Buying meat in bulk suddenly has more appeal than it did even four months ago. We’re all suddenly looking for alternative options for buying meat, as grocery store shelves are inconsistently stocked or stores are placing limitations on quantities in order to avoid a meat shortage.
Here are a few ideas for getting beef, chicken, and pork for your freezer (and a lead on an affordable freezer option too!).
Download the KCL app — we’re on the hunt for meat deals and options to help you stay stocked. We’ll tell you when we see something worth your time!
1. Shop Restaurant Depot for wholesale meat prices.
Some meat suppliers that typically sell in bulk to restaurants are currently selling directly to customers like you and me as they try to stay afloat while restaurants aren’t open.
Restaurant Depot is a great example. As a non-member, you can go to a Restaurant Depot warehouse and get a free day pass to shop, something they normally don’t allow. Meat is one of the best deals Restaurant Depot offers!
RELATED: Restaurant Depot Offers Wholesale Prices to the Public for the First Time
2. Try a subscription box like Omaha Steaks to get a monthly supply of meat.
Meat subscriptions boxes usually offer package options — you choose which package you want based on whether you want a steak-heavy or a seafood-heavy delivery. You can’t choose what goes into your box exactly, but you can choose a package that best fits your needs.
For example, Omaha Steaks offers the Ultimate Gourmet Assortment for $149, regularly $286.88. This assortment includes four servings each of filet mignon, top sirloin, boneless pork chops, burgers, jumbo franks, potatoes au gratin, and caramel apple tartlets, plus two servings of stuffed sole with scallops and crab meat.
Here are more meat subscription box options:
3. Invest in a whole or half cow and stock your freezer.
While prices on ground beef may be about the same as what you’d find for grass-fed ground beef in a grocery store, your best savings will be on steaks.
Here’s what you can expect to see when you compare the cost of buying a cow with the cost of grass-fed beef at a grocery store like Kroger. “Finished cut” prices mean the cost of the beef after it’s been processed and packaged.
Ground beef:
Half-cow finished cut: $6.36-$8.57/pound
Kroger: $6.99-$7.99/pound
Ribeye steak:
Half-cow finished cut: $6.36-$8.57/pound
Kroger: $19.18/pound
Strip steak:
Half-cow finished cut: $6.36-$8.57/pound
Kroger: $19.18/pound
Check out these websites to find out how to buy a cow near you:
RELATED: Buying a Cow: Are the Cost and Cuts of Beef Worth It?
4. Get beef, chicken, wagyu, pork, or seafood delivered through Crowd Cow.
CrowdCow.com started when 50 people decided to go in on a whole cow purchase, resulting in great prices and smaller portions for people who didn’t have enough freezer space. Now it’s a whole business that offers much more than a crowdfunded cow!
You can place orders for beef, wagyu, chicken, pork and seafood through Crowd Cow. All meat is from independent and sustainable farms, and Crowd Cow offers grass-fed and grain-fed beef along with both wild-caught and farm-raised fish.
To order, create a profile and add items to your CrowdCow.com box. You’ll see each item’s expected delivery date as you’re shopping. Check out when you’re done.
You must order a minimum of $50 worth of meat, but you’ll get free shipping on orders of $99 or more. Otherwise shipping is $12.99.
5. Shop Savory Butcher — it’s a meat co-op offering farm prices.
SavoryButcher.com uses co-op style purchasing in order to get the lowest prices from farms.
They buy in bulk like grocery stores do, but instead of packaging it into smaller portions, they turn around and sell customers the meat in bulk, just like they received it. They sell humanely raised and antibiotic-free meat, and the chicken is trimmed.
Chicken breasts and ground beef come in 40-pound boxes, and bacon comes in 30-pound boxes. The only catch is that you must buy in these quantities.
Place your order at SavoryButcher.com and then choose a pickup spot near you. You’ll receive an assigned pickup date. Then you’ll drive up to the truck, and Savory Butcher will put your box of meat in your trunk for you.
If you don’t like the meat for whatever reason, Savory Butcher will buy it back from you.
6. Don’t let meat quantity limits at grocery stores get you down, maximize them!
Yes, stores are limiting how many roasts and bags of chicken breasts you can buy. But this is a good thing, because it means they’re trying to avoid another toilet paper apocalypse.
Just put your smart shopping hat on (you know, the one you live in 24/7), and you’ll be able to slowly fill your freezer with meat anyway.
First, make the most of meat quantity limits by buying multiple brands. For example, if the limit is two packages of ground beef per brand at a grocery store, buy all three available brands for a total of six pounds of ground beef.
If your grocery store offers free pickup or a monthly flat-rate delivery fee, take advantage of those to place more than one order a week. For example, at Walmart, it’s $12.95 per month to get unlimited deliveries, but it’s $9.95 per delivery. For $12.95 a month, you could get as many deliveries as you want.
RELATED: Walmart, Kroger, Costco & Other Stores Limiting Meat Purchases
7. Order steak, chicken, bacon and pre-cooked meat from Schwan’s Home Delivery.
Schwan’s Home Delivery is a great way to get meat that you couldn’t get at the grocery store. You can find steak, chicken (raw and fully cooked), bacon, all kinds of pre-packaged meat options like chicken nuggets, hot dogs, summer sausage and more.
You don’t have to sign up for a subscription; instead, order when you want to by creating an account and placing your order online. Delivery fees start at $1.75.
RELATED: Best Online Meat Delivery Services to Try Now
8. Get 40% off steaks at Hickory Farms.
HickoryFarms.com is offering 40% off certain steaks through November (although, let’s get real, they’ll probably sell out before the November expiration date arrives, so move quickly!). Since steaks are harder to find than ground beef right now, a sale on steaks is a rare find.
9. Buy meat from a local farm if you live in Chicago.
- Timberfeast, Oak Park: Offering chicken, ground beef, steak, bacon, duck and more. Plus delivery to the Chicago metro area.
- Milk & Honey Farmstead, Wauconda: Offering poultry, beef, and pork — all cage free!
- Seven Sons Meat Company, Roanoke: Although the farm is in Roanoke, Seven Sons offers beef, pork, and poultry, plus free home delivery to Chicago addresses with a $149 or more purchase.
- Nature’s Choice Farm, Grant Park: Get grass-fed beef and pasture-raised pork or poultry delivered to the Chicago metro area, or attend one of many farmers’ markets where Nature’s Choice sells meat.
10. Buy meat from a local farm if you live in Dallas.
- Pastured Steps Family Farm, Midlothian: Offering grass-fed beef, pasture-fed chickens, and more for delivery to the Dallas-Ft. Worth area.
- Nurture Ranch, Frisco: Get grass-fed beef delivered to your door.
- Buck Creek Meats, Fairview: Offering grass-fed beef and lamb, free-range chicken, and pastured pork. Delivery available to the Dallas-Ft. Worth area.
- Sendero Brothers, Arlington: Offering grass-fed beef plus free delivery to the Dallas-Ft. Worth area on purchases over $150. Get a 10% discount when you sign up for email newsletters.
11. Buy meat from a local farm if you live in Los Angeles.
- J&J Grassfed Beef, Tehachapi: Delivers grass-fed beef and chicken to most Southern California addresses.
- Stemple Creek Ranch, Berkeley: Offering grass-fed beef for free delivery to all California addresses. You must purchase a minimum of $149 worth of beef to place an order.
12. Buy meat from a local farm if you live in Houston.
- Frydek Heritage Farm, Sealy: Offering poultry, lamb, and pork for delivery in the Houston area. Or you can select a pickup location near you (in the Houston-metro area).
- Law Ranch Cattle Company, Crosby: The best way to buy from Law Ranch is to find them at a farmers’ market, but they’ll also meet up with you or deliver if you’re within 10 miles of Crosby, TX.
13. How to get bulk meat if you live anywhere else in the United States.
Use the Wholesale Meat Supplier Directory to find warehouses that sell bulk meat near you.
These are suppliers similar to Restaurant Depot, many of which normally sell directly to restaurants but who may be open to selling directly to you as they’re feeling the pinch of lost restaurant business.
Just click your state to see different suppliers near you. Call or check their websites to find out what they can do for you.
BONUS: Shop for a chest or upright freezer at Home Depot.
If you need more space for all that meat you want to buy, HomeDepot.com currently has the best selection of chest and upright freezers still in stock. Plus, they offer free delivery on a freezer purchase of $396 or more.
Don’t scroll up! Here are the articles mentioned:
Restaurant Depot Offers Wholesale Prices to the Public for the First Time
Buying a Cow: Are the Cost and Cuts of Beef Worth It?
Walmart, Kroger, Costco & Other Stores Limiting Meat Purchases
Best Online Meat Delivery Services to Try Now