Have you ever wanted to order meat online to stock your freezer? Or, does buying high-quality meat from American family farms appeal to you?
If you answered yes to either of these questions, you are in luck. It’s possible to buy cuts of meat online without breaking the bank.
Porter Road is a meat delivery service that specializes in farm-fresh meat from small-scale farms in the United States.
This Porter Road review can help you decide if the service is a good fit for your family.
Table of Contents
What Is Porter Road?
Porter Road is an online meat marketplace that sells a variety of fresh cuts of meat. The service offers one-time orders or meat subscription boxes.
They specialize in restaurant-quality meat from trusted partner farms in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania.
Their meat is responsibly raised with no added hormones. They also have a “nose to tail” philosophy, so they try to utilize as much of the animal as possible.
Porter Road’s grass-fed beef is supplemented with grain once mature and dry-aged for a minimum of 14 days to help create a tender, flavorful product.
They also offer pasture-raised chicken and pork cross-bred with Heritage hogs in their meat delivery boxes.
If you happen to live in Nashville, they operate a brick-and-mortar butcher shop that you can visit in person.
How Does the Service Work?
You can place one-time or subscription orders with Porter Road. At this time, their monthly subscription service doesn’t offer any customization.
To start a new subscription, navigate to the “Subscriptions” page.
Next, you’ll need to choose your box. Here are the options:
- Butcher’s Choice Box: two steaks, two sirloin filets, two pork chops, one pound of dry-aged ground beef, one pound of pork bacon, and rotating additional items
- Weeknight Heroes: two sirloin filets, one pack bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts, two pork chops, two pounds dry-aged ground beef, one pound beef taco blend, one pound Italian sausage, and two packs of hot dogs
- Best of Porter Road Box: two steaks, two pork chops, two pounds dry-aged ground beef, one pound bacon, one pound country sausage, and one pound chorizo sausage
- Beef Box: four steaks, two pounds of ground beef, two pounds of beef taco blend, and two packs of hot dogs
- Beef and Pork Basics: two steaks, two pork chops, five pounds of ground beef, and two pounds of ground pork
Next, you can choose to receive your box every two, four, or eight weeks. You’ll also have the chance to include a variety of add-on items in your order.
Once you check out, Porter Road will process and ship your first box.
Remember that this is a subscription meat service. As a result, you’ll need to skip or cancel before the deadline for your next order if you don’t want to be charged.
The service works similarly to meal delivery kits in this regard, so don’t be afraid to skip a box if you don’t need it. You can skip or cancel online with no need to contact customer service.
What Comes in a Porter Road Box?
Porter Road offers a wide selection of meat for people interested in buying in bulk as well as customers who want to make small, individual orders.
Here are the types of proteins and other products available through the service:
- Beef: ribeye, New York strip, flat iron, ground beef, hot dogs, steak tips, sirloin, filet mignon, beef shank, skirt steak, Kansas City strip, burgers, picanha, merlot steak, Denver steak, flank steak, top round, beef bacon, tenderloin, bavette, chuck eye steak, teres major, tri-tip, sierra steak, brisket, hanger steak, ribs, chuck roast, fajita meat, dino ribs, beef tongue, neck roast, stew meat, blade steak, bones, bratwurst, marrow bones, osso buco, oxtail, heart steak, beef stock, liver, taco blend
- Pork: pork chop, pork brisket, bacon, Italian sausage, chorizo, breakfast sausage, pork belly, neck roast, shank, ribs, bratwurst, sage sausage, link sausage, ground pork, cutlets, pork butt, pork wings, back fat, tenderloin, ham, pork jowl
- Chicken: whole chicken, chicken breast, chicken stock, chicken thighs, chicken soup bones
- Market: beef sticks, soup stock, salami, seasonings
While there are a variety of products to choose from with the Porter Road home delivery service, the company does not sell seafood.
How Much Does Porter Road Cost?
Porter Road’s individual meat prices start at $7, and they offer free shipping on orders over $100.
All subscription boxes ship free. The prices for those are as follows:
Box Type | Price |
---|---|
Butcher's Choice Box | $165 |
Weeknight Heroes | $120 |
Best of Porter Road | $115 |
Beef Box | $140 |
Beef and Pork Basics | $120 |
Additionally, new Porter Road members can get ten percent off their first box.
Where Does Porter Road Get Their Meat?
Porter Road only sources their meat from farms in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania.
They have close relationships with their partner farms and are committed to sourcing pasture-raised meat from farms with high animal welfare standards.
Is Porter Road Organic?
Porter Road doesn’t offer certified organic meats, but they claim their chicken exceeds organic standards.
Additionally, their beef is grass-fed and grain-finished. Plus, their pork is pastured.
Overall, they provide premium meats.
My Experience Using the Service
I enjoyed Porter Road and thought everything was absolutely delicious.
The box was packed well with eco-friendly reusable or recyclable packaging. However, unlike other meat boxes I’ve tried, this one had ice packs instead of dry ice.
I ordered the Best of Porter Road box and received:
- Two dry-aged New York strip steaks
- Two pork chops
- Two pounds of dry-aged ground beef
- One pound of bacon
- One pound of country sausage
- One pound of chorizo sausage
My husband cooked the New York strip steaks for us. They were so tender that they seemed more like ribeye. I think the dry-aging process gave them a really beefy taste.
Next, I cooked the pork chops in our air fryer. Since they were thick, they took a bit longer to cook than usual. However, they tasted excellent and stayed juicy.
Finally, I used the ground beef to make enchiladas. There were a lot of other flavors in the enchiladas, so I couldn’t detect a difference in the dry-aged ground beef versus other kinds of ground beef.
Overall, I was impressed with the high quality of the meats. We love shopping with our local butcher, but we plan to return to Porter Road for their dry-aged steaks.
Who Should Use Porter Road?
Here’s who may benefit from using Porter Road.
Meat-Eaters
If you live in a household of meat-eaters, Porter Road is worth considering. Their meat stands out thanks to its quality and taste.
In my opinion, it’s much better than store-bought meat.
Since the meat is so fresh, flavorful, and high in quality, anyone who is on the carnivore diet will appreciate this service.
People Who Want Flexibility
Porter Road offers a lot of flexibility. Although you can’t customize boxes, you can skip, cancel, or add items to your order at any time.
You can also place one-time orders since a subscription isn’t required.
Anyone Who Wants High-Quality Meat
This service is also a good fit for people who want high-quality meat.
They offer pasture-raised meat without antibiotics or added hormones. In addition, they only partner with American farms that have high quality and animal welfare standards.
Better yet, all of their meat is free of artificial ingredients.
Who Shouldn’t Use the Service?
On the other hand, here’s who may not like the service.
Non-Meat Eaters
Porter Road is all about meat, so non-meat eaters like vegans and vegetarians will find it’s not the right service for them.
If you eat a plant-based diet, you may have better luck with a vegetarian meal delivery kit like Purple Carrot or Sunbasket.
Seafood Lovers
Likewise, Porter Road doesn’t offer any seafood. They only offer beef, pork, and chicken.
If you like seafood, you may want to check into other meat delivery boxes that offer a wider selection. ButcherBox, for example, is a good choice for sustainably-sourced seafood.
If you need a service with seafood, Stock Yards is a good option. Read our Stock Yards review to learn more.
Pros and Cons
Here are the pros and cons of this meat delivery service.
Pros:
- High-quality American meat
- Hard to find cuts and “nose to tail” approach
- Dry-aged beef is tender and flavorful
- One-time orders available
- Free shipping on subscription boxes
Cons:
- More expensive than the grocery store
- No seafood available
- Can’t customize boxes
If you want high-quality meat delivered to your home, Porter Road is worth trying.
Is Porter Road Trustworthy?
Porter Road is transparent about the quality of their meat, the farms they partner with, and their sourcing methods.
These factors all point to their trustworthiness. You can consult their website to learn more about the farms they work with and the integrity of their products.
The Competition
Here’s how Porter Road compares to other subscription meat box services.
Company | Cost | # of Cuts | Best For | Sign Up |
---|---|---|---|---|
Porter Road | $115+/box | 8-10 lbs. | Dry-aged beef | Try |
Good Chop | $149+/box | 6-12 | Custom boxes | Try |
Crowd Cow | $99+/box | Varies | Wagyu beef | Try |
ButcherBox | $99+/box | 6-12 | Families | Try |
Good Chop
Like Porter Road, Good Chop also specializes in U.S.-raised meat.
They are a subscription-only service that sends fully-customizable, monthly shipments of Angus beef, chicken, pork, turkey, and sustainably-sourced seafood. Their prices begin at $149 per box.
If you want a customized subscription box and prefer American meat, this is a good option for you.
Read our review of Good Chop to learn more.
Crowd Cow
Crowd Cow is an online meat marketplace that works similarly to Porter Road. It offers subscription boxes or one-time orders.
This meat delivery service has a more robust selection of products than many others on this list. They source meat from partner farms around the world.
For example, Crowd Cow is one of the most well-known places to purchase Wagyu beef online. This is a type of beef with heavy marbling that originated in Japan.
They also offer wild game, lamb, lamb chops, bison, and more.
You can fully customize your subscription with Crowd Cow, so prices vary. They are a good option to consider if you want a wider selection of meats.
Read our review of Crowd Cow to learn more.
ButcherBox
ButcherBox is probably the most well-known meat delivery service. They differentiate themselves from the competition thanks to their high-quality standards.
Their beef is 100 percent grass-fed, and all of the other cooked and raw meats come from pastured animals raised on a natural diet.
Additionally, all of their seafood is sustainably wild-caught.
ButcherBox subscriptions begin at $99. The service could be a good fit for you if you want the highest quality meat possible.
*Now until June 30th, Frugal Rules readers can get 2 packs of ground beef FREE in every box for a year with your new membership!
Read our review of ButcherBox to learn more.
Porter Road Review
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Price
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Selection
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Quality of Meat
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Shipping
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Membership Options
Porter Road Review
Porter Road is an online butcher shop that offers premium American beef, pork, and chicken in monthly subscription boxes or one-time orders.
Overall
4.2Pros
✔️ High quality American meat
✔️ Large variety of cuts
✔️ One-time or subscription orders
✔️ Free shipping over $100
✔️ Promos for free meat
Cons
❌ More expensive than grocery store meat
❌ No custom subscription boxes available
❌ Does not include seafood
Bottom Line
Using a meat delivery service can make meal planning and grocery shopping easier. It even gives you a much wider selection than shopping at a grocery store.
While Porter Road’s all-American beef, chicken, and pork are high-quality, pastured meats that won’t disappoint, they are more expensive than store-bought meat.
However, the cost might be worth it if you value their quality standards and appreciate their taste.
Is spending more for meat delivery worth it to you?
SaVanna is a registered dietitian, freelance writer, and recipe developer. She’s a regular contributor for Healthline Nutrition and Greatist, and she blogs about low carb meal planning at SaVannaShoemaker.com. When she’s not writing about food and nutrition, she’s brainstorming ways to make meals that are inexpensive, kid friendly, tasty, and healthy.
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