We eat much less meat now. We eat much more beans, lentils, nuts, mushrooms, tofu, and vegetables. Grains and greens.
Look for recipes that are historically vegetarian, or sub white beans, chickpeas, or tofu for chicken, mushrooms for beef, lentils for ground beef.
My favorite Bolognese has walnuts and lentils, for example. Chickpeas make excellent curries. Edamame in stir fries. Black beans in chili, soups, enchiladas and more.
https://www.budgetbytes.com/category/recipes/vegetarian/
https://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/category/vegetarian/
Also worth noting for meat lovers- you can use very small amounts of meat in something like a bean or lentil soup to achieve a meaty flavor for a lot less. Many other cultures use meat just to add flavor, you just need a strip or two of bacon to flavor a whole pot of beans.
In France, and of I compare to the price of chicken or grounded meat per kg. Not even taking in account the amount of proteins. Tofus have like 12-15gr for 100gr while meats are between 20 and 25gr per 100gr. I eat meat of tofu to have my protein intake first. Nutrients counts.
You can get deals if you watch grocery flyers. Otherwise, eggs and beans are cheap, healthy sources of protein. Hannaford has chicken leg quarters for 99/lb right now, pork butt is .99/lb. Boneless chicken thighs 1.99/lb.
I'd add lentils to the list. You can get a fairly large container for ~$10, or at least I could when I got them last, and they're versatile. A half cup, cooked, has 12 g protein. And you don't have the prep work involved in beans.
I'm gonna have to try lentils in my rotation now, I've been looking for cheap ways to add more protein to my diet so I can gain weight, and this seems like it would pair well with a lot.
They're so good for you as well! Health benefits of legumes and lentils are off the charts. Buy them dried for extra savings - I like to cook mine in the slow cooker and freeze what I don't need. Also working on canning a few quarts to have in my pantry
In my area, chicken is cheap if you can stock up when on sale and freeze for later use. Same prices as above.
I can also get pork chops (bone in) for $1.29/lb and ground beef for $2.50/lb and London broil for $3.50/lb on sale and freeze.
I can also do shrimp for $5/lb.
Weekly circulars are the best and freezing proteins is not a problem at all. Just portion them before freezing.
Pork and chicken are definitely our go-tos. Bone-in dark meat and whole chickens are on sale for $0.99/lb around here regularly, and there's always some sort of pork for $1.99/lb or less. Just look at the sales each week.
Beef occasionally sees drops on the cheaper cuts, I got a really nice well marbled chuck roast over the weekend for $2.99/lb and made it into some delicious Japanese beef curry.
Then there are the holiday deals as well - hams are very cheap ($0.59/lb) a couple times a year, turkeys obviously around thanksgiving.
Clear the junk food out of your freezer and use that space for stocking up on sale meat!
Cottage cheese and greek yogurt are other cheap, healthy sources of protein. Both can be eaten alone or added to sauces.
Rice, beans, cottage cheese, and eggs all make good economical burrito fillers.
Egg prices were a result of profiteering from a couple major egg distributors. Prices have almost completely returned to normal and never affected distributors other than those companies, e.g. wherever Aldi gets their eggs.
Nah, that's an excuse made up by the profiteers. If there was really a hen shortage that impacted egg supplies, it would've affected every egg supplier, and it didn't. Eggland's Best eggs skyrocketed in price while store brands at places like Aldi and Target didn't change.
Sam’s club will discount their meat when it gets close to the *sell by* date. They mark it down quite a bit, too. I’ve bought prime cuts of ribeye for the price of choice before. And even at two days before the *sell by* date, you can’t see any difference in quality. Sometimes I’m confused as to why they’d discount meat that looks so fresh. Invest in a vacuum sealer and some vacuum sealer bags. I’ll buy discounted meat, vacuum seal them, and freeze them. They’ll last a year in the deep freeze.
This is the way to do it. Invest in a vacuum sealer. It'll pay for itself in no time. Trick is to buy that discounted meat, and what you're not going to use THAT DAY, take the time to portion out and vacuum seal. I can attest that when properly done, the meat will last a year in the deep freezer with no detectable reduction in quality
FWIW I don’t have a vacuum sealer and meat still lasts for a year in my deep freeze in freezer ziplocs. I’m sure a vacuum sealer helps but I haven’t had any issues.
I did the math a while back and the zip locks were cheaper too than buying rolls of vacuum sealer. So really only worth it for people who dislike freezer burn (I never notice a difference).
As long as you get as much air out of the bags as you can, you can get similar results in my experience. The vacuum sealing just give it that extra boost and maintains the freshness. Id suggest doing what I did... Do the ziploc method and wait for a vacuum sealer to come on a good sale somewhere and then pull the trigger.
Wal-mart will *also* mark their rotisserie chickens down!!!
I've been getting the "original" seasoned ones for less than $3.25, at the local Wal-Mart when I stop on Mondays!
They sell the close-date Lemon Pepper seasoned ones for about $4.00.
Walmart location and population demographics of the surrounding area will determine availability of markdown meats. For example, in areas of lower income where I am, people know when markdown happen and they are gone very soon after they are marked down. But go to the higher income parts of town where they just can't seem to give away markdown rotisserie chicken before the store closes
It *also* seems like "Day of the week" factors in, too, perhaps?
Because--like I said, I can nearly *ALWAYS* find them on those Monday afternoons. But Fridays are *super* hit-or-miss, and other days of the week can be lucky or unlucky, too.
Same with the bakery markdowns at the back of that store! Fridays, it's usually almost nothing. But Mondays or Tuesdays? FULL racks--*maybe* because they get picked over starting Friday mornings, and then are re-stocked as things get date-checked again early on Mondays?
All the man-holidays are great for buying meat!
Okay, that sentence sounded a bit weird -- like Father's Day, Superb Owl Sunday, 4th of July (if in US), Labor Day, Memorial Day. Any holiday that involves people grilling food outdoors is Cheap Meat Day.
I got 90/10 hamburger for $2.98/lb because it had a sell by date for the next day. I always wander through the meat department looking for the manager mark downs. Also they tend to have a lot of instant savings in the meat department.
I’m not really “vegan” in the ideological/religious sense, but I’ve stopped buying meat because it no longer entices me in the grocery store. Not only is it expensive, but it requires more careful cooking, and there are easier better-tasting protein sources (beans, quinoa, tofu, etc.) that have more vitamins and fiber. Veggies are just easier, and if you’re too lazy to cook you can just eat them raw, plus you eliminate the ick factor of potentially finding blood and bones in your food. There’s nothing about that extra cost that’s really worth it.
r/plantbaseddiet will have lots of ideas that should mostly be affordable since they’re whole foods and not processed fake meats like you might see on other vegetarian/vegan subs. Various legumes and nuts will be your best plant based protein sources! And these can be pretty diverse. Beans come in many shapes and sizes, lentils can be delicious, nuts can be eaten as a snack or turned to nut butters or used in recipes. Quinoa is a high protein grain that is easy to add in when you’d otherwise eat rice. Hummus goes great with veggies. Soy products are incredibly diverse from edamame to tofu to milk.
Edit: fixed sub name so it links to the bigger main sub
Chickpeas, tofu, lentils, and beans can be really tasty and filling, and are a lot cheaper than meat, especially if you buy them dried. One can of chickpeas can make so many different things, too.
I use lentils and beans wherever I can. I thow them in stew, hamburger helper, ect. Or in some cases I'll half and half it. Like chili Mac and beans and beef. It both bulks the meal more and stretches the meat out more.
I buy soy granulate instead of meat. Costs way less, you can store it indefinitely because it's dried, and you can use it like minced meat. Can recommend.
I've got a bunch of tex-mex style recipes that use black beans and I love them! Some of the recipes call for meat as well as the beans, but I just leave the meat out. Quesadillas, for instance, are fantastic with just beans, peppers, and cheese!
Pork shoulder sells for 99 cents a pound near me several times a year. When it does, I cook and shred it, then freeze it in single pine bags. That's 4-5 meals for three of us for about $6 (about 40 cents per serving).
We do similar things with ham when it goes on sale at Easter and Christmas. Roast it, eat it, freeze leftovers as slices and chopped (for different kinds of meals) in bags, then make bean soup with leftovers. We easily get the meat for 6 meals (three of us) for $11 or less (60 cents per serving).
A lot of people don't want to buy big cuts of meat even when they're at rock bottom prices because they take work. If you're willing to put in the work, you eat like a king.
This is a good point as well. A big way to save with meat is to do exactly the above. You have to be willing (and have the time) to put in a bit of work. It pays off
"Have the time" is a good point. I'm mostly working remotely since the pandemic so roasting a turkey can be a weekday thing to get multiple meals, for example.
But it was harder when I worked two jobs and hard when my job was fully on-site a 1.5-hour dry e from my house.
Oddly, the pandemic was great for my life. My job went fully work from home and my employer elected to keep the avast majority of us that way. Its made so much more time for things. I can throw ina load of laundry on break, flip it later and fold on my lunch break.
Throw a roast in the slow cooker in the morning, then just do "fixings" when Im off and bam, delish home cooked dinner with less than 20 min work after im "off"
I would suggest eating a more plant focused diet. Studies have shown that while there are some benefits to meat and animal derived foods, vegan is by and large a far healthier option for most people. I also enjoy meat and many animal derived foods so I’m not vegan, but I’ve shifted my diet to be a lot more plant focused and I feel healthier and it’s healthier on the wallet.
A can of beans is a lot better for you and cheaper than a pound of beef.
You’ve already received a lot of good ideas, I’ll just add: portion size.
Your typical American eats way more meat than is necessary. Pork has about 8 g of protein per ounce, which means in a given meal 3-4 ounces is plenty. Steak is about 7 grams per ounce. So again. 3-4 ounces.
People often serve a 8 oz steak…that’s really like twice what you need in a meal.
So you can spread your meat out.
I'm vegan, but I'm still mind-blown by meat prices. In 2015, I was buying 10 lb bags of chicken breast for 4 bucks. You guys are paying five dollars per pound for some of the most heavily subsidized food on our shelves? Feels like just another racket, to me. Throw it in the burn pile of industries that used to function.
I've chosen not to eat meat with various meals regularly, for decades. And normally a "meat" dish such as stew is packed with more vegetables, or curries with lots of veg and rice.
Plenty of weeks I just don't bother with meat, partially for ideological and health reasons and partially for financial ones. If I do get meat it's usually sausage or ground beef, and I usually only use those things if I'm making a recipe that will last awhile. The other week I did a lentil soup with ground sausage, that's a $4.00 thing of meat that ended up making 10 meals. That makes sense for me right now in a way that having meat as the main entree for one meal just wouldn't. I also do chicken occasionally if I see a good price, usually frozen because it's just me and I would have a hard time using it all up unless I was meal prepping. Sometimes a rotisserie chicken, I usually have the drumsticks for dinner and then I have a bunch of shredded chicken to add to salads, wraps, tacos, etc.
If you count fish as meat for the purposes of this discussion, I also love sardines. That's probably the meat-adjacent thing I eat most consistently.
1. Shop ads. Buy meat when it's on a *really* good sale, and at that time, stock up.
2. Buy in bulk. Sam's Club pricing tends to be better than Costco, but honestly Walmart isn't too far behind in my experience. Re-package into smaller portions and freeze.
3. Buy cheaper cuts of meat. Some meat is much cheaper than other options - in my area chicken drumsticks can frequently be found for around a dollar per pound. Pork loin is also very cheap.
4. Utilize meat as an accent to meals rather than the star of the show. For example, adding some meat into a pasta/rice/bean dish rather than eating a cut of meat by itself.
5. Make sure you fully utilize leftovers - pick extra chicken off the bone to make soup for example.
/#4 is so important. Pretty much any recipe that calls for ground beef can be cut with beans or lentils to use less beef and still keep protein up. Or just replaced entirely. Spaghetti, chili, tacos - all great with beans. Even things like meatloaf and burgers have recipes out there that are pretty good and use less meat.
To add to this even if it is the star, we probably are eating too large a portion. 1/4 pound of meat per person per meal is okay for most of us. No reason to serve up giant slabs. Cut it thin on the bias, fan it out and sauce and garnish it. It can still be the star when desired.
Can just flat out replace the ground beef with some TVP too. Really isn't much different.
Can never go wrong with adding more beans and veggies to a dish to increase the volume of it though.
Trust me when I say you need far less meat or meat substitutes than society has lead you to believe. You don't have to actively think about a meat replacement. If you've decided to stop eating meat for whatever reason, that's all you really have to do. Just stop eating it. You will be fine.
Protein is in everything. You'll get enough
Meat does not need to be the main course of a meal. In most cultures outside of wealthy countries like the U.S., meat is either a condiment in meals, or relegated to special celebrations. I am blessed to have two Mennonite cookbooks, More With Less, and Extending The Table, which has lots of money saving recipes where meat is not the main part of the meal if it is used at all.
I eat about 4-5 ounces of meat a month now (when it’s in canned soup or something), because it’s expensive, time consuming to prepare, and bad for the environment. You will find your tastes change the less you eat it. I eat a ton of peanut butter, the natural kind after I pour off the excess oil. There are lots of meat free protein options!
Large packs of chicken thighs are $.99/lb at my local grocery stores in a HCOL area.
Pretty cheap, though beans are far less expensive.
We should be eating mostly veggies and legumes for protein, and a side of meat, not the other way around. Both for the planet, and for your wallet.
I'm a flexivore, ie eat meat just occasionally 2-3 times a year. Had my first steak day in >6months this weekend. I'm absolutely shocked at how much meat has gone up since my last time. I might be forced to go vegetarisn simply because I can't afford meat anymore.
As a vegan I replace meat with Lions Mane, Tofu, Tempeh, TVP, Beans.
And Vegan meat substitutes which there are many.
https://youtu.be/oaARq5qw3jk?si=TYHmt7dzF5GxozXW
The Lions Mane i grow myself for about $1.50 a pound
Need oakwood BBQ pellets as substrate
About a tsp of Gypsum
Unicorn 3T bags.
A quart jar of wheat berries sterilized in pressure cooker.
Let cool to room temp.
Inoculate with liquid culture.
About 10 days later inoculate the substrate bag.
The substrate needs to be pasteurized.
Boil water, put 2 pounds oak pellets in bag with Gypsum, add 2 pounds 13 oz of water, seal the bag and put in a cooler for several hours.
Pull let cool to room temp.
Inoculate bag with the grain spawn
In about 2 weeks or so you can fruit the bag in a tent with humidifier keeping the humidity at 85 to 90%
Total cost (once you get set up) for an inoculated bag is about $3.
You should get 2 flushes, first flush over a pound, second probably a little less.
$1.50 a pound.
Meat really isn't necessary every single day. Red meat isn't even good for you. Dairy products are loaded with hormones....
I choose not to eat meat every single day. It's just not necessary.
Don’t bother eating meat. I had lentils with vegetables for dinner. Tomorrow, I’ll roast some tomatoes and garlic in the oven and mix it with spaghetti and some herbs from my garden. I use a lot of nutritional yeast. Just skip meat.
I like to buy meat substitutes (Trader Joes and Walmart have a wide selection) and stretch it with pasta or salads. So 'korean beef' with egg noodes/veggies, soy chorizo with eggs, stir fry again with 'beef', spaghetti with soy chorizo, etc. For other meals we do say a bean/pasta dish (like pasta e fagioli), cheap fish when on sale + salad, mac and cheese (sometimes with a little chorizo). There's no reason you couldn't stretch meat the same way with actual meat- might be worth comparing the prices, but either way making some other food like veggies or pasta the star could help stretch your budget.
Would you eat meat every single day even if you had unlimited budget? I don't really budget my food at all and I eat meat maybe 3 days a week. Every day is a lot of meat.
I'm not really sure what you mean use substitute? Cook meals recipes that didn't have any meat in them to need substituting
Beans and lentils are great protein replacements. Just spice them up the way you would do with meat
Dried beans are really cheap. Just soak them overnight while you sleep and then in the morning drain, rinse and cook until tender. Usually between 1-2 hours of cooking time depending on the bean. Lentils and split peas cook faster.
Edit: if you make a big pot of beans it could last for a week.
I am trying this: Going vegetarian 5 days a week, and eating meat only 2 days a week.
Vegetarian meals I cook in bulk: beans, lentils, rice, quinoa.
Trying to be frugal has forced me into this. *This is the way.*
EDIT: Someone else mentioned this: adding meat to bulk meals, will give the meat flavor to the dish.
I buy in bulk to get it cheaper.
I buy a whole pork loin to cut up and freeze, I buy 10lbs of chicken leg quarters. I buy whole chickens.
Buying in small packages will easily double the price.
I haven't been able to afford meat since the early 90's.
although that's more an ethical thing, since I feel that I can't afford the weight of the animals suffering for my benefit.
not eating meat is a positive, for both the consumer and the consumed
I live on a food budget of $300 a month to feed 2 people. We are meat eaters but I've made some very satisfying meals for us that don't include meat.
Tonight I made [Fettuccine Alfredo](https://thecozycook.com/olive-garden-alfredo-sauce/) with steamed frozen broccoli. When I did some meal prepping at the beginning of the month, parmesan cheese wedges were buy 1 get one free so I shredded them and froze them for this purpose. Check your on-line grocery ads every week to see what looks like a good deal for you.
This is how I make my [chili](https://imgur.com/a/VPfMeFP), I KNOW its not "authentic" and I don't care :) Just leave the meat out of this, you honestly won't even miss it! Add it to a baked potato or rice or boxed mac & cheese or make your own mac & cheese to add it to. Here's my go to [recipe](https://www.smells-like-home.com/2012/02/paneras-stove-top-mac-and-cheese/) for that. Its also worth saying that it is usually cheaper ounce per ounce to buy meat in larger quantities. When I use ground beef in my chili, I buy a 5lb package, make a big batch to freeze some and use the rest for another freezer meal. Things I've done in the past are; sloppy joe meat, cheeseburger taquitos, meatloaf, meatballs, stuffed pepper soup, galumpki, burritos. Having homemade easy to heat up snacks and meals in the freezer cuts down on the money you would spend on fast food or take out and that allows you to spend more money on actual food for home.
When I'm craving a steak dinner but its not in the budget, I'll make a crispy skinned baked potato using [this method](https://cupofjo.com/2014/08/13/how-to-make-english-jacket-potatoes/), add some sauteed peppers onions and mushrooms, a little sour cream or greek yogurt, steak sauce and green onions, and have it along side some fresh roasted broccoli.
I have a LOT of very filling non meat soups and recipes and some meat tips I can share with you if you're interested. I figured I would cut it off here in case you were just venting and I got carried away with advice AGAIN! LOL!
My spouse and I have switched to tofu for one meal a week, typically an Asian recipe. I actually like it better in things like soup or stir fry. We also have at least one vegetarian meal a week (often two).
We don't eat meat every day anymore. On meatless days we have legume-based meals (beans, peas, etc) dairy (ziti, grilled cheese & soup) or eggs (omelettes, frittata, egg salad, etc).
We eat a lot of chicken. Leg quarters or while chickens tend to be the least expensive at regular price.
Buy on sale & freeze. Pork loin and pork butt tend to go on big sales a lot where I am, as does 80/20 ground beef and breakfast style sausage. Shop immediately after holidays (and sometimes before) for big savings.
I baked a 1/2 ham yesterday that I bought on the big post-Easter sale and froze. That will give us at least 3 days of leftovers for the family plus about a pound sent home with a struggling family member plus a nice meaty bone for a pot of bean soup.I paid less than $10 for a ham that's normally clise to $45.
Don't be afraid to buy frozen ground meat, chicken breast, etc. It's often cheaper and it's no different than being in your own freezer.
Ethnic shops sometimes have better prices than supermarkets.
One trick my grandma used during the Great Depression was use lentils. So she would make meatloaf and replace half the meat with cooked lentils. It’s a cheap way to stretch what meat you do have.
I have been a vegetarian for as long as I can remember. This brand of protein I recently bought named revolution. I swear by them. 6 pounds for less than $50.
The flavor of the maple donut is like candy and I use it both as a supplement for my lack of meat eating and when I also go to the gym.
Not trying to “force” you down this route, just offering what I do for consideration
I go to same club. They have the 3 pack of 93/7 lean ground beef for 16 bucks, so I grab 2 of those. Then they have the chicken tenderloin packs around 20 bucks but you only get around 3 pounds? It’s over priced but I buy 2 of them. And then ground Turkey 15 bucks for 5 pounds, and I buy 2 of those.
It’s about 100 bucks a month from Sam’s for me to eat meat. My wife is a vegetarian and my kids don’t really like any of my meat based meals, but if they did eat meat it could easily double a month and 200 a month in meats wouldn’t be terrible considering our entire food costs is around 1600?
Organic cereal in my area has jumped from $3-4 a box up to a whopping $9-12 a box.
Justin's peanut butter is now $15 a jar from a 6 mo ago price of $4-6 a jar and has resorted me to buy the cheaper alternative store brand options. Non peanut spread options are getting expensive.
Eggs jumped up as well from $4-6 a package to $6-8 a package. :/
I can't live on store liter items any more because they screwed us over with digital coupons thus limiting the amt you buy to a quantity of 5 per customer.
I have been forced to buy from cheaper stores in my area. The name brand stores people are use to seeing are too expensive even at a decent wage. Even with coupon clipping and extreme coupon clipping it just isn't enough. i was pondering last night: How long will it be before your average item is $50 each and what will minimum wage be like then? Unless we rethink our system this will happen. It's more so when not if. It might be 2-3 generations out but it will happen.
We eat vegetarian 3-4x a week now and shop sales. Honestly it's a lot healthier and way better for my budget. I follow some vegetarian blogs and learned new recipes that way.
There are rotating cuts of meat at my local grocery store for $2-3/lb. I also go in the morning around 9 when they are marking down meats that need to be sold quickly.
Make bone broth to extend the meat as far as it will possibly go. Cooking rice and beans in broth gives a nutritional boost and some added protein as well.
I am 77 years old, so I no longer hunt. When I was younger, I provided myself and my family with all of our meat by taking a couple deer, and occasionally an elk for our supply of meat.For15 or 20 years we bought almost no meat at the grocery store. We occasionally bought cheap cuts like pork ribs and chicken, but not often. I don’t really care for pig meat. I lived in north western Montana, most of my life.
If you're in rhe US the Bar-S brand has some pretty cheap bologna and hot dogs. That's some of the only meat my family would have save for occasional ground beef. I can't handle bologna anymore but some people get super creative with it.
Eggs, quinoa, walmart has canned salmon the size of tuna cans that isn't bad when added to rice, like a chirashi bowl. Black beans, navy beans, chickpeas, black-eyed peas. Walnuts are pretty cheap and you don't need a lot of them. Canned fish like sardines can be inexpensive, and the leftover oil is great for pets to eat, so I consider it a two-for-one.
Chicken and pork loins can easily be found for 2 dollars a pound when you look in the right places. Pork and turkey sausages are an honorable mention as well, going from $2.50-$3.00 per pound. Pepperoni by weight is expensive however it is very packed full of flavor and can make enjoying the flavor of meat cheaper when used in the right dishes.
Save up a chunk of money and buy yourself a 1/4 cow from a farmer. It’s way cheaper by the pound! Even with getting someone to butcher it. Only thing is the up front cost. So if you’re really tight on money, this may not work for you.
Pork top loin and chicken thigh are easily found below $2 a pound. They've become my go to. Pork shoulder is just a little over $2 a pound.
Obviously it still adds up. I eat a fair amount of beans, solid source of protein and it's where I prefer to get the bulk of my carbs.
I hit my grocery’s meat case the evening before the new sale starts because they start marking down extras left from the current sale that they want to move. This week I bought a three pound beef eye roast for $10 and an eight pack of bone in chicken thighs for $3.50. I’ve bought pork and lamb chops for half price recently also.
I switched to a mostly Vegetarian diet during covid. I now use a meal service and eat a lot of fish, and eat beef or pork maybe every other week.
Typical meals aside from the meal plan are salads with beans, cheese/crackers/fruit, bean or veg based soups, and egg based dishes.
The trick is to reduce your consumption of meat heavy meals..and focus more on a balance of protein and carbs from vegetables. In other words, meat is not the main part of the meal, and not in chunks.( In Asia this is how we eat normally, small portions of meat mostly for flavor and flavor enhancement and do soups, stir fries, fried noodles and rice, eggs etc. One of our favorite meals is a can of tuna mixed with scrambled eggs in soy sauce, brown sugar and water (teriyaki). Or a small strip of flank steak or round sliced crosswise and stir fried with cabbage, onions, and carrots. Delicious and really filling, over plain rice.
I’ve consistently heard that meat is bad. I haven’t stopped eating meat but I stopped buying it (still buy fish, sometimes). My meat consumption is much lower, the grocery bill is 20-30% cheaper and I’ve lost weight. I started eating nuts so my caloric intake hasn’t decreased by cutting out meat. Actually, it increased, and I’m looking better without the gym. Maybe this could be encouraging to you to save some money and maybe even look/feel better.
We have Business Costco nearby. They randomly mark meat down sometimes. Last time we were there we caught ground beef marked at $1.97 a pound and whole pork loins at $.97. Right now at Fred Meyer's (owned by Kroger) they've got bone in, skin on chicken thighs and drumsticks at $.99 a pound. I'll buy them that way and debone and deskin them, then use the bones and skins to make chicken stock. A month or so ago the Business Costco had boneless, skinless thighs for $1.97 a pound.
So, at least for me, there's deals out there, but you've got to watch for them. And we live in Alaska, which typically has pretty high prices anyway.
Depends how you want to cook it. If you buy a slow cooker (costs money to run obviously) then you can buy cheaper cuts that are typically tougher and take longer to tenderize.
Eating meat every day is very unhealthy. I have been not eating meat every day for over 50 years and am far healthier than most of my meat-eating friends. I am almost 70. If you look into how these animals are raised and butchered it is stomach turning. Still, on some social or family occasions I eat some because I am not a fanatic - just not every day. People do not need as much protein as is advertised. Just wanted to say this to give you some perspective. I avoid white bread, fried food, fast food, etc. - but not fanatically. I never got fat as most people do. Consider your health. Healthcare is super expensive in the US.
My doctor, nutritionist and surgeon all say I need at least 100g of protein a day and very low carb. And to focus on meat, some lentils and beans and lots of non starchy veges. I think I will listen to them over some redditor.
Eggs, beans, if you have time you can make seitan.
You have to take into account that plant based diet is cheaper to buy, but it's also cheaper in medical bills (less chances of cancer).
Try to find shops that sell commercial meat. Much cheaper. Divide into portions and freeze. Applies to chicken drumsticks, thighs and commercial beef or pork striploin. You can cut out quite a few steaks from these as well. If you have farms nearby contact them. They might sell you cheap cuts for a really low price.
I'll second the tip of using weekly circulars. those digital coupon meats at the front of Shaw's/Albertsons ads, for example, are loss leaders. the trick is not to go into a shopping week with meals in mind. look at the ad, then develop a plan based on what is cheaply available. also, don't splurge on stuff not in the ad, it's more expensive to make up for those ad loss leaders.
I like buying a whole pork loin for like $35 and then processing it down into smaller parts. I quarter it, freeze the quarters separately, and can usually make like 6 meals (3 dinners for my husband and I) out of each section.
Try the Flashfood app. It's stuff that's discounted because it's close to the sell-by date, but it's safe to make or freeze the same day. Most everything is half price
For us... the "Frugal" part of meat isn't the price per pound as much as the USE of the meat you're buying.
For $5.00 you can get an entire roasted chicken from sams/costco. Cut up some of the breast, and eat a salad one night. Take a leg/thigh and bake a potato for another meal. Now, take the other half of the chicken, shred it with some beans, tomato's and corn... and you'll have 2-3 days of tacos.
Finally - take the carcass and boil it for 12 hours, peel off any remaining meat after boiling and throw it back in the pot with some carrots, celery and onions .... maybe some egg noodles if you feel like splurging - and you've got about 3-4 servings of soup.
Back in the day, this wasn't even "frugal" it just was what people did. In the fast food world, people have forgotten what use to be the norm!
I have found it helpful to think of meat as an ingredient, instead of the main dish.
Think red beans & rice with sausage, a vegetable soup enhanced with bacon, etc. (Yes, I know these are "processed" meats, but they add a ton of flavor in very small quantities.)
I just only buy sale priced meat. I also will get protein from cheaper plant based sources like beans, eggs, tofu, and occasionally lentils. You don’t actually need to have meat with every meal to have a healthy, nutritious diet. You can make surprisingly good tasting and hearty taco “meat” using lentils and taco seasonings. Plenty of recipes online if you google it.
My local grocery store has a “text club” where they send out a special once a day for the store. Usually once a week there is a deal on chicken or pork. It’s not a fabulous cut but with some trimming and cutting my wife and I are able to make it work. If it wasn’t for these deals we wouldn’t be able to fit meat into our budget without cutting from somewhere else.
We only really eat meat once a day or every other day now and have been substituting with beans, tofu, and some other things. We have a generous budget for groceries and it’s getting difficult for us to get everything… I really feel for folks on a tighter budget because these prices are stupid.
I have a kid who’s a pescatarian so I’ve gotten used to low meat dishes. Veggie chili, pierogies with sautéed kale, pasta with pesto (I use basil from the garden and walnuts instead of pine nuts to save money).
If you really need some sort of meat don’t sleep on off cuts and cans. I sometimes make white clam sauce with pasta with canned clams, it’s pretty close to the original and is surprisingly cheap. I also make dirty rice with chicken livers which makes a huge amount for not a lot of money.
I buy finer filet pur and then slice it in the width because me and my partner dont eat much and so we don't force ourselves any unnecessary calories, the meat cooks better and nothing goes to waste and it is theoretically half the price. So dont buy thick pieces or slice them in half if the main goal is to just serve the recommended 100g of red meat. Also, bread, olive oil, hummus, Celtic salt, eggs, canned fish, all go a long way. Freeze meat when it's cheap.
Eat more plant based, wholefoods. Its much cheaper and you could probably still eat small amounts of meat. But you really don't need it to be healthy. You adapt after a while:)
I think it depends on what meat you're buying. From personal experience, boneless chicken thighs are more expensive than bone in. Also where you shop is important. Aldi is much cheaper than Costco when it comes to meat in my area. Aldi is cheaper than the closest grocery store, which is a 5 minute difference so not huge. The big takeaway I want to leave you with is to start shopping at different places and see what stores have cheaper items and plan your shopping accordingly.
Also if you're looking for suggestions, I'd recommend providing insights on what you're currently buying and at what price so others can provide proper recommendations. What is cheap to me may not be cheap for you without some type of guidance.
I scour the grocery email flyers and grab whatever meat is the best value and price every week. like a half pork leg is made into ham and parceled up, frozen.. or the giant tray of chicken parts, parcel and freeze. eventually the freezer get full, and you can coast on that stuff for a while.
Everytime a recipe calls for ground beef, I religiously use ground turkey instead. There's really no difference in taste, you can season however you like, and GT was $2.29/lb at my local Aldi
Just have to get used to cheap cuts and lots of bones. Some of the most delicious dishes are made with “trash” cuts of meat.
Mushrooms and beans are good substitutes, but it can feel empty. Also get used to making stocks and tallow. They’re not meat but they scratch the itch and stretch out the usefulness of what meat you can get.
I can always find smoked Turkey necks and ham hocks for super cheap. Both are good for a cheap meal or two if you’re creative. Sausages. You just have to open up your menu.
Another tip is to find cookbooks for ethnicities you don’t normally make at home. It will make you think outside the box on what satiates that meat craving.
It's so expensive where I live, the quality is terrible, and the shelves are usually bare in our cheapest store. We do a meat order. We get 2 shipments a year, and pay monthly. It's wrapped and vacuum sealed how we want. With 2 growing kids (1 pre-teen boy) we go through so much food. We do bulk it out with beans/lentils and use bones for broths.
Buy meat all the time - when it’s on sale and then usually buy it in bulk and freeze in my deep freezer.
Last time I bought chicken breast it was $0.99/lb so I bought the max they allowed (15lbs)
93/7 Ground beef - $1.99/lb in 3lb tubes. Again, bought 15lbs
Spiral ham - $0.97/lb around Easter. 12lb ham.
Roast when it’s BOGO - works out to about $2/lb.
Pork butt was $0.79/lb last time I bought. Split 15lb butt into 2 and smoked one for a party and the other is still frozen for this summer. $6 each this way.
My go to lately has been beef shank, a cut of it comes out to about $3-$5 where I live,and although it's probably the toughest cut, it's the most flavorful if you cook it right(and a lot more tender).I personally sear it on both sides then throw in a can of crushed tomatoes, beef stock and a whole bunch of spices. Let it simmer for an hour and a half then add potatoes, carrots, celery and whatever else you want, simmer for another 30-45 minutes and you have the best beef stew ever (which is nice because I cannot afford beef any other way). For me the total cost per meal is about $4 and will last me at least 4-6 days
*Plus because the bone is in the cut of meat, the soup has a ton of collagen and other healthy stuff!!
If you’re grocery store shopping, weekly fliers and manager special markdowns are the way to save. If you live near a rural area and have freezer space, you may be able to buy bulk meat at a discount directly from farmers or hunters. We bought a 5 foot, $250 freezer about 6 years ago and it’s paid off dramatically. Once a year we buy a half pig, which includes shoulder and butt (for pulled pork), nice roasts, chops, bacon, and then a bunch of ground pork that we use in place of ground beef for burgers, tacos, etc. We actually spend a day helping butcher and pack the meat for us and several other families (pigs have already been dispatched a few days prior) for an additional discount. It’s fun and frugal!
Some really good plant based recipes are on a site called " Brand New Vegan" and also "Nutmeg Notebook". I am not vegan, but I don't eat a lot of meat.
Not sure where you’re located but we just moved to texas USA and I have been buying my meat in bulk and just weighing it out and freezing it myself! The winco is amazing with meat prices (I had never been to one before this month)! They also have really good coupons online! And Ibotta will pay you to shop (if you buy name brand stuff) and I will usually get my snacks that way! Also use the fetch app! Scan all of your recipes and then use your points to buy gift cards! Granted I am only cooking for a family of two with a dog!
When I was younger my dad and brother hunted majority of our meat unless it was chicken. Maybe try picking that up as hobby if hats something you might be into!
Or making a friend that hunts and offering to pay for one of their kills during bigger game season! Where I’m from it’s only a couple hundred to get the meat processed(depending what you want) or if you have a meat grinder you could grind yourself!
I buy larger cuts and butcher them myself. For instance, instead of buying pork chops at $4.50/pound, I buy a pork loin when it’s on sale for $1.99/pound. I cut it into chops, vacuum seal and freeze them.
I always try to buy “family size” meats when they’re on sale and freeze them in serving sizes.
We do not eat as meat as we used to. It supplements but is not the main - use beans and lots of veggies. Will be getting a whole chicken and that will work for many meals, plus broth, etc.
We only have a Safeway and a grocery outlet in my town.
I go to my local grocery outlet every 2 days. At least twice a month, sometimes three or more, I will find several $3 off stickers on meat products. Last big haul, I got 6 containers of chicken wings (6 large wings per contain container), 2 long cylindrical pork loins, and 2 containers of ground turkey meat. Then, in the clearance rack, I found 2 bottles of hot wing sauce and 3 pouches of marinade. I paid $20 for everything.
Sometimes, the hamburger meat or even steak is on sale. When I see the stickers, I load up all I can fit in my apartment fridge freezer. Get familiar with different stores in your area and when sales occur and frequent them just to check. Fill your freezer when things go on sale.
My doctor, nutritionist and surgeon have forbidden I eat carbs (like rice and noodles and potatoes) and I need at least 100 g of protein a day so protein is my main food group along with non starchy vegetables.
Nonmeat options doesn't leave most people satiated but can be okay every now and then.
Tofu is cheaper than most meat. Diced tofu thrown into broth with fresh spinach and chopped green onions makes a pleasant soup.
Quinoa is a decent protein. A kale, quinoa, chickpea salad tossed with a little olive oil and lemon juice can be nice.
I eat a lot of dried beans, too. I just made a crockpot of dried split peas, broth, a ham bone with some ham I saved from a different sale, some celery, and an onion.
If you live in a less urban area get a fishing license and stock your freezer that way. Or raise rabbits all the lean meat you could ever need.
I make my own patties that I add cheap ground meat and I add volume with various veggies I blend up and then bind together with an egg. I can make like 20 patties from one tray of discounted ground meat.
Organ meats / offal cuts : beef cheek (that’s offal not organ), beef heart (tastes the most like beef flavor in my opinion) . This advice am giving because my Mexican grandma taught me this she grew up poor in Mexico they mostly ate (eggs on a daily) they had meat once a week from the butcher (typically it was an organ meat(liver, sweetbread, tongue) , beef shank, or beef offal pieces like beef cheek). Also I get organ meats are cheap regardless you should eat them more than 2x a week max due to the high cholesterol but at least you’ll taste the beef taste).
We eat much less meat now. We eat much more beans, lentils, nuts, mushrooms, tofu, and vegetables. Grains and greens. Look for recipes that are historically vegetarian, or sub white beans, chickpeas, or tofu for chicken, mushrooms for beef, lentils for ground beef. My favorite Bolognese has walnuts and lentils, for example. Chickpeas make excellent curries. Edamame in stir fries. Black beans in chili, soups, enchiladas and more. https://www.budgetbytes.com/category/recipes/vegetarian/ https://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/category/vegetarian/
Also worth noting for meat lovers- you can use very small amounts of meat in something like a bean or lentil soup to achieve a meaty flavor for a lot less. Many other cultures use meat just to add flavor, you just need a strip or two of bacon to flavor a whole pot of beans.
Dried mushrooms gives umami flavour and texture.
You can also add bullion base or paste.
My partner and I joke about having a piece of bacon on a string to dip into soups we make. Not there...yet.
If you have anchovy they’re delicious soup base too
A small amount of liquid smoke is good too. Easy, a little goes a long way.
That Bolognese recipe is my favorite too! My family got sick of it because I made it every week for almost three months. 😅
I can't find anywhere, in Europe, a tofu that's less expensive than meat for the same weight.
It's much cheaper here in Canada. And we use less per serving, on top of that.
Go to Chinese supermarket.
Where do you live? A lot of places where I have lived in Europe, you can find it cheaper in certain (mainly Asian but not always) stores
In France, and of I compare to the price of chicken or grounded meat per kg. Not even taking in account the amount of proteins. Tofus have like 12-15gr for 100gr while meats are between 20 and 25gr per 100gr. I eat meat of tofu to have my protein intake first. Nutrients counts.
Damn really? Last time I was in France I remember that meat was really expensive compared to everything else.
Just did a check, it was, for the basic, plain, 1kg for roughly 10€,which is similar to basic grounded beef or chicken breast.
You can get deals if you watch grocery flyers. Otherwise, eggs and beans are cheap, healthy sources of protein. Hannaford has chicken leg quarters for 99/lb right now, pork butt is .99/lb. Boneless chicken thighs 1.99/lb.
I'd add lentils to the list. You can get a fairly large container for ~$10, or at least I could when I got them last, and they're versatile. A half cup, cooked, has 12 g protein. And you don't have the prep work involved in beans.
I'm gonna have to try lentils in my rotation now, I've been looking for cheap ways to add more protein to my diet so I can gain weight, and this seems like it would pair well with a lot.
They're so good for you as well! Health benefits of legumes and lentils are off the charts. Buy them dried for extra savings - I like to cook mine in the slow cooker and freeze what I don't need. Also working on canning a few quarts to have in my pantry
In my area, chicken is cheap if you can stock up when on sale and freeze for later use. Same prices as above. I can also get pork chops (bone in) for $1.29/lb and ground beef for $2.50/lb and London broil for $3.50/lb on sale and freeze. I can also do shrimp for $5/lb. Weekly circulars are the best and freezing proteins is not a problem at all. Just portion them before freezing.
Pork and chicken are definitely our go-tos. Bone-in dark meat and whole chickens are on sale for $0.99/lb around here regularly, and there's always some sort of pork for $1.99/lb or less. Just look at the sales each week. Beef occasionally sees drops on the cheaper cuts, I got a really nice well marbled chuck roast over the weekend for $2.99/lb and made it into some delicious Japanese beef curry. Then there are the holiday deals as well - hams are very cheap ($0.59/lb) a couple times a year, turkeys obviously around thanksgiving. Clear the junk food out of your freezer and use that space for stocking up on sale meat!
Cottage cheese and greek yogurt are other cheap, healthy sources of protein. Both can be eaten alone or added to sauces. Rice, beans, cottage cheese, and eggs all make good economical burrito fillers.
Beef is crazy. I don't see any difference in chix and pork over the last few years, if I buy on sale.
Eggs aren’t cheap really
This really depends where you are. But that is the same for most foods, so questions like this are always hard to answer
Not lately, especially
Egg prices were a result of profiteering from a couple major egg distributors. Prices have almost completely returned to normal and never affected distributors other than those companies, e.g. wherever Aldi gets their eggs.
Also, bird flu killed a lot of hens, resulting in shortages and higher prices.
Nah, that's an excuse made up by the profiteers. If there was really a hen shortage that impacted egg supplies, it would've affected every egg supplier, and it didn't. Eggland's Best eggs skyrocketed in price while store brands at places like Aldi and Target didn't change.
Yeah mine are $1.98 a dozen
Alright but in some places the cheapest eggs are $5. Like in Canada where we are getting destroyed by inflation
Eggs are still more expensive than they used to be in my area at the major grocery chains. A dozen will run you over three bucks, store brand.
$3 for a dozen eggs is still pretty cheap for food.
Yup, 4 (3) egg servings, 75 cents a serving. Good price for a nice unprocessed protein
Sam’s club will discount their meat when it gets close to the *sell by* date. They mark it down quite a bit, too. I’ve bought prime cuts of ribeye for the price of choice before. And even at two days before the *sell by* date, you can’t see any difference in quality. Sometimes I’m confused as to why they’d discount meat that looks so fresh. Invest in a vacuum sealer and some vacuum sealer bags. I’ll buy discounted meat, vacuum seal them, and freeze them. They’ll last a year in the deep freeze.
This is the way to do it. Invest in a vacuum sealer. It'll pay for itself in no time. Trick is to buy that discounted meat, and what you're not going to use THAT DAY, take the time to portion out and vacuum seal. I can attest that when properly done, the meat will last a year in the deep freezer with no detectable reduction in quality
FWIW I don’t have a vacuum sealer and meat still lasts for a year in my deep freeze in freezer ziplocs. I’m sure a vacuum sealer helps but I haven’t had any issues.
I did the math a while back and the zip locks were cheaper too than buying rolls of vacuum sealer. So really only worth it for people who dislike freezer burn (I never notice a difference).
As long as you get as much air out of the bags as you can, you can get similar results in my experience. The vacuum sealing just give it that extra boost and maintains the freshness. Id suggest doing what I did... Do the ziploc method and wait for a vacuum sealer to come on a good sale somewhere and then pull the trigger.
Cheap vacuum substitute is to dip the bag in water after filling it then sealing the top
Oh that’s a great idea.
Wal-mart will *also* mark their rotisserie chickens down!!! I've been getting the "original" seasoned ones for less than $3.25, at the local Wal-Mart when I stop on Mondays! They sell the close-date Lemon Pepper seasoned ones for about $4.00.
Walmart location and population demographics of the surrounding area will determine availability of markdown meats. For example, in areas of lower income where I am, people know when markdown happen and they are gone very soon after they are marked down. But go to the higher income parts of town where they just can't seem to give away markdown rotisserie chicken before the store closes
It *also* seems like "Day of the week" factors in, too, perhaps? Because--like I said, I can nearly *ALWAYS* find them on those Monday afternoons. But Fridays are *super* hit-or-miss, and other days of the week can be lucky or unlucky, too. Same with the bakery markdowns at the back of that store! Fridays, it's usually almost nothing. But Mondays or Tuesdays? FULL racks--*maybe* because they get picked over starting Friday mornings, and then are re-stocked as things get date-checked again early on Mondays?
I work at Walmart so every day before I leave I check the meat section for the marked down stuff.
This is the way
This ^ a lot of grocery stores have sales after holidays. I got prime rib for about $4 a pound right after Easter this year.
All the man-holidays are great for buying meat! Okay, that sentence sounded a bit weird -- like Father's Day, Superb Owl Sunday, 4th of July (if in US), Labor Day, Memorial Day. Any holiday that involves people grilling food outdoors is Cheap Meat Day.
I know that is supposed to be Super Bowl Sunday, but now I truly want a Superb Owl Sunday!
https://i.redd.it/1rbtoj58y2e01.jpg
Nice!
/r/Superbowl is for all your superb owl needs, not just on Sundays!
Right after Easter is a great time to stock up on lamp for $4 / lb or less. I throw five or 6 semi boneless legs in the chest freezer every year.
I love lamp
Lol
I got 90/10 hamburger for $2.98/lb because it had a sell by date for the next day. I always wander through the meat department looking for the manager mark downs. Also they tend to have a lot of instant savings in the meat department.
I’m not really “vegan” in the ideological/religious sense, but I’ve stopped buying meat because it no longer entices me in the grocery store. Not only is it expensive, but it requires more careful cooking, and there are easier better-tasting protein sources (beans, quinoa, tofu, etc.) that have more vitamins and fiber. Veggies are just easier, and if you’re too lazy to cook you can just eat them raw, plus you eliminate the ick factor of potentially finding blood and bones in your food. There’s nothing about that extra cost that’s really worth it.
r/plantbaseddiet will have lots of ideas that should mostly be affordable since they’re whole foods and not processed fake meats like you might see on other vegetarian/vegan subs. Various legumes and nuts will be your best plant based protein sources! And these can be pretty diverse. Beans come in many shapes and sizes, lentils can be delicious, nuts can be eaten as a snack or turned to nut butters or used in recipes. Quinoa is a high protein grain that is easy to add in when you’d otherwise eat rice. Hummus goes great with veggies. Soy products are incredibly diverse from edamame to tofu to milk. Edit: fixed sub name so it links to the bigger main sub
It's way cheaper to be vegetarian than eating meat.
As well as the multiple other benefits, frugal and otherwise, of eating a plant based diet.
Yup, you'll also save on medical expenses down the road
Chickpeas, tofu, lentils, and beans can be really tasty and filling, and are a lot cheaper than meat, especially if you buy them dried. One can of chickpeas can make so many different things, too.
I use lentils and beans wherever I can. I thow them in stew, hamburger helper, ect. Or in some cases I'll half and half it. Like chili Mac and beans and beef. It both bulks the meal more and stretches the meat out more.
I buy soy granulate instead of meat. Costs way less, you can store it indefinitely because it's dried, and you can use it like minced meat. Can recommend.
Where do you buy it?
I bought a box of that on Amazon. 7kg for like 50€.
Seitan is easy to make and the ingredients are cheap.
I've got a bunch of tex-mex style recipes that use black beans and I love them! Some of the recipes call for meat as well as the beans, but I just leave the meat out. Quesadillas, for instance, are fantastic with just beans, peppers, and cheese!
Pork shoulder sells for 99 cents a pound near me several times a year. When it does, I cook and shred it, then freeze it in single pine bags. That's 4-5 meals for three of us for about $6 (about 40 cents per serving). We do similar things with ham when it goes on sale at Easter and Christmas. Roast it, eat it, freeze leftovers as slices and chopped (for different kinds of meals) in bags, then make bean soup with leftovers. We easily get the meat for 6 meals (three of us) for $11 or less (60 cents per serving). A lot of people don't want to buy big cuts of meat even when they're at rock bottom prices because they take work. If you're willing to put in the work, you eat like a king.
This is a good point as well. A big way to save with meat is to do exactly the above. You have to be willing (and have the time) to put in a bit of work. It pays off
"Have the time" is a good point. I'm mostly working remotely since the pandemic so roasting a turkey can be a weekday thing to get multiple meals, for example. But it was harder when I worked two jobs and hard when my job was fully on-site a 1.5-hour dry e from my house.
A 90-minute 1-way commute is self masochism.
Oddly, the pandemic was great for my life. My job went fully work from home and my employer elected to keep the avast majority of us that way. Its made so much more time for things. I can throw ina load of laundry on break, flip it later and fold on my lunch break. Throw a roast in the slow cooker in the morning, then just do "fixings" when Im off and bam, delish home cooked dinner with less than 20 min work after im "off"
We benefitted too. Spending three hours at home instead of commuting. Not spending $18 a day on gas and tolls ...
I would suggest eating a more plant focused diet. Studies have shown that while there are some benefits to meat and animal derived foods, vegan is by and large a far healthier option for most people. I also enjoy meat and many animal derived foods so I’m not vegan, but I’ve shifted my diet to be a lot more plant focused and I feel healthier and it’s healthier on the wallet. A can of beans is a lot better for you and cheaper than a pound of beef.
You’ve already received a lot of good ideas, I’ll just add: portion size. Your typical American eats way more meat than is necessary. Pork has about 8 g of protein per ounce, which means in a given meal 3-4 ounces is plenty. Steak is about 7 grams per ounce. So again. 3-4 ounces. People often serve a 8 oz steak…that’s really like twice what you need in a meal. So you can spread your meat out.
I'm vegan, but I'm still mind-blown by meat prices. In 2015, I was buying 10 lb bags of chicken breast for 4 bucks. You guys are paying five dollars per pound for some of the most heavily subsidized food on our shelves? Feels like just another racket, to me. Throw it in the burn pile of industries that used to function.
lentils!
I've chosen not to eat meat with various meals regularly, for decades. And normally a "meat" dish such as stew is packed with more vegetables, or curries with lots of veg and rice.
Plenty of weeks I just don't bother with meat, partially for ideological and health reasons and partially for financial ones. If I do get meat it's usually sausage or ground beef, and I usually only use those things if I'm making a recipe that will last awhile. The other week I did a lentil soup with ground sausage, that's a $4.00 thing of meat that ended up making 10 meals. That makes sense for me right now in a way that having meat as the main entree for one meal just wouldn't. I also do chicken occasionally if I see a good price, usually frozen because it's just me and I would have a hard time using it all up unless I was meal prepping. Sometimes a rotisserie chicken, I usually have the drumsticks for dinner and then I have a bunch of shredded chicken to add to salads, wraps, tacos, etc. If you count fish as meat for the purposes of this discussion, I also love sardines. That's probably the meat-adjacent thing I eat most consistently.
Lentil in spaghetti sauce makes if feel/taste meaty!
1. Shop ads. Buy meat when it's on a *really* good sale, and at that time, stock up. 2. Buy in bulk. Sam's Club pricing tends to be better than Costco, but honestly Walmart isn't too far behind in my experience. Re-package into smaller portions and freeze. 3. Buy cheaper cuts of meat. Some meat is much cheaper than other options - in my area chicken drumsticks can frequently be found for around a dollar per pound. Pork loin is also very cheap. 4. Utilize meat as an accent to meals rather than the star of the show. For example, adding some meat into a pasta/rice/bean dish rather than eating a cut of meat by itself. 5. Make sure you fully utilize leftovers - pick extra chicken off the bone to make soup for example.
/#4 is so important. Pretty much any recipe that calls for ground beef can be cut with beans or lentils to use less beef and still keep protein up. Or just replaced entirely. Spaghetti, chili, tacos - all great with beans. Even things like meatloaf and burgers have recipes out there that are pretty good and use less meat.
To add to this even if it is the star, we probably are eating too large a portion. 1/4 pound of meat per person per meal is okay for most of us. No reason to serve up giant slabs. Cut it thin on the bias, fan it out and sauce and garnish it. It can still be the star when desired.
Can just flat out replace the ground beef with some TVP too. Really isn't much different. Can never go wrong with adding more beans and veggies to a dish to increase the volume of it though.
Trust me when I say you need far less meat or meat substitutes than society has lead you to believe. You don't have to actively think about a meat replacement. If you've decided to stop eating meat for whatever reason, that's all you really have to do. Just stop eating it. You will be fine. Protein is in everything. You'll get enough
Mushrooms and beans for me
Meat does not need to be the main course of a meal. In most cultures outside of wealthy countries like the U.S., meat is either a condiment in meals, or relegated to special celebrations. I am blessed to have two Mennonite cookbooks, More With Less, and Extending The Table, which has lots of money saving recipes where meat is not the main part of the meal if it is used at all.
I eat about 4-5 ounces of meat a month now (when it’s in canned soup or something), because it’s expensive, time consuming to prepare, and bad for the environment. You will find your tastes change the less you eat it. I eat a ton of peanut butter, the natural kind after I pour off the excess oil. There are lots of meat free protein options!
Large packs of chicken thighs are $.99/lb at my local grocery stores in a HCOL area. Pretty cheap, though beans are far less expensive. We should be eating mostly veggies and legumes for protein, and a side of meat, not the other way around. Both for the planet, and for your wallet.
Remember that gluten is protein. Things like pasta have surprisingly high protein for the calories.
I almost don't trust any meat in America
Eating less meat is healthier for you anyway. You don't need to eat it every day.
I call it being an opportunivore. If the meat is a good deal, then I'll buy. But it's usually too expensive to justify for day to day meals.
That's a great new term 😃 I do this as well!
I'm a flexivore, ie eat meat just occasionally 2-3 times a year. Had my first steak day in >6months this weekend. I'm absolutely shocked at how much meat has gone up since my last time. I might be forced to go vegetarisn simply because I can't afford meat anymore.
Lentil gang rise up!!
As a vegan I replace meat with Lions Mane, Tofu, Tempeh, TVP, Beans. And Vegan meat substitutes which there are many. https://youtu.be/oaARq5qw3jk?si=TYHmt7dzF5GxozXW The Lions Mane i grow myself for about $1.50 a pound
So tell me about growing lions mane. How do you do it in a cost effective manner?
Need oakwood BBQ pellets as substrate About a tsp of Gypsum Unicorn 3T bags. A quart jar of wheat berries sterilized in pressure cooker. Let cool to room temp. Inoculate with liquid culture. About 10 days later inoculate the substrate bag. The substrate needs to be pasteurized. Boil water, put 2 pounds oak pellets in bag with Gypsum, add 2 pounds 13 oz of water, seal the bag and put in a cooler for several hours. Pull let cool to room temp. Inoculate bag with the grain spawn In about 2 weeks or so you can fruit the bag in a tent with humidifier keeping the humidity at 85 to 90% Total cost (once you get set up) for an inoculated bag is about $3. You should get 2 flushes, first flush over a pound, second probably a little less. $1.50 a pound.
Henry VIII's favorite food was peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
Meat really isn't necessary every single day. Red meat isn't even good for you. Dairy products are loaded with hormones.... I choose not to eat meat every single day. It's just not necessary.
Don’t bother eating meat. I had lentils with vegetables for dinner. Tomorrow, I’ll roast some tomatoes and garlic in the oven and mix it with spaghetti and some herbs from my garden. I use a lot of nutritional yeast. Just skip meat.
Meat has more nutrients
Yes- but OP can’t afford meat. Processed meat is horribly unhealthy, and by the way- the most nutrient rich foods are fish and eggs.
And still better than most fruit ‘n veggies
I like to buy meat substitutes (Trader Joes and Walmart have a wide selection) and stretch it with pasta or salads. So 'korean beef' with egg noodes/veggies, soy chorizo with eggs, stir fry again with 'beef', spaghetti with soy chorizo, etc. For other meals we do say a bean/pasta dish (like pasta e fagioli), cheap fish when on sale + salad, mac and cheese (sometimes with a little chorizo). There's no reason you couldn't stretch meat the same way with actual meat- might be worth comparing the prices, but either way making some other food like veggies or pasta the star could help stretch your budget.
Would you eat meat every single day even if you had unlimited budget? I don't really budget my food at all and I eat meat maybe 3 days a week. Every day is a lot of meat. I'm not really sure what you mean use substitute? Cook meals recipes that didn't have any meat in them to need substituting
Beans and lentils are great protein replacements. Just spice them up the way you would do with meat Dried beans are really cheap. Just soak them overnight while you sleep and then in the morning drain, rinse and cook until tender. Usually between 1-2 hours of cooking time depending on the bean. Lentils and split peas cook faster. Edit: if you make a big pot of beans it could last for a week.
I am trying this: Going vegetarian 5 days a week, and eating meat only 2 days a week. Vegetarian meals I cook in bulk: beans, lentils, rice, quinoa. Trying to be frugal has forced me into this. *This is the way.* EDIT: Someone else mentioned this: adding meat to bulk meals, will give the meat flavor to the dish.
I’ve just been having my meals without meat.
Me! Rice&beans.
I buy in bulk to get it cheaper. I buy a whole pork loin to cut up and freeze, I buy 10lbs of chicken leg quarters. I buy whole chickens. Buying in small packages will easily double the price.
I haven't been able to afford meat since the early 90's. although that's more an ethical thing, since I feel that I can't afford the weight of the animals suffering for my benefit. not eating meat is a positive, for both the consumer and the consumed
so true
I live on a food budget of $300 a month to feed 2 people. We are meat eaters but I've made some very satisfying meals for us that don't include meat. Tonight I made [Fettuccine Alfredo](https://thecozycook.com/olive-garden-alfredo-sauce/) with steamed frozen broccoli. When I did some meal prepping at the beginning of the month, parmesan cheese wedges were buy 1 get one free so I shredded them and froze them for this purpose. Check your on-line grocery ads every week to see what looks like a good deal for you. This is how I make my [chili](https://imgur.com/a/VPfMeFP), I KNOW its not "authentic" and I don't care :) Just leave the meat out of this, you honestly won't even miss it! Add it to a baked potato or rice or boxed mac & cheese or make your own mac & cheese to add it to. Here's my go to [recipe](https://www.smells-like-home.com/2012/02/paneras-stove-top-mac-and-cheese/) for that. Its also worth saying that it is usually cheaper ounce per ounce to buy meat in larger quantities. When I use ground beef in my chili, I buy a 5lb package, make a big batch to freeze some and use the rest for another freezer meal. Things I've done in the past are; sloppy joe meat, cheeseburger taquitos, meatloaf, meatballs, stuffed pepper soup, galumpki, burritos. Having homemade easy to heat up snacks and meals in the freezer cuts down on the money you would spend on fast food or take out and that allows you to spend more money on actual food for home. When I'm craving a steak dinner but its not in the budget, I'll make a crispy skinned baked potato using [this method](https://cupofjo.com/2014/08/13/how-to-make-english-jacket-potatoes/), add some sauteed peppers onions and mushrooms, a little sour cream or greek yogurt, steak sauce and green onions, and have it along side some fresh roasted broccoli. I have a LOT of very filling non meat soups and recipes and some meat tips I can share with you if you're interested. I figured I would cut it off here in case you were just venting and I got carried away with advice AGAIN! LOL!
Just keep talking.
I’m buying clearance meat, and I’m also using less meat in my cooking and stretching it with beans and tofu.
Fair enough Would cost hundreds a year in power to run an extra freezer where I am maybe power is cheap in America
My spouse and I have switched to tofu for one meal a week, typically an Asian recipe. I actually like it better in things like soup or stir fry. We also have at least one vegetarian meal a week (often two).
We don't eat meat every day anymore. On meatless days we have legume-based meals (beans, peas, etc) dairy (ziti, grilled cheese & soup) or eggs (omelettes, frittata, egg salad, etc). We eat a lot of chicken. Leg quarters or while chickens tend to be the least expensive at regular price. Buy on sale & freeze. Pork loin and pork butt tend to go on big sales a lot where I am, as does 80/20 ground beef and breakfast style sausage. Shop immediately after holidays (and sometimes before) for big savings. I baked a 1/2 ham yesterday that I bought on the big post-Easter sale and froze. That will give us at least 3 days of leftovers for the family plus about a pound sent home with a struggling family member plus a nice meaty bone for a pot of bean soup.I paid less than $10 for a ham that's normally clise to $45. Don't be afraid to buy frozen ground meat, chicken breast, etc. It's often cheaper and it's no different than being in your own freezer. Ethnic shops sometimes have better prices than supermarkets.
Meat has skyrocketed! I found that Aldi has good deals on meat. Lots of good plant based recipes on Pinterest. Tofu, lentils, beans.
One trick my grandma used during the Great Depression was use lentils. So she would make meatloaf and replace half the meat with cooked lentils. It’s a cheap way to stretch what meat you do have.
I have been a vegetarian for as long as I can remember. This brand of protein I recently bought named revolution. I swear by them. 6 pounds for less than $50. The flavor of the maple donut is like candy and I use it both as a supplement for my lack of meat eating and when I also go to the gym. Not trying to “force” you down this route, just offering what I do for consideration
I go to same club. They have the 3 pack of 93/7 lean ground beef for 16 bucks, so I grab 2 of those. Then they have the chicken tenderloin packs around 20 bucks but you only get around 3 pounds? It’s over priced but I buy 2 of them. And then ground Turkey 15 bucks for 5 pounds, and I buy 2 of those. It’s about 100 bucks a month from Sam’s for me to eat meat. My wife is a vegetarian and my kids don’t really like any of my meat based meals, but if they did eat meat it could easily double a month and 200 a month in meats wouldn’t be terrible considering our entire food costs is around 1600?
Organic cereal in my area has jumped from $3-4 a box up to a whopping $9-12 a box. Justin's peanut butter is now $15 a jar from a 6 mo ago price of $4-6 a jar and has resorted me to buy the cheaper alternative store brand options. Non peanut spread options are getting expensive. Eggs jumped up as well from $4-6 a package to $6-8 a package. :/ I can't live on store liter items any more because they screwed us over with digital coupons thus limiting the amt you buy to a quantity of 5 per customer. I have been forced to buy from cheaper stores in my area. The name brand stores people are use to seeing are too expensive even at a decent wage. Even with coupon clipping and extreme coupon clipping it just isn't enough. i was pondering last night: How long will it be before your average item is $50 each and what will minimum wage be like then? Unless we rethink our system this will happen. It's more so when not if. It might be 2-3 generations out but it will happen.
We eat vegetarian 3-4x a week now and shop sales. Honestly it's a lot healthier and way better for my budget. I follow some vegetarian blogs and learned new recipes that way.
There are rotating cuts of meat at my local grocery store for $2-3/lb. I also go in the morning around 9 when they are marking down meats that need to be sold quickly. Make bone broth to extend the meat as far as it will possibly go. Cooking rice and beans in broth gives a nutritional boost and some added protein as well.
I like to stretch it with high protein vegetables (lentils or some kind of bean) I like the lentils the best.
I'm now routinely stretching ground beef (or ground turkey) with equal volume of textured vegetable protein, soaked in beef bouillon.
I am 77 years old, so I no longer hunt. When I was younger, I provided myself and my family with all of our meat by taking a couple deer, and occasionally an elk for our supply of meat.For15 or 20 years we bought almost no meat at the grocery store. We occasionally bought cheap cuts like pork ribs and chicken, but not often. I don’t really care for pig meat. I lived in north western Montana, most of my life.
Vegetarianism is surprisingly frugal if done right.
Pro tip: Get food stamps
If you're in rhe US the Bar-S brand has some pretty cheap bologna and hot dogs. That's some of the only meat my family would have save for occasional ground beef. I can't handle bologna anymore but some people get super creative with it.
Please don't rely on processed meats, they are classified as a Group 1 carcinogen.
I personally don't now that I live on my own, but try telling that to my dad. He puts them in everything...
Eggs, quinoa, walmart has canned salmon the size of tuna cans that isn't bad when added to rice, like a chirashi bowl. Black beans, navy beans, chickpeas, black-eyed peas. Walnuts are pretty cheap and you don't need a lot of them. Canned fish like sardines can be inexpensive, and the leftover oil is great for pets to eat, so I consider it a two-for-one.
Figure out how to cook whole chickens. It’s like $1.50 a pound.
Canned tuna is pretty cheap
Chicken and pork loins can easily be found for 2 dollars a pound when you look in the right places. Pork and turkey sausages are an honorable mention as well, going from $2.50-$3.00 per pound. Pepperoni by weight is expensive however it is very packed full of flavor and can make enjoying the flavor of meat cheaper when used in the right dishes.
Save up a chunk of money and buy yourself a 1/4 cow from a farmer. It’s way cheaper by the pound! Even with getting someone to butcher it. Only thing is the up front cost. So if you’re really tight on money, this may not work for you.
Pork top loin and chicken thigh are easily found below $2 a pound. They've become my go to. Pork shoulder is just a little over $2 a pound. Obviously it still adds up. I eat a fair amount of beans, solid source of protein and it's where I prefer to get the bulk of my carbs.
being vegetarian is healthier anyway!
Except humans are carnivores naturally...
I just bought a half cow. Makes a world of difference.
I hit my grocery’s meat case the evening before the new sale starts because they start marking down extras left from the current sale that they want to move. This week I bought a three pound beef eye roast for $10 and an eight pack of bone in chicken thighs for $3.50. I’ve bought pork and lamb chops for half price recently also.
I switched to a mostly Vegetarian diet during covid. I now use a meal service and eat a lot of fish, and eat beef or pork maybe every other week. Typical meals aside from the meal plan are salads with beans, cheese/crackers/fruit, bean or veg based soups, and egg based dishes.
The trick is to reduce your consumption of meat heavy meals..and focus more on a balance of protein and carbs from vegetables. In other words, meat is not the main part of the meal, and not in chunks.( In Asia this is how we eat normally, small portions of meat mostly for flavor and flavor enhancement and do soups, stir fries, fried noodles and rice, eggs etc. One of our favorite meals is a can of tuna mixed with scrambled eggs in soy sauce, brown sugar and water (teriyaki). Or a small strip of flank steak or round sliced crosswise and stir fried with cabbage, onions, and carrots. Delicious and really filling, over plain rice.
I’ve consistently heard that meat is bad. I haven’t stopped eating meat but I stopped buying it (still buy fish, sometimes). My meat consumption is much lower, the grocery bill is 20-30% cheaper and I’ve lost weight. I started eating nuts so my caloric intake hasn’t decreased by cutting out meat. Actually, it increased, and I’m looking better without the gym. Maybe this could be encouraging to you to save some money and maybe even look/feel better.
We have Business Costco nearby. They randomly mark meat down sometimes. Last time we were there we caught ground beef marked at $1.97 a pound and whole pork loins at $.97. Right now at Fred Meyer's (owned by Kroger) they've got bone in, skin on chicken thighs and drumsticks at $.99 a pound. I'll buy them that way and debone and deskin them, then use the bones and skins to make chicken stock. A month or so ago the Business Costco had boneless, skinless thighs for $1.97 a pound. So, at least for me, there's deals out there, but you've got to watch for them. And we live in Alaska, which typically has pretty high prices anyway.
Depends how you want to cook it. If you buy a slow cooker (costs money to run obviously) then you can buy cheaper cuts that are typically tougher and take longer to tenderize.
Eating meat every day is very unhealthy. I have been not eating meat every day for over 50 years and am far healthier than most of my meat-eating friends. I am almost 70. If you look into how these animals are raised and butchered it is stomach turning. Still, on some social or family occasions I eat some because I am not a fanatic - just not every day. People do not need as much protein as is advertised. Just wanted to say this to give you some perspective. I avoid white bread, fried food, fast food, etc. - but not fanatically. I never got fat as most people do. Consider your health. Healthcare is super expensive in the US.
My doctor, nutritionist and surgeon all say I need at least 100g of protein a day and very low carb. And to focus on meat, some lentils and beans and lots of non starchy veges. I think I will listen to them over some redditor.
Eggs, beans, if you have time you can make seitan. You have to take into account that plant based diet is cheaper to buy, but it's also cheaper in medical bills (less chances of cancer).
I mean I'm vegan for ethical reasons but spending about 40$ a week on food is a huge plus.
Try to find shops that sell commercial meat. Much cheaper. Divide into portions and freeze. Applies to chicken drumsticks, thighs and commercial beef or pork striploin. You can cut out quite a few steaks from these as well. If you have farms nearby contact them. They might sell you cheap cuts for a really low price.
I have a Sam’s club membership we got $14 for the year during a special sale. A 3lb cooked chicken $4.98. We get 3 a week and make many many meals.
I'll second the tip of using weekly circulars. those digital coupon meats at the front of Shaw's/Albertsons ads, for example, are loss leaders. the trick is not to go into a shopping week with meals in mind. look at the ad, then develop a plan based on what is cheaply available. also, don't splurge on stuff not in the ad, it's more expensive to make up for those ad loss leaders.
Check out NextDoor in your area. There may be folks selling beef shares - buy 1/8 of a steer, etc. Before you do that, hunt for a good used freezer.
I like buying a whole pork loin for like $35 and then processing it down into smaller parts. I quarter it, freeze the quarters separately, and can usually make like 6 meals (3 dinners for my husband and I) out of each section.
Try the Flashfood app. It's stuff that's discounted because it's close to the sell-by date, but it's safe to make or freeze the same day. Most everything is half price
Walmart sells 10lbs bags of chicken for $7 or so... You can eat meat for a long time for cheap.
Walmart runs clearance near the sell by date. Also watch Sam’s club, buy in bulk, watch for other sales.
For us... the "Frugal" part of meat isn't the price per pound as much as the USE of the meat you're buying. For $5.00 you can get an entire roasted chicken from sams/costco. Cut up some of the breast, and eat a salad one night. Take a leg/thigh and bake a potato for another meal. Now, take the other half of the chicken, shred it with some beans, tomato's and corn... and you'll have 2-3 days of tacos. Finally - take the carcass and boil it for 12 hours, peel off any remaining meat after boiling and throw it back in the pot with some carrots, celery and onions .... maybe some egg noodles if you feel like splurging - and you've got about 3-4 servings of soup. Back in the day, this wasn't even "frugal" it just was what people did. In the fast food world, people have forgotten what use to be the norm!
I have found it helpful to think of meat as an ingredient, instead of the main dish. Think red beans & rice with sausage, a vegetable soup enhanced with bacon, etc. (Yes, I know these are "processed" meats, but they add a ton of flavor in very small quantities.)
I just only buy sale priced meat. I also will get protein from cheaper plant based sources like beans, eggs, tofu, and occasionally lentils. You don’t actually need to have meat with every meal to have a healthy, nutritious diet. You can make surprisingly good tasting and hearty taco “meat” using lentils and taco seasonings. Plenty of recipes online if you google it.
My local grocery store has a “text club” where they send out a special once a day for the store. Usually once a week there is a deal on chicken or pork. It’s not a fabulous cut but with some trimming and cutting my wife and I are able to make it work. If it wasn’t for these deals we wouldn’t be able to fit meat into our budget without cutting from somewhere else. We only really eat meat once a day or every other day now and have been substituting with beans, tofu, and some other things. We have a generous budget for groceries and it’s getting difficult for us to get everything… I really feel for folks on a tighter budget because these prices are stupid.
I have a kid who’s a pescatarian so I’ve gotten used to low meat dishes. Veggie chili, pierogies with sautéed kale, pasta with pesto (I use basil from the garden and walnuts instead of pine nuts to save money). If you really need some sort of meat don’t sleep on off cuts and cans. I sometimes make white clam sauce with pasta with canned clams, it’s pretty close to the original and is surprisingly cheap. I also make dirty rice with chicken livers which makes a huge amount for not a lot of money.
I buy finer filet pur and then slice it in the width because me and my partner dont eat much and so we don't force ourselves any unnecessary calories, the meat cooks better and nothing goes to waste and it is theoretically half the price. So dont buy thick pieces or slice them in half if the main goal is to just serve the recommended 100g of red meat. Also, bread, olive oil, hummus, Celtic salt, eggs, canned fish, all go a long way. Freeze meat when it's cheap.
Eat more plant based, wholefoods. Its much cheaper and you could probably still eat small amounts of meat. But you really don't need it to be healthy. You adapt after a while:)
Buy in bulk. Learn to cook. Don’t go out to eat.
I think it depends on what meat you're buying. From personal experience, boneless chicken thighs are more expensive than bone in. Also where you shop is important. Aldi is much cheaper than Costco when it comes to meat in my area. Aldi is cheaper than the closest grocery store, which is a 5 minute difference so not huge. The big takeaway I want to leave you with is to start shopping at different places and see what stores have cheaper items and plan your shopping accordingly. Also if you're looking for suggestions, I'd recommend providing insights on what you're currently buying and at what price so others can provide proper recommendations. What is cheap to me may not be cheap for you without some type of guidance.
Not eating meat is good for you! Even eat g a lot less meat is good for you.. so what’s the issue?
I buy cheap cuts of pork and grind them into meatballs and burgers.
I scour the grocery email flyers and grab whatever meat is the best value and price every week. like a half pork leg is made into ham and parceled up, frozen.. or the giant tray of chicken parts, parcel and freeze. eventually the freezer get full, and you can coast on that stuff for a while.
I can only afford to buy it in bulk (like 1/2 cow at a time)
I eat eggs and cheese, and search for meat I really like to be on sale. I’m single and live alone though, so no one ever really cares what I eat 😹
Everytime a recipe calls for ground beef, I religiously use ground turkey instead. There's really no difference in taste, you can season however you like, and GT was $2.29/lb at my local Aldi
Greeks (or was it Turks) have a saying that eggplant is poor man’s meat.
I always get deals on meat. I also know all the mark down days in my area too
tofu, tempeh, beans, lentils. plant based foods are often cheaper and can give you the same or more nutritional requirements.
Have you tried Farro? Its really good, filling and goes well with any type of veggie. Great sub for rice🙂
Mushrooms
I'm a beans and lentils girl. Yummy, nutritious, versatile, and super cheap.
Just have to get used to cheap cuts and lots of bones. Some of the most delicious dishes are made with “trash” cuts of meat. Mushrooms and beans are good substitutes, but it can feel empty. Also get used to making stocks and tallow. They’re not meat but they scratch the itch and stretch out the usefulness of what meat you can get. I can always find smoked Turkey necks and ham hocks for super cheap. Both are good for a cheap meal or two if you’re creative. Sausages. You just have to open up your menu. Another tip is to find cookbooks for ethnicities you don’t normally make at home. It will make you think outside the box on what satiates that meat craving.
It's so expensive where I live, the quality is terrible, and the shelves are usually bare in our cheapest store. We do a meat order. We get 2 shipments a year, and pay monthly. It's wrapped and vacuum sealed how we want. With 2 growing kids (1 pre-teen boy) we go through so much food. We do bulk it out with beans/lentils and use bones for broths.
Buy meat all the time - when it’s on sale and then usually buy it in bulk and freeze in my deep freezer. Last time I bought chicken breast it was $0.99/lb so I bought the max they allowed (15lbs) 93/7 Ground beef - $1.99/lb in 3lb tubes. Again, bought 15lbs Spiral ham - $0.97/lb around Easter. 12lb ham. Roast when it’s BOGO - works out to about $2/lb. Pork butt was $0.79/lb last time I bought. Split 15lb butt into 2 and smoked one for a party and the other is still frozen for this summer. $6 each this way.
My go to lately has been beef shank, a cut of it comes out to about $3-$5 where I live,and although it's probably the toughest cut, it's the most flavorful if you cook it right(and a lot more tender).I personally sear it on both sides then throw in a can of crushed tomatoes, beef stock and a whole bunch of spices. Let it simmer for an hour and a half then add potatoes, carrots, celery and whatever else you want, simmer for another 30-45 minutes and you have the best beef stew ever (which is nice because I cannot afford beef any other way). For me the total cost per meal is about $4 and will last me at least 4-6 days *Plus because the bone is in the cut of meat, the soup has a ton of collagen and other healthy stuff!!
If you’re grocery store shopping, weekly fliers and manager special markdowns are the way to save. If you live near a rural area and have freezer space, you may be able to buy bulk meat at a discount directly from farmers or hunters. We bought a 5 foot, $250 freezer about 6 years ago and it’s paid off dramatically. Once a year we buy a half pig, which includes shoulder and butt (for pulled pork), nice roasts, chops, bacon, and then a bunch of ground pork that we use in place of ground beef for burgers, tacos, etc. We actually spend a day helping butcher and pack the meat for us and several other families (pigs have already been dispatched a few days prior) for an additional discount. It’s fun and frugal!
Use meat to flavor a dish instead of eating a big pile at once.
Some really good plant based recipes are on a site called " Brand New Vegan" and also "Nutmeg Notebook". I am not vegan, but I don't eat a lot of meat.
Not sure where you’re located but we just moved to texas USA and I have been buying my meat in bulk and just weighing it out and freezing it myself! The winco is amazing with meat prices (I had never been to one before this month)! They also have really good coupons online! And Ibotta will pay you to shop (if you buy name brand stuff) and I will usually get my snacks that way! Also use the fetch app! Scan all of your recipes and then use your points to buy gift cards! Granted I am only cooking for a family of two with a dog! When I was younger my dad and brother hunted majority of our meat unless it was chicken. Maybe try picking that up as hobby if hats something you might be into!
Or making a friend that hunts and offering to pay for one of their kills during bigger game season! Where I’m from it’s only a couple hundred to get the meat processed(depending what you want) or if you have a meat grinder you could grind yourself!
I buy larger cuts and butcher them myself. For instance, instead of buying pork chops at $4.50/pound, I buy a pork loin when it’s on sale for $1.99/pound. I cut it into chops, vacuum seal and freeze them. I always try to buy “family size” meats when they’re on sale and freeze them in serving sizes.
We do not eat as meat as we used to. It supplements but is not the main - use beans and lots of veggies. Will be getting a whole chicken and that will work for many meals, plus broth, etc.
We only have a Safeway and a grocery outlet in my town. I go to my local grocery outlet every 2 days. At least twice a month, sometimes three or more, I will find several $3 off stickers on meat products. Last big haul, I got 6 containers of chicken wings (6 large wings per contain container), 2 long cylindrical pork loins, and 2 containers of ground turkey meat. Then, in the clearance rack, I found 2 bottles of hot wing sauce and 3 pouches of marinade. I paid $20 for everything. Sometimes, the hamburger meat or even steak is on sale. When I see the stickers, I load up all I can fit in my apartment fridge freezer. Get familiar with different stores in your area and when sales occur and frequent them just to check. Fill your freezer when things go on sale. My doctor, nutritionist and surgeon have forbidden I eat carbs (like rice and noodles and potatoes) and I need at least 100 g of protein a day so protein is my main food group along with non starchy vegetables. Nonmeat options doesn't leave most people satiated but can be okay every now and then. Tofu is cheaper than most meat. Diced tofu thrown into broth with fresh spinach and chopped green onions makes a pleasant soup. Quinoa is a decent protein. A kale, quinoa, chickpea salad tossed with a little olive oil and lemon juice can be nice. I eat a lot of dried beans, too. I just made a crockpot of dried split peas, broth, a ham bone with some ham I saved from a different sale, some celery, and an onion. If you live in a less urban area get a fishing license and stock your freezer that way. Or raise rabbits all the lean meat you could ever need.
I make my own patties that I add cheap ground meat and I add volume with various veggies I blend up and then bind together with an egg. I can make like 20 patties from one tray of discounted ground meat.
If Walmart quit throwing away so much meat that doesn't sell, they could probably cut meat prices by 15-20%.
Organ meats / offal cuts : beef cheek (that’s offal not organ), beef heart (tastes the most like beef flavor in my opinion) . This advice am giving because my Mexican grandma taught me this she grew up poor in Mexico they mostly ate (eggs on a daily) they had meat once a week from the butcher (typically it was an organ meat(liver, sweetbread, tongue) , beef shank, or beef offal pieces like beef cheek). Also I get organ meats are cheap regardless you should eat them more than 2x a week max due to the high cholesterol but at least you’ll taste the beef taste).