If you don't mind frozen, the skinless tenderloins and chicken breasts that come in 3lb zipper bags are another budget stretcher. I watch for them to go on sale at 2 fo $9 (or less) and stock up. They are perfect for bentos, grilled chicken salad, crock pot chicken and rice, and oven fried chicken. I like them because they can be used a few at a time or all at once, too.
How to Pinch Your Poultry Pennies
Photo: Adactio
Shopping the sales, but still need to take the grocery budget to the next level? Figured out that poultry is cheap, but want it to be even cheaper? I've got your back. Following are several penny pinching poultry strategies, including how to feed four to six people from a single chicken breast.
Poultry is a penny pincher's dream. It's also yummy, widely popular and readily available throughout the world. It's also incredibly versatile. Here are some of the ways I put to work in our house.
Chop and dice.
I do this with boneless, skinless chicken and routinely am able to come up with 4-6 servings from a single breast. Some of the ways I stretch it? Stir fry over rice, lo mein, fajitas (you need thin strips for that one), chicken pot pie, tacos, chicken – pesto pizza, southwestern soup, etc. The more thoroughly you dice, the further it will stretch. Notice I didn't say “cube” the chicken. It's all about flavor and a more balanced intake of protein.
Search out some discount meat sources.
With as often as the ten pound bags of chicken leg quarters, split bone-in breasts and full roasters go on sale, this is more of an issue when it comes to the boneless and skinless breasts, tenders and thighs. I have noticed at one of the warehouse stores we have a membership to consistently carries these for as low as the regular grocery chains have been selling the bone in varieties for. If you stretch the servings in ways that don't require an entire breast per person, you can still save some money (and stress) this way.
Creatively extend your rotisserie purchases.
The best deal I've seen on these is also at the warehouse stores. Sam's sells the fully cooked rotisserie birds for only fifty cents more than the raw roasters cost, at least at the few I've checked. If you've had a full day shopping, and that extra fifty cents will save you oven energy (not to mention skipping a take out meal), I say go for it. We've already discussed this as a way to save some sanity on days we are out and about. A pot of basmati rice and a three minute sauté of some skinny French green beans in olive oil and garlic and we've got a nice sit down dinner for less aggravation than standing in line at Boston Market. As much as I like to try new things, a simple, traditional roast chicken dinner is still one of my all time faves. Plus you can get an extra meal the next day, for example sliced chicken salad, sandwiches or chicken and cheese quesadillas. Putting the leftovers in a crock pot with broth and veggies to serve with soup garnishes is another affordable way to go. We also go the extra mile and make our own stock, but I'll get to that in a bit.
Stretch it out with another filler.
The two that come most quickly to mind are TVP and refried beans. Think chicken and bean burritos or a TVP – chicken combo in such recipes as chicken and dumplings. You can also stretch the meat further by using several of the strategies listed in the chicken leg quarters link above, or consider chicken veggie kabobs as a fun grilling option.
Go for the stock options.
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Whenever we finish a roast chicken dinner or have de-boned chicken leg quarters in abundance, we use the bones that nobody has eaten off of and simmer them with some leftover celery ends, onion bits and a touch of sage. Then we strain out the the bone bits and let the liquid cool, which lets the fat rise to the top for easy skimming. As a hack, we ladle most of the liquid into freezable ice cube trays for later use and save enough for soup that night, since we have already got the base in the slow cooker. If doing all that (particularly on an exhausting rotisserie option day) is too much in one setting, we often start a large bag or empty container of the leg bones and body cavities for the freezer. On a day when I have the time, I do it. It really takes the pressure off that way.
Regular and seasonal sales.
In addition to all of the chicken sales, it really helps to keep an eye out for seasonal markdowns on a bird many people will be shopping for this month, turkey. Any time now, it will seriously start going for a song. It also drops in price occasionally during the summer. Stock up for the freezer and always be prepared to feed a large crowd on the cheap. While the oil free, infrared turkey fryers are more than a little cha-ching, we are keeping our eyes peeled for sales. Why? Because we see this as an opportunity to use turkey as a crowd pleaser during a time of the year many people wouldn't consider doing so: summer. If my house doesn't have to heat up with an oven or large counter roaster (my answer to not being able to dish out for a double wall oven yet in my adult life), I'm more than happy to whip up the traditional picnic sides and have people over for a back yard gathering.
Explore the world of bone-in breast.
For many folks I know, this is just unheard of. But if you are a real heavy-on-the-meat, lots of potatoes on the side person, this is a way to enjoy it while spending less.
Creative cutting.
While I have de-boned breast meat before, it is not my idea of a good time. And I know some people go the extra mile and cut up and de-bone entire fryers to save a buck. While I certainly would if I had to, I'd rather not. A couple of things I wouldn't mind incorporating? Cutting leg quarters into thighs and legs. This would allow for a light breading and oven frying of the drumsticks, which are almost always kid pleasers. It would also separate the thighs for other recipes. All with one single cut per quarter. Not too much stress and no de-boning required. Also, the butterfly technique looks like something I wouldn't mind doing from time to time, and it makes for a way shorter cooking time in the oven. Here's an instructional video from Bon Appetit, and another more detailed one from You Tube. Other cool ideas for butterfly-cut chicken are cutting into halves to roast separately, or tossing them on the grill for an affordable way to enjoy non-boneless chicken in the summer. The whole chickens tend to go on sale quite a bit and while the price is similar to what thighs go for, you actually end up with some lower fat breast meat out of the deal.
These are my top picks. If you have another hidden gem of poultry pinching wisdom or a great budget recipe, please share below.
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You know, I love those too. Especially because they are individually frozen, as you say. It really helps you customize your consumption without having to break down a whole family pack in advance.
One low cost turkey purchase are turkey tails. I just bake them in the oven and eat them for lunch over a few days. Not terribly expensive, and great flavor.
I can honestly say I've never heard of those. Where does one get them? Or are they something you request from the butcher?
turkey tails are available by just asking your butcher. They are yummy but high in fat (thus the incredible taste). A great treat but not the healthiest thing in the world.
If you have one of the large oval crock pots you can toss a chicken into the pot, put some spices on top and just let it roast all day.
We stock up on turkeys this time of year also. Some of the stores run the free turkey if you buy $50 of groceries. Turkeys are also a bit easier to butcher up than a chicken. About the same amount of time but you yield more meat.
If you like the Boston Market sweet-tasting cornbread to go with your chicken, here's how to make it: Take a package of Jiffy yellow cake mix (the kind that makes one layer) and mix according to directions. Now add a package of Jiffy cornmeal muffin mix and mix that according to directions in the cake batter. Now pour into pans and bake.
You know, I usually make the regular cornbread from a homemade bulk mix. However, for an affordable restaurant knock off your tip sounds phenomenal!!! I think I'll try that the next time we have company.
To save money, I learned how to bone chicken breasts (buy family packs on sale, divide into meal portions and freeze).
Initial investments that make it easier: a boning knife, a colored cutting board to use exclusively for this purpose (and that fits in the dishwasher), and a knife sharpener (but you already have this, right?). Admittedly a little icky, it's still way cheaper than purchasing boned breasts. I freeze the raw bones, then make stock with the accumulated bones and some tired celery, weary carrots, and fatigued onions. Then I *very carefully* sift out the bones and save the cooked meat and vegetables to supplement my little dog's food.
Great ideas.
We can get them for $.99/lb that way. They're easy to roast or grill (yum) whole. Sometimes we buy a two pack of 3-lb birds, which cook more quickly. We cut up one and freeze it, and roast the other. SO much cheaper than buying skinless boneless pieces, and just as delicious. It takes about 1-1/2 hours for a 5-lb. bird and about an our for the 3-lbers.
(I don't much like cutting up the chix, but Mr. Poorhouse doesn't mind, so we're golden.)
Instead of buying pre-cut-up chickens you can take whole ones to the butcher counter and let them have the mess of cutting them up. We also have bought 2 or 3 cut up chickens and then separated the different parts ourselves when we got home before freezing those we weren't going to use within the next few days.
My favorite new discovery is that the pressure cooker does wonderful things for chicken. Dump in a package of parts, dump on some marinade (Drew's smoky tomato is our current fave, as it's got the tomatoey smokiness of BBQ sauce without all the sugar, gluten, casein or soy). Let sit for 1/2 hour, put on lid, heat, pressure 5 minutes, drop pressure, DONE! Tender and juicy, not overcooked and FAST!
I've also done a whole chicken and brown rice at the same time (1/2 hour at pressure)--YUM!
Our best use for those bone-in breasts is cacciatore: put breasts in deep skillet, dump your choice of spaghetti sauce over them, cover and cook over medium heat until chicken is done. Serve over pasta/rice/potatoes and debone as you eat.
Turkeys can also be cooked on the grill with the aid of a beer can. No "oil free, infrared turkey fryers" needed. We do this for our family's 4th of July BBQ - cheaper than hamburgers.
I routinely stretch a single whole chicken into four plus meals...I first put the chicken in the crockpot with a carrot, onion and celery in the cavity, cook for 8 hours. We eat from this, then we pull the meat off the bones (well, it falls off). From the "leftover" meat we can get at least two more stretched meals as above (we also like stuffed shells with broccoli and white sauce). I also toss the carcass into a big pot of boiling water. I get chicken stock, and freeze half of it and make the rest into a vat of chicken noodle or chicken dumpling soup.
I heard someone refer to this method of stretching as "rubber chicken"...because it keeps coming back, meal after meal :)
