Tips for saving money on chicken as suggested by the ThriftyFun community. Post your ideas below.
Get Whole Chickens And Use Every Bit
Buy whole chickens or frozen chickens instead of the pricier convenience packs. Then, make sure you use all of it. If there is a part of the chicken that you don't like as much, add it to soup. We usually use the wings and necks for this, and it helps make a delicious chicken soup for another meal with added veggies.
When buying packs of chicken breasts, I always remove the extra flap of chicken meat from the main breast. I use this in curries, etc. No one misses that extra piece and I have an ingredient for "free"
Simple: Just buy what you need. Chicken does not keep well in the fridge. I'd rather purchase a week's worth of groceries at one time and stay out of the store, but Target's chicken won't keep that long. So, I cook it first.
I actually waste less food by doing the grocery shopping twice per week.
Buy in bulk, freeze. I buy the breasts in large packages put in containers to freeze. Since it is just 3 of us I put 3 pieces in each container. When using a whole chicken I make PA Dutch Chicken Pot Pie, that's enough for 2 meals for the 3 of us.
I buy all my chicken at Costco, I get Foster Farms that are packaged up two breasts to a package, ready to be frozen. It is not any more expensive than getting a package of breasts at the grocery store and it is so convenient. They have chicken thighs like that that are even cheaper.
I also get rotisserie chickens at Costco. They are about the same price as buying the raw chicken. I often will buy two (about $10), have a chicken dinner that night, save out the leftover meat for another meal or two and make broth from the carcasses.
I also will cut up chicken very small, to stretch it in soups or other dishes. This works very well in stirfry, where you don't notice less meat as long as you have good veggies.
I buy the bags of chicken breasts. I used to cook a whole piece per person. I dont know how much was wasted this way because someone wouldnt eat the whole thing. Now I cut the chicken into bite size pieces. I make 2 to 3 meals per bag of chicken.
When I buy the rotisserie chicken at costco, I eat a meal with it & then get a large zip loc bag & clean off the rest of the chicken with my fingers cause it get most if not all the meat off. Then pour the drippings from the container it came in, over the pulled off meat. When you take it out to eat it, this makes the chicken very moist & can be eaten cold. It makes a few meals & all the work is already done. So all you have to do is take out what you need & eat, no cartilage, bones or those hunks of fat that isn't cooked or brown. It is really delicious.
Great deals on chicken. Check around for local meat markets. We have one about 15 minutes away that we can get 86 pieces (sometimes they throw in extra) for less than $40. When divided it makes close to 10-11 meals. The chicken is freshly butchered and lasts a lot longer frozen than store bought and you can really taste a difference.
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