Updated Aug. 31, 2024
There are so many good reasons to buy chicken online, but which poultry is worth the premium price? We tested multiple services to find the best-of-the-best chicken delivery.
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A decade ago, the idea of ordering chicken online would have seemed absurd. Today, it feels just as normal to buy chicken online as it does to order clothes or tech items. And why not? Chicken is not only one of the most consumed meats in the U.S., but it’s also extremely versatile. It can be grilled, roasted, sauteed, braised or deep-fried, and leftover chicken can be shredded to make tacos, sandwiches and salads.
According to Kristen Smith, MS, RD, LD, spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, purchasing chicken online usually provides more information about the chicken and the farm’s history. Typically, there’s also more variety when it comes to cuts. “People who desire certain criteria regarding how the chicken was raised and the type of farming practices used might choose to purchase chicken from online sources,” she says. “For example, if someone desires organic, non-GMO, certified humane or pasteurized chicken, they might go the online route.”
While some folks may be squeamish about ordering meat online, Smith suggests a few tricks to ensure what you’re eating won’t cause unwanted side effects. “People should research the company thoroughly to ensure it meets all of their personal farming and nutritional preferences,” she says. “Track the shipment of your poultry box and be aware of its expected delivery date; if the box of poultry arrives later than expected, make sure to check that the temperature is still less than 40 degrees Fahrenheit.”
Ordering chicken online is pricier than buying it in the supermarket, but as the old saying goes, you get what you pay for. Though the best chicken to order online comes at a price, the taste puts cheaper supermarket chicken to shame. The best online butchers offer healthier meat from humanely raised birds that have been sourced from small American farms, making ethical eating easy. After cooking and taste-testing chicken from the most popular places to order meat online, I’ve determined that these butcheries are the best of the best.
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Porter Road was founded by two chefs who were aggravated by how difficult it was to source high-quality meat for their restaurant kitchens. The pair stepped out from behind the stove to open a butcher shop in Nashville in 2010, partnering with small, local farms raising the most flavorful meat and poultry in the region. A smashing success, Porter Road began its chicken delivery services (along with other meats) in 2017 to make the best meat in the business available to everyone, no matter where they live.
They offer the following cuts of chicken:
Sourced from farms in Kentucky and Tennessee, Porter Road’s poultry is pasture-raised, feeding on a diet of fresh grass and wild bugs. The difference in quality compared to factory-farmed chicken is immediately evident. In our testing, we found the chicken breasts are tender and juicy, with a flavor that supermarket chicken simply can’t touch. It would be a shame to cover up this chicken with overly potent marinades or robust sauces—keep things simple, and you shall be handsomely rewarded.
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ButcherBox is a subscription-based butchery that partners with small, sustainable farms to bring superlative grass-fed meat, sustainable seafood and organic chicken straight to your doorstep. They offer three different curated box options (beef and chicken, beef and pork, or a mix of all three), as well as the option for a custom box that can be filled with whichever cuts you’d like. As for chicken, ButcherBox offers many different options:
As far as sourcing is concerned, the organic chicken delivery from ButcherBox is the best of the best, with the highest possible certification rating from the Global Animal Partnership. This means all their chickens are raised free-range without cages or crates, and given plenty of outdoor access. They eat nothing but organic feed that’s free of pesticides and GMO seeds and are never given hormones or antibiotics. And when it comes to taste, you’ll agree that all those things make a big difference.
In our testing, we found that ButcherBox chicken is remarkably delicious and needs little more than salt to be stupendous. Roast one of these birds, and you may never be able to go back to store-bought rotisserie. For more info, read our full ButcherBox review.
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Rastelli’s meat delivery has been in business for over 40 years, starting as a one-room butcher shop and growing into a thriving mail-order operation specializing in premium, sustainable meat and seafood. It’s also one of the best places to order chicken online, with several excellent ready-to-eat options in addition to raw cuts of meat. Rastelli’s offers the following:
All of Rastelli’s poultry comes from small family farms that raise their birds free range, without the use of steroids, hormones or antibiotics. Some of the raw chicken is organic and is sourced from a small organic farming collective in the Shenandoah Valley. Other offerings are not certified organic, but they are still pasture-raised to the highest standards. Every chicken delivery from Rastelli’s is moist and flavorful, and exactly what chicken should taste like.
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Good Chop is an online subscription butchery that brings high-quality free-range chicken from the farm to your front door. Everything they sell is raised responsibly without the use of hormones or antibiotics and is sourced from small farms in Nebraska and Iowa that are committed to using sustainable agricultural practices. The company offers two different sizes of fully customizable subscription boxes, which ship out every four weeks. You can pause or cancel at any time. Good Chop offers the following cuts of chicken:
Good Chop offers chicken that’s 100% organic, as well as chicken that’s raised to the same standards but lacks certification. We also tested two types of chicken sausage, which grill up succulent and juicy. At the time of updating, these options are no longer available, but we hope they’ll be back soon! For a sneak peek at the brand’s other offerings, read our full Good Chop review.
Now that you know the best places to buy chicken online, here are some other things you might want to look for when figuring out which one is right for you. If animal welfare and eco-friendliness are important to you, check each company’s website for their sourcing statements, which provide greater detail about the quality of their chicken.
Another thing to consider is the quantity and storage space. The best places to order chicken online ship their goods frozen solid, so they can go straight into your upright freezer. Before you place your order, make sure there’s plenty of room in there if you’re not planning on using your chicken right away.
Before you order chicken online, be sure to check the cost of shipping first. Some companies calculate the shipping cost into the price, but others charge an additional fee that’s based on how much you spend.
I got my first professional cooking job in 2002, and in the past 21 years, I’ve learned a lot about cooking—and eating—meat. I’ve written and tested hundreds (if not thousands!) of recipes, written three cookbooks and cannot begin to calculate how much chicken I’ve cooked throughout my career. What I can tell you, though, is that I know what great chicken is supposed to taste like. I only recommend you buy chicken online if the product is well worth the price. Out of the 10 services I tested, these were the ones that lived up to my standards.
We also spoke to Kristen Smith, MS, RD, LD, spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, for some additional insight on what to look for when ordering chicken online. Kristen Smith is the manager of bariatric surgery and service line development at Piedmont Healthcare. She is the author of The 5-Ingredient Family Cookbook. Kristen is also a member of the Academy’s Weight Management dietetic practice group, the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery and the Obesity Action Coalition. She is a graduate of Oklahoma State University and earned a master’s degree from New York University.
For the best chicken delivery service, we ordered frozen chicken from multiple mail-order companies. We first researched which companies were most likely to catch customer’s eyes when looking for online meat delivery services. We were eager to see if the top results warranted their perceived popularity or if they’d invested more money into their advertising budget than their products. If you’re wondering why you aren’t seeing some of the best-known mail-order meat brands on this list, it’s because they didn’t meet expectations when put to the test.
Additionally, we also ordered meat from several upstart companies that have yet to achieve the national notoriety of the well-established mail-order meat brands but have built plenty of buzz and solid reputations in the short time they’ve existed. Apart from that, we tested a mix of conventional chicken raised without much in the way of transparency, as well as chicken raised to the highest standards regarding humane treatment. These cuts keep eco-consciousness and the use of hormones, antibiotics, steroids and other substances top of mind.
Once the chicken was in the kitchen, it was tested using varying cooking methods, including roasting, grilling and air-frying. We stuck to simple preparations, initially cooking with little more than oil and Kosher salt so that the full flavor of the chicken could shine through. To judge texture, we cooked some to absolute perfection so that we could see if they were juicy and flavorful on the inside.
Our tester intentionally overcooked some chicken because we know that accidents happen, and you shouldn’t pay a premium price for something that can easily be destroyed if you’re distracted by a phone call, boisterous children or any of the other surprises life can throw your way while making dinner. We wanted chicken that remained delicious if your attention was temporarily pulled elsewhere or if it desiccated into a dud.
We tracked our findings in a detailed testing spreadsheet and then assigned each brand a rating. Only the top results made our final list.
Buy chicken online for an affordable way to get top-notch quality while beating the specialty store price tag. Because online retailers may buy and sell in bulk, there’s 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. While most grocery stores don’t carry spatchcocked chicken or bone-in chicken breasts, you can find both of those items (and more!) using a chicken delivery service.
Many of the best places to buy chicken online also provide sustainable options. In addition, they list the chicken’s farm, feed and 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).
Yes, you can order frozen chicken online! According to Kristin, most chicken is shipped frozen, and once it arrives, folks can typically refreeze it.
Originally Published: July 19, 2023
