Recently, a friend and I were reminiscing about how we spent her 30th birthday at a Spanish restaurant drinking cava out of a porron and eating slices of jamón with our friends from our years spent working in the restaurant industry. We’re not even sure if that restaurant is still around (neither of us lives in that city anymore), but we vividly remember two things: how much fun we had at the dinner and how good the food was.
The jamón we were eating was Iberico, and to this day, it is still some of the best I’ve ever had. When I saw that I could get Iberico pork delivered to my door through Campo Grande, I knew I had to give them a shot. I didn’t pair it with cava from a porron, but I did have a lot of fun eating it. It was really nice to get to relive a part of that unforgettable dining experience from the comfort of my own home—next time, I’ll be sure to invite some friends and make it a party!
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Is Campo Grande Worth It?
Yes! I would strongly recommend giving Campo Grande a try — everything I ordered from Campo Grande was delicious, and I think it’s worth the price, provided you consider it a special occasion treat and not an everyday meat delivery service. My biggest complaint about the company is that there’s no small-sized box that allows you to order charcuterie and raw pork together.
About Campo Grande
Campo Grande is an online meat and charcuterie delivery company specializing in Iberico pork. They also carry select cuts of grass-fed beef and seafood, though the seafood was all sold out when I ordered. That didn’t bother me—I was primarily interested in the pork since that’s their specialty anyway.
What Is Iberico Pork?
Often known as “the Wagyu of pork,” Iberico is slow-growth heritage pork from the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal). The pork is sustainably pasture-raised, and the Iberian pig’s diet is often supplemented with nuts and acorns. The meat itself is very tender and has gorgeous fat marbling (which is why it’s often compared with Wagyu beef). I’ve been lucky enough to try Iberico pork a few times in Spain and in some of the restaurants I’ve worked in, and I can confidently say that it’s worth the hype.
Campo Grande Subscriptions vs. A La Carte Ordering
When you place your first Campo Grande order, you’ll have the option to select “one-time purchase” or “subscribe and save.” If you choose to subscribe, you’ll receive a 10% discount on your order. Your order will then be auto-billed and sent every four, eight, or 12 weeks (you can choose which).
You can always modify your subscription, but as of right now, Campo Grande doesn’t offer a customizable option. I would love it if you could subscribe to a “Build Your Own” box but then choose to fill it with different cuts each month.
My Campo Grande Review & Unboxing
I ordered a small box of Campo Grande’s raw, frozen Iberico pork to try it out and was very pleased with my order! I’ll go into more detail below.
Placing My Campo Grande Order
Campo Grande’s website is straightforward and easy to navigate. They offer a selection of curated boxes of frozen meat and charcuterie and “build your own” boxes (with a $150 minimum). I would have loved to try both their meat and their charcuterie, but they didn’t have any curated boxes that contained both, and I didn’t want to place an order big enough to meet the minimum for a Build Your Own box.
Since I’m only cooking for a household of two, I decided to go with the Iberico Mini Sampler. It contained three cuts of frozen, raw Iberico pork for $99, and it shipped for free. It wasn’t the most cost-effective bundle they offered—you’ll definitely save money if you buy larger boxes, but it seemed like a good way to test out a few of their products.
Since I was just getting a feel for what they offered, I opted for a one-time purchase. However, when I checked out, I was also given the option to subscribe to a monthly, six-week, or 12-week recurring Iberico Mini Sampler box for a 10% discount.
Shipping and Unboxing
My order arrived in about a day and a half. According to Campo Grande’s website, they ship on Tuesdays, and I ordered on Monday and received my order on Wednesday, so I think I just timed everything perfectly. That being said, less than 48 hours from clicking “check out” on my order to opening a box of Iberico pork in my kitchen is pretty fantastic! I suppose if you order on a Tuesday or Wednesday, you might be waiting up to a week for your delivery, but that’s still pretty good.
Everything was shipped in an insulated cardboard box with dry ice. Included in my box was a pamphlet about their meat and sustainability practices, a canvas tote bag (free gift!), and a thank you note with a code for $20 off my next order (though it expires in 30 days, so I probably won’t use it)
I love how sustainable the packaging was. Obviously, they needed to vacuum seal the meat in plastic (and I wouldn’t have liked it any other way), but the rest of the packaging material consisted of some butcher paper, cardboard, and biodegradable insulation that could be dissolved in water.
Everything was frozen solid when I got it, and there was still so much dry ice left—it probably would have stayed frozen in the box for at least another day or two. The meat was actually too cold to comfortably hold!
What I Received in My Campo Grande Iberico Mini Sampler
The Iberico Secreto Steak
The Secreto steak was cut thin against the grain. It sort of looked like a skirt steak or a flank steak to me. I brought it to room temperature and then seasoned it with salt, pepper, and garlic powder, and seared it in a cast iron skillet. It sputtered a lot because of the fat and curled up while it cooked.
It smelled like a mix between fried bacon and roast pork—both fatty and meaty at the same time. Despite how thin it was, the meat was still super juicy. I cut it into strips and served it with a salad, some roasted veggies, and pears cooked in sherry—an idea I got while I was clicking through recipes on Campo Grande’s website.
The Iberico Loin Roast
All of the Iberico meat I received was pink, but the loin roast was particularly bright pink and well-marbled—it wasn’t gray at all, the way a lot of conventional pork is. I seasoned it with a prime rib spice blend that I had and then roasted it in the oven on a bed of random vegetables I got this week in my CSA box.
I didn’t sear it, but the fat on the outside rendered down and the roast still developed a crispy crust in the oven. Just like the Secreto, it was super juicy and flavorful. The fact that it was so easy to just pop in the oven was such a plus, too.
The Iberico Skirt Steak
This steak looked just like a beef skirt steak but with lighter pink meat. I had never had an Iberico skirt steak before but decided to cook it like a beef skirt steak. I marinated it in olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, and a ton of fresh garlic. I would normally just have thrown the steak on the grill, but it was cold outside, and I was feeling lazy, so I decided to sear it in a pan instead. It took less than ten minutes to cook.
This cut would have been perfect for pork tacos, but I wanted to be a little healthier so I sliced it into strips and served it on a salad for lunch. It was juicy, meaty, and fatty (I didn’t want to be that healthy). This was the toughest cut of the three, but not by much. It didn’t quite melt in my mouth the way the Secreto steak did, but that’s just sort of the nature of skirt steaks.
Is Campo Grande Worth the Price?
I think it is, depending on how often you order from them. If you’re searching specifically for Iberico, Campo Grande has some of the best prices on the market, but this isn’t your everyday weeknight dinner meat—It’s a treat. The charcuterie is great for holiday parties or dinner parties, and you’re unlikely to find these cuts of raw meat in your local grocery store. If you eat a lot of pork and have the money, go ahead and sign up for a subscription, but I think it’s best to order a la carte as a special occasion thing.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Everything was so tasty!
- My order arrived very quickly (less than two days from placing it) and everything was well packaged and frozen solid.
- The fact that the meat was so fatty and juicy meant that it was pretty forgiving—you could probably over cook it and it would still be juicy.
- I could definitely see myself placing a big order of charcuterie and some specialty cuts right before hosting a dinner party or around the holidays.
- If you do make a lot of charcuterie boards at home, you’ll probably save money ordering through Campo Grande vs. your local grocery store.
Cons
- I wish there was a small sample box that contained both raw meat and charcuterie. I would have liked to try both without committing at least $150.
- I wish there was a customizable subscription option that lets you choose different cuts of meat each month.
- I like that they offer a subscription, but I think of both charcuterie and Iberico pork in general as “special occasion” foods, so I don’t really see how a subscription would be useful for me. If you eat a lot of pork, you might think differently, though!
- They don’t have a ton of non-Iberico items for sale, which means that Campo Grande may not be as convenient as a service that offers a variety of types of meat.
Alternatives to Campo Grande
- Meat N’ Bone: Meat N’ Bone is one of my favorite online butcher shops. They offer frozen Iberico pork and Iberico charcuterie products as well as an extensive selection of beef (including Wagyu), poultry, seafood, game meats, and other pork (including American heritage breeds). Like Campo Grande, you can choose to subscribe or order a la carte. I especially like that they allow you to bundle your Iberico and charcuterie with other types and cuts of meat. You can read my full Meat N’ Bone review here.
Meat N' Bone offers over 400 different cuts of meat along with a wide selection of sides, spirits, and cooking hardware. The company's marketplace offers premium seafood, game, beef, poultry, pork, and lamb. Some of Meat N' Bone's most popular items include dry-aged and alcohol-infused steaks.
- Iberico USA: Iberico USA is another online shop specializing in Iberico pork. Their prices are slightly higher than Campo Grande’s, and they only offer a la carte products (no bundles or boxes), but they do carry a larger variety of cuts than Campo Grande. There’s no option to subscribe.
FAQ
Question: Where is Campo Grande meat from?
Answer: All of Campo Grande’s Iberico pork products come from sustainable, free-range, family-run farms in southern Spain.
Question: Why is Iberico pork so expensive?
Answer: Iberico is more expensive than other types of pork because it’s from a special breed of heritage pig. The pigs’ diets, their strict cultivation practices, the quality of the meat, and its desirability all contribute to its higher price.
Question: Is Iberico pork healthier?
Answer: Because Iberico pigs are allowed to roam in pastures and eat wild grasses, nuts, and acorns, their meat tends to be higher in vitamins and minerals and lower in saturated fat than other “conventionally raised” pork. It’s similar to the differences between conventional and grass-fed beef.
Final Thoughts
I really enjoyed the Iberico pork that I got from Campo Grande, and while I probably won’t sign up for a subscription, I would order from them again before a party or for a special occasion. If you’re looking specifically for Iberico, it will be hard to beat Campo Grande’s prices. However, they don’t carry much in terms of other types of meat, and if you want to bundle raw Iberico pork and Iberico charcuterie together, the cost of your order might add up pretty quickly.
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Lauren is also a bona fide mixologist, bringing her professional bartending skills to the table as one of our resident drink testers. In Lauren's world, life is a celebration, and her home is the party hub.
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