Good Chop is a meat and seafood delivery service in the US. The company describes their products as “high quality,” “responsibly raised” and “responsibly sourced.”

But is Good Chop healthier than regular grocery store meat and seafood, or are these just marketing claims? Do their products contain any unhealthy additives? How does it compare to ButcherBox in terms of price and quality? And how do real users rate the product experience and taste of Good Chop meals?

In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and more as we analyze the ingredients and sourcing in Good Chop products to give our take on whether or not they’re healthy.

We’ll compare Good Chop to ButcherBox and feature unsponsored customer reviews of the brand.

Is Good Chop Actually Healthy?

Good Chop thoroughly details their sourcing process on a Sourcing page of their website.

The brand claims that their beef is antibiotic and hormone-free, and grass-fed beef is an option on the menu.

Good Chop pork is vegetarian-raised and sourced from farms that undergo a quality assurance program that ensures the animals have an adequate “wellbeing.”

Chicken comes from free-roam animals that are never caged or confined, and seafood comes from wild-caught or farmed fish.

Based on how the brand sources their animal products, we consider Good Chop to be healthier than the average grocery store or butcher.

A medical review published in the Foods journal documented that animal products sourced from animals with access to pasture are nutritionally richer and have a more optimal fatty acid profile for human health.

From a nutritional perspective, we would recommend the grass-fed beef over the alternative beef options sold by Good Chop, and we would recommend the wild-caught fish over farm-raised, as a 2014 medical review found wild-caught fish to be richer in health-promoting omega-3 fatty acids.

We Tried Good Chop Ourselves

As the author of this article, I wanted to try Good Chop myself to share my thoughts on the taste, price and overall product experience.

The package arrived in mostly-recyclable packaging which is a plus, but the use of dry ice was a serious negative for me:

I understand that dry ice may be necessary to keep the meat at a safe temperature, however I touched it with my bare hands because it had leaked out of its packaging and it irritated my hands.

I didn't know prior to receiving this shipment how damaging dry ice can be to the hands, and while there were written instructions in the packaging about this, I would have preferred a warning notice via email.

The quality of the meat and seafood was excellent. I typically purchase grass-fed meat and wild-caught seafood at my local Whole Foods, and the quality of what I received from Good Chop was as good, if not better.

Here's an example meal I made using their grass-fed ground beef:

I don't personally have a need for this service because I have a high-quality grocery store so close to me, and I really don't want to have to deal with handling and disposing of dry ice just to get meat and seafood. 

The negative of that experience dramatically outweighs any minor added convenience for me from the delivery.

Overall, I'd rate Good Chop 6.5 out of 10 and I don't plan to use the service in the future.

If I were in some remote location or far from locally-accessible alternatives, I'd consider using it however.

Good Chop vs. ButcherBox

ButcherBox is arguably the most popular meat and fish delivery service in the US, and as we documented in our ButcherBox reviews article, the brand has a very similar sourcing process to Good Chop.

ButcherBox primarily sells 100% grass-fed beef, chicken and pork cuts from animals with access to the outdoors, and wild-caught seafood.

On a nutritional basis, we consider Good Chop and ButcherBox to be equivalent, and both to be healthier than the average cut from a grocery store (although most grocery stores also have the option of healthy animal products too).

Here’s a price breakdown: 

Grass-fed Beef (per pound)

• ButcherBox: $14.08 
• Good Chop: $13.25

Chicken wings (per pound)

• ButcherBox: $9.39
• Good Chop: $8.83

Gulf Shrimp (per pound)

• ButcherBox: $28.17
• Good Chop: $26.50

Overall, Good Chop has slightly better prices across the board, although ButcherBox has better deals and promotions. In our opinion, Good Chop is the better option for consumers who know exactly what cuts they want, and ButcherBox is the better option for consumers who are looking to get the best value overall including promos.

But how do real people rate Good Chop? We’ll feature some unsponsored customer reviews in the next section.

Real People Try Good Chop

A YouTube creator named Shannon Andersen has an unsponsored video unboxing and reviewing Good Chop that includes cooking the meats:

A YouTube creator named “Smoked Reb BBQ” has a video grilling and tasting a steak from Good Chop:

What’s the Healthiest Good Chop Box?

Good Chop allows you to pick from a selection of cuts.

Here’s our take on the healthiest possible order from their menu at the time of publishing this article:

2x grass-fed beef

1x boneless chicken breasts

1x Florida pink shrimp

2x Alaskan sockeye salmon

This order also maximizes value because grass-fed beef is cheaper than steak cuts, and the unprocessed sockeye salmon is 5x cheaper than the smoked salmon.

Pros and Cons of Good Chop

Here are the pros and cons of Good Chop in our opinion:

Pros:

• Provides healthy options
• Grass-fed beef
• Wild-caught seafood
• Slightly cheaper than ButcherBox for most cuts
• Mostly positive online customer reviews
• May be good option for those in food desert
• Ethical sourcing
• Cardboard packaging

Cons:

• Promotions aren’t as good as ButcherBox
• Not all beef is grass-fed
• Some fish is farm-raised

Conclusion

Good Chop can be an extremely healthy option for discerning shoppers. The brand sells grass-fed beef, humanely raised chicken and pork and wild-caught seafood at prices better than any online retailer we’ve come across in an Illuminate Health review.

We consider Good Chop to be healthier than the average butcher or grocery store cut of meat due to their strict sourcing.

For consumers planning to shop on Good Chop, we put together a sample order that we believe is the healthiest and best-value order on the site, at the time of publishing this article.

We consider Good Chop and ButcherBox equally healthy. Good Chop is a better option for those who know exactly what they want to order, and ButcherBox is a better option for those less discerning due to their promotions.

Nearly all of the customer reviews we came across while researching this article were favorable.

Ordering meat and fish online may be somewhat less environmentally friendly than doing so in-store due to shipping inefficiencies, but this brand is a great option for those who want to eat healthy and can afford to do so, but aren’t close to a good grocery store or butcher.