Butternut Box review: Taste-tasted by humans for the fussiest of pups

Dog food subscription boxes have been around for a few years now, but Butternut Box, founded in 2016 in founder Dave’s kitchen, aims to put freshly cooked dog food on the map – full of human-quality ingredients, no nasties, and taste-tested by humans.

Butternut Box is a dog food subscription service that is available to all types of dogs, from small to large, and prices vary depending on their weight, how active they are, if they have any allergies and their eating habits. It is easy to think that Butternut Box provides a raw diet for your dog, but the recipes are actually fresh meals made from human-quality meat and vegetables, gently cooked to lock in all the nutrients. They are created with the right balance of vitamins and minerals for your dog. Yep, as part of the service, you have to give them information about your dog's breed, calorie needs, age and lifestyle. They really get to know your dog and provide a variety of different meats, fish and vegetables than other brands out there. It is a little on the pricey side and you have to pay monthly, but you can cancel anytime.

We’ve put Waffle, our resident greedy Dachshund, to the test of reviewing Butternut Box. Waffle was notoriously fussy before she tried Butternut Box and often turned her nose up most wet foods that were put down in front of her. We started her on Butternut Box when she was nine months old after she started to turn her nose up at the dry Royal Canin kibble that we had been feeding her since she was a little puppy. Our writer Hannah (and Waffle!) share their experience with the service.

Butternut Box overview

Delivery and service

Even though she did graze on her kibble, I knew she needed more and she was a little underweight so I knew she needed something different, especially as she would gulp down every single type of human food we gave her. With that in mind, I tried a few wet foods, but she didn't touch them either. My friend then recommended Butternut Box (they tend to offer codes to new customers) so I got a discount on her first order. Getting the delivery was honestly so exciting, she even got a little bandana and welcome pack!

When you sign up to Butternut Box, you sign up to their delivery service. As they get to know your dog, Butternut Box chooses a daily serving size (this can be all their food or mixed with dry food and treats) for your dog and then asks you to choose how much you want to be delivered at a time. Waffle has a fresh box delivered every 28 days, which tends to keep her going (and frees up some more room in the freezer). If you have the room, you can order more and you can even edit deliveries if you run out, or pause them if you’re going away.

We have never had a problem with Waffle’s Butternut Box delivery, everything has always been on time and they give you a two-hour time slot. With sustainability forefront of its mind, Butternut Box has done everything it can to make sure the food is delivered still frozen to your door. Everything except the pouches and the inner packaging for our biscuits in our standard boxes is recyclable either at home or through recycling schemes. This includes boxes, ice packs and insulation. They also use special sheep’s wool insulation to keep all of our meals cool for delivery and customers can recycle this by handing it back to the courier (we actually use it to wrap up our plants in winter!)

Pricing and value

Butternut Box really gets to know your dog, so that means pricing can vary as you make choices for their feeding schedule. For example, Waffle has a 125g portion of Butternut Box a day which counts for 80 per cent of her food per day, leaving room for some treats and some dry food if she fancies a graze. However, Waffle is a small dog, so you can only imagine how much a dog three or four times her size would need a day. I would say look out for extra charges that may occur, for example, the Wham Bam Lamb pouch adds 15p to your order, but you are completely in control of what flavours you order and the variety is amazing. There are so many different recipes, including meat options, veggie options and fish options. Something that is rare in the dog food market.

Waffle's box currently costs me around £44 a month, which I would say is pricey. If I owned a larger dog, I might struggle to afford it. But that being said, there is absolutely no food waste and I know that she will eat every single bite. I also don't have to rush to the shops if I run out of food, I just press a couple of buttons and it will be at my door in a couple of days.

Taste test

As well as the variety of different flavours, Butternut Box meals genuinely smell amazing. We haven't tasted it ourselves, but the team at Butternut Box have and it is very tempting. When we first tried Waffle on the new food, the pack suggested warming her new food up a little in the microwave to make it smell exciting and she gulped it down and has done so ever since.

Butternut Box: Final verdict

We have never seen Waffle wag her tail so much when it comes to breakfast and dinner time and her coat is so smooth and shiny, there is no doubt in my mind that she isn't getting everything she needs in her food. Butternut Box is worth every penny for Waffle, but I would be wary of the cost if I had multiple dogs or larger dogs. As the only fresh dog box subscription on the market, the closest comparison to make to Butternut Box would be Tails.com - and you can read our full review of that dog subscription box right here.

Verdict score: 4.5/5

Hannah Mellin is a Homes & Garden Product Writer for Take A Break. Pets are her thing and she's on a mission to get every pet owner clued up on everything they need. She's a very happy owner of three cats, a tortoise and a sausage dog called Waffle.