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FOOD

I Fed My Family from One Jumbo Meat Box for a Month - Here's What Happened

Thursday 12 February 2026, 4:33PM

By Ray Lee

82 views

A skeptic tries bulk buying meat online and discovers some surprises along the way.

I'll be honest: when a 7.5kg box of meat rocked up at my door on a Sunday morning, my first thought was "where the hell am I going to put all this?" My second thought was, "Have I made a terrible mistake?"

See, I'm usually a grab-what-I-need-when-I-need-it kind of shopper. Pop into the butcher on Wednesday, grab some chicken. Realise on Friday we need mince. You know the drill. The idea of committing to one massive meat box for a month felt... ambitious. Possibly foolish.

But here I am, four weeks later, with some thoughts.

Week One: The Great Freezer Tetris Challenge

The Family Jumbo Meat Box arrived in a proper chiller box, which immediately made me feel heaps better about the whole enterprise. Inside: nine different products, all clearly labelled, mostly fresh (a few items were frozen due to supply, which they'd mentioned upfront).

The lineup:

1) Boneless Butterflied Fresh Chicken Stuffed, Rolled, and Netted - 1.3kg

2) Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast Fillets - 1kg

3) Chicken Tenderloins - 500g

4) Chicken Nibbles - 1kg

5) NZ Prime Steer Beef Rump Steaks - 4x250g

6) NZ Prime Steer Beef Stir Fry - 500g

7) NZ Prime Beef Mince - 500g

8) NZ Pork Leg Boneless Rolled Netted - 1kg

9) NZ Lamb Chops - 1kg

My partner looked at the bench covered in meat and said, "Right. Freezer Tetris time." Honestly, the reorganisation took longer than I expected, but once everything was stacked properly, it all fit. Barely.

The first meal was those rump steaks because they looked choice, and I was hungry. Pan-seared with just salt and pepper. And look, I don't want to oversell this, but they were genuinely restaurant-quality good. Tender, well-marbled, cooked perfectly. My partner, who is extremely picky about steak, had seconds.

Cost check: $144.99 for 7.5kg works out to about $19.33 per kg. I did a quick squiz at the supermarket - similar quality rump steak alone was running $45-50/kg. Already feeling better about my bulk-buying gamble.

Week Two: The Stuffed Chicken Revelation

I'd been eyeing that butterflied stuffed chicken nervously. It looked like a flash. Complicated. The kind of thing you'd serve guests, not a regular Wednesday tea.

Turns out, it's possibly the easiest roast I've ever made? Chuck it in the oven, wait an hour, done. The stuffing was already sorted (herbs, breadcrumbs, the works), and because it's butterflied, it cooked evenly without any dramas. Served it with roast veges and felt like an absolute domestic champion.

The chicken nibbles also made an appearance this week at a spontaneous Sunday BBQ. Marinated them in teriyaki overnight, chucked them on the barbie. They disappeared in about ten minutes. One mate asked where I got them - apparently, they reminded him of his favourite takeaway spot's chicken wings.

Week Three: Discovering I Actually Like Meal Planning

This is where things got interesting. By week three, I'd stopped thinking "what can I make with what we have" and started thinking "what do I want to make this week?" The meat was already sorted, so I only needed to grab veggies, sauces, and carbs.

The pork roast became a proper Sunday dinner situation. Slow-roasted with apples and onions, crackling that actually crackled (a personal triumph). Made enough for leftovers too, which became pork fried rice later in the week using those beef stir-fry strips... wait, nah, I saved those for an actual stir-fry.

The stir-fry strips were pre-cut to perfect, uniform sizes. This sounds minor, but when you're cooking on a Tuesday night after a long day, not having to trim and slice meat is genuinely mint. Everything cooked evenly, no weird chewy bits.

The beef mince became a cottage pie. The chicken breast fillets got pounded thin, crumbed, and turned into schnitzel. The chicken tenderloins were perfect for a quick green curry.

I was actually cooking more variety than usual because I wasn't defaulting to "whatever's easiest at the supermarket tonight" (which, let's be real, is often the same rotation of three meals).

Week Four: The Lamb Chop Incident and Final Thoughts

Those lamb chops sat in my freezer for three weeks because I'm weirdly intimidated by lamb. I know, I know. But I just never cook it at home.

Finally committed to them in week four. Marinated with garlic, rosemary, and olive oil. Grilled them. And honestly? Why have I been avoiding lamb? They were so good. Juicy, flavourful, and surprisingly easy. I'm genuinely annoyed with myself for waiting so long.

So, final thoughts after a month:

What worked:

  1. The quality was consistently excellent across every product. Like, noticeably better than standard supermarket meat.
  2. The variety meant we didn't get bored. Nine different products = nine different meals (at minimum).
  3. Meal planning became easier, not harder. Knowing what meat I had freed up mental space.
  4. The convenience of delivery to my door on a Sunday arvo cannot be overstated.
  5. The cost compared to buying the same quality meat piecemeal from a butcher or premium supermarket range was heaps cheaper.

What surprised me:

  1. How quickly we adapted to using frozen meat. Defrost overnight in the fridge, and use the next day. Not complicated.
  2. That pre-portioned, pre-cut items (like those stir-fry strips) actually improved my cooking rather than making me lazy.
  3. I cooked more adventurously because I wasn't doing decision-fatigue shopping trips.

What didn't work:

  1. The initial freezer reorganisation was a bit of a faff.
  2. You need to actually plan and defrost things. Spontaneous "let's have steak tonight" only works if you remembered to move it to the fridge yesterday.

The verdict:

Would I do this again? Yeah, nah yeah. In fact, I've already ordered another box for next month.

Here's the thing: I thought bulk buying meat would feel restrictive. Like I was locked into whatever rocked up in the box. But it actually felt freeing? The decision was already made. The quality was guaranteed. All I had to do was decide how to cook it.

My freezer is nearly empty again (just the tail end of some mince), my family is well-fed, and I spent less time at the shops and more time actually cooking. For someone who's usually at the supermarket three times a week and still somehow never has the right ingredients, this was a bit of a revelation.

Plus, those rump steaks. I'm still thinking about those rump steaks.

This piece was made in partnership with Chicken n Things. Try their Family Jumbo Meat Box here.