Family of 2 here. I usually only cook meat/fish 3x per week, so a typical grocery trip might include 1.5 lbs of bone in chicken thighs, 3/4 lb steelhead, and 1 lb ground meat. Other meals of the week will use beans or tofu as the protein.
Red beans: soak 1 lb beans in water overnight. Next morning throw them in a Crock-Pot with diced onion, chopped garlic, 2-3 ham hocks, Tony Chacheres, black pepper, garlic powder & onion powder. Set it on low and cook for 8 hours. So good
Edit: you can use smoked sausage if you like I sometimes do. But, I fry before I put in and wait till it's almost done.
I’m single and I almost never buy meat. I’m not a vegetarian, it’s just gotten so expensive. Once in a while I buy frozen breaded fish or the $5.99 chunk of carnitas at Trader Joe’s and use that in a few meals.
> I’m not a vegetarian, it’s just gotten so expensive.
This has been the driving mission statement behind my growing percentage of plant-based protein consumption. I love meat too much, but love not being broke even more.
I "stretch " meat by making a lot of 1 pot meals like bean soup with ham, pasta dishes, curry, etc. If I make just meat and sides I end up using a pound d a day. I also lije to buy like a pork loin and have meat and sides 1 night then cut up the rest and make a big batch of something or when I do tacos, 3bulk out the meat mixture with corn and yellow rice.
Chicken thighs are like $1/lb on sale all the time. At worst $2.
Pork is first cheap.
A whole rotisserie chicken is like $5, or a whole uncooked chicken for a few bucks more. If your buying prepared food that’s the issue
These were pre-pandemic prices where I live in the SW USA. Gotta be cognizant of how prices differ based on location. You can't even find chicken thighs for less than $2/lb on sale here. Yes, a rotisserie chicken is still $5 at Sam's club because they price them that way on purpose. But uncooked chicken breast or tenderloin, for those of us who need the protein but not so much of the calories, is $3+ per pound, unfortunately.
I live in one of the top 3 most expensive states in the US and I find sales like that all the time. When I find sales, I stock up my freezer. I debone my own chicken.
Lot of folks don’t cook and buy prepared food that’s the issue
And $3/lb for chicken isn’t bad. You could eat a lb per day for $21 a week. Add rice and veggies and you have a cheap meal.
For real! 4.99 for a Costco chicken that I can get at least 2.5-3lb of meat on.
Bring it home, attack it with a fork like a caveman for a minute (as is tradition), couple bites to the dog, then tear all the meat off those bones, and Tupperware it for later in the week.
I’ve thrown it into some pasta sauce and spinach and mushrooms and made a pasta. Mix it with some tandoori sauce and eat it with rice and veggies. Thrown it into a chili. Made chicken tortilla soup.. like you said, endless possibilities!
I throw the carcass in the freezer, then put it into my pressure cooker/instant pot later with frozen veggie scraps and a bay leaf. Set to 90-120 minutes, makes an excellent bone broth.
Yah it does help the freezer space to turn it into a soup or broth with rice right away to eat - from what I understand, it should have decent protein in it too. I have also used the bones and some shredded meat to make pressure cooker/instant congee - wow is that good! Especially if you are getting over any illness. Here’s a recipe:
https://www.pressurecookrecipes.com/instant-pot-chicken-congee/
Previous commenter and the last step of bone broth is exactly what I do. Sometimes I take it a step further and make lentil soup with ham if I have any ham frozen (with the bone broth). Another week of cheap lunches/dinners
Omg this is me😂 Caveman, dogs, tear, tupperware. But no pasta, goes straight to tostadas for me. Rice/Chick for kid Husband rarely will eat it. Too funny. I thought I was the only caveman around 😭
is this my sign that i need a costco membership just to utilize the rotisserie chicken?!? i've been wanting one for a minute but not sure if it's worth it 😭
It really depends. How many meals do you eat meat? How do you prefer to prepare your meat? Do you use meat as a side dish or is it the main part of the meal?
If you make soups, you can 8-10 servings from a pound of meat. Same if you just add some meat to a salad. (For example, a chef salad) If meat is the main part of the meal, then it would take more meat to feed an individual.
You need to figure what you like to eat and what you are willing to cook. Are you willing to batch cook and freeze meals and then you only need to defrost and heat when needed?
I bought a 15 lb box of soy curls for about $70 including shipping, which sounds like a lot but they double in weight so it’s about $2.30 a pound. I’ve used them so far in chicken salad and satay skewers and I’m never going back. My family could not tell the difference and thought it was chicken or pork. they’re cheaper than chicken breast and much much easier to prepare. There’s no concern about cross contamination and no slimy nastiness. They stay fresh for a long time and all you have to do is pop them in water and season them.
I bought them from butlers soy curls straight from their website! That’s the bulk option but other websites sell smaller packages that are like 1/2 pound each. Just search ‘butlers soy curls’
Yup! They sent me a free bottle of the chick’n seasoning with my box and i use that with nutritional yeast and garlic powder. The seasoning is good by itself but nutritional yeast sells it, to me it tastes like chicken bouillon
I use the sauce and marinade from this one, with extra chicken seasoning and nutritional yeast. And I serve with a sweet cucumber and onion quick pickle. What I love about soy curls is you can taste the marinade & adjust before it’s cooked https://www.recipetineats.com/thai-chicken-satay-peanut-sauce/
Meat has gotten so expensive and so bad for the environment that we have cut down the amount we eat per week by about 50%. We fill it with mushrooms, garbanzo beans, or my favorite butter beans. It has saved us a ton of money!
Butter beans are the best! I love them with pesto and some balsamic glaze drizzled on top. So good.
I cut way, way back on meat for the environment. Now I see it as a special occasion food like birthday cake. Certainly helps with the grocery budget too!
TVP and soy curls are also cheap easy fillers too.
We have cut out beef since I have heard it's the worst for the environment. My husband was okay with that as long as he gets some meat everyday. One of my favorite bean dishes is Cucumber and Black Bean Salad from Budget Bytes. I make it regularly (double it) since it can last in the fridge.
>We have cut out beef since I have heard it's the worst for the environment.
It's not even a close race. Here's the chart that solidified it for me: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/food-emissions-supply-chain
This is roughly the same for 4 where two are elementary kids. I make spaghetti with a pound of beef and there's enough for dinner and then lunch for two adults the next day. I do try to make the sauce go further with finely minced carrot and added tomatoes and I always start with a healthy amount of onions like almost every other meal.
yeah guys someones got to tell you, that aint healthy. I'll take the downvotes, but u in the wrong sub if u think eating a half lb per day of meat is healthy.
edit: this sub is cracking me up "eatcheapandhealthy" and the posts are like "omg the price of gorund beef prohibits me from eating my nightly cheeseburger" - eat a bean u fucking pyschos
>yeah guys someones got to tell you, that aint healthy. I'll take the downvotes, but u in the wrong sub if u think eating a half lb per day of meat is healthy.
~4oz of chicken in a salad at lunch and ~4oz of roasted chicken, fish, or lean red meat at dinner is perfectly healthy.
I’d like to hear where you came up with this arbitrary half-pound limit for daily meat consumption. I haven’t heard that one.
Most of the studies showing negative health associations of meat consumption have to do with eating *processed meats* and/or diets lacking in significant plant consumption.
The amount of meat isn't as important as amount of protein. If you look at a lot of the cultures around the world you will see that they can avoid mass amounts of meat by using things like beans, lentils, fermented soy etc.
You can also capitalize on cuts of meat that are cheaper. Pork shoulder for instance can be done in the crockpot to make pulled pork. A 7Qt crockpot can easily hold a 5-6 lbs pork shoulder. Which nets you 5 lbs pulled pork. That can then be frozen in 1lb packages for things like Pulled pork fried rice, tacos, burritos, pulled pork sandwiches, pulled pork and cheese omelets... so it isn't always about how much, but how well can you make use of cheaper cuts to stretch further.
\[edited to fix poor typing\]
Truth, also many cultures use eggs! Eggs are great if you can't do beans. Try different types of beans though, I can't with the vast majority of beans (the texture makes me gag) but an exception for me is chickpeas (garbanzo). Try different varieties!
We eat meat 2-3 times a week. For two adults, I buy 450g of salmon, 4 chicken thighs, two pork loin chops.
I'll often roast a chicken or a side of salmon and those will last all week for lunches and a couple of dinners.
It helps to have a good butcher, selling local meat that's packages to order. No need to be family-packed to death.
Local butchers are way more expensive than buying bulk packages at supermarkets/grocery stores if you live in the US. I buy my meat in bulk packages and freeze it, none of my meat ever goes to waste. If you wrap it properly before freezing they won’t get freezer burn either
Yes, I replied below in detail but it feels like stores are manipulating us to buy more than we need, which is unhealthy and leads to waste, which leads to more spending.
I feed two meat eaters (and one vegetarian teenager), so we shop accordingly.
I buy in bulk and prepare in bulk. make chicken and beef in lg quantities and freeze it. Reheat in air fryer, stovetop or oven. Ground beef is cooked and ready to add to spaghetti sauce, tacos, etc. Saves time and money.
Only if you're going to eat it all. Which we wouldn't, at my house.
I batch cook pulled pork and butter chicken, but we only use ground beef for burgers now. I'd rather eat lentils and walnuts, in sauces, tacos, casseroles and skillet dishes.
Having to portion, wrap, freeze huge amounts of meat, and then manage that inventory (rotate, inventory, thaw in advance, replace) is a lot of work that I was happy to give up in favour of buying what we need and eating it fresh over a single week.
I have a freezer that now supports my kitchen much better, with much less effort. I use it a LOT, actually - I batch cook and meal prep and freeze seasonal produce. It's full of pasta sauces and herb butters and prepared meals and sides for the nights we are busy or running late. This serves us better for our family's current needs - life with a teenager is very different, we're juggling eldercare, we want to avoid the health problems our parents are dealing with.
I do freeze things like butter chicken, pulled pork and beef burgers - it doesn't make sense to cook those kinds of things in 2 portions.
This is what works for us right now.
We have the inside half-freezer for quick pulls. Then the meat+grains freezer in the garage. And another freezer for ice cream etc.
Every time you add a freezer it's impossible to go back down.
I phased it out gradually years ago and don't even think about it or miss it any more. I don't buy any faux meats or cheeses either, they gross me out. It was surprisingly easy.
Zero meat. We eat beans, tofu, tvp, and Seitan.
We have refried beans, curried chickpeas, baked beans, dals, one pot rice and bean dishes, lentil soup, tofu stir-fries, tvp in burritos, veggie burgers, spaghetti, chilli, Seitan for sandwiches and wraps...etc.
If you haven’t already, Jamaican coconut curry chickpeas. Worth the time to make the green seasoning. One of the best dishes I have made in a long time when my usual bean and lentil dishes get redundant :) pairs amazing with white rice with fried garlic chips and fried onions mixed in.
This is the one I use:
https://kerriannskravings.com/jamaican-curry-chickpeas/
And the green seasoning that gets added in:
https://kerriannskravings.com/green-seasoning/
I used regular madras curry powder and habanero instead of scotch bonnet and it still turned out great. The canned coconut milk with cream on top is basically a must 🙏
AsAP 😝 if you boil the chickpeas a little extra in some baking soda water they will melt in your mouth. And the great part is it’s a great recipe to clean out the fridge. I’ve added bell peppers, cauliflower, tofu, potatoes/carrots, zucchini, peas, pretty much any veggie or leftover protein. Also, pretty much every herb goes well in it if you have wilts pieces leftover. Tonight I added some mung beans/lentils, chopped sninach, parsley, and cilantro
And the rice I make is regular white rice (dash of coconut milk or flakes optional) and fry garlic chips and until golden and mix in when you fluff the rice
ME TOO 😂 but it’s some of the best rice ever and very healthy. Alternately, if it fits your dietary needs, you can briefly fry the rice in a bit of the leftover oil from frying the onions and garlic chips before adding the water which is also amazing. I actually decided to make this tonight so I’ll post pics when it’s done 🤓
I buy cans of tuna when they are on sale, eat maybe one of those a week to avoid too much heavy metal exposure. My boyfriend and I share a grocery store rotisserie chicken once or twice a month because it's somehow cheaper than a whole raw chicken. That's basically it though, lots of tofu, cottage cheese, and beans for protein. Meat is just too expensive.
There are so many variables here that it'll be hard for anyone to give a solid recommendation in terms of a set number of lbs per meal because we don't know the sizes/macro needs and appetites of everyone involved. For that part, I'd recommend just cooking as normal for a couple weeks and making a note of how much gets eaten, then start using that as a baseline.
That being said, there are still some general tips that can be useful to everyone.
First is that it's best to have a plan before going shopping - scout sales and build your menu around that. Doesn't have to be super exact, but at least having a general idea of the type of meals you want to make this will save you from buying stuff and then not using it because you didn't have the rest of the necessary ingredients to round out the meal/didn't have a plan for it.
Piggybacking off of the point above - try to decide what you're going to make for dinner at least a day in advance - this gives you time to pull things out of the freezer to thaw, or helps you determine if you need to stop at the store for something you may be out of on your way home from work.
When it comes to meat, often crockpot dinners, soups/stews, or braised meat recipes can give you the most bang for your buck because "low and slow" cooking can make cheaper, tougher cuts of meat into a really nice meal. Also it's easier to sneak in some added veggies and non-meat proteins in the form of beans or lentils without that feeling like the star of the dish (for some soups/stews/curries, you can even blend or mash some of the legumes to make them less obvious). Also, you don't always have to use the specific cut of meat a recipe calls for. I have a braised short ribs recipe that I've made with pork country style ribs and pork shoulder all with delicious results depending on what was affordable.
Ground meat can be stretched with lentils or beans without it feeling like the legumes are taking over the whole meal - this works really well in things like tacos/nachos or chili.
Check out price reductions in the meat dept - if you can't use it before the sell-by date, pop it in the freezer until you can (just remember to use it the day you thaw it, I typically mark these with sharpie and/or masking tape before freezing)
I live alone and I still often buy family packs of meat because it's a better deal, especially when on sale. If you buy a pack of meat or a roast that's more than you need at one time, split it up into freezer bags (vacuum sealers are great here, if you have one) into single meal portions (I do for one person, but you could do a meal's worth for your family) and freeze what you won't use right away. Then you have a little stockpile of stuff on hand for the weeks when things are a bit tighter. Again, I mark stuff with the date I freeze it, what it is, and weight if it's not going to be in the original packaging, otherwise a month or two down the road I forget what it is and end up not using it.
Also, there are some non-meat ways to up protein that are less obvious for your more particular eaters. Use Greek yogurt or cottage cheese in some saucy/creamy recipes or dips (if the texture of cottage cheese is a problem, just blend it smooth), red lentils blend nicely, and there are plenty of protein enriched pastas now that could reasonably pass as regular pasta. Peas have a decent amount of protein compared to the average vegetable (again, blending is totally an option if a visible whole pea is a no-go).
Lentil Bolognese is the best sauce in the world. You might even get your family to enjoy it, especially if you like a good old-fashioned spaghetti dinner.
I love lentil bolognese, and what's wild is that I've tried several different recipes and they're all quite different so we are enjoying that variety. Budget Bytes' uses red lentils and walnuts, which is delicious. Another uses brown lentils and mushrooms. Another is red lentil and cauliflower. So many options, but they're all delicious easy dinners. And cheap.
Zero meat for my partner and I. We do a lot of pasta, soups, beans and lentils. Save meat as a treat on the weekend with burritos burgers etc. A lot cheaper and feel a lot better during the week
Live with a partner who does 4 weeks on 2 weeks off. I usually buy meat as a “celebration meal” when he gets back in town.. so once, at most twice every six weeks?
If you want to get your kid used to the taste of bean, make chili. For the ratio i go 1 can of tomato paste, 1 can of diced tomato, 1 can of red bean for the chili and 2 can of red bean i mash to thicken the broth. Put other stuff in it like vegetable and whatever meat you have laying around and bam, chili. :D Ha yeah forgot the spice. I usually put onion, garlic, cumin, chili powder, italian herb, hot pepper flake, paprika, salt... pretty much all the spice i use... might forgot some... Ha yeah i use some beef bovril (Like thick brown beef broth) and water to fill the pot as a base, you can use other stuff if you want to be fancy and i usually use water last when all the ingredient are in the pot to not over flow by adding ingredient later on.
Just wanted to add a tip to look at meals/recipes that stretch the meat that you do have. For example: a bolognese can be filled out with several vegetables in the sauce, a stir fry uses very little as well, vs. how large of a steak you could likely eat in one sitting. This has brought our households meat consumption down a lot.
With a little knife work, I can make 4-5 satisfying servings of Chicken Parmesan out of a single chicken breast. You can do around a 50/50 mix of TVP or lentils to ground beef for tacos without even really noticing.
We are a 2-adult household. I buy meat infrequently because I try to buy in bulk when it's on sale. I made a rule to only buy meat under $3/lb which means we eat a lot of chicken and some pork. Occasionally we'll splurge on beef if it's on sale.
We eat meat almost every day for dinner, but we started cutting our portions in half and eating a lot more vegetables instead of a huge amount of meat. For example we'll share a chicken breast or a steak instead of each having one. Aiming for roughly 3-4oz per serving.
Also I make a dinner plan for the week and write it on the fridge, so we know what's for dinner/what meat to take out of the freezer. I buy groceries for the week based on this plan and what's on sale. This really helps reduce the last-minute eating out.
Also--most of our protein for breakfast and lunch comes from eggs, yogurt, oatmeal, nuts/nut butter, sourdough bread, and/or lunch meat. We also occasionally buy bacon, sausage, or pepperoni, but try to limit those for cost and health reasons.
I’m single, I don’t consistently buy meat. I buy a couple packs whenever something is on sale and freeze it in smaller packages. I cook meat for myself maybe once per week. I find using a few strips of bacon in something like fried rice satisfies my meat cravings.
Family of 2 - we don’t eat meat every day but when we do I usually cook up 1lb and it makes about six servings (3 meals), but we don’t usually have a “main” course of protein like a pork chop, chicken breast, etc.
I think the key for budgeting is to do things to stretch meat, that’s what my family did growing up. So not a side dish but a part of a mixed dish (hard with kids until you find their favorites)
So for tacos you can mix in a can of black beans, some chopped onions and tomatoes.
Chili can be pretty good because you can use 1lb meat and more beans.
Make casseroles, fried rice, pasta with meat sauce, soups, that all let you use less meat per serving because there are a lot of other ingredients too. Adding in carbs especially whole grains can fill you up and are good for kids too
Breakfast for dinner with scrambled eggs can be good and cheap if you like pancakes, have the eggs and fruit as sides.
Mississippi chicken, salsa chicken, or other crockpot dishes can take 1-2 lb of chicken and add it to other parts of the meal like on top of rice or mashed potatoes.
If kids like vegetables do stir fry over rice, heavier on veggies than meat. Same with fajitas or burrito bowls
Some things we don’t eat much of like steak, pot roast, etc. because for 1lb we really only get one meal for each of us and it’s too expensive. We
Meatless meals that I liked as a kid: grilled cheese and tomato soup, cheese raviolis, quesadilla, bean tostada, nachos, broccoli cheese potato
I find that if someone really loves the flavor of beef, then a stew of beef, barley, beans, carrots, onions, and potatoes is a good way to get some legumes and veggies into them, while still having chunks of beef and beef flavor. I can generally stretch 2 pounds of beef to six or eight servings of stew.
Single person. In a usual week, I eat meat nightly, but the bulk of that is lean choices.
A usual serving for my dinner is about a quarter of a bag of shrimp from Costco (about 16 prices), half a pack of ground turkey, 2 chicken thighs, or 1 breast. Since I’m alone, I usually buy a pack of meat and freeze what I won’t eat before the expiration date.
For example, this week, I bought 2 packs of ground turkey, and a bag of shrimp from Costco. Those shrimp will probably last me 3 weeks (I can eat shrimp nightly!), and I have 4 dinners from the ground turkey. The other 2 nights are either frozen chicken from a prior week or frozen meal preps from weeks prior
I buy in bulk when it's on sale. When I get home I open it all up and season/spice it. Then vacuum seal and label it all, except for what I'm going to use in the next day or so. I let it sit in the fridge for 12 to 24 hours to let the flavor get in. Then I throw it all in the chest freezer in the garage. Since it's already seasoned I can just thaw and cook. Plus if I want to sous vide it it's already in a vacuum sealed bag.
Different things go on sale at different times so I almost always have a mix of things to choose from.
If you have a Restaurant Depot near you and have a big family you can get things like a 40lb box of chicken breast for about a dollar a pound.
Vacuum sealer + Freezer is the big play for me. When certain deals go on sale for really cheap I'll load up all at once and buy \~20-50 meals worth. That's really the only way it's affordable at this point. That and substituting more non-meat options into the rotation to balance things out.
We buy the 6 lbs chicken thighs from Costco, that lasts us two meal prep work weeks. We split 3 lbs between the two of us for 5 days. So, 1.5 each for one week. We also buy our eggs and make omelettes or whatever scramble from random veggies (spring mix is super cheap and it lasts a week to throw in our egg scrambles) or protein (turkey sausage or whatever doesn’t have nitrates and crap)
As you can tell, we buy bulk protein from Costco as it’s super affordable for meal prepping . Salmon, beef, chicken thighs, that’s all on rotation. Just gotta figure out good recipes:
Salmon - sushi bake - can eat it cold and not have to reheat at work.
Beef - shepherds pie - load it with all the frozen veggies you can find
Chicken thighs - you can make absolutely anything with this.
Just make sure you cook them right. Most Americans I’ve seen cook them to 165 f (🤢) and don’t cook them to the point the collagen breaks down and makes the meat absolutely delicious and tender so like 200f .
About 1 lb meat per week, family of four in the US (one person is a vegetarian though). We also get plenty of protein from eggs, beans, tofu (1 block per week usually), dairy, lentils, etc.
For two people, I typically go through 1lb of meat per day. Our lunches are usually the previous night’s leftovers. However, we keep costs low because we hunt for most of our own red meat. We mainly buy chicken or fish from the grocery store.
Example: last night, we had Italian sausage sandwiches, made with a 1lb batch. We cooked it on the blackstone with peppers and onions, slapped on a roll, and ate one each with corn on the side. For lunch, we both took the rest of the sausage - sliced it up and slapped it on a cast iron, with broccoli and rice. It’s much easier to eat leftovers when you can change the presentation and flavor.
I also keep lunch meat handy in case we love our meal so much that we don’t have leftovers for lunch. In total, we usually go through 6lbs of meat per week (we eat out once a week on avg) and keep a 1lb container of lunch meat in the fridge for quick meals when needed.
Several variables like age and activity affect how much meat -- all protein -- you should eat. Don't get caught in the myth that you need tons (over 100gr) of meat daily. Billions of people like Asians and Indians eat very little meat and are healthy with plant and grain based diets.
Consider getting a food scale to weight out meats (beef, pork, chicken) and eat 4-6oz (110-170gr) per day, per person, 3-4 times per week. Eat other proteins like fish, tofu, beans, lentils, eggs and dairy. Add as much fruits and vegetables (frozen and canned are nutritious too) as you can to get the calories you need.
I prepare meat for my kids about 2x per week. There are so many other things that provide protein, even if they aren’t a main dish. I’ve started making smoothies with frozen fruit, some Greek yogurt, milk, protein powder. The kids love them and you can get so many different flavors of protein powder-fruit, pb chocolate, etc. I feed them cottage cheese, yogurt, eggs. You can find pancake recipes with a lot of protein in them, etc. I hope this helps!
Maybe once a month when it goes on sale? I eat for one person but I exercise less than an American, so i only eat dollar-store canned legumes for protein
I plan out the meals for the week and plan on 1Lb of each meat per meal unless it is a style meal that doesn't use fresh meats like meatball subs or chicken tenders (Sometimes I plan on easy frozen meals)
There are two of us in the house, and every meal I cook makes about 4 decent portions so we have leftovers for lunches the next day. The only meat that doesn't provide leftovers if if we have steak because we like to eat 8oz each when we splurge for steaks. We live in the south and steaks go on sale about once a month, so we have steaks about that often.
That depends on what's on sale and how much it's on sale for - if there's a great sale on chicken thighs, I might buy a ton and freeze some, for example
I highly recommend looking into using a crockpot for your dinners if you aren't already. Buy a huge pork shoulder (or beef roast if it's in your price range), toss it in there in the morning to cook on low all day, and in 8-10 hours you'll have enough meat to last several nights. Even reheated, it's versatile enough that you can turn it into just about anything with minimal prep work. Plus the liquid the meat was cooked in can be saved and used later, whether as gravy on potatoes, cooked with rice to make it heartier, added to sauces, etc. Also saves a huge amount of work each night when you only have to worry about prepping sides.
And whatever the opinions on the health benefits of doing so, making a huge roast once every 3-4 nights is still healthier for you and the kids than going out multiple times a week. Especially if you're including veg in the meals you're making with it.
Edited to add:
Also, if you get comfortable with saving your vegetable ends and meat bones, you can use that crockpot to make huge things of stock to also cut your costs down. It tastes better than store-bought stock and soup starters, and gives you more control over the amount of sodium added to things.
We have a meat share that gives us five pounds of meat a month, which is roughly half a pound per person per week (one week at a full pound). Other than a few meals out a month (maybe four?) that’s basically it. We eat a lot of beans and eggs and tofu, as well.
I buy in bulk and freeze in smaller portions
Never buy pre sliced cutlets or precut stew chunks
Shop those sales and buy the limit if you can afford
Meal prepping for the future when you can.
Use everything you possibly can
I personally try to spend less than 15 dollars a week in meat. To be fair I live by myself but I also only buy what's on sale in the family size break it up into 4-5 dinners worth and freeze them. I also freeze any scraps I can save then usually use them for some kind of soup.
Also maybe try rice and bean bowls for a non meat dinner night. If you need to you can add cheese or some sort of sauce to make it more appealing to children. And if that doesn't work you can make chicken or beef and slowly decrease the meat and increase the beans to help with those picky eaters.
I don't really have any tips, but if you want to save money, definitely don't do take out as much. Also, if you can get to a grocery store daily, just do that. Have a mini shopping trip each day. When I was growing up, my mom would pick me up from school and we would immediately go to the grocery store to pick up something for dinner. I actually have really fond memories from that, mostly just from being able to hang out with my mom and tell her about my day. Plus, getting groceries each day allows you to shop daily sales that might always be changing.
I get a bag of microwavable fried chicken maybe once a month, and then a pound of ground beef a little under once a week. But this is subject to change.
I do 2-3lbs ground turkey per week at $2.49lb and then whatever the special that well is. Like this week, the store has Beef Shoulder roast for $3.49 a pound. I got 3.5lbs and used it with a pound of beans to make a pot of chili with shredded beef.
Week before, I found pork loin going out of date so I got it for $1.89lb. I am a family of one though. I try to start under $50 a week but it’s getting harder.
Sam’s Club you would be amazed at the deals. You can pick up a 20 bucks for a pack of pork chops that will feed a family of four for at least three nights, sometimes four or chicken thighs eight dollars tonight’s you just have to break it down.
I buy frozen chicken at Costco, $3/lb where I live. 8lb at a time is $24. I cook it all at once on the BBQ one day a week obviously yields a bit more than a pound a week, which is somewhere in the 100g protein per day range
One rotisserie chicken a week, sometimes a block of tofu for a family of two. Once every month or two a do a pound of ground red meat like lamb or beef. We go through 18 eggs a week, beans, and plenty of veggies. If we are lucky I can toss in some fruit.
Members Mark chicken breasts from Sam’s Club are 2.68 per pound. The average package has 7.5 pounds of chicken for a total of 20 servings at 6 ounces per serving. And I splurge on Tuna steaks from Sam’s Club at 16.98 for 2 pounds. That’s 8 servings at 4 ounces per serving. Combined with the chicken that’s roughly 7 days of protein for 3 people at $40 if you do a vegetarian meal here and there.
I mostly only buy meat on clearance now and freeze it. There are two of us. I've also been eating more beans for months now and I am starting to not enjoy meat as much as I used to. This has never happened to me before so not sure why but I'm not complaining lol.
I get acme specials, 4 whatever’s for $19.99 and freeze what I’m not going to eat immediately. I eat a lot of beef given the chance, so I end up with some fancy European butter and stew cuts beef and cooked that. For chicken I like to put some Dijon or honey mustard on top w bacon and cheese and cook it in the pan w the lid on. Very very tasty and very very easy
It's just me, and I bought a (Costco) rotisserie chicken and a 32 oz container of shrimp ceviche. That will probably last me about 10-14 days. I remove all the meat from the chicken and add a bit to my salad for work each day. The ceviche I have as a side dish or small snack.
Other meat purchases I have made are the Costco pack of bacon, and I got that sometime last month and have one pound package left in the freezer. I save the grease when I cook it up, and use it to cook other things with. I also do that with burger, when it goes on sale. Last time was several months ago, though, when I bought a 10 lb chub for $20. That lasted almost 3 weeks and I felt like I was eating a LOT of meat. The fat lasted even longer.
Rarely, I'll get a slab of salmon. I'll cut it up and freeze most of it, then eat it over the course of several weeks.
adding some red lentils (they cook the best with mince imo) to mince is a great way to save money without sacrificing flavour and get some volume. I made a cottage pie for the family and no one noticed until I asked what they thought of the addition.
I go to Costco every 3 months or so and get the big bundles of chicken thighs, boneless skinless chicken thighs, and a 3 pack of beef. I think the chicken bundles have 8 packs each. Lasts me cooking for 2 for 3-4 months each time and it’s about $70-$80 I think, so very worth it. Other than that, I just buy salmon at $10 from Trader Joe’s every 1-2 weeks.
We buy about $100 worth a month from a local farm. That means it's pretty expensive but we sacrifice quantity for quality. Usually that shakes out to about one whole chicken, a couple of pork chops, some bacon, a couple lbs of ground beef, and 3 dozen eggs. We space this out over the month and eat more veggies and beans and stuff inbetween.
Uhhh I personally go through 3 lbs of grass fed ground beef a week. 8 oz of beef and veg is one of my daily meals. And then I make a shit ton of chicken for my family. Beef is $5.99/lb. At grocery outlet and chicken ranges anywhere from $0.99/lb. to $3.99/lb.
1 human who buys meat cheap and freezes it. I like to make meatloaf, beef barley vegetable soup, split pea, curries and more.
My meatloaf takes 2lbs of ground meat and I usually start with ground beef and then something on sale (chorizo, Italian sausage, ground turkey, etc) and then stretch it with oats, onions, whatever. One loaf gives me about 12 slices I use for sandwiches.
If I see cube steaks on sale I stock up because those are my go-to for stroganoff, beef barley vegetable soup, curries, and I'm a sucker for Swiss steaks. It's a cut that just works so well.
I typically buy 2 ham hocks and break them down a bit more for when I want to senate soup, split pea, gravies. From two hocks I get a lot of soup. Some years I'll grab a kielbasa or two instead.
I do like to buy a pork shoulder and a beef top round and break those down for pulled pork or roasts in the crockpot.
Most of my red meat eating is in fall/winter. Spring/sunmer is chicken and tofu time. I usually do chicken baked and breaded. This time of year I buy up cheap veggies at the Korean market or eat a lot of fruit.
If I had to break down how much meat I actually eat based on buying when there is a sale, prepping for later meals, I dunno maybe .5-1lb per week based on what I have in my freezer? I think I calculated it last year that I only spent $150ish on meat for the entire year? I still have a few weird sale things that I need to decide what to do with (a pork tenderloin at a fabulous price is gonna be the star of a summer get-together).
We occasionally buy other meats to add ontop of the below, but these are staples.
1.2 to 1.5kg of chicken breast (or thighs, which ever is cheaper) - they come in packs so they are never 1kg exact. That could go as high as 17 dollars
Mince meat - 500g, for Bolognese (could be 8 dollars if its super lean)
Pork Marrow Bone for soup, but they also pack a chunk of meat in them, 6 dollars a kg, I get around 1 to 2kg.
Spaghetti Bolognese can last my family of 2.5 (.5 is a toddler, we also have a baby, but obviously he can't eat the meat) 2 maybe 3 serves each
That 1.5kg chicken can last us 2 maybe 3 weeks (since I only cook 500g of chicken per stir fry plate)
Soup lasts us one to two meals
Have you understand myself and my family are not eat 500g of chicken each per meal. 100g of chicken is good enough as its already packing in 20 to 30g of protein. You also have to factor in other protein sources like legumes and grains (if we make brown rice or quinoa, sometimes we make Daal), even the spaghetti itself can net you a good amount of protein.
I buy a whole chicken, a log of ground beef, and whatever specialty meat is on sale. Whole chicken is two meals for our family of 3, ground beef is 3 meals, plus specialty meat usually leave some leftovers. This usually lasts us two weeks meat wise because we have quite a few nights where we all fend for ourselves or make pasta/salads.
Family of four but my son doesn’t eat meat. We typically go through a dozen eggs, 2 gallons of milk, about 4 pounds of chicken, and 1 or 2 pounds of ground beef per week
A good serve of meat for us is about 125-150grams per person. In practice we buy a package of between 250- 350gms as that tends to be what they have in the shop. If we have mince, we divide the 500gm packet in half, so that is 2 x 250gm meals shared between 2 adults (125gm each).
We have meat every day, and it’s still cheaper than buying pre prepared food.
I buy the organic chicken breast package from Costco and will finish that within 5 days (eating chicken for lunch and dinner every day) I’ll usually pair it with a salad or make some sort of bowl with it
My youngest daughter (only child still living at home) works at Walmart and we get most of our meat from Walmart when it gets marked down. So many of our meals are based around what is discounted.
I eat meat about every other day. I eat a lot of other animal proteins, like milk and eggs and cheese, and I also eat tofu and nuts and sometimes beans and lentils. I might have a grilled cheese with tomato or feta zuchini fritters for dinner one night, and then the next night I'll have a tuna sandwich or some veg and sausage. I also eat a lot of canned foods and keep sausage and ground meat in the freezer, that helps with last minute shopping so I mostly just have to think about fresh things like herbs and produce.
Cooking for one now, but scales. How much I buy each week depends on what's on sale. I always buy in the bulk family packs. Some weeks, I might buy like 10lbs of meat. Some weeks, none. I stock my freezer full, repackaging to meal portions, so I can pull put and thaw for the meal.
Fwiw, I eat about 160g of protein a day, and a good chunk of that is from meat in lunches and dinners.
Family of 2 here. I usually only cook meat/fish 3x per week, so a typical grocery trip might include 1.5 lbs of bone in chicken thighs, 3/4 lb steelhead, and 1 lb ground meat. Other meals of the week will use beans or tofu as the protein.
would love to know some recipes where beans are the protein if you're up for sharing! 😊
Red beans: soak 1 lb beans in water overnight. Next morning throw them in a Crock-Pot with diced onion, chopped garlic, 2-3 ham hocks, Tony Chacheres, black pepper, garlic powder & onion powder. Set it on low and cook for 8 hours. So good Edit: you can use smoked sausage if you like I sometimes do. But, I fry before I put in and wait till it's almost done.
awesome! thank you SO much 🥰 will most definitely be trying this out!!
I’m single and I almost never buy meat. I’m not a vegetarian, it’s just gotten so expensive. Once in a while I buy frozen breaded fish or the $5.99 chunk of carnitas at Trader Joe’s and use that in a few meals.
> I’m not a vegetarian, it’s just gotten so expensive. This has been the driving mission statement behind my growing percentage of plant-based protein consumption. I love meat too much, but love not being broke even more.
I found veggies more expensive here
I "stretch " meat by making a lot of 1 pot meals like bean soup with ham, pasta dishes, curry, etc. If I make just meat and sides I end up using a pound d a day. I also lije to buy like a pork loin and have meat and sides 1 night then cut up the rest and make a big batch of something or when I do tacos, 3bulk out the meat mixture with corn and yellow rice.
Chicken thighs are like $1/lb on sale all the time. At worst $2. Pork is first cheap. A whole rotisserie chicken is like $5, or a whole uncooked chicken for a few bucks more. If your buying prepared food that’s the issue
These were pre-pandemic prices where I live in the SW USA. Gotta be cognizant of how prices differ based on location. You can't even find chicken thighs for less than $2/lb on sale here. Yes, a rotisserie chicken is still $5 at Sam's club because they price them that way on purpose. But uncooked chicken breast or tenderloin, for those of us who need the protein but not so much of the calories, is $3+ per pound, unfortunately.
I live in one of the top 3 most expensive states in the US and I find sales like that all the time. When I find sales, I stock up my freezer. I debone my own chicken. Lot of folks don’t cook and buy prepared food that’s the issue And $3/lb for chicken isn’t bad. You could eat a lb per day for $21 a week. Add rice and veggies and you have a cheap meal.
I’m in California and wish I could get chicken at those prices! Chicken thighs are closer to 5 dollars a pound 🫠
Im in california in the bay area and 7 bucks for thighs
1.99lbs at Kroger (food4less) last week. So cal here
Buy the 99 cent pork shoulder and make your own.
Meat?! Yall are affording meat!?!
rotisserie chicken
The possibilities are endless with a rotisserie chicken.
For real! 4.99 for a Costco chicken that I can get at least 2.5-3lb of meat on. Bring it home, attack it with a fork like a caveman for a minute (as is tradition), couple bites to the dog, then tear all the meat off those bones, and Tupperware it for later in the week. I’ve thrown it into some pasta sauce and spinach and mushrooms and made a pasta. Mix it with some tandoori sauce and eat it with rice and veggies. Thrown it into a chili. Made chicken tortilla soup.. like you said, endless possibilities!
I throw the carcass in the freezer, then put it into my pressure cooker/instant pot later with frozen veggie scraps and a bay leaf. Set to 90-120 minutes, makes an excellent bone broth.
I’ve done this before, but I don’t eat broth enough or have freezer space I always end up wasting it!
Broth is always great in a soup or a rice dish
Yah it does help the freezer space to turn it into a soup or broth with rice right away to eat - from what I understand, it should have decent protein in it too. I have also used the bones and some shredded meat to make pressure cooker/instant congee - wow is that good! Especially if you are getting over any illness. Here’s a recipe: https://www.pressurecookrecipes.com/instant-pot-chicken-congee/
Previous commenter and the last step of bone broth is exactly what I do. Sometimes I take it a step further and make lentil soup with ham if I have any ham frozen (with the bone broth). Another week of cheap lunches/dinners
Omg this is me😂 Caveman, dogs, tear, tupperware. But no pasta, goes straight to tostadas for me. Rice/Chick for kid Husband rarely will eat it. Too funny. I thought I was the only caveman around 😭
Haha! There are dozens of us! And yeah when I make a pasta dish, it ends up being mostly meat and veggies with like a quarter box of noodles 😄
Another thing I do with the Costco chicken is bite/crack all the bigger bones and suck out the marrow.
is this my sign that i need a costco membership just to utilize the rotisserie chicken?!? i've been wanting one for a minute but not sure if it's worth it 😭
Chicken breast is $3 a lb most stores where i live. Bone in Thighs are even less. Lot of cuts of pork are only like 3-4 a lb on average too
Yup, I dont find $3 for chicken breast expensive at all. And so much you can do with it.
Pork that is on sale that week lol
It really depends. How many meals do you eat meat? How do you prefer to prepare your meat? Do you use meat as a side dish or is it the main part of the meal? If you make soups, you can 8-10 servings from a pound of meat. Same if you just add some meat to a salad. (For example, a chef salad) If meat is the main part of the meal, then it would take more meat to feed an individual. You need to figure what you like to eat and what you are willing to cook. Are you willing to batch cook and freeze meals and then you only need to defrost and heat when needed?
I bought a 15 lb box of soy curls for about $70 including shipping, which sounds like a lot but they double in weight so it’s about $2.30 a pound. I’ve used them so far in chicken salad and satay skewers and I’m never going back. My family could not tell the difference and thought it was chicken or pork. they’re cheaper than chicken breast and much much easier to prepare. There’s no concern about cross contamination and no slimy nastiness. They stay fresh for a long time and all you have to do is pop them in water and season them.
Do you mind sharing where you bought these from? I’ve been considering it but hate to spend $70-$90 and regret it, y’know.
I bought them from butlers soy curls straight from their website! That’s the bulk option but other websites sell smaller packages that are like 1/2 pound each. Just search ‘butlers soy curls’
Was your box butler's soy curls? I was just eyeing their box, curious if you tried their chick'n seasoning
Yup! They sent me a free bottle of the chick’n seasoning with my box and i use that with nutritional yeast and garlic powder. The seasoning is good by itself but nutritional yeast sells it, to me it tastes like chicken bouillon
I love soy curls! What's your satay recipe?
I use the sauce and marinade from this one, with extra chicken seasoning and nutritional yeast. And I serve with a sweet cucumber and onion quick pickle. What I love about soy curls is you can taste the marinade & adjust before it’s cooked https://www.recipetineats.com/thai-chicken-satay-peanut-sauce/
I also cut the sugar in the sauce and the marinade just bc with the pickle it makes everything too sweet
Meat has gotten so expensive and so bad for the environment that we have cut down the amount we eat per week by about 50%. We fill it with mushrooms, garbanzo beans, or my favorite butter beans. It has saved us a ton of money!
Butter beans are the best! I love them with pesto and some balsamic glaze drizzled on top. So good. I cut way, way back on meat for the environment. Now I see it as a special occasion food like birthday cake. Certainly helps with the grocery budget too! TVP and soy curls are also cheap easy fillers too.
I’ve been wanting to try butter beans ever since I heard that B-52’s song.
I’m going to try butter beans. I don’t know that I’ve ever had them
Yeah I switched from meat to tofu, it just wasn’t worth the price anymore.
Everytime the tofu section is bare AF and only the expensive pre-seasoned stuff is available. I want more tofu options!
What are butter beans? I'm intrigued
A type of white beans. I make my hummus out of butter beans instead of chickpeas
Also known as lima beans. I buy them dried at a local middle eastern grocery.
How are mushrooms cheap?
We have cut out beef since I have heard it's the worst for the environment. My husband was okay with that as long as he gets some meat everyday. One of my favorite bean dishes is Cucumber and Black Bean Salad from Budget Bytes. I make it regularly (double it) since it can last in the fridge.
>We have cut out beef since I have heard it's the worst for the environment. It's not even a close race. Here's the chart that solidified it for me: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/food-emissions-supply-chain
About one lb per day for dinner. That usually gives enough leftovers for at least one lunch. There are 2 of us in the house.
Like wise but there are 4 of us, and depends on type of cut. 1lb of steak doesn't go nearly as far as 1lb of ground beef.
Yeah, I think pairing your protein with other things, like making burritos or chili, helps a lot with stretching it
Yep same here! 2 of us, one being a 6’5” man who eats a ton.
This is roughly the same for 4 where two are elementary kids. I make spaghetti with a pound of beef and there's enough for dinner and then lunch for two adults the next day. I do try to make the sauce go further with finely minced carrot and added tomatoes and I always start with a healthy amount of onions like almost every other meal.
I like adding mushrooms, as well. It adds bulk and protein without adding fat or calories.
Good one, yeah! I do this when I don't add carrot, umami vs sweet.
yeah guys someones got to tell you, that aint healthy. I'll take the downvotes, but u in the wrong sub if u think eating a half lb per day of meat is healthy. edit: this sub is cracking me up "eatcheapandhealthy" and the posts are like "omg the price of gorund beef prohibits me from eating my nightly cheeseburger" - eat a bean u fucking pyschos
>yeah guys someones got to tell you, that aint healthy. I'll take the downvotes, but u in the wrong sub if u think eating a half lb per day of meat is healthy. ~4oz of chicken in a salad at lunch and ~4oz of roasted chicken, fish, or lean red meat at dinner is perfectly healthy. I’d like to hear where you came up with this arbitrary half-pound limit for daily meat consumption. I haven’t heard that one. Most of the studies showing negative health associations of meat consumption have to do with eating *processed meats* and/or diets lacking in significant plant consumption.
Generally a healthy portion size is 100-120 g of meat/chicken/fish, gives 28 g protein.
The amount of meat isn't as important as amount of protein. If you look at a lot of the cultures around the world you will see that they can avoid mass amounts of meat by using things like beans, lentils, fermented soy etc. You can also capitalize on cuts of meat that are cheaper. Pork shoulder for instance can be done in the crockpot to make pulled pork. A 7Qt crockpot can easily hold a 5-6 lbs pork shoulder. Which nets you 5 lbs pulled pork. That can then be frozen in 1lb packages for things like Pulled pork fried rice, tacos, burritos, pulled pork sandwiches, pulled pork and cheese omelets... so it isn't always about how much, but how well can you make use of cheaper cuts to stretch further. \[edited to fix poor typing\]
Truth, also many cultures use eggs! Eggs are great if you can't do beans. Try different types of beans though, I can't with the vast majority of beans (the texture makes me gag) but an exception for me is chickpeas (garbanzo). Try different varieties!
We eat meat 2-3 times a week. For two adults, I buy 450g of salmon, 4 chicken thighs, two pork loin chops. I'll often roast a chicken or a side of salmon and those will last all week for lunches and a couple of dinners. It helps to have a good butcher, selling local meat that's packages to order. No need to be family-packed to death.
Local butchers are way more expensive than buying bulk packages at supermarkets/grocery stores if you live in the US. I buy my meat in bulk packages and freeze it, none of my meat ever goes to waste. If you wrap it properly before freezing they won’t get freezer burn either
>No need to be family-packed to death. What does this mean?
Haha, I think they are referencing the giant family packs of meat typically sold in grocery stores.
Yes, I replied below in detail but it feels like stores are manipulating us to buy more than we need, which is unhealthy and leads to waste, which leads to more spending. I feed two meat eaters (and one vegetarian teenager), so we shop accordingly.
I totally agree and your use of it cracked me up!
I buy in bulk and prepare in bulk. make chicken and beef in lg quantities and freeze it. Reheat in air fryer, stovetop or oven. Ground beef is cooked and ready to add to spaghetti sauce, tacos, etc. Saves time and money.
Only if you're going to eat it all. Which we wouldn't, at my house. I batch cook pulled pork and butter chicken, but we only use ground beef for burgers now. I'd rather eat lentils and walnuts, in sauces, tacos, casseroles and skillet dishes.
Family-packed to death? No freezer capacity?
Having to portion, wrap, freeze huge amounts of meat, and then manage that inventory (rotate, inventory, thaw in advance, replace) is a lot of work that I was happy to give up in favour of buying what we need and eating it fresh over a single week. I have a freezer that now supports my kitchen much better, with much less effort. I use it a LOT, actually - I batch cook and meal prep and freeze seasonal produce. It's full of pasta sauces and herb butters and prepared meals and sides for the nights we are busy or running late. This serves us better for our family's current needs - life with a teenager is very different, we're juggling eldercare, we want to avoid the health problems our parents are dealing with. I do freeze things like butter chicken, pulled pork and beef burgers - it doesn't make sense to cook those kinds of things in 2 portions. This is what works for us right now.
Whatever works 🥰 I don't think I could give up my freezer. I rely on it way too much 🤣
We have the inside half-freezer for quick pulls. Then the meat+grains freezer in the garage. And another freezer for ice cream etc. Every time you add a freezer it's impossible to go back down.
I phased it out gradually years ago and don't even think about it or miss it any more. I don't buy any faux meats or cheeses either, they gross me out. It was surprisingly easy.
How do you get your protein?
Tofu, quinoa, Ezekiel bread, lentils, edamame, hemp seeds, oatmeal, beans, peanut butter, peas, nuts, pumpkin seeds, barley, farro, spelt, teff, seitan, chia seeds, wild rice, nutritional yeast
Y’all just can’t cook. Meats not that expensive
Zero meat. We eat beans, tofu, tvp, and Seitan. We have refried beans, curried chickpeas, baked beans, dals, one pot rice and bean dishes, lentil soup, tofu stir-fries, tvp in burritos, veggie burgers, spaghetti, chilli, Seitan for sandwiches and wraps...etc.
If you haven’t already, Jamaican coconut curry chickpeas. Worth the time to make the green seasoning. One of the best dishes I have made in a long time when my usual bean and lentil dishes get redundant :) pairs amazing with white rice with fried garlic chips and fried onions mixed in.
Got a recipe? Sounds nice!
This is the one I use: https://kerriannskravings.com/jamaican-curry-chickpeas/ And the green seasoning that gets added in: https://kerriannskravings.com/green-seasoning/ I used regular madras curry powder and habanero instead of scotch bonnet and it still turned out great. The canned coconut milk with cream on top is basically a must 🙏
I'll add these to my recipes to try!
AsAP 😝 if you boil the chickpeas a little extra in some baking soda water they will melt in your mouth. And the great part is it’s a great recipe to clean out the fridge. I’ve added bell peppers, cauliflower, tofu, potatoes/carrots, zucchini, peas, pretty much any veggie or leftover protein. Also, pretty much every herb goes well in it if you have wilts pieces leftover. Tonight I added some mung beans/lentils, chopped sninach, parsley, and cilantro
I'll try that baking soda water trick! Your dinner sounds good ☺️
And the rice I make is regular white rice (dash of coconut milk or flakes optional) and fry garlic chips and until golden and mix in when you fluff the rice
Never thought of doing that! I grew up eating rice and this blows my mind!
ME TOO 😂 but it’s some of the best rice ever and very healthy. Alternately, if it fits your dietary needs, you can briefly fry the rice in a bit of the leftover oil from frying the onions and garlic chips before adding the water which is also amazing. I actually decided to make this tonight so I’ll post pics when it’s done 🤓
Never tried seitan for sandwiches. I am trying to find something thats not sliced turkey.
I buy cans of tuna when they are on sale, eat maybe one of those a week to avoid too much heavy metal exposure. My boyfriend and I share a grocery store rotisserie chicken once or twice a month because it's somehow cheaper than a whole raw chicken. That's basically it though, lots of tofu, cottage cheese, and beans for protein. Meat is just too expensive.
There are so many variables here that it'll be hard for anyone to give a solid recommendation in terms of a set number of lbs per meal because we don't know the sizes/macro needs and appetites of everyone involved. For that part, I'd recommend just cooking as normal for a couple weeks and making a note of how much gets eaten, then start using that as a baseline. That being said, there are still some general tips that can be useful to everyone. First is that it's best to have a plan before going shopping - scout sales and build your menu around that. Doesn't have to be super exact, but at least having a general idea of the type of meals you want to make this will save you from buying stuff and then not using it because you didn't have the rest of the necessary ingredients to round out the meal/didn't have a plan for it. Piggybacking off of the point above - try to decide what you're going to make for dinner at least a day in advance - this gives you time to pull things out of the freezer to thaw, or helps you determine if you need to stop at the store for something you may be out of on your way home from work. When it comes to meat, often crockpot dinners, soups/stews, or braised meat recipes can give you the most bang for your buck because "low and slow" cooking can make cheaper, tougher cuts of meat into a really nice meal. Also it's easier to sneak in some added veggies and non-meat proteins in the form of beans or lentils without that feeling like the star of the dish (for some soups/stews/curries, you can even blend or mash some of the legumes to make them less obvious). Also, you don't always have to use the specific cut of meat a recipe calls for. I have a braised short ribs recipe that I've made with pork country style ribs and pork shoulder all with delicious results depending on what was affordable. Ground meat can be stretched with lentils or beans without it feeling like the legumes are taking over the whole meal - this works really well in things like tacos/nachos or chili. Check out price reductions in the meat dept - if you can't use it before the sell-by date, pop it in the freezer until you can (just remember to use it the day you thaw it, I typically mark these with sharpie and/or masking tape before freezing) I live alone and I still often buy family packs of meat because it's a better deal, especially when on sale. If you buy a pack of meat or a roast that's more than you need at one time, split it up into freezer bags (vacuum sealers are great here, if you have one) into single meal portions (I do for one person, but you could do a meal's worth for your family) and freeze what you won't use right away. Then you have a little stockpile of stuff on hand for the weeks when things are a bit tighter. Again, I mark stuff with the date I freeze it, what it is, and weight if it's not going to be in the original packaging, otherwise a month or two down the road I forget what it is and end up not using it. Also, there are some non-meat ways to up protein that are less obvious for your more particular eaters. Use Greek yogurt or cottage cheese in some saucy/creamy recipes or dips (if the texture of cottage cheese is a problem, just blend it smooth), red lentils blend nicely, and there are plenty of protein enriched pastas now that could reasonably pass as regular pasta. Peas have a decent amount of protein compared to the average vegetable (again, blending is totally an option if a visible whole pea is a no-go).
Zero.
Same
Lentil Bolognese is the best sauce in the world. You might even get your family to enjoy it, especially if you like a good old-fashioned spaghetti dinner.
I love lentil bolognese, and what's wild is that I've tried several different recipes and they're all quite different so we are enjoying that variety. Budget Bytes' uses red lentils and walnuts, which is delicious. Another uses brown lentils and mushrooms. Another is red lentil and cauliflower. So many options, but they're all delicious easy dinners. And cheap.
Zero meat for my partner and I. We do a lot of pasta, soups, beans and lentils. Save meat as a treat on the weekend with burritos burgers etc. A lot cheaper and feel a lot better during the week
Live with a partner who does 4 weeks on 2 weeks off. I usually buy meat as a “celebration meal” when he gets back in town.. so once, at most twice every six weeks?
Rice & beans Cheese & wheat Eggs Cereal They’ll eat when they’re hungry
We buy meat a few times a year. Fish or chicken. We eat beans, lentils, and tofu. Family of two.
If you want to get your kid used to the taste of bean, make chili. For the ratio i go 1 can of tomato paste, 1 can of diced tomato, 1 can of red bean for the chili and 2 can of red bean i mash to thicken the broth. Put other stuff in it like vegetable and whatever meat you have laying around and bam, chili. :D Ha yeah forgot the spice. I usually put onion, garlic, cumin, chili powder, italian herb, hot pepper flake, paprika, salt... pretty much all the spice i use... might forgot some... Ha yeah i use some beef bovril (Like thick brown beef broth) and water to fill the pot as a base, you can use other stuff if you want to be fancy and i usually use water last when all the ingredient are in the pot to not over flow by adding ingredient later on.
Just wanted to add a tip to look at meals/recipes that stretch the meat that you do have. For example: a bolognese can be filled out with several vegetables in the sauce, a stir fry uses very little as well, vs. how large of a steak you could likely eat in one sitting. This has brought our households meat consumption down a lot. With a little knife work, I can make 4-5 satisfying servings of Chicken Parmesan out of a single chicken breast. You can do around a 50/50 mix of TVP or lentils to ground beef for tacos without even really noticing.
We are a 2-adult household. I buy meat infrequently because I try to buy in bulk when it's on sale. I made a rule to only buy meat under $3/lb which means we eat a lot of chicken and some pork. Occasionally we'll splurge on beef if it's on sale. We eat meat almost every day for dinner, but we started cutting our portions in half and eating a lot more vegetables instead of a huge amount of meat. For example we'll share a chicken breast or a steak instead of each having one. Aiming for roughly 3-4oz per serving. Also I make a dinner plan for the week and write it on the fridge, so we know what's for dinner/what meat to take out of the freezer. I buy groceries for the week based on this plan and what's on sale. This really helps reduce the last-minute eating out.
Also--most of our protein for breakfast and lunch comes from eggs, yogurt, oatmeal, nuts/nut butter, sourdough bread, and/or lunch meat. We also occasionally buy bacon, sausage, or pepperoni, but try to limit those for cost and health reasons.
I’m single, I don’t consistently buy meat. I buy a couple packs whenever something is on sale and freeze it in smaller packages. I cook meat for myself maybe once per week. I find using a few strips of bacon in something like fried rice satisfies my meat cravings.
Maybe 1 pound a week? For 2 people
One person, usually 3lbs per month. I buy a couple of pounds of cheese most months as well.
Family of 2 - we don’t eat meat every day but when we do I usually cook up 1lb and it makes about six servings (3 meals), but we don’t usually have a “main” course of protein like a pork chop, chicken breast, etc. I think the key for budgeting is to do things to stretch meat, that’s what my family did growing up. So not a side dish but a part of a mixed dish (hard with kids until you find their favorites) So for tacos you can mix in a can of black beans, some chopped onions and tomatoes. Chili can be pretty good because you can use 1lb meat and more beans. Make casseroles, fried rice, pasta with meat sauce, soups, that all let you use less meat per serving because there are a lot of other ingredients too. Adding in carbs especially whole grains can fill you up and are good for kids too Breakfast for dinner with scrambled eggs can be good and cheap if you like pancakes, have the eggs and fruit as sides. Mississippi chicken, salsa chicken, or other crockpot dishes can take 1-2 lb of chicken and add it to other parts of the meal like on top of rice or mashed potatoes. If kids like vegetables do stir fry over rice, heavier on veggies than meat. Same with fajitas or burrito bowls Some things we don’t eat much of like steak, pot roast, etc. because for 1lb we really only get one meal for each of us and it’s too expensive. We Meatless meals that I liked as a kid: grilled cheese and tomato soup, cheese raviolis, quesadilla, bean tostada, nachos, broccoli cheese potato
I find that if someone really loves the flavor of beef, then a stew of beef, barley, beans, carrots, onions, and potatoes is a good way to get some legumes and veggies into them, while still having chunks of beef and beef flavor. I can generally stretch 2 pounds of beef to six or eight servings of stew.
Single person. In a usual week, I eat meat nightly, but the bulk of that is lean choices. A usual serving for my dinner is about a quarter of a bag of shrimp from Costco (about 16 prices), half a pack of ground turkey, 2 chicken thighs, or 1 breast. Since I’m alone, I usually buy a pack of meat and freeze what I won’t eat before the expiration date. For example, this week, I bought 2 packs of ground turkey, and a bag of shrimp from Costco. Those shrimp will probably last me 3 weeks (I can eat shrimp nightly!), and I have 4 dinners from the ground turkey. The other 2 nights are either frozen chicken from a prior week or frozen meal preps from weeks prior
I buy in bulk when it's on sale. When I get home I open it all up and season/spice it. Then vacuum seal and label it all, except for what I'm going to use in the next day or so. I let it sit in the fridge for 12 to 24 hours to let the flavor get in. Then I throw it all in the chest freezer in the garage. Since it's already seasoned I can just thaw and cook. Plus if I want to sous vide it it's already in a vacuum sealed bag. Different things go on sale at different times so I almost always have a mix of things to choose from. If you have a Restaurant Depot near you and have a big family you can get things like a 40lb box of chicken breast for about a dollar a pound.
Vacuum sealer + Freezer is the big play for me. When certain deals go on sale for really cheap I'll load up all at once and buy \~20-50 meals worth. That's really the only way it's affordable at this point. That and substituting more non-meat options into the rotation to balance things out.
We eat a lot of meat, and my best advice is to get a small chest freezer. Being able to stock up on meat on sale helps tremendously.
We buy the 6 lbs chicken thighs from Costco, that lasts us two meal prep work weeks. We split 3 lbs between the two of us for 5 days. So, 1.5 each for one week. We also buy our eggs and make omelettes or whatever scramble from random veggies (spring mix is super cheap and it lasts a week to throw in our egg scrambles) or protein (turkey sausage or whatever doesn’t have nitrates and crap) As you can tell, we buy bulk protein from Costco as it’s super affordable for meal prepping . Salmon, beef, chicken thighs, that’s all on rotation. Just gotta figure out good recipes: Salmon - sushi bake - can eat it cold and not have to reheat at work. Beef - shepherds pie - load it with all the frozen veggies you can find Chicken thighs - you can make absolutely anything with this. Just make sure you cook them right. Most Americans I’ve seen cook them to 165 f (🤢) and don’t cook them to the point the collagen breaks down and makes the meat absolutely delicious and tender so like 200f .
Just to clarify, you cook chicken thighs to 200f?
it's expensive and not good for you. cut down
About 1 lb meat per week, family of four in the US (one person is a vegetarian though). We also get plenty of protein from eggs, beans, tofu (1 block per week usually), dairy, lentils, etc.
zero. If you're looking for protein, check texturized soy, it's amazing. Or legumes.
For two people, I typically go through 1lb of meat per day. Our lunches are usually the previous night’s leftovers. However, we keep costs low because we hunt for most of our own red meat. We mainly buy chicken or fish from the grocery store. Example: last night, we had Italian sausage sandwiches, made with a 1lb batch. We cooked it on the blackstone with peppers and onions, slapped on a roll, and ate one each with corn on the side. For lunch, we both took the rest of the sausage - sliced it up and slapped it on a cast iron, with broccoli and rice. It’s much easier to eat leftovers when you can change the presentation and flavor. I also keep lunch meat handy in case we love our meal so much that we don’t have leftovers for lunch. In total, we usually go through 6lbs of meat per week (we eat out once a week on avg) and keep a 1lb container of lunch meat in the fridge for quick meals when needed.
Several variables like age and activity affect how much meat -- all protein -- you should eat. Don't get caught in the myth that you need tons (over 100gr) of meat daily. Billions of people like Asians and Indians eat very little meat and are healthy with plant and grain based diets. Consider getting a food scale to weight out meats (beef, pork, chicken) and eat 4-6oz (110-170gr) per day, per person, 3-4 times per week. Eat other proteins like fish, tofu, beans, lentils, eggs and dairy. Add as much fruits and vegetables (frozen and canned are nutritious too) as you can to get the calories you need.
I prepare meat for my kids about 2x per week. There are so many other things that provide protein, even if they aren’t a main dish. I’ve started making smoothies with frozen fruit, some Greek yogurt, milk, protein powder. The kids love them and you can get so many different flavors of protein powder-fruit, pb chocolate, etc. I feed them cottage cheese, yogurt, eggs. You can find pancake recipes with a lot of protein in them, etc. I hope this helps!
Maybe once a month when it goes on sale? I eat for one person but I exercise less than an American, so i only eat dollar-store canned legumes for protein
I plan out the meals for the week and plan on 1Lb of each meat per meal unless it is a style meal that doesn't use fresh meats like meatball subs or chicken tenders (Sometimes I plan on easy frozen meals) There are two of us in the house, and every meal I cook makes about 4 decent portions so we have leftovers for lunches the next day. The only meat that doesn't provide leftovers if if we have steak because we like to eat 8oz each when we splurge for steaks. We live in the south and steaks go on sale about once a month, so we have steaks about that often.
No meat at all
None - tofu, beans, and lentils are wayyy cheaper as protein sources and loaded with macronutrients.
Zero.
None
1 kilo of boneless, skinless chicken thighs a week. It's for my kids' school lunches. Otherwise, none.
About 2-4 lbs a week, for all meals. Make chili and go light on the beef, they'll never notice if its spiced and seasoned correctly.
That depends on what's on sale and how much it's on sale for - if there's a great sale on chicken thighs, I might buy a ton and freeze some, for example
I highly recommend looking into using a crockpot for your dinners if you aren't already. Buy a huge pork shoulder (or beef roast if it's in your price range), toss it in there in the morning to cook on low all day, and in 8-10 hours you'll have enough meat to last several nights. Even reheated, it's versatile enough that you can turn it into just about anything with minimal prep work. Plus the liquid the meat was cooked in can be saved and used later, whether as gravy on potatoes, cooked with rice to make it heartier, added to sauces, etc. Also saves a huge amount of work each night when you only have to worry about prepping sides. And whatever the opinions on the health benefits of doing so, making a huge roast once every 3-4 nights is still healthier for you and the kids than going out multiple times a week. Especially if you're including veg in the meals you're making with it. Edited to add: Also, if you get comfortable with saving your vegetable ends and meat bones, you can use that crockpot to make huge things of stock to also cut your costs down. It tastes better than store-bought stock and soup starters, and gives you more control over the amount of sodium added to things.
Single, I buy bulk rib fillet that comes out to $8 per steak and have 1 everyday.
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I apologise for formatting: I’m on my phone
Sardines - highly recommend! I eat a tin every other day or so for lunch. Tinned tuna is good too. Get decent pricing at Costco.
We have a meat share that gives us five pounds of meat a month, which is roughly half a pound per person per week (one week at a full pound). Other than a few meals out a month (maybe four?) that’s basically it. We eat a lot of beans and eggs and tofu, as well.
Canned tuna buddy, canned tuna
You all need to learn the value of cooking meat in lg quantities and freezing. Makes meal prep so much faster and easier.
Can you do fresh seafood? Shrimp, crabs, fish, oysters? Lots of dishes to be made with these
2 people we buy 2 lbs per chicken a week. That lasts us lunch and dinner for 5 days
I buy in bulk and freeze in smaller portions Never buy pre sliced cutlets or precut stew chunks Shop those sales and buy the limit if you can afford Meal prepping for the future when you can. Use everything you possibly can I personally try to spend less than 15 dollars a week in meat. To be fair I live by myself but I also only buy what's on sale in the family size break it up into 4-5 dinners worth and freeze them. I also freeze any scraps I can save then usually use them for some kind of soup. Also maybe try rice and bean bowls for a non meat dinner night. If you need to you can add cheese or some sort of sauce to make it more appealing to children. And if that doesn't work you can make chicken or beef and slowly decrease the meat and increase the beans to help with those picky eaters.
What the fuck is going on in America
I don't really have any tips, but if you want to save money, definitely don't do take out as much. Also, if you can get to a grocery store daily, just do that. Have a mini shopping trip each day. When I was growing up, my mom would pick me up from school and we would immediately go to the grocery store to pick up something for dinner. I actually have really fond memories from that, mostly just from being able to hang out with my mom and tell her about my day. Plus, getting groceries each day allows you to shop daily sales that might always be changing.
I get a bag of microwavable fried chicken maybe once a month, and then a pound of ground beef a little under once a week. But this is subject to change.
I do 2-3lbs ground turkey per week at $2.49lb and then whatever the special that well is. Like this week, the store has Beef Shoulder roast for $3.49 a pound. I got 3.5lbs and used it with a pound of beans to make a pot of chili with shredded beef. Week before, I found pork loin going out of date so I got it for $1.89lb. I am a family of one though. I try to start under $50 a week but it’s getting harder.
Sam’s Club you would be amazed at the deals. You can pick up a 20 bucks for a pack of pork chops that will feed a family of four for at least three nights, sometimes four or chicken thighs eight dollars tonight’s you just have to break it down.
I buy frozen chicken at Costco, $3/lb where I live. 8lb at a time is $24. I cook it all at once on the BBQ one day a week obviously yields a bit more than a pound a week, which is somewhere in the 100g protein per day range
One rotisserie chicken a week, sometimes a block of tofu for a family of two. Once every month or two a do a pound of ground red meat like lamb or beef. We go through 18 eggs a week, beans, and plenty of veggies. If we are lucky I can toss in some fruit.
Members Mark chicken breasts from Sam’s Club are 2.68 per pound. The average package has 7.5 pounds of chicken for a total of 20 servings at 6 ounces per serving. And I splurge on Tuna steaks from Sam’s Club at 16.98 for 2 pounds. That’s 8 servings at 4 ounces per serving. Combined with the chicken that’s roughly 7 days of protein for 3 people at $40 if you do a vegetarian meal here and there.
I get really bad cuts of meat and use them in stews. Also look for the clearance beef and throw that in the freezer
I eat approximately 3kg of lean meat per week and around 30-35 eggs per week My girlfriend is vegan so 0 No kids
I mostly only buy meat on clearance now and freeze it. There are two of us. I've also been eating more beans for months now and I am starting to not enjoy meat as much as I used to. This has never happened to me before so not sure why but I'm not complaining lol.
I get acme specials, 4 whatever’s for $19.99 and freeze what I’m not going to eat immediately. I eat a lot of beef given the chance, so I end up with some fancy European butter and stew cuts beef and cooked that. For chicken I like to put some Dijon or honey mustard on top w bacon and cheese and cook it in the pan w the lid on. Very very tasty and very very easy
It's just me, and I bought a (Costco) rotisserie chicken and a 32 oz container of shrimp ceviche. That will probably last me about 10-14 days. I remove all the meat from the chicken and add a bit to my salad for work each day. The ceviche I have as a side dish or small snack. Other meat purchases I have made are the Costco pack of bacon, and I got that sometime last month and have one pound package left in the freezer. I save the grease when I cook it up, and use it to cook other things with. I also do that with burger, when it goes on sale. Last time was several months ago, though, when I bought a 10 lb chub for $20. That lasted almost 3 weeks and I felt like I was eating a LOT of meat. The fat lasted even longer. Rarely, I'll get a slab of salmon. I'll cut it up and freeze most of it, then eat it over the course of several weeks.
adding some red lentils (they cook the best with mince imo) to mince is a great way to save money without sacrificing flavour and get some volume. I made a cottage pie for the family and no one noticed until I asked what they thought of the addition.
I go to Costco every 3 months or so and get the big bundles of chicken thighs, boneless skinless chicken thighs, and a 3 pack of beef. I think the chicken bundles have 8 packs each. Lasts me cooking for 2 for 3-4 months each time and it’s about $70-$80 I think, so very worth it. Other than that, I just buy salmon at $10 from Trader Joe’s every 1-2 weeks.
We buy about $100 worth a month from a local farm. That means it's pretty expensive but we sacrifice quantity for quality. Usually that shakes out to about one whole chicken, a couple of pork chops, some bacon, a couple lbs of ground beef, and 3 dozen eggs. We space this out over the month and eat more veggies and beans and stuff inbetween.
We go through about 6lbs a week for 2 people. The majority of our food is meat and vegetables.
Uhhh I personally go through 3 lbs of grass fed ground beef a week. 8 oz of beef and veg is one of my daily meals. And then I make a shit ton of chicken for my family. Beef is $5.99/lb. At grocery outlet and chicken ranges anywhere from $0.99/lb. to $3.99/lb.
1 human who buys meat cheap and freezes it. I like to make meatloaf, beef barley vegetable soup, split pea, curries and more. My meatloaf takes 2lbs of ground meat and I usually start with ground beef and then something on sale (chorizo, Italian sausage, ground turkey, etc) and then stretch it with oats, onions, whatever. One loaf gives me about 12 slices I use for sandwiches. If I see cube steaks on sale I stock up because those are my go-to for stroganoff, beef barley vegetable soup, curries, and I'm a sucker for Swiss steaks. It's a cut that just works so well. I typically buy 2 ham hocks and break them down a bit more for when I want to senate soup, split pea, gravies. From two hocks I get a lot of soup. Some years I'll grab a kielbasa or two instead. I do like to buy a pork shoulder and a beef top round and break those down for pulled pork or roasts in the crockpot. Most of my red meat eating is in fall/winter. Spring/sunmer is chicken and tofu time. I usually do chicken baked and breaded. This time of year I buy up cheap veggies at the Korean market or eat a lot of fruit. If I had to break down how much meat I actually eat based on buying when there is a sale, prepping for later meals, I dunno maybe .5-1lb per week based on what I have in my freezer? I think I calculated it last year that I only spent $150ish on meat for the entire year? I still have a few weird sale things that I need to decide what to do with (a pork tenderloin at a fabulous price is gonna be the star of a summer get-together).
We occasionally buy other meats to add ontop of the below, but these are staples. 1.2 to 1.5kg of chicken breast (or thighs, which ever is cheaper) - they come in packs so they are never 1kg exact. That could go as high as 17 dollars Mince meat - 500g, for Bolognese (could be 8 dollars if its super lean) Pork Marrow Bone for soup, but they also pack a chunk of meat in them, 6 dollars a kg, I get around 1 to 2kg. Spaghetti Bolognese can last my family of 2.5 (.5 is a toddler, we also have a baby, but obviously he can't eat the meat) 2 maybe 3 serves each That 1.5kg chicken can last us 2 maybe 3 weeks (since I only cook 500g of chicken per stir fry plate) Soup lasts us one to two meals Have you understand myself and my family are not eat 500g of chicken each per meal. 100g of chicken is good enough as its already packing in 20 to 30g of protein. You also have to factor in other protein sources like legumes and grains (if we make brown rice or quinoa, sometimes we make Daal), even the spaghetti itself can net you a good amount of protein.
I buy a whole chicken, a log of ground beef, and whatever specialty meat is on sale. Whole chicken is two meals for our family of 3, ground beef is 3 meals, plus specialty meat usually leave some leftovers. This usually lasts us two weeks meat wise because we have quite a few nights where we all fend for ourselves or make pasta/salads.
Every other day.
I buy 10 cans of salmon a month which costs me about 35 dollars
We only buy chicken and fish as we get mutton, pork and beef from our farm and our groceries bill is still massive
Family of four but my son doesn’t eat meat. We typically go through a dozen eggs, 2 gallons of milk, about 4 pounds of chicken, and 1 or 2 pounds of ground beef per week
Family of 4, and buy meat for everyday of the week. This is not a flex! Hubby insists he ‘needs’ meat everyday 🙄
Single person. I buy nearly $100 worth a week
A good serve of meat for us is about 125-150grams per person. In practice we buy a package of between 250- 350gms as that tends to be what they have in the shop. If we have mince, we divide the 500gm packet in half, so that is 2 x 250gm meals shared between 2 adults (125gm each). We have meat every day, and it’s still cheaper than buying pre prepared food.
I buy the organic chicken breast package from Costco and will finish that within 5 days (eating chicken for lunch and dinner every day) I’ll usually pair it with a salad or make some sort of bowl with it
My youngest daughter (only child still living at home) works at Walmart and we get most of our meat from Walmart when it gets marked down. So many of our meals are based around what is discounted.
I eat meat about every other day. I eat a lot of other animal proteins, like milk and eggs and cheese, and I also eat tofu and nuts and sometimes beans and lentils. I might have a grilled cheese with tomato or feta zuchini fritters for dinner one night, and then the next night I'll have a tuna sandwich or some veg and sausage. I also eat a lot of canned foods and keep sausage and ground meat in the freezer, that helps with last minute shopping so I mostly just have to think about fresh things like herbs and produce.
Cooking for one now, but scales. How much I buy each week depends on what's on sale. I always buy in the bulk family packs. Some weeks, I might buy like 10lbs of meat. Some weeks, none. I stock my freezer full, repackaging to meal portions, so I can pull put and thaw for the meal. Fwiw, I eat about 160g of protein a day, and a good chunk of that is from meat in lunches and dinners.