What Meat is the Cheapest?

It is not your imagination; the prices of meat have been steadily climbing since 2020. Recent estimates put that meat prices have increased upward about 20%. That doesn’t even include all the other non-meat items at the grocery store going up in cost too.

In order to keep our monthly grocery budget in check, we need to start looking at cheaper meat options! This can be looking at cheaper cuts, using less meat, and getting more creative with our cooking. We took a deeper look into what meats to look out for and how to use them in a way that the meat stretches further.

Is chicken the cheapest meat?

Chicken is a staple meat item in most homes, but is it the cheapest option? In general, meat is cheaper when less hands have touched it. So, for instance, buying a whole chicken is cheaper per pound than buying just boneless chicken breasts.

Some of the cheapest cuts of a chicken will be leg quarters (leg & thigh together), bone in thighs, and wings. All these cuts have the bones still attached to the meat, so even though you are paying less per pound, you may end up with less meat than by buying boneless meat.

Keep in mind that cooking is quicker with boneless meat as well. It may take 15-20 minutes to cook boneless chicken thighs, whereas it will probably take 30+ minutes to cook bone in chicken thighs.

If you are short on time, and have a tight budget, you may want to skip bone in chicken pieces unless you plan on using a passive cooking method like a crockpot, air fryer, or baking in the oven.

I typically like to compare prices for the bone in and the boneless side by side, to see which is a better deal for my family. I don’t usually buy wings or drumsticks because that total weight of the meat is not as much as you think. An average chicken drumstick weighs 4 ounces, but there is usually only about 1.5 ounces of meat on the bone.

If I buy 1 pound of chicken drumsticks for $1.84 a pound, I will end up with about 6 oz of meat and about 10oz of bone and skin. I would need to buy 2.6 pounds of drumsticks to equal 1 pound of edible meat, which would cost me about $4.78.

On the other hand, if I buy boneless chicken breasts at Aldi for $1.99 a pound, I am actually getting a full pound of meat and no bones or skin. There may be some fat that needs to be trimmed, but other than that I am able to eat every ounce that I bought.

So next time you buy the bone-in options to save money, consider how much you end up not eating and throwing away. There are some things you can do with the bones like making stocks and broths, but in general these cuts have a lot of waste that just gets thrown away.

Is pork the cheapest meat?

In my house, we eat a lot of poultry and a lot of beef, but with skyrocketing prices we are starting to add more pork. Similar to chicken, the more times a piece of meat has to be broken down the more it costs.

If you tend to buy boneless pork chops, you will spend on average $5.50 a pound. A good alternative to this is to buy a pork tenderloin or a pork loin. Tenderloins or pork loins are larger cuts of meat that can be grilled or baked, and then cut into pork chop size pieces to serve for dinner. The cost goes down to around $2.50-3.00 a pound.

Most major chain grocery stores even sell large racks of pork loin and will even cut it down into chops for you at no additional cost. This will save you money and you don’t even have to cut it down yourself.

Another great way to use pork is ground sausage, link sausage, and bacon. These options are typically less per pound and still provide a good amount of meat. We love to use ground sausage in pasta dishes instead of ground beef for more flavor.

Pork is such an easy meat to work with because it pairs well with almost anything. We love to cook tenderloins on the grill, then slice it up for dinner. Any leftover tenderloin can be used in a quiche, put on a pizza with pineapple, or a stir-fry with vegetables over rice.

We typically see link sausages like brats or polish kielbasa go on sale or manager’s special a lot. We stock up on these and store them in the freezer. They go great with pasta dishes like pierogies (polish dumplings), one sheet pans meals with potatoes and vegetables, and even just pan fried and served with rice or macaroni and cheese.

When I was a kid, my mom used to pan fry polish sausage with peppers and onions to make the most amazing hoagie sandwiches with mozzarella cheese melted on top. It is very similar to the Sausage Sandwiches that are found at the Fair.

Don’t forget that you can also buy ham in large quantities and break it down into smaller portions. Ham bones are excellent for making soups and chopped ham is perfect for adding to a salad or making a pizza. Check your stores after major holidays like Easter and Christmas to score huge deals on hams.

Cheapest place to buy meat in bulk

We recently priced out chicken breasts and ground beef at smaller grocery stores, major chain supermarkets, butcher shop, warehouse stores, and discount chain stores; we determined that the best place to buy meat in bulk for the cheapest is to go to where it is on sale. Check out the results in “How to save Money on Buying Meat“.

That seems so simple right? The best way to get the best price, is to check the sales flyers and ads for each store and stock up when they are having a really good deal.

Some smaller grocery stores have truckload sales a couple of times a year, and those are great times to stock up on meat.

The trick to buying meat in bulk is that you don’t have to do it all in one day. If you wait and purchase each item when it is on sale, then you will save a lot more money than just going to buy everything on the same day and at the same store.

We just did our freezer inventory recently, and we currently have lots of ground pork, ground turkey, chicken breasts, pork loins, New York Strip steaks, breaded chicken fingers, link style sausage, ground sausage, bacon, and chicken patties. For the next few weeks, I will probably not buy any meat at all.

Over the next few months, I will be looking out for deals to come up as we use up our freezer stash of meat. If I don’t find anything super awesome, it is no big deal because we easily have 3-4 months of meat waiting for us. I can take my time and wait for the best deals.

Top 5 Cheap Meat Options in 2022

Here are the top 5 cuts of meat that we have been using regularly and are still reasonably priced.

1. London Broil

You can grill it, bake, put it in the crock-pot, and so much more. We like to grill it, let it rest, and then cut it across the grain for an affordable steak option. You can serve with rice, a baked potato, potato salad, etc. Average Cost per Pound on Sale: $2.50-3.99 (Typically runs about $8-9 a pound when not on sale.)

2. Ham

There are a lot of affordable Ham options right now. I am regularly seeing diced ham and ham steaks on sale which are smaller cuts. Occasionally, I find a large piece of presliced ham that is on sale as well.

The small 12-16oz packs can be seen on sale for $2.00-$3.00 each. The larger presliced hams typically run about $4-5.00 a pound, but I have seen some go down to be about $2.00 a pound.

3. Sausage

This can be Italian sausage, brats, link sausage, kielbasa/ smoked sausage, or even ground sausage. When you look at the price per pound, sausage can be much cheaper than ground beef or turkey.

For some reason, people think sausage can only be used in certain dishes, but they are actually very versatile. I use ground sausage just like I would any other ground meat. I use sausage links similar to what I would use ham for in dishes.

I also find smoked sausages on sale frequently for manager’s special and that means getting a 12-16oz package for close to $2.00 each. Normally these can run about $4.00 each but they do go on sale frequently as well.

Pro Tip: Freezing smoked link sausage is super easy. In fact, if you buy kielbasa sausage that is already precooked, you don’t really have to defrost it all the way. I will slice it while it is still mostly frozen and throw it in my sauté pan to heat up.

4. Ground Pork.

This one may be more regional, but in my local North GA area, I am finding ground pork for a lot cheaper than ground beef, ground turkey, or ground chicken.

Ground pork by itself has a very mild flavor, so it is easy to cook it just like ground beef and just add seasoning for more flavor. We love making ground pork hamburgers and we may never go back to ground beef for burgers again!

On a good day, I can find ground pork on sale or special for about $1.49 a pound, sometimes even less. If not on sale, it is typically about $1.99-2.49 a pound. Compared to $4-5 a pound for ground beef it is definitely a bargain.

5. Whole Chickens or Frozen Bags of Breasts

Buying a whole chicken isn’t always the best plan if you don’t eat dark meat, but if you are open to dark meat it is a fantastic option. The price per pound of chickens have been as low as $1-$1.24 and that is a huge price difference from boneless skinless chicken breasts running about $4-6 a pound.

If you are not a fan of dark meat, keep your eye out for frozen chicken breasts. This one takes a little mental math though. If you notice that the price of chicken breasts in the fresh case are just too high, go look at the freezer case. Skip the pre-breaded or pre-grilled options, and look for just basic frozen chicken breasts.

Most bags come in odd sizes like 2.5 pounds (40 oz), 3 pounds (48 oz), and 5 pounds (80 oz). So, in order to see if your frozen chicken breast is cheaper, you will need to divide the total cost by the total weight amount.

For example: If a 48oz bag of Frozen Chicken is $12.72, that comes out to $4.24 a pound. This may not be cheaper than fresh chicken if it is currently on sale for less an $4 a pound.

Another example: If a 5lb bag of Frozen Chicken is $16.98, that comes out to $3.39 a pound. That may be an awesome deal for your area, and it may be worth stocking up on!

10 Ways to Make Meat stretch further

Sometimes it isn’t always buying meat at the absolutely lowest price, it is also utilizing it in a way to really make it last. Here are my best tips for making meat last for multiple meals.

1. Meal Planning – not only is meal planning a great tool to keep your groceries on a budget, but it is also a good way to make sure you are using your meat to the fullest. For example, we just had tacos last night for dinner and we have about 1/3 of the ground meat left over. That meat will now be used for nachos, taco salads, or Mexican baked potatoes (similar to putting chili on baked potatoes). 1 portion of meat stretched to 2 meals.
2. Add more items to your dishes– a great way to make your meals more filling is to add items like beans, rice, canned tomatoes, or canned mushrooms to your dish. Not only will this make your dishes bigger and serve more, but it can also add extra vegetables and protein too!
3. Meatless Mondays– Lots of families are going meatless one day a week to cut down on their meat expenses. This can be a dish like vegetable soup or salad, or you can try meat alternatives like soy or tofu.
4. Frozen Meat – about 1-2 times a week, we supplement fresh meat with frozen meat like white fish planks or prebreaded chicken tenders or patties. These types of meat typically just need to be placed on a sheet pan and cooked in the oven, so they are super convenient on busy weeknights. Instead of picking up fast food chicken sandwiches or chicken nuggets, we can make these at home and save a ton of money.
5. Canned Meats – Another convenience option is to use canned meats like canned chicken or tuna fish. Whether you make a pasta dish, a casserole, or make tacos or burritos, using canned meat can make cooking so quick and easy. We like to rinse the meat with cold tap water to remove any brine or metal taste, and then add seasoning. As a kid, I used to love having cream of chicken soup with canned chicken over rice. So filling and super yummy! One more idea is to take canned beef and vegetable soup and serve it over rice or mashed potatoes. Super cheap and a quick option for a busy night.
6. Store Leftover Meat Separately – I typically package up all our leftovers in ready to go meals for lunches, but if I have a lot of meat that I can use later, I package it separately. This makes it so much easier to turn leftover grilled chicken into a pasta dish, put over salads, or make our favorite cream cheese chicken. (Take a block of cream cheese- mix in ranch powder and shredded cheese- then spread over sliced grilled chicken. We then top it with diced fresh tomatoes, fresh or pickled jalapenos, and more shredded cheese. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, and it is so good! By slicing the chicken, you can serve more people and they can just take how much they want instead of taking a whole chicken breast.)
7. Get Creative with Leftovers – We love to use up leftovers to save money. Whether it is on a pizza, added to salads, make a casserole, or a pasta dish. I typically keep my seasoning pretty mild on the main meat dish, and then I can add more seasoning when I repurpose the meat later for a different meal. So, for instance, if I have left over homemade hamburgers, I can break the cooked patties up and make a rice bowl with chopped hamburger and vegetables or use it in a pot of pan-fried cabbage and carrots. I can also smother leftover hamburgers in brown gravy and serve with mash potatoes for my version of Salisbury Steak. Same meat in different dishes with different seasonings.
8. Soups & Stews – An extra way to use up leftover meat is to make a soup or stew. I love to clean out the fridge of any meat and vegetables, add rice or pasta, and make a soup or stew! It doesn’t take much meat to make a soup or stew filling. We can add some cornbread, biscuits, or French bread to the meal to make it extra hearty. Soups and Stews are a great way to use up canned beans too for more protein and flavor. If you make a ton of soup, you can freeze it so you can have more later.
9. Grill Meat for the Week – during the Spring and Summer, my husband loves to use the grill. He has perfected the art of cooking 3 different meats in one night, so the rest of the week is super easy to make dinner. He usually grills steaks, chicken breasts, and either sausage or a pork loin. We will eat about half the steak that night, and then for the rest of the week we will utilize all the meat that is already cooked, and I just have to make side dishes or make a one pot meal. Meat usually takes the longest to cook, so the rest of the week is a breeze when that part is already done!
10. Smaller Portions – The average portion size of meat only needs to be 3-4 ounces, so keep that in mind when making your meals. With two small kids we have really gotten into the habit of making our dinners into 4 separate items: meat, vegetable, fruit, and a starch. If you are looking at your plate, the meat should be 1/4, the vegetables are 1/4, the fruit is 1/4, and the starch like rice/potatoes/pasta is 1/4 of the plate. This not only keeps our meat portions smaller, but it also makes it much easier to eat our fruits and vegetables.

Making the Most of your Meat Purchases

I know many families are huge meat eaters and eating less meat may be a big change for them. Eating less meat can not only help your budget but it also may improve your health.

This will come down to what your family feels is most important. If eating only organic grass-fed meat is what you want to spend your money on, that is fine, but you may have to cut back in other areas to absorb that cost.

I recently read a quote that said, “You can afford anything, but you can’t afford everything”. This basically means that if you want to splurge on the meat category of your grocery budget, you will need to cut back in other areas.

For now, we eat meat with every dinner, and we buy enough ahead of time to not stress current meat prices. If you don’t have the storage space to buy in bulk, you may want to look at protein alternatives like lentils, dairy, nuts/legumes, eggs, etc.

Also keep in mind that changes in your eating habits don’t have to be permanent. You can take some cost saving measures now, and if meat prices come down you can always go back to favorite more expensive cuts of meat later.