Here are our favorite Budget Friendly Meat Recipes to help you get a healthy dinner on the table in 2025. These recipes use cost-effective cuts of meat and unprocessed ingredients to create quick, tasty meals that everyone will love.
Good Meat is Not Cheap
Be cautious when you see very low-priced meat at the store, as it’s often marked down to sell just before it expires.
The focus today is on managing meat costs at your local grocery store.
The price of steak has increased a lot lately, and it's not surprising that seeing a steak priced at $40.00 can be shocking. Meat prices have nearly doubled since before the pandemic.
While many factors are pushing meat prices higher, the truth is that meat remains a staple in most households—and going vegetarian simply isn’t practical for everyone.
How to Stretch Your Money at the Meat Counter
Stretching your money at the meat counter or the butcher shop involves strategic planning and smart choices.
- Ask the butcher what's on sale, as they may introduce you to something new.
- Choose economical cuts like chuck steak instead of rib steak or chicken thighs instead of chicken breasts, which are often more affordable.
- Make use of every part of the meat, including bones for broths, and save chicken livers from a few chickens to make a liver dish.
- Use smaller amounts of meat in dishes like soups, stews, and pasta sauces to enhance flavor without it being the main ingredient. Incorporate meat into stews, casseroles, or stir-fries, and use every part, including bones, for broths.
- Purchase bulk ground meat to make your own burger patties, whether you're making beef, chicken, or turkey.
Here are our favorite budget-friendly meat recipes to help you get a healthy dinner on the table in 2024. These recipes use cost-effective cuts of meat and unprocessed ingredients to create quick, tasty meals.
Pan-Seared Chuck Steak Recipe
The grass-fed chuck steak behind the glass at Whole Foods Market is tender and flavorful. At other big grocers, chuck steak, or chuck eye, is often tough and needs to be braised in liquid for a few hours to become tender. Better yet, ask your local butcher for tender chuck steak.
Serve with garlic mashed potatoes and peas and carrots for an inexpensive steak dinner.
Low and Slow Braised Meat
Shank is from a steer’s hind leg, is often less expensive compared to premium cuts like rib eye or tenderloin. As a tougher cut of meat, it is priced lower but can be transformed into a flavorful dish through braising, which tenderizes the meat.
The slow-cooking technique involves cooking the meat in bone broth and red wine. This method not only tenderizes the meat but also enhances its rich, savory flavor, making it an excellent choice for budget-conscious meals.
Pair it with mashed potatoes or roasted red potatoes and green beans.
Instant Pot Chili
Instant Pot Beef and Bean Chili is made with lean ground beef, kidney beans, and canned tomatoes. Ground beef is "stretched" by cooking it with beans, bone broth or water, and chopped tomatoes in juice.
This dish is pure comfort food, perfect when topped with grated cheddar and red onions. Leftovers can be creatively repurposed for chili dogs, chili tacos, chili mac, or nachos.
Beef Tacos
Grass-fed beef tacos use beef from cattle raised on a grass diet, resulting in leaner meat with a richer flavor and higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants compared to grain-fed beef.
Seared Chicken Breast
Pan sear chicken breasts in a cast iron grill pan right on the stove top. By quickly searing the chicken in a hot pan, you'll have delicious juicy "grilled" chicken breasts in under an hour.
The chicken serves as a versatile option for any meal. Use it as a main course, salad topper, sandwich filling, or add it to pasta dishes, wraps, and stir-fries. It can also be sliced for tacos or used as a protein boost in burrito bowls.
Chicken Salad with Grapes
Chicken salad with grapes is a cold creamy salad with big and bright flavors. It combines the savory flavors of chicken, earthy almonds, and sweet juicy seedless grapes.
You can make this with poached boneless breasts, boneless chicken thighs, leftover rotisserie chicken, or even leftover Thanksgiving turkey!
Enjoy the salad on a bed of lettuce or as a sandwich.
Sautéed Veal Liver
Try this veal liver recipe for a nutrient-packed dinner that's tender, delicious, and inexpensive.
Veal liver, an organ meat, is not only affordable but also milder in flavor than beef liver. Give it a try, and you might be pleasantly surprised. Pairing it with caramelized onions creates a sweet contrast that complements the liver's rich flavors.
Chicken Liver is Cheaper Than Veal Liver
Chicken livers are budget-friendly, often costing less than $10 per pound for organic and even less for conventional.
Known for their mild taste, chicken livers are a versatile ingredient that easily incorporates into a variety of dishes. Their affordability and flavor make them an excellent choice for anyone seeking nutrient-rich meals without breaking the bank.
For liver recipes, see our tasty liver recipes.
Turkey Cutlets
Cutlets are thin, boneless slices of turkey breast with a mild flavor and tender texture. They cook quickly, much like chicken, making them perfect for fast weeknight dinners.
Lower priced than premium cuts of beef, turkey cutlets offer a similar protein-rich meal at a lower cost.
Deli-Style Chicken Salad
Learn how to make homemade NYC deli-style chicken salad! This easy recipe uses tender poached chicken, creamy mayonnaise, and crunchy celery and makes the perfect sandwich.
Chicken Feet Soup
Chicken Feet Soup is a flavorful and gelatinous dish made by simmering chicken feet with herbs and spices. The result is a rich, collagen-packed broth that can be used in any recipe that calls for chicken stock.
Chicken feet are inexpensive and all the little bones have tons of collagen, which is great for your bones, skin and hair!
Old-Fashioned Chicken Soup
Try Grandma's Chicken Soup, made the old-fashioned way. Ingredients include chicken or chicken parts, carrots, celery, onion, herbs, and seasonings. Nothing artificial.
Instant Pot Chicken Soup
Instant Pot Chicken Soup with rendered chicken skin is a high-protein hot soup ready in under an hour! While the soup is cooking, I cook the chicken skin on very low heat for a crispy treat to serve with the soup.
Blackened Chicken Tacos
Blackened chicken tacos combine juicy, cooked chicken with deep flavor, warm tortillas, and fresh chunky guacamole, making each bite delicious.
Beef Bone Broth
Beef bone broth is a liquid made by simmering beef bones for 3 to 12 hours.
This slow-cooking process extracts beneficial nutrients, including collagen, gelatin, and minerals, resulting in a flavorful broth.
Roasted Chicken
Did you know it costs less to buy a whole chicken than just the breasts?
This chicken has lemon, garlic, and basil, and is so full of flavor that it's certain to become your go-to meal.
Serve with Steamed Broccoli and Carrots, Roasted Broccoli, and a green salad for a healthy meal.
Cajun Dirty Rice
Every culture has inventive recipes that use small amounts of meat to make dishes more economical.
For instance, the Chinese incorporate roasted pork or shrimp into fried rice, adding flavor without using large quantities of meat.
Italians create stuffed pasta dishes like ravioli and lasagna, blending meat with tomato sauce, cheese, and pasta.
A great example is Cajun Dirty Rice, where white rice cooks with ground beef, ground pork, chicken livers, and a variety of spices.
Known for its rich, savory flavor, dirty rice is a clever way to maximize limited resources and create a tasty meal.
Summary
With rising grocery prices and economic challenges, stretching your food budget without sacrificing quality is crucial.
To make budget-friendly meals with meat, go with economical cuts like chicken thighs or chuck steak, which usually cost less than premium cuts.
Incorporate smaller amounts of meat into dishes like soups, stews, and pasta sauces. This enhances flavor while keeping meat from being the main ingredient.
Also, use every part of the meat—bones for broths and leftovers in sandwiches—to get the most out of your purchase and cut down on waste.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.