your free offer of 2 extra steaks using promo code – HDMKSTEAK