Here Are the Best Places to Buy Chicken Online

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Best Overall

ButcherBox

Topping our best places to buy chicken online list, Butcher Box is one of the original online butcher shops, and they pride themselves on offering 100% free-range organic chicken. You get to choose your box and delivery frequency, and in return, they’ll ship your items (frozen for freshness) in an eco-friendly box.

You can create a custom box that selects only poultry cuts (whole chicken, boneless skinless chicken breasts, bone-in chicken thighs or ground chicken). Alternatively, you can select a mix of beef, chicken and pork. Choose from two plans: A custom box (select the type of meat and cut) or a curated plan (select the type of meat and ButcherBox picks the specific cuts).

Pros

• 100% free-range organic chicken
• Large variety of cuts available for chicken and beyond
• Two plan options: custom or curated boxes
• Flexible delivery options
• Free shipping

Cons

• Can be pricier than grocery store options, but worth it considering the quality of chicken and cuts available

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Best Budget

Crowd Cow

Crowd Cow started as a way to connect farmers and customers. The company’s co-founder was inspired by his friends that purchase meat directly from local farms, and he wanted to create a way to “crowdfund a cow” so people don’t have to purchase the entire animal. As a result, they only source meats from farmers and ranchers they know, promoting the food transparency movement.

They sell an impressive array of meat, from wagyu beef to duck, lamb and seafood. When it comes to buying chicken online, choose from pasture-raised, organic and free-range chicken cuts. Go simple with boneless skinless chicken breasts, wings or chicken drumsticks.

Or you can short-cut dinner by purchasing a spatchcocked chicken (raw or cooked), chicken sausage or pre-made items like chicken nuggets or bone broth. We especially love that you can order chicken a la carte as an individual box order or set up a recurring subscription. Signing up for a membership is totally free, and deliveries are flexible depending on how much chicken you need each month.

Pros

• Affordable pricing
• Pasture-raised and organic free-range chicken available
• Large variety of cuts available for chicken and beyond
• Free membership
• Flexible delivery options for recurring subscription

Cons

• Free shipping only for orders $149 or more
• Minimum order value of $100

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Best Variety

Omaha Steaks

Omaha Steaks has been around since 1917, and they’ve shipped meat via mail order since 1952! While they’re most famous for their steaks, you can also buy chicken online, including a whole spatchcocked chicken and half chickens. In addition to raw meats, you’ll find a lot of meal kit options here. Think stuffed chicken parmesan, chicken fried chicken, chicken skewers with vegetables and baked lemon chicken with orzo. Is your mouth watering yet?

Pros

• Large variety of cuts available, including meal kits
• Wide-range of meat delivery options available
• A la carte ordering options, so you don’t have to commit to a subscription
• Shipped in dry ice and PerfectlyCold packaging

Cons

• Free shipping only for orders $149 or more
• Not available as a recurring subscription

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Best Organic

Rastelli’s

Rastelli’s is a neighborhood butcher shop, and they’ve been in the meat business since 1976. They take sourcing meat, poultry and seafood seriously, looking for partners that are equally as passionate about their craft. All of their meat is antibiotic-, steroid- and hormone-free, and there are organic options for poultry as well.

Choose from all the classic chicken cuts, and they also have a variety of pre-made items like cheese-stuffed, breaded chicken breasts. Don’t miss out on their gourmet chicken sausages, either: Their hot or mild Italian turkey sausage, feta and spinach chicken sausage and roasted red pepper and garlic chicken sausage all sound incredible.

Pros

• Antibiotic-, steroid- and hormone-free chicken
• Whole, breast, thigh, drumstick, wing and ground chicken options
• Pre-made dishes available
• Available as a one-time purchase or subscription

Cons

• Free shipping only for orders $200 or more
• A tad pricier than grocery store options, but worth it for the quality and ease of shipping

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Best for Buying in Bulk

FarmFoods

If you’re looking for poultry options and aren’t specific to chicken, FarmFoods is the way to go. They have a staggering number of choices, including pasture-raised chicken, duck, ostrich, pheasant, quail, turkey and guinea. In addition to the classic cuts, they also sell items you can only find at a specialty butcher, like chicken feet and chicken gizzards. This is the place to go for value too. Their value packs are often discounted and include 10 to 40 pounds of meat.

Pros

• Offers competitively priced value packs
• Pasture-raised chicken and other poultry available
• Customizable boxes
• Available as a one-time purchase or subscription

Cons

• Free shipping only for orders $125 or more

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Best Pasture-Raised

Cooks Venture

Cooks Venture was started by one of the founders of Blue Apron (aka one of our favorite meal kit delivery services). They’re committed to selling chicken raised on GMO-free feed, and they prioritize farms that practice regenerative farming, so the chicken is not only good for our bodies but also good for the planet. They offer several different box options to buy chicken online. Build a custom box, purchase their whole chicken box (four to six chickens) or choose the select chicken box (six pounds of cut chicken, two spatchcocked chickens and two Poussin specialty hens).

Pros

• Committed to uplifting animal welfare and environmental impact through their farming practices
• Variety of pasture-raised chicken cuts available
• Multiple box options available (custom, whole chicken, etc.)
• Online recipe resources available

Cons

• A tad pricier than grocery store chicken options, but worth it for the quality

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via harryanddavid.com, Getty Images

Best Ready-to-Cook

Harry & David

Harry & David has shipped food via mail since 1934, from cheese and snacks to their famous sweet pears. The company also boasts a premium online butcher shop, adding a large selection of high-quality beef, poultry and seafood to their portfolio. In addition to whole organic chickens, you can also order pre-seasoned, ready-to-cook chicken packs, like teriyaki-marinated chicken breasts or bacon and cheese-stuffed chicken breasts. They also sell chicken entrees like chicken enchiladas or chicken pot pie.

Pros

• Ideal for ordering chicken entrées
• Subscription options available
• Online butcher shop offers options beyond chicken
• Some chicken options are in partnership with Rastelli’s

Cons

• Limited chicken cut variety

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Why Should You Buy Chicken Online?

Buying chicken online is an affordable way to get top-notch quality while beating the specialty store price tag. Online retailers may buy and sell in bulk, creating an opportunity to pass on the savings to the consumer. They’re not only able to provide competitive pricing, but they also tend to have a better selection than your local store too. Most grocery stores don’t carry spatchcocked chicken or bone-in chicken breasts, but you can find both of those items (and more!) online.

Many of the best places to buy chicken online also provide sustainable options. They may list the farm where the chicken was raised and information about the type of feed used or the environment on the farm. You’ll also have options when it comes to labeling, too, which is great if you’re looking for a specific type of chicken (i.e. organic, humanely raised, etc).

What to Look for When Shopping for Chicken Online

Before you start searching for chicken online, it’s important to identify the product you’re interested in. Most grocery stores only give you one or two options, but online retailers have a larger selection. You’ll want to learn how to read the labels first. Many chicken labels contain marketing terms that aren’t backed by USDA practices. For example, all chickens raised in the U.S. are hormone-free, and “natural” just means that no additives or preservatives were introduced after processing (but sodium solutions and broths can still be added to plump-up “natural” chickens).

As far as freshness goes, you shouldn’t need to worry about it. Most online chicken retailers send the product frozen to keep it preserved, so just make sure you’re home when it’s delivered to pop it in the fridge or freezer. If eco-friendly packaging is important to you, dig into the retailer’s practices to see if they ship in styrofoam or in recycled or compostable packages.

How We Found the Best Places to Buy Chicken Online

As shopping experts, our only job is to help you find a winning product. We start with the research and reporting basics—what products are made of, what they look like and how much they cost—to ensure that we’re only recommending the buys that are worth your time and money. Then, we research the features that speak to the product’s quality, taking advice from industry insiders and subject matter experts on what makes a product a smart value (or worthy of a splurge). Finally, we do the work of combing through user reviews to see how real people interact with the product, and if it stands up to the test.

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