I am often asked what a good price is on meat. This is really a good question. I posted this about a year and a half ago, but found that some prices have changed.
Not all beef is created equal. There are so many different cuts and grades of meat that it is difficult to answer. Premium beef is much more expensive than most beef we find in our grocery stores. Also, think of something as simple as ground beef – the 93% lean is going to be much more expensive than the 70% . Just be careful to read your labels. You can educate yourself about beef by reading up HERE and pork HERE.
Although prices of meat generally vary by region, I typically stock up when I see meat at these prices. I do buy meat when it is not at these prices depending on my needs.
Of course, there are always other ways to save money on meats. Those are the strategies I use to get my prices even lower than this.
Remember, this is based on my area and the conditions in my region – i.e. availability of fresh meat, farms, etc. These prices are not considering bulk purchase prices (i.e. 10+ lbs). If you are buying in bulk you should try for better pricing.
Beef
- 93% Lean Ground Beef $2.25/lb
- 80% Ground Beef $1.79/lb
- Ground Chuck $1.99/lb
- London Broil $1.99/lb
- Rump Roast $2.99/lb
- Pot Roast $2.29/lb
Poultry
- Boneless Chicken Breast $1.89/lb (fresh)
- Whole Chickens $.89/lb
- Chicken Quarters $.79/lb
- Split Chicken Breast $.99/lb
- Chicken Thighs/Drumsticks $.79/lb
Pork
- Porkchops (boneless) $1.99
- Pork Tenderloin $2.99
- Pork Butt $1.49
- Pork Cased Sausage $1.19
- Porkchops (bone in) $1.59
What are your stock up prices?
Olivia says
Hi Shannon. Will there be an update on this stock up price list for 2015? Also, what is pot roast? Is it boneless chuck roast? Is the $2.29/lb pot roast price for USDA select or USDA choice? Thanks for this awesome blog! Happy new year!
FrugalCat says
Great blog, just found it. I keep my meat prices low by buying chicken thighs instead of breasts. (both regular and boneless skinless) My household also eats some “variety meats” like liver, gizzards, heart, kidney, etc. I live where there is a diverse ethnic population and also get goat and duck. When I buy beef I get very cheap cuts and marinate them overnight in a ziploc bag with pineapple juice and various seasonings (teriyaki, garlic, salsa, etc) I find the pineapple juice really tenderizes the meat due to the enzymes but it has to sit at least a few hours. Buy the six pack of little cans of pineapple juice and one can is enough for a big roast.
nyc foodie says
wow- I can’t believe this is a momma blog- I haven’t read all the comments- but what a great force it might be if all these mom’s took to Washington to fight the mess they are selling you.
80% of the food raised in foodlots takes in hormones to add to their weight gain by 20% but you are eating all estrogens and testosterone.. Estrogen is at fault for an absolute slew of breast and other cancers.. I’m so disappointed in this list.. There is so much education out there and yet we are willing to take free potatoes to eat chemical garbage.. Do you know there is also gluten in this meat..? but that’s not the full story. I urge the mom’s on this list to look futher and fight for clean pastured meats.. Your health will improve. As followers of food lists and prices, we should all have the info to fight to clean up the food industry. The european union has banned our meat because it’s so disgusting.. Ontario scientists say, if we cleaned up the food supply our exports would grow and the fiscal result will level out.. Just sharing..
Anonymous says
wow- I can’t believe this is a momma blog- I haven’t read all the comments- but what a great force it might be if all these mom’s took to Washington to fight the mess they are selling you.
80% of the food raised in foodlots takes in hormones to add to their weight gain by 20% but you are eating all estrogens and testosterone.. Estrogen is at fault for an absolute slew of breast and other cancers.. I’m so disappointed in this list.. There is so much education out there and yet we are willing to take free potatoes to eat chemical garbage.. Do you know there is also gluten in this meat..? but that’s not the full story. I urge the mom’s on this list to look futher and fight for clean pastured meats.. Your health will improve. As followers of food lists and prices, we should all have the info to fight to clean up the food industry. The european union has banned our meat because it’s so disgusting.. Ontario scientists say, if we cleaned up the food supply our exports would grow and the fiscal result will level out.. Just sharing..
Maggie says
What’s a good stock up price for Bacon?
Stacey F says
It’s almost Thanksgiving! What is the best price per pound for a whole turkey this year? I see it at Krogers for .79/lb good now through Thanksgiving, but should I hold out for another store to go lower?
Lynn says
I’ts 9/18/12, corn and other livestock feed crops have been wiped out by drought. I’m seeing the prices in Las Vegas, NV shooting up like crazy. Do you have any current guidance on what would be considered a “good price” on meats? I’m trying to start canning some as I find it on sale.
mwp says
9/19/12 I just stocked-up today on whole chickens for $.79lb and pork shoulder roasts for $1.19lb. Bone-in split chicken breasts often go on sale for $.97lb. The best price I’ve seen on ground beef (80/20 or 85/15, I forget) is $1.88lb, but I think it had a purchase limit of two or four 1lb pkgs. Without the limit, the best I’ve seen is $2.49lb. I live in Iowa and I’ve found these prices in Hyvee’s weekly flyer. I used to live in the south and Winn Dixie always had great meat sales too.
Sina says
Hi, I’ve been searching online for cheap pork butt/shoulder and this is the best price so far. What store did you shop at please? Thank you!
mwp says
I bought the pork shoulder at Hyvee for $1.19lb. It is still on sale thru Tuesday.
G says
I’d be curious to see updates on this. Those prices seem unreal compared to current (even back then) prices around here (W. MA)
Lesa says
I wish we had some of your ‘regular’ prices!! The cheapest ground beef I can find is $3.99. None of the stores in Naples, FL double coupons and Publix never marks down their meats!! Thanks for putting this together. I often wonder what people in other parts of the country are paying.
Shannon says
Lesa,
Regular Prices? You are looking at 2011 price sheet – but if you mean shelf price – yes that what beef is – around $3.99 a lb not on sale.
April says
Thanks for posting this. My stockup pricing is one area that I am lacking and need to work on. Do you have any tips for how you created and/or keep your list up to date? It would be nice to have a system that I can keep right in my coupon binder easily. I tried putting one in a plastic sheet protector, but then I am fumbling around in the store trying to pull out the sheet I actually write on. Any suggestions would be great! Thanks and have a great day!
Monica says
Thanks for the list! I notice that a local supermarket (hispanic supermarket) has stock-up prices everyweek, on different things. But their sale prices are right on to your stock up list. My question is, I’m a newbie here, how much to buy? For how long to stock up? I’ve only been following their sales for a couple weeks. This week, for example, b/s breast are $1.89 lb, drumsticks .79c a pound, pork spareribs $1.79, etc. How much to fill the freezer with these? I hope I made sense.
Shannon says
Here is what I suggest – learn their sales cycle – when you see how often things go on sale, you can then decide how much to purchase.
So if it goes on sale every four weeks, buy enough to get you thru until the next sale.
I hope that helps.
Daddio says
If you buy leg/thigh quarters you can get them for only 49-69 cents a pound. The best chicken for recipes consists of these two pieces. They are more moist than white meat and taste very good in any chicken recipe. They have enough fat to make both stock and soup. So save yourself a lot of money and buy the leg/thigh quarters.
Ashley says
South Louisiana…(not sure if these are stock up prices…these are the sales that roll around every six weeks or so…there may be cheaper prices throughout the year I’m not aware of)
Split breasts… .99
Bonless/Skinless… 1.70-1.99
Whole chicken … .49
Leg quarters… .39
Ribeye 3.99 (whole) or 4.99/lb steaks
T-Bone… 3.99
Ground beef 93/7… 2.49
(Need to pay more attention to prices on roasts…no idea what a good sale price is here)
Pork chops (bone in)… 1.39
Nichole says
Ashley,
What part of Southern Louisiana do you live in? I’m in NOLA.and I’m new to stockpiling. We have Wal-Mart, Target, Rouses, Whole Foods, Winn-Dixie, BreauxMart, and Robe’rt here, where do you shop?
QponCutie says
I’m in Philly. My buy price is pretty much $1.99 on chicken breast, ground beef, london broil. I guess that would qualify as my stock-up price, since I almost NEVER see prices lower than that.
I stock up on whole chickens at around $0.84. Pot roasts at $2.29…
Tamara says
what is a stock up price for ground turkey?
Morgan says
I live in southern Arizona and my favorite meat items to stock up on are:
Boneless chicken breast: 1.78/lb
Whole chicken fryer: .57/lb
Half pork loin: 1.88/lb
Italian sausage: 1.75/lb
Ribeye or New York Strip Steak: 3.99/lb
I wait for these prices to show up at Fry’s.
jaidee says
i live in western ny and i shop at tops. they have split chix breast for $1/lb this week, which is pretty good. also they are having a fun/strange sale: buy a chuck roast for 3.99 lb (must weigh at least 3 lbs) get a bag of carrots, a bag of white potatoes, a bag of onions, a package of brown and serve rolls, and 2L of store brand soda Free.
Ryan Fetzer says
i always thought i got good deals at Giant but I guess not :(….I have the Giant store, weis store, and wegmans in my general area i live in lewistown pa so where is th best places to buy the meats at then??
Shannon says
@Ryan Fetzer,
Ryan, I shop those exact stores , plus Genuardis.
Samantha Cedeno says
Thank you for the update! I lost our stockpile when we went on vacation. We must have blown the circuit the chest freezer was on b4 we left of course didn’t realize it until a week later. Luckily it was cold most of the week so the food wasn’t spoiled. Just don’t want to take any chances since we don’t know what the actual temp was in the freezer.
Just be careful buying mgr’s specials at Genuardi’s. Stocked up only to find out they were all bad. Really bad. My husband came home and asked what had died bad.
Lissa says
Hi from the middle northern San Diego, CA area, where we have a Vons, Ralphs & Albertsons in a 3 mile radius. Vons (aka Safeway elsewhere in the US) usually has the best prices on meats. Here’s my most recent recollection of pricing:
Chicken:
Boneless Skinless Chicken breast family value pack (about 8 pieces) $1.97/lb.
Boneless Skinless Chicken thighs family value pack (10-12 pcs/pack) $0.99/lb
Whole chicken $0.57/lb, usually 3 lbs.
Beef:
Top Round London Broil $1.97/lb
80% lean ground beef $1.47/lb
7 bone in Pot Roast $1.99/lb (new to me, crock pot bound)
Pork:
Boneless pork loin, $1.99 “sold in bag” however the butchers at my store are kind enough to break down the bag into a repackage of chops and roast.
Bottom round roast: $1.99/lb (crock pot pulled pork, carnitas)
Our store seems to be on a 4-6 week price rotation, so I usually buy value packs on sale, break down into meal sized portions, freeze, and have enough to last at least 2 months. There are 3 of us and a normal sized fridge freezer. Chicken breasts: I package as 2 per meal, they are giant-sized, and I usually cook them cubed, pounded, or slice them up after cooking to serve equally.
Ground beef: yeah 80% has a lot of fat, but I cook ours into meatballs & meat loaves, on a rack to drain the fat. I add lots of veggies so they stay moist.
My recent stock up was Jenny-O ground turkey, 1.25lbs+ 25% more for $2.50 a package, regularlly $3.99/lb.
Ralphs is usually out of stock on their sale meat so I end up with rainchecks that never come back in. But they have corned beef in stock year round.
Albertsons is the most expensive on fresh meat & veg, usually go there only for pantry items, the kids minute maid juice (right now 10/$10), and sometimes frozen foods.
We’re also fortunate to have a great Vietnamese grocery store that has great prices on fresh veg and a weekly farmers market with local produce.
Thank you for your work on the blog!
Candice Hudson says
I don’t know about ground beef since I can’t stand if it isn’t lean but I just got 9.5lbs of Split Chicken Breast for under $10 after tax. I cut out the breasts and made 3 marinades with it then cooked in the crockpot to get the remaining chicken off for a 4th meal of shredded chicken. I have never even done that before so I didn’t try to make broth but I will next time I do this. I feel I got a good deal to get 4 meals (and could have made broth) for less than $10. :)
CJ says
Meat prices seem very high in my area, at least $1 more per pound for any of the cuts of meat you listed. Occasionally I’ll find ground beef or chicken breasts marked down to $1.99/lb but not very often. I have a small freezer so usually cant store more than a few packages at a time. Most of the meat I buy is frozen talapia and chicken tenderloins from Aldi, around $5 a bag.
Stacy-Ann says
I have not noted the price per pound for poultry, meat and fish when I stock up, what I know is that, I always buy whatever is on sale. I have nticed that Target marks down their chicken very often, they slap coupons for $1 -$4 off the small trays of chicken breat, legs and thighs. Last night, I popped into Target and they had chicken legs price from $2.99 – $3.60 per pound and trays of bonelss skimless breast for $5.91 – $6.94 per tray. I got them all less $3.00, so , some trays were free and some only a few cents. I got 14 trays of chicken and a 13 lb turkey for $28; I thought that was a pretty good deal. A few months ago, I bought 13 chickens from Safeway for approxiamatelt $2.50 per chicken. I thought that was a great deal. We eat Fish and Chicken a lot, snapper is often $6.99/lb, croaker $3.99/lb. If I buy 25 lbs of chicken from the hispanic market, Boneless skinless breats is $1.99 and Thighs are $0.99. I live in MD, 20 miles north of Washington, DC.
Sabrina says
@Stacy-Ann,
I am also in MD. I would love to know where that hispanic market is you are referring to. I would love to get some meat at those prices.
Louise says
Concerning Katherine F’s discovery that her chicken breast bone-in & boneless prices are essentially the same. Each has it use. I buy boneless, clean it up, pound it flat & freeze individually for crusted chicken breasts, rolled, stuffed, etc. However, for shredded chicken (enchiladas, chicken salad, etc.) I rub olive oil on bone-in, season & roast a la Barefoot Contessa. It’s easier to prep & shred
Shannon says
@Louise,
I totally agree — with the bone in I use it for things like you said and then take the bone and meat left over to make a stock for soups.
Charlene says
at least you don’t live in FL . ground chuck was on sale for $3.99 a pound.
Amy says
I love buying meat at Giant. It doesn’t really matter what day you go. You just walk down the meat section looking for the yellow stickers. Most of the time they are marked down 50%. It always varies day to day and week to week so I’m not always buying the same cut of meat or chicken. They usually have an use by or freeze by date of 3 days. I’ve tried looking for marked down meat at my Weis, but it never looks “good.” 0.If you have a Giant nearby, give it a shot for discount meat.
Katherine F says
I just did an experiment today regarding my buy price for chicken breast. I (in expensive New England) buy boneless/skinless chicken breasts at 1.99 and split chicken breasts at .99/lb. Today I bought 20 lbs of split chicken breast, took out all the bones and skin myself and then weighed what was left: 10 lbs! So 1.99 for boneless is the SAME as .99 for split! I could not believe that I did all that nasty work when I could just wait for a sale on boneless! Oh well! Lesson learned!
Marie says
@Katherine F,
split chicken breasts do give you bones to make chicken soup though
elisabeth says
@Katherine F, I was already leaning toward this hypothesis, myself. Although I haven’t performed the experiment that you did. I never make soup or use stock for any of my cooking so it works best for me to buy boneless/skinless. Thanks so much for confirming my theory! YAH!!!
Mary C says
I live in the South MS to be exact and I have never seen Ribeye for $3.99. I hope I do soon. It’s the only steak i like.
My stock up prices are:
boneless skinless chicken breast $1.99 lb
beef roast $2.49 lb
ground chuck $1.99 lb
pork chops $1.79 lb
half pork tenderloin $1.99 lb
Raina says
Thank you so much for posting this. I track the sales, but it’s hard to know if it’s a “good deal.”
emily188 says
For all those that live in south central pa, my sister just told me she stocked up on chicken quartered legs at Karns, where its currently $0.50/lb if you buy 40 or more pounds. She got 40 lbs of meat for $20!
Linda says
I did get a great deal this past week! Chicken quarters for .39/lb.
Nicole says
I live in Mass, and my stock up price is just about 10 cents more for everything than Shannon listed! I am jealous of your pricing, but then again, I live in Mass…arggh!
Katie K says
I have some large cuts of meat in the freezer to make pot roast, but am unsure of how to thaw it out. How do you guys thaw your meat? Especially if it’s bought right near the expiration date (not enough time to let it thaw in the fridge)?
Lynette Cowper says
@Katie K, I know this is a bit late, but if you’re using a slow cooker for the roasts, you don’t even have to thaw them. Just be sure there’s at least 1 cup of warm liquid in the crock before you add the meat, *don’t* preheat it (the temp. difference between the frozen meat and hot crock can crack your liner), and cook it 2 hours longer than you would otherwise on high or 4-6 hours longer on low.
simpson says
we found the joy of football book at the tacoma safeway in University Place Tacoma.. they’ve got a ton of them… $2.00 off rancher reserve coupon and bunch other high values
Kara says
I like the BOGO meat deals at Giant in PA and usually stock up then on whatever is BOGO. You figure it is half price.
candy says
@Kara, I never buy meat at Giant…Look at the price per pound, they raise it up to almost double, so they make you think you are getting it for free….you save more money just waiting for it to go on sale normally….Pathmark has incredible sales on meat and alway excellent, I never had a bad cut of meat there….Their sale ads come in Thurs. papers…I never shop till a thurs. or I just wait for the next week…. Redners always marks down their meat too, close to expiration date..just instantly freeze it…and their 5 for $20 deals too are not a bargain…the packaging of their meats are too small if you have a family of 3 or 4 so then you have to use too packs….and the quality of their meats in those deals are not that great…also redners packages up their lunch meat and cheese ends…bargain better than paying full price…slice the ends yourself…
Sherry Walters says
Boneless Chicken Breasts – $1.99 (Weis will have a sale once or twice a year for $1.69-$1.79 so I will try to stock up then)
Pork Loin – $1.99 (I get the whole loin and most store will cut to your specifications into roasts or chops) Actually got a huge one today at Weis and once broke down got 11 meals out of it and it cost me $22.00 or $2.00 a meal.
Ground (93%) – $1.69-$1.99 I can sometimes get the lower end price at the commissary but otherwise I have to pay the higher end.
Amy says
I have found that buying in bulk from a farmer (one that raises the animals/meat the way that you want) is the way to go–healthier and supporting a local family and farm! We do the same in the summer for vegetables and some fruits, which we can and freeze for use the rest of the year. Plus, the children love to go visit the farm–for fun and learning. :-)
Harry Martin says
Great article, and I find it interesting the variation in prices. A big secret for me here in Southern California is buying chicken and pork at the Hispanic markets. Chicken leg quarters – 49-59 cents a pound. Just got ground turkey breast for $1.79 a lb. Also, just got thin cut pork chops for 99 cents a lb. (And yep, we stocked up.)
Vons (aka Safeway) has 80 percent ground beef for $1.47 per lb, so gonna stock up today on that. (I just separate into 1 lb packages with Ziploc bags)
Harry
audrey says
HEB often has their fajita-seasoned boneless chix thighs on sale for $1/lb. Also, last year they offered boneless porkloin for $1/lb (though I haven’t seen it since…)
Leighann says
We almost always buy ground turkey instead of ground beef because I can get it for so much less. Ground beef around here usually runs about $2.50/lb, but ground turkey runs about $1.85/lb (this is the butterball ground turkey, 85/15, and about every month you can get coupons from the butterball website for 75c off 1 of their products OR ground turkey, which puts this even less).
For chicken, my stock up price is 65c on legs/quarters and $2 for boneless breasts.
For beef, my stock up price is $2 for ground beef, $2.50 for london broil (which is always on b1g1 at Winn Dixie but not always at that price per lb).
My stock up price for pork chops (bone in) is $1. It is almost never this low, but one little grocery store we have down here will put it on sale about every 3 months for $1/lb, and then I clear the shelves (which makes me feel horrible, but otherwise I’m paying like $1.50/$2/lb for pork chops).
Fish, my stock up price is $3/lb. Living on the COAST you would think we could get better fish prices, but alas, we can’t.
DizzyMommy says
I have 6 people in my family (2 adults, 1 teenager, 2 kids, and a toddler) plus my brothers tend to always be here to eat and Im currently sadly feeding my alcoholic brother in law (he has to eat somehow). So because of all that I tend to hit the managers specials at the local grocery store and kroger.
Boneless chicken breast for me currently is $1.49 a lb, but 3 months ago I considered $1.99 to be the stock up price. We normally eat bone in Chicken like wings, whole fryers, legs, thighs I try to pay no more then $3-$5 a night for meat. We also eat the cheapest ground beef, My family growing up owned a cattle ranch so my grandmother taught me that you cook down the fatty meats and drain it, depending on the meat do it two or three times. When its cheap I stock up because around here you never know whats going to happen. When the 2 of the big 3 were forced to declare bankruptcy stores raised prices because so many people where on state aid… Im serious my aunt works for the companies as a price adjuster.
johnny paul says
you guys should live in the south:
3.99lb whole rib eye
Tina Seymour says
@johnny paul, i got t bones a few weeks ago for $3.99 … but when you have to feed 7 to 9 people that gets to be too expensive lol … oh and i am in the south
Leighann says
@johnny paul,
I do live in the south. Can’t get much southern than Pascagoula, Mississippi.
Amber says
Sarasota, FL
Elisabeth says
This is really interesting. I always wondered what other people pay for meat. We have 8 people in our family, and a small food budget so we mostly eat ground turkey from Aldi. :) I try to pay as close to $1/pound for meat without bones. If it’s boned chicken, then 39-49 cents/pound.
jaidee says
@Elisabeth, i never have luck with aldi meats… they want 3.29 a package (1.25 lb) for ground turkey here in ny.
Jen T says
I’m kinda scared to see that your low prices are almost the same as mine =P Lol.. I live in CA
Shannon says
@Jen T,
Are you still sick.. I live in PA – Northeast is NOT cheap.
Jen T says
@Shannon, Omg.. does your state at least double coupons anywhere? I live in the land of overpricing, but I’ve gotten boneless pork for $1.67/lb at Food 4 Less, aka Kroger. Tell me at least the housing is cheaper!
Shannon says
@Jen T,
nah right now housing in the Philly area is similar to CA. These prices are my buy prices — of course buying in bulk can lower.
Tina Seymour says
oh and anything lesst
Tina Seymour says
@Tina Seymour, oops i got a phone call when i was typing this lol … anyway anything less than $2 for a chuckroast. oh and those prices are per lb…
Tina Seymour says
$1.99 ground beef 85% lean
$1.38 country pork ribs and pork steaks
$1.48 to $1.68 pork chop
$0.39 to $0.49 for 10 lb bag chicken quarters