Cheapest type of meat?

[Maxwell1995]

I'm constructing a diet and for lunch I want to have some sort of meat in there with the eggs and rice. My dad said that the cheapest meat was probably pork and chicken, but I was looking for some second opinions just incase. I know I'm going to get some sort of lecture by somebody telling me to "just eat whatever you want," but the way I see it is the more I discipline myself now, the better off I'll be down the road, especially when I get into competing. I would actually perfer to have a diet, as I normally won't get a gram of protein per lb of bodyweight anyway. I'm a real tightwad when it comes to money, even though my family is fairly well off. I don't know why, I just am. So any help would be greatly appreciated. The higher the calories the better, but in the end I would like it to be as cheap as possible. Thanks!

[Fgenetics15]

Good idea on having a diet.

Buying anything in bulk will be cheaper. Should have a SAMs Costco or the equivalent somewhere near by. I buy chicken and steak in bulk from there. Steak can be quite expensive but I usually wait til I catch them on sale then stock up.
Also no sure where you are from or anything but cheapest thing for me to do now that its hunting season is just go kill my food. (i.e deer and hog) -

[Maxwell1995]

Good idea on having a diet.

Buying anything in bulk will be cheaper. Should have a SAMs Costco or the equivalent somewhere near by. I buy chicken and steak in bulk from there. Steak can be quite expensive but I usually wait til I catch them on sale then stock up.
Also no sure where you are from or anything but cheapest thing for me to do now that its hunting season is just go kill my food. (i.e deer and hog) -

Luckily I also hunt. Anything I kill I'm going to eat without worrying too much about the macros in it since it costs a shotgun shell to make. Thanks bro.

[SamSix]

definitely go with chicken. either lean ground meat or breast. easy to prepare and delicious

[Maxwell1995]

Will do. I'll browse the store tomorrow and see if I can't find anything. Thanks a lot bro.

[jon1995]

cheapest type of meat is ground beef chunk

[terahammer]

depends where you live i guess.
in my area, chicken breast is $12 for 2kg
lean beef is exp as. $8-10 per kg

[alecto42c]

ground beef

[SamSix]

just to clarify: chicken is leaner and generally cheaper. just an overall better option. i wouldn't suggest beef unless you can afford really lean cuts which can get pricey

[michaelhouser]

definately tuna, its like 50 cents for a 5 oz can. plus it has high protein and low fat. if your not much for fish, chicken is cheap and also high in protein.

[GoodYou]

Hey dude, I have actually worked in a meat department of a grocery store for the last 4 years while in high school/ university so the following might be pretty helpful to you.

Chicken: the cheapest chicken is always going to have a bone in it. So if you don't mind taking the bone out before you cook your chicken than buy the bone in chicken and it will be cheaper. The breast is going to be the leanest, and generally the most tasteful, but it is also the most expensive. Its mass produced so much that when it goes on special they usually mark it down a lot, so buy it in bulk then. If that is to much money for you, I would go with thighs. Theres more fat on them but it can VERY easily be taken off. Boneless things and Red Hot sauce taste exactly like boneless wings . Stay away from the skin on chicken as it will have a lot more fat- unless that is what you want.

Beef: generally anything that is labelled as a "marinating steak" is going to be the cheapest. That includes eye of round, sirloin top, inside and outside round steaks. There called marinated states because there so tough that they need to marinated first so the acidic levels in marinates can break the steak down first and make it more tender. So those steaks will be the cheapest and leanest, but also not as tender (unless marinated). I buy top sirloin steak. Get someone at the store to cut it for it you and ask for it without the cap and they will take the part that has the most fat off it. Top sirloins are very tender and pretty lean as well. Striploin, ribeye, t-bones and tenderloin are all very expensive and if your trying to save money I would stay a way from those. A trick you can sometimes use to save even more money is buy your meat as a roast and slice it yourself, roasts will cost less per pound/ KG.

Pork: generally speaking any pork is usually high in fat. I would stay away from most sausages, pork burgers, or ground pork. As far as pork chops go, centre cut chops will be the leanest- but even so there not that lean. I'm not a big pork eater so can't help you that much here.

Turkey: if your trying to save money turkey probably will not be your best bet. If however it is is on sale or something the same concept applies with turkey as chicken- avoid skin, bones are cheaper etc. TRICK: probably the best thing I have done to save money: around Thanksgiving or Christmas buy a turkey (I got a 20lb turkey for 20$), cook it and cut it into sandwich meat.

Fish: I don't eat fish (except shrimp) and seafood is an entirely different department so I am of no help.

Everything else: some things that I eat is low fat turkey bacon (love it!), shrimp (I buy it when it goes on special, about 40 large shrimp for 6$, its probably the highest protein to fat ratio meat I eat. Great snack.), extra lean ground beef (I make burgers with it for easy meals throughout the day) and pepperoni (I find when I eat pepperoni with salted crackers, the salt/fat/crunch factor eliminates my major craving for chips- you might not have that problem though)

Anyways, this is your buying meat 101. Pretty much all you need to know is here! Good eating!

[Maxwell1995]

Hey dude, I have actually worked in a meat department of a grocery store for the last 4 years while in high school/ university so the following might be pretty helpful to you.

Chicken: the cheapest chicken is always going to have a bone in it. So if you don't mind taking the bone out before you cook your chicken than buy the bone in chicken and it will be cheaper. The breast is going to be the leanest, and generally the most tasteful, but it is also the most expensive. Its mass produced so much that when it goes on special they usually mark it down a lot, so buy it in bulk then. If that is to much money for you, I would go with thighs. Theres more fat on them but it can VERY easily be taken off. Boneless things and Red Hot sauce taste exactly like boneless wings . Stay away from the skin on chicken as it will have a lot more fat- unless that is what you want.

Beef: generally anything that is labelled as a "marinating steak" is going to be the cheapest. That includes eye of round, sirloin top, inside and outside round steaks. There called marinated states because there so tough that they need to marinated first so the acidic levels in marinates can break the steak down first and make it more tender. So those steaks will be the cheapest and leanest, but also not as tender (unless marinated). I buy top sirloin steak. Get someone at the store to cut it for it you and ask for it without the cap and they will take the part that has the most fat off it. Top sirloins are very tender and pretty lean as well. Striploin, ribeye, t-bones and tenderloin are all very expensive and if your trying to save money I would stay a way from those. A trick you can sometimes use to save even more money is buy your meat as a roast and slice it yourself, roasts will cost less per pound/ KG.

Pork: generally speaking any pork is usually high in fat. I would stay away from most sausages, pork burgers, or ground pork. As far as pork chops go, centre cut chops will be the leanest- but even so there not that lean. I'm not a big pork eater so can't help you that much here.

Turkey: if your trying to save money turkey probably will not be your best bet. If however it is is on sale or something the same concept applies with turkey as chicken- avoid skin, bones are cheaper etc. TRICK: probably the best thing I have done to save money: around Thanksgiving or Christmas buy a turkey (I got a 20lb turkey for 20$), cook it and cut it into sandwich meat.

Fish: I don't eat fish (except shrimp) and seafood is an entirely different department so I am of no help.

Everything else: some things that I eat is low fat turkey bacon (love it!), shrimp (I buy it when it goes on special, about 40 large shrimp for 6$, its probably the highest protein to fat ratio meat I eat. Great snack.), extra lean ground beef (I make burgers with it for easy meals throughout the day) and pepperoni (I find when I eat pepperoni with salted crackers, the salt/fat/crunch factor eliminates my major craving for chips- you might not have that problem though)

Anyways, this is your buying meat 101. Pretty much all you need to know is here! Good eating!

Thanks a lot bro! Super informative.

[ErikTheElectric]

Buy Frozen Chicken in bulk OP, pretty cheap.

[MightyApe]

I guess dumbbells aren't cheap? lol

[Ben_the_builder]

Chicken is probably the cheapest. Tilapia and canned tuna are cheap too. If you want something higher in calories ground beef is relatively cheap if you get the fattier kinds. If you are healthy and exercising consistently (which you obviously are if you are on a mass phase) then the extra fat should not affect your health negatively. Eggs are also very cheap (I know you said meat but I was just adding that in)

[DDon1996]

Hey dude, I have actually worked in a meat department of a grocery store for the last 4 years while in high school/ university so the following might be pretty helpful to you.

Chicken: the cheapest chicken is always going to have a bone in it. So if you don't mind taking the bone out before you cook your chicken than buy the bone in chicken and it will be cheaper. The breast is going to be the leanest, and generally the most tasteful, but it is also the most expensive. Its mass produced so much that when it goes on special they usually mark it down a lot, so buy it in bulk then. If that is to much money for you, I would go with thighs. Theres more fat on them but it can VERY easily be taken off. Boneless things and Red Hot sauce taste exactly like boneless wings . Stay away from the skin on chicken as it will have a lot more fat- unless that is what you want.

Beef: generally anything that is labelled as a "marinating steak" is going to be the cheapest. That includes eye of round, sirloin top, inside and outside round steaks. There called marinated states because there so tough that they need to marinated first so the acidic levels in marinates can break the steak down first and make it more tender. So those steaks will be the cheapest and leanest, but also not as tender (unless marinated). I buy top sirloin steak. Get someone at the store to cut it for it you and ask for it without the cap and they will take the part that has the most fat off it. Top sirloins are very tender and pretty lean as well. Striploin, ribeye, t-bones and tenderloin are all very expensive and if your trying to save money I would stay a way from those. A trick you can sometimes use to save even more money is buy your meat as a roast and slice it yourself, roasts will cost less per pound/ KG.

Pork: generally speaking any pork is usually high in fat. I would stay away from most sausages, pork burgers, or ground pork. As far as pork chops go, centre cut chops will be the leanest- but even so there not that lean. I'm not a big pork eater so can't help you that much here.

Turkey: if your trying to save money turkey probably will not be your best bet. If however it is is on sale or something the same concept applies with turkey as chicken- avoid skin, bones are cheaper etc. TRICK: probably the best thing I have done to save money: around Thanksgiving or Christmas buy a turkey (I got a 20lb turkey for 20$), cook it and cut it into sandwich meat.

Fish: I don't eat fish (except shrimp) and seafood is an entirely different department so I am of no help.

Everything else: some things that I eat is low fat turkey bacon (love it!), shrimp (I buy it when it goes on special, about 40 large shrimp for 6$, its probably the highest protein to fat ratio meat I eat. Great snack.), extra lean ground beef (I make burgers with it for easy meals throughout the day) and pepperoni (I find when I eat pepperoni with salted crackers, the salt/fat/crunch factor eliminates my major craving for chips- you might not have that problem though)

Anyways, this is your buying meat 101. Pretty much all you need to know is here! Good eating!

Cosigned by someone who works at a butcher shop. White fish like tilapia, cod, sole, snapper, etc. are also very high protein, low cal, and can be found pretty cheap if you just shop around (or buy frozen). Shrimp is ridiculously expensive, if you want to make burgers I'd use a moderate fat (12-20%) GB as opposed to a extra lean GB because it doesn't hold together very well, and pepperoni is high as hell in fat/cals.

In all honesty your best bet is just choice top sirloins. Cheap, fairly low in fat, can be cooked virtually any way in the world, and one of the most flavorful cuts of meat in the world.

[arslanian1020]

Chicken breasts. If you go to the right meat stores you can often find it for as cheap as 1.50$ a pound for boneless and skinless breasts or you can get split bone-in skin chicken breasts for sometimes 70-80 something cents a pound on sale and just take the skin off after baking in the over and remove meat from bone.