Butternut Box review UK 2026: prices, recipes and who it suits
A desk review of Butternut Box's published prices, recipes and terms: cost per day by dog size, how much to feed, delivery and cancelling, and whether it is worth it.
Our verdict, in one sentence
Butternut Box is a UK fresh dog food subscription that cooks meals from named meats and vegetables and delivers them frozen; its own estimator showed £2.24 to £3.19 a day depending on dog size on 21 October 2026, well above the £0.57 to £1.54 a day of the dry foods we compared for a 20 kg dog.
Good for
- Owners who want cooked fresh food with full ingredient lists
- Fussy eaters, going by owner reviews
- Owners who will pay for pre-portioned meals delivered to the door
Not ideal for
- Tight budgets, or several large dogs
- Homes without freezer space
- Owners who want to buy without a subscription
Brand estimator, standard price
- 4–8 kg dog
- £2.24 a day
- 12–15 kg dog
- £2.34 a day
- 28–33 kg dog
- £2.83 a day
- Trial box delivery
- Free
From the cost estimator on butternutbox.com (dog aged 2), checked 21 October 2026. After the trial box a delivery fee applies; Butternut shows it in your account, not in advance.
See plans on butternutbox.comAdNo star rating: we do not score brands without a published method.
How it works
Butternut Box is a UK fresh dog food subscription: cooked meals, portioned for your dog and delivered frozen. It is one of several UK fresh food brands, alongside Different Dog and Pure Pet Food.
- Answer questions about your dogButternut sets the daily portion from age, weight, body condition, activity and snacking habits, then rounds it to a pouch size (125 g to 600 g).
- Choose recipes12 cooked recipes, 9 grain-free. Four (lamb, game, turkey and beef) carry a surcharge.
- Delivery and storagePouches arrive frozen, every 7 to 56 days. Defrost overnight in the fridge. Unopened pouches keep up to a week in the fridge, opened ones two days.
Is Butternut Box worth it?
Butternut Box is worth it if you value cooked fresh food and can absorb a daily cost of about £2.37 for a 16–21 kg dog (£71.10 a month on the brand's own estimate, checked 21 October 2026). The same dog costs £0.57 to £1.54 a day on the complete dry foods in our dog food comparison, so Butternut is roughly one and a half to four times the price.
What the extra buys is food that is 60% meat or fish in the recipes we read, with full ingredient lists, sent pre-portioned. Owners on Trustpilot mostly praise palatability. Butternut describes its meals as complete and balanced to FEDIAF guidelines, the same standard complete dry foods are made to, so if your dog does well on a complete dry food, Butternut is a preference rather than a need. To see how food fits a whole budget, try our pet cost calculator.
Is Butternut Box expensive?
Yes, compared with most dog food. Butternut's estimator, read for every weight band on 21 October 2026, showed a narrow spread: £2.23 a day for a 1–3 kg dog rising to £3.19 for a dog over 43 kg. Small dogs therefore pay close to the large-dog price per day, which makes Butternut relatively worse value for toy breeds and relatively better value for big dogs.
Four recipes (Wham Bam Lamb, You've Got Game, Gobble Gobble Turkey and Beef It Up) add a surcharge, and a delivery fee applies after the free trial box. Butternut's own tips to cut the cost are bigger, less frequent deliveries, larger pouches split across two days, recipes without a surcharge, or a mixed plan with other food. Our cost of owning a dog guide puts food in context with insurance, flea treatment and vet bills.
How much Butternut Box should I feed my dog?
Butternut sets your dog's daily amount for you at sign-up and shows it on the “My Plan” page; most dogs get one pouch a day. Its meals average 130 kcal per 100 g, so you feed far more by weight than with dry food. Butternut says its allowances are deliberately lower than many feeding guides because most UK pet dogs are overfed.
As a cross-check, the AAHA formula used in our dog food portion calculator gives a neutered adult about 250–290 g at 5 kg, 425–485 g at 10 kg, 715–815 g at 20 kg, and 965–1105 g at 30 kg a day at 130 kcal per 100 g. Treat that as an upper starting point: a 20 kg dog on 715 g would be near the 800 g a day at which Butternut moves to two pouches. If your dog needs to lose weight, agree a target with your vet; our dog food for weight loss page explains portion control.
Butternut Box price by dog size
| Dog weight | Standard price a day | 30 days | First box, a day |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1–3 kg | £2.23 | £66.90 | £1.67 |
| 4–8 kg | £2.24 | £67.20 | £1.68 |
| 9–11 kg | £2.32 | £69.60 | £1.74 |
| 12–15 kg | £2.34 | £70.20 | £1.76 |
| 16–21 kg | £2.37 | £71.10 | £1.78 |
| 22–27 kg | £2.59 | £77.70 | £1.94 |
| 28–33 kg | £2.83 | £84.90 | £2.12 |
| 34–37 kg | £2.96 | £88.80 | £2.22 |
| 38–42 kg | £3.16 | £94.80 | £2.37 |
| 43+ kg | £3.19 | £95.70 | £2.39 |
From the “Get a feel for fresh” estimator on butternutbox.com, dog aged 2, read 21 October 2026; changing the breed did not change the price. 30 days = daily price × 30, before delivery fees and recipe surcharges. Brand estimates, not quotes.
What is in Butternut Box?
Three of Butternut's core recipes, from the ingredient lists on its help centre (checked 21 October 2026):
Chicken You Out
One of Butternut's lighter recipes. No surcharge.
Beef It Up
Includes heart and liver. Carries a recipe surcharge.
Salmon To Love
Grain-free and contains no sweet potato. Not a low-fat recipe.
Pros and cons
- +60% meat or fish in the three recipes we read, with full ingredient lists
- +Complete and balanced to FEDIAF guidelines, the brand says
- +Portions set for your dog and rounded to a pouch size
- +Pause, change or stop in the app until the cut-off
- +Owners on Trustpilot often mention fussy eaters accepting it
- +9 grain-free recipes out of 12
- –Expensive: £2.24 to £3.19 a day on the brand's own estimate
- –Delivery fee after the trial box, shown only in your account
- –Surcharge on four recipes
- –Needs freezer space and overnight defrosting
- –Trial box cannot be skipped, and a second box follows automatically
What owners say
Common praise
- Dogs eating the meals readily, including fussy eaters
- Reliable delivery
- Helpful customer service
Common complaints
- Subscription and website found confusing by some
- Late or missing deliveries
- Follow-up sales calls after sign-up
Things to know before you subscribe
- Cut-off: Changes and cancellations close at 11pm two days before delivery (three days where delivery takes two days). After that the box is charged and cannot be stopped.
- Trial box: Paid at sign-up, cannot be skipped or edited, and holds 7 or 14 days of food. The second box is scheduled 7 or 14 days later unless you stop it.
- Delivery: Free on the trial box; a standard fee applies after that and appears in your order summary. No delivery to the Scottish Islands or Channel Islands.
- Freezer space: Butternut suggests keeping a freezer drawer free. A box holds up to 56 pouches.
- Health conditions: If your dog has a diagnosed condition or allergy, check the recipe with your vet first. If you are worried about your dog's weight or digestion after a switch, contact your vet.
How it compares
For Butternut Box against Pure Pet Food, Bella & Duke, Different Dog and tails.com on price, storage, delivery and cancelling, see our dog food subscriptions comparison. If you want a premium brand without a subscription, our Lily's Kitchen review works out its dry and wet food cost per day.
Feeding a growing big dog? Our large breed puppy food comparison covers growth and calcium.
What this review is based on · 10 sources, checked 21 October 2026ShowHide
What we did
This is a desk review. On 21 October 2026 we read Butternut Box's homepage, its cost estimator for every weight band, and its help centre articles on recipes, calories, pouch sizes, the trial box, delivery charges, cut-off times and recipe surcharges. We compared the prices with our own dry food figures and read its Trustpilot page.
What we did not do
Sources checked
- Butternut Box homepage and cost estimator · 21 October 2026
- Butternut help: your trial box · 21 October 2026
- Butternut help: how the subscription works · 21 October 2026
- Butternut help: cut-off for changes · 21 October 2026
- Butternut help: delivery days and charges · 21 October 2026
- Butternut help: plan options and pouch sizes · 21 October 2026
- Butternut help: calorie content · 21 October 2026
- Butternut help: our recipes · 21 October 2026
- Butternut help: recipe surcharges · 21 October 2026
- Trustpilot: Butternut Box · 21 October 2026
Prices and terms change. Confirm on the retailer's page before you buy.
What changed in this update
- 21 October 2026: Upgrade: added prices for all ten weight bands from Butternut's estimator with 30-day costs; added 'Is it worth it', 'Is it expensive' and 'How much to feed' sections; added Trustpilot score, count and themes.
- 21 October 2026: Corrected: delivery is free only on the trial box, not on every box. Replaced the recipe list with three current recipes from Butternut's ingredient lists (12 recipes, 9 grain-free; earlier figures could not be verified).
- 21 October 2026: Corrected: an earlier version said Butternut has no grain-free option. Butternut lists 9 grain-free options.
- 21 October 2026: Published price and first-box offer checked against butternutbox.com. Removed our star score, because we do not score brands without a published method.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Butternut Box cost per day in the UK?
Butternut's own cost estimator showed £2.24 a day for a 4–8 kg dog, £2.34 for 12–15 kg and £3.19 for a dog over 43 kg, with the age set at 2 (checked 21 October 2026). The first box showed about 25% less. Your exact price appears after the sign-up questions.
How much is Butternut Box a month?
At the estimator's standard prices, 30 days of food costs about £67.20 for a 4–8 kg dog, £70.20 for 12–15 kg and £84.90 for 28–33 kg, before any delivery fee after the trial box (checked 21 October 2026).
Is Butternut Box grain-free?
Butternut lists 12 recipes, 9 of them grain-free; Pork of the Town, Tuck in Chicken and Duo of Chicken with Salmon contain grains (checked 21 October 2026).
Can you pause or cancel Butternut Box?
Yes. You can pause, change or stop deliveries in your account or the app, usually until 11pm two days before a delivery (three days in areas with two-day delivery). The trial box is paid at sign-up and cannot be skipped or changed, and the second box follows automatically 7 or 14 days later unless you stop it.
Is Butternut Box suitable for puppies?
Butternut says its meals are complete and balanced to FEDIAF guidelines for dogs of all ages, and its portion questions give puppies under 18 months more calories for growth. For a large breed puppy, check the plan against your vet's advice on growth rate.
How long does Butternut Box last in the fridge?
Butternut says meals keep up to a week in the fridge unopened and two days once a pouch is opened. Otherwise keep them frozen and defrost overnight in the fridge before serving.