Why You Can Trust CNET These tasty online meat deals make a great holiday gift from afar
Send a box of Wagyu beef, Berkshire pork, lamb or chicken this holiday.
Need a last-minute gift for a home chef or two? While we have plenty of last-minute kitchen gift ideas here, there are also some delicious online meat deals waiting to be sent to an epicure or grill master on your list. Bonus: Most of these meat deliveries should arrive by Christmas (we've noted the ones that may not). If you know someone who loves to cook but are not sure what they already have or might need, a delivery of quality meats will never go unappreciated.
If it's edible deals you're after -- and who isn't? -- our favorite meat delivery companies and online butchers are vying for your holiday bucks with big savings and sales on quality meat bundles, and many of them will ship in time for Christmas. If you're gun-shy about choosing someone's meat, most vendors offer gift cards for meat delivery so they can pick their own butcher cuts.
Read more: The best gifts for foodies in 2020
These online meat deals include sales on Wagyu beef, Kurobuta pork, holiday roasts, burgers, steaks, chicken and sausages. You can even score free bacon for life when you sign up for ButcherBox. The timing couldn't be better since we're rolling into high season for hosting and gifting, all while trying to make fewer trips to the store for obvious safety reasons. A discounted box of quality steaks, roasts, ground meats, chicken or fish makes the perfect (and not-so-obvious) gift for a foodie on your list. They'll be doubly grateful not to have to fight crowds at the market for some premium cuts of beef, pork or fresh fish.
From old-guard meat purveyors such as Omaha Steaks and Rastelli's to newer players on the scene like Crowd Cow and ButcherBox, check out the best holiday deals on meat and meat delivery to give this season. Check back often as we'll be updating this post as new deals go live.
A good number of these vendors ensure delivery before Christmas if you place your order today and we've noted the ones that may not. In some cases, you may have to pay an extra $10 or $20 for expedited shipping.
The deal:
This meat delivery subscription service is so popular it went on backorder for several months earlier this year. ButcherBox is back in stock and it just brought back its popular free bacon for life promotion. When you sign up now, you'll receive a package of premium bacon in every single package for the life of your membership. ButcherBox's team tells me a shipment takes seven days or less, so if you order today (Dec. 17) you should be good to go.
About ButcherBox:
A subscription service offering three main types of meat, with an emphasis on 100% grass-fed and grass-finished, pasture-raised beef, which is said to be healthier and more environmentally friendly. It also offers heritage-breed pork from pigs, free-range, organic chicken that's humanely raised, with no antibiotics or added hormones. Quality and conscious meat is the big claim here.
The deal:
Kurobuta pork is used in some of the best restaurants in the world and definitely not the same stuff you'll find next to the Perdue chicken at Kroger. Kurobuta hogs are raised in the Midwest under some of the strictest quality control guidelines and fed a specially formulated vegetarian blend of corn and soy. No hormones, stimulants or antibiotics are ever used. This 4-6-pound smoked holiday ham will feed a substantial group and requires very little prep on your part. Holy Grail has other deals on now too like this drool-inducing Wagyu steak flight for $249.
Standard shipping is $29 and is still set to arrive before Christmas at the time of this update.
About Holy Grail Steak Co.:
If you're looking for the very best in beef and have a few extra pennies to spend on the good stuff, let us introduce you to Holy Grail Streak Co. The newcomer to the high-end meat-delivery game sells the best American-raised Wagyu with a deep portfolio of top A5-grade Japanese Wagyu producers on the planet. This includes ultra rare Hokkaido Snow Beef and beloved Kobe Beef. On the website, you can sift through "collections" such as Japanese Wagyu, American Wagyu, USDA Prime Black Angus, Akaushi, steak flights and Wagyu burgers.
The deal:
Omaha Steaks has deals on select meat packages like the Butcher's Best Bundle (38 total items) marked down 50% to just $160. Perfect to stock the freezer or gift a meat eater on your list. Also, when you spend $159 or more, you'll get eight free Omaha Steaks burgers and free shipping.
About Omaha Steaks:
One of the OGs in meat delivery, Omaha Steaks has been in the business for as long as we can remember. It has a preference for grass-fed beef, though grain-fed is offered. Omaha doesn't advertise organic meat like others or provide much information about how the animals are raised, but with a nearly "100-year-old tradition of premium, aged and hand-trimmed beef and satisfaction guarantee," it's got plenty to brag about.
The deal:
Crowd Cow is throwing a 20% discount on a selection of fresh poultry, fish, beef, sausages and more. My pick goes to this 3-pound Wagyu rump roast to feed the family, down to just $53. You can sort through the deals to build your holiday meat dream delivery and check back often as Crowd Cow adds new deals daily.
About Crowd Cow:
Crowd Cow aims to "create an alternative to the current meat commodity system" by connecting consumers to a carefully curated selection of small farms and independent ranches around the world. The offerings range from grass-fed beef and both Japanese and American Wagyu to pork, chicken and American-raised lamb. There's even a selection of sustainable seafood for anyone craving surf and turf. You have the option to search by the specific cut, type of meat or even by the farm.
The deal:
This high-end online butcher is offering 30% off any one item with special code CHOICE which might make this the perfect time to snag your holiday roast, turkey, ham or tenderloin.
About D'Artagnan:
D'Artagnan has been providing quality meats to restaurants and home cooks for more than 30 years. It has a wide selection of rare and classic butcher cuts, charcuterie, poultry and pantry items. If you're looking for a showstopper rack of lamb ribs or hard-to-find cut of beef, D'Artagnan is a good bet. It also offers a 100% satisfaction guarantee with every purchase.
The deal:
Porter Road has one of the best selections of quality cuts anywhere on the web. While the butcher is not running a preholiday sale, you can find gift cards and holiday gift bundles as well as subscriptions starting at $70 per month.
About Porter Road:
Based in Nashville, Porter Road offers a variety of cuts of prime beef, pork, lamb and chicken, sourced from Kentucky and Tennessee. Its beef is pasture-raised, grass-fed and grain-finished, but the company uses no added hormones or antibiotics and the animals are free to roam and graze.
The deal:
When you spend $150 you'll get $30 off with code RVHOLI30. This is valid now through Dec. 31 at 9 a.m. PT (12 p.m. ET). Note that the date to order to guarantee any Rastelli's shipment arrives before Christmas has come and gone, so be sure to check before you place an order.
About Rastelli's:
Rastelli's started out as a small butcher shop in New Jersey serving its local community, but it's always put a premium on the best meat possible and is driven by a love of good food. Today it ships beef, poultry and seafood across the US from farms that produce responsibly raised meats free of antibiotics, steroids and hormones. And it sources wild-caught and sustainably raised seafood like Faroe Islands salmon.