Saving money on meat does not have to mean resigning yourself to fatty, tough cuts… so how does one save money on meat?
Knowing how to save money on meat can make a big difference to a family. It starts with taking advantage of sale prices on fresh, good-quality meat. Avoid factory-packaged, preseasoned meats, which often waste your money on added water and fillers. Treat your meat purchases as an investment, meaning store them so they do not spoil. Finally, use a good, basic cookbook to learn how to use each cut to its best advantage; and food manufacturer websites (such as Campbells’ and Goya) for kitchen-tested, reliable recipes.
The meat budget is one place where many people are afraid to cut back – After all, who wants tough, old, nasty meat? While that may have been the case years ago, meat shopping in the 21st century is more nuanced. Today, it’s not unusual to find a the price of a low-quality cut driven up, after demand is created for it by people who saw it used on a cooking show. Then, other cuts, such as the humble 1/2″ pork chop, become less popular, which keeps those affordable. Read on to learn the secrets of saving big money in today’s meat department.
Table of Contents
- Make it Weekly Habit to Look for Sales
- Buy at Great Prices and Freeze Appropriately
- Why the Most Expensive Hamburger is not Necessarily the Best
- Try Other Ground Meats – You’ll be glad you did
- How Today’s Pork Checks a Lot of Boxes
- Not all Chicken is Created Equal
- Do You Really Have to “Brown 1 lb. of Ground Beef?”
- Long-Cooking Covers a Multitude of Sins
- Welcome to the Wide World of Casseroles
- Omaha Steaks and Other Meat-by-Mail Services
- How Stardom Turned Budget Cuts into Sucker Cuts
- Cheap Meats are not Always a Bargain
- Meat-n-Potatoes is for Rich Folks
- Be Sure Not to Leave Money (or Meat) on the Table
- Resources for Further Exploration
Make it Weekly Habit to Look for Sales
Are you checking your store’s flier every week? The great thing about the 21st century is that you can check out the flier in the comfort of your own home – online – way ahead of your trip to the store. That’ll save you from a lot of impulse-buying.
Don’t stop with one flier, though – Surf the flier of each market in your area. Meat is such a costly item, that it is absolutely worth it to make an extra stop for a low price on it.
Before you check the flier, assess your meat needs, so that you’re not buying something just because it’s on sale. Nothing is a bargain, if it isn’t going to be enjoyed.
Buy at Great Prices and Freeze Appropriately
If you have more than one person in your household, you may find an extra freezer worth it. That enables you to buy extra when you happen upon a good price, and take advantage of bulk discounts.
I used to ignore those big cuts at BJ’s, until I found out that they have a butcher on duty to cut them up any way you like. They have a big cut of boneless pork there that I love. I have the butcher cut it into 3/4″ steaks, a size that works well in all of my recipes, as well as on the grill.
Protecting your Meat Investment
One trick to saving money on meat is to consider your large purchases as an investment. Take care of them when you get them home – Within 24 hours, open up those packages and rewrap the contents in smaller packages, enough for one meal or recipe per package. Wrap each tightly in a good-quality plastic, such as Stretch-Tite. They will need one more layer of protection. My choice for this is to group all of a kind in a large food-storage bag. Before closing the bag, I slip a note inside that says what’s inside and on what date I packed it.
If you have bought several smaller packages of meat, you should open and rewrap these, as well, so they don’t dry out. The exception would be a thick cut, such as a roast, or a vacuum-sealed package, like a corned beef. These freeze fine, as is.
If you’re going to leave any meat in the fridge for upcoming meals, use it up within 2 days. Meat spoils very, very quickly. The same holds true about thawed meat.
Why the Most Expensive Hamburger is not Necessarily the Best
As our family fortunes increased, I kept upgrading our hamburger to leaner grades. In doing so, I was surpirised to discover that I actually liked the cheaper burger better! There are two reasons for this –
First, a little fat ensures good browning and gives a richer taste. Second, burger has really improved over the years! It used to be that even the expensive cuts had a lot of water boiling out of them. More recently, there has been a big improvement, to the point where none of the supermarket-ground burger seems to be shedding water anymore. I can’t speak for the really cheap stuff, though; the kind that comes in a big roll.
Try Other Ground Meats – You’ll be glad you did
I got really turned off of turkey burgers, when I learned that they often have more fat than a beef burger! Besides, I never cared for the taste of them. Other ground meats, however, can offer big meat flavor with a smaller price tag.
If you like lamb, ground lamb is a good change of pace. It’s richer than ground beef, so a smaller amount goes a long way, offsetting the fact that it costs more than beef. It’s still cheaper than most cuts of lamb, and tends to be very lean.
Ground pork is often cheaper than ground beef. It cooks up nice and lean, and is delicious in casseroles. I also like it in chow mein and Sloppy Joes. With the right seasonings, you can even throw together your own breakfast sausage patties (like the one from the Manitoba Pork Council, which I link to below – Just scroll to the bottom)).
Other Ground Meat Winners & How to Use Them
Another form of ground meat that is a real money-saver is sausage. Italian sausage can be removed from the skin, browned, and used in spaghetti sauce. It’s so flavorful, that it doesn’t take much.
My favorite “alternative” ground meat is Perdue ground chicken. This, too, is often a bargain, compared to beef. I like to use it in white lasagne, Italian Wedding Soup, and Buffalo chicken sandwiches.
The key to success with these other ground meats is to never, ever try to disguise them as beef. Always season them like you would any other cut of the same meat. Here are some basic seasoning ideas:
- Ground chicken – onion, thyme, garlic, lemon.
- Ground lamb – garlic, rosemary.
- Ground pork – BBQ sauce, onion, apple, ginger.
How Today’s Pork Checks a Lot of Boxes
Speaking of pork, this is another meat that has improved a lot in the last few years. Pig farmers have come a long way in improving the food of their animals, and it shows in the taste. Today’s pork is leaner and milder than ever.
As with the ground meats discussed in the previous section, you shouldn’t try to disguise it as beef. There are, however, many recipes that traditionally use beef, but work great with pork, due to its similar texture and mild flavor. My chili, for example, tastes better with pork, even though I am a huge fan of beef.
Whenever I have a hunk of pork left from dinner, I love to put it into the Crockpot when I make baked beans. The pot simmers for 14 hours, and the lean pork provides big flavor, without the calories of bacon or salt pork.
Even with inflation, pork prices remain a good value for your money. Like lamb, pork is richer than beef, so less serves more people.
Not all Chicken is Created Equal
I’m sure you’re already aware of the basic rules of chicken pricing/quality – white meat costs more than dark, boneless costs more than bone-in, name brands cost more than the store brand.
Even though I obviously love a bargain, I do not often buy the cheapest, when it comes to chicken; but I will tell you two times when it’s great:
If you have to bring something to a potluck, and you get a strong feeling that everyone else is going to be too cheap to bring meat, a big tray of oven-fried drumsticks will make you the belle of the ball. I’ve often done this for pre-game dinners, because, sadly, the athletes often end up eating a lot of cr@p at these dinners, which kinda defeats the purpose.
Chicken Can Help Defray Pet Food Expenses, Too
The other time I found cheap chicken a Godsend was when I adopted a doggy with bad teeth, and resulting digestive problems, which made her a very unenthusiastic eater. I used to cook up a big pot of rice with a chicken leg quarter dropped into it. I mixed this with equal parts of a very digestible kibble. It really helped keep weight on her, and she ended up living a good, long life.
Other than that, I really love Perdue chicken. It’s crazy meaty, and tastes wonderful. I can even smell the difference when it’s cooking. Personally, I find a lot of chicken kind of disgusting. Things I find the most off-putting are a strong, metallic taste, dryness, toughness, rubbery skin, or – most of all – if I encounter any veins or other stringy bits. Until I tried Perdue thighs, that was one cut I wouldn’t even buy.
Do You Really Have to “Brown 1 lb. of Ground Beef?”
Ever notice how many recipes start with that sentence? During the ’70’s, beef was very expensive, so my mom got into the habit of automatically cutting that to 1/2 lb.. Sometimes, this seemed skimpy; but it did get me thinking that recipe-creators rarely consider exactly how much meat would taste best in each recipe.
I find that a full pound of beef is rarely necessary; so I usually use 10 – 12 oz.. How do I get that amount? I buy my hamburger in a 5-lb. package at BJ’s. When I get it home, I rewrap it into 8 packets, some larger than others. For lasagne, I don’t like a lot of meat, so I use a smaller packet. You can’t skimp on beef in a meatloaf, though, so that would use a bigger packet.
Long-Cooking Covers a Multitude of Sins
A wonderful way to save money on meat is to get a normally tasteless and/or tough cut, and cook it for hours. This works best with leaner cuts. Here are a few good examples:
- Pot Roast (Dutch Oven)
- Steak tips made with chunks of London Broil in the Dutch Oven
- Country-style pork ribs and a can of pineapple in the Crockpot
- A bag of inexpensive frozen meatballs and a can of crushed tomatoes in the Crockpot
Welcome to the Wide World of Casseroles
If you’re really serious about saving money on meat, you must discover casseroles.
Be careful when choosing recipes – Not every casserole recipe is a bargain. The casserole, historically, has always been a way to stretch a smaller amount of meat to create more servings, in a dish that is hot, tasty, nutritious, and satisfying. It should also be hearty, without being a complete calorie-bomb.
These goals are often lost by in modern recipes, where the goal seems to be to convince you that “my version is the.best.EVER.” That’s how we end up with recipes by famous TV shows that have a pound or more of meat per serving, or multiple sticks of butter, etc..
Where to Get the Best Casserole Recipes
Unlike soup, casseroles can be tricky to throw together without a recipe. A wonderful source of casserole recipes is, believe it or not, food packages! The labels of produce bags, macaroni boxes, and tomato cans are just a few of the places where you may find your next family favorite. Always check the packaging for recipes, before you toss it out. As a modern convenience, you don’t even need to cut it off the package (although I like to); you can simply snap a photo of it.
Even normally good online recipe souces, like allrecipes, have a lot of casserole recipes that defeat the purpose. Often, the recipes posted by users are their special-occasion dishes, which are costly to make, and even costlier to your health. If you don’t have a lot of casserole experience, it can be difficult to know a good recipe from a bad one, until you’ve tried it. For that reason, I have linked below to two solid, reliable sources for casserole recipes – Campbell’s and Goya.
These are not affiliate links, by the way; just good resources. I even own a vintage Campbell’s cookbook, which I bought in an antique store. The recipes taste great, although I tend to use 1/2 can of soup, but all of the liquid called for in the recipe. The unused portion of the concentrated soup freezes well in a small Ziploc bag. If you lay it on a cookie sheet ’til it’s frozen, it comes out nice and flat, and fits better in the freezer.
Omaha Steaks and Other Meat-by-Mail Services
It is often said, in nutrition articles, that an appropriate serving of meat should be the size of a deck of cards. Let’s just say that Omaha Steaks are very…appropriate.
If you don’t believe me, watch one of their commercials closely, and you’ll notice that they are careful not to linger on anything next to the meat that would give away the size, such as a hand.
I had one of their hamburgers once, at a friend’s house, and it was very good. Their meat is very expensive, though – The ground beef is the least expensive thing they have, at $7.50/lb. (although the website stated that it was a special price, and that it normally costs twice as much).
How Stardom Turned Budget Cuts into Sucker Cuts
Do you know the “Stone Soup” story? A woman with nothing to eat sets a big pot of water over a fire, and tosses in a couple of stones. She pretends it smells good, and suggests it’d be even better with a cabbage, then a few carrots, perhaps an onion, etc.. Before you know it, everyone in the village has thrown something into the pot; not so much out of altruism, but because each wants a piece of the action (scroll to the bottom for a free printable Stone Soup book from Scholastic Books).
So it goes with “sucker cuts,” i.e. poor cuts of meat that have, traditionally, been seasoned and cooked to the Nth degree, just to be edible. These days, food channels and trendy restaurants latch onto these bad cuts and their accompanying recipes as though they have invented them, and proceed to cash in.
Restaurant Sucker-Cut Grifts: convincing you that trash is treasure
Honestly, I gag every time I see short ribs on a menu. This fatty, boney, nasty cut is barely fit for a dog; but since they were embraced by the trendies, their price in the supermarket is now right up there with the Angus beef roasts and other desireable cuts.
Buffalo wings are another prime example of this grift. Since their inception, the humble chicken wing has gone from being the cheapest cut of chicken to the most expensive. My own home is not immune to this, by the way – My husband grills a notoriously mean Buffalo wing…but it’s something we do as a treat for friends and family, certainly not as a way to economize.
If you protest that you love some of these dishes, I have wonderful news for you – You can make them better, using cheaper cuts of meat. Boneless Buffalo wings are a famous example of this; but you can also make wonderfully lean osso bucco with a couple of thick pork chops.
Cheap Meats are not Always a Bargain
We’ve already discussed how the cheapest chicken is not necessarily the best buy. There are several other cuts in your local meat counter that look like a great bargain, but that is not actually the case.
7-Bone Chuck Steaks look very tempting. Although they are priced about the same as London Broil, there is a huge difference in quality. When they say “7 bone,” they mean it! This steak is full of bones. It is also full of grizzle and fat. By the time it’s cooked, you really have very little edible meat to serve at the table.
If you are a fan of “No-Peek Beef,” try it with London Broil or a pot roast (this is the recipe in which you lay the meat in a baking dish, sprinkle an envelope of onion soup mix over it, cover it tightly with foil, and cook it in a low oven for several hours). The 7-bone chuck steak produces a flavorless mass of grizzle, swimming in grease.
Pork Shoulders: great, if you’re collecting lard
Even though the quality of most pork has improved, I find that the pork shoulders are much fattier than they used to be. That’s another cut that leaves you a few chunks of meat, bobbing around in a sea of fat. At least it tastes good; but all that fat plus the big bone means you’re really paying a lot per pound for that meat, when you consider how little is left to eat.
Anything in a package marked “Manager’s Special” is usually past it’s prime, and might be spoiled by the time you actually use it.
On the other hand, Angus beef is worth the extra .50 -1.00 a pound. It contains just enough fat to assure a good, deep beef flavor, and is more tender than the store brand.
Finally, be wary of factory-packed, vacuum-packed meats. Although some are good (Jones’ Sausage, Gaspar’s Portuguese Sausage), many are packed with extra water and fillers, such as soy, leaving you with very little nutritious meat. It is often a very poor quality meat, disguised with salt, flavorings, and even coloring.
Meat-n-Potatoes is for Rich Folks
By this, I mean a dinner where each person gets a whole steak or chop. It’s fine to do this once in a while; but it is a very expensive way to eat on a regular basis.
A cut of meat that is going to be served on its own merits has got to be quite good, in the first place. That means the per-pound price is going to be high – No budget cuts!
Save Money by Paying Attention to Portion Sizes
The other consideration is portion size. We always consume a greater amount of meat, when it is served solo…. and most people don’t stop at the recommended deck-of-cards-sized serving (unless it’s Omaha Steaks :). A family of four could easily consume a pound and a half or more of meat at a meal like this. In contrast, that much meat could make enough chili or spaghetti sauce to last for six dinners for that same family of four.
The store-made rotisserie chicken is a great solution to this. They tend to be a loss-leader, so you can enjoy a good, meaty meal without eating up your budget. Spare ribs can be good, too. Yes, they have a lot of bone, but they are very rich. The rack of ribs they serve at restaurants is really a ridiculous portion for one person. Serve a few good sides, and that rack will feed you all.
Be Sure Not to Leave Money (or Meat) on the Table
Once you’re done with meat that comes on a large bone, such as a roast, leg of lamb, chicken, or turkey; be sure to make soup, stew, or stock out of the rest.
This past Thanksgiving, I didn’t feel like making turkey soup, for once; so I tried something different. I packaged the meat into Ziploc sandwich bags; and boiled the carcass with chicken bouillion, and a small amount of carrot, celery, and onion, using only 1/3 of the water I would for soup.
When it was done, I took out the bones, and was left with 3 pints of wonderful, concentrated stock. I froze each of these with a meat packet, and have enjoyed making turkey with dumplings and other soups and stews. They don’t have that stale-turkey taste, and I make these entrees small enough so there is not more than one night of leftovers – It’s not good to keep refreezing/reheating the same food.
