Anyone else buying cheaper meat?

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Things like chicken thigh, Turkey mince and gammon?

Used to be chicken breast and steak but cutting back and trying to think outside the box.

Any hints and tips on best way to cook gammon? Thinking slow cooker as apparently they are also cheap to run. But do I just plonk it in and turn it on?

Any other inventive cheap meat options?

I wouldn’t call any of those cheap meat to be honest. Steak has always been an expensive meat however.

Yeah me, I always put gammon in the slow cooker with a bit of water

No cheap, cheaper.

Chicken thigh is cheaper than breast.

Joint of gammon is than a joint of beef.

Etc etc

What about 5 days veggie and then buy the more expensive meat for 2 days?
Or, alternatively, Tesco plant chef sausages are only £1.70 for 6, and they're really nice! (I'm not veggie, just cutting down on meat to save costs!). Do you have a freezer? Batch cooking is often cost effective, I cook up a huge batch of spag bol sauce, which I portion up and freeze. Then I use for lasagnes, spal bol, chilli etc as and when I need it

With the slow cooker, I always add the meat straight in. Some might say to brown off the mince first, but I don't. There's some great recipes on BBC good food website for slow cooker ideas 🙂

Even the 'cheap' meats are soaring in price now!
Personally I prefer grilled gammon steaks over a gammon joint as I remember my mum boiling it for hours before putting it in the oven as it was so salty.
Shoulder of pork is great in the slow cooker, with some spices, a little orange juice, some honey and some bbq sauce. then drain some of the liquid off before serving, or add some new potatoes which soak up some of the liquid. Then shred the meat and add more bbq sauce.
Can use for pulled pork, tacos, salad etc.

I often use chicken thighs in place of breast because it tastes better. Mince is another cheaper way to buy meat so Thai style curries as well as bolagnaise/chilli?

Gammon in the slow cooker is amazing. Google campfire stew, BBQ pulled gammon, or if you just want it for with a roast etc, its really nice in some chicken stock/veg stock, or really good in full sugar cheap coke/cola! It just shreds apart!

Or if you cook it, leave it to cool overnight it slices lovely.

Good luck!

I bought Asda's £2 steak the other day. Chewy but definitely ok if you want budget meat.

I think invariably changes will be made as your average shopper just won’t be able to buy meat that’s do much more expensive than it once was. Luckily I really enjoy fatty cuts of meat and im
low carb so I can incorporate it into my diet without angst.

I’ve certainly noticed lots of processed foods coming out that are living meat with vegetables in sausages/burgers etc.

OH doesn't like the cheaper cuts like meat on the bone or fatty cuts, so we haven't swapped.

I've never cooked gammon, but I do have a slow cooker. You basically just prepare the food and chuck it in. The trick is to not add too much liquid, as it doesn't evaporate and you don't want whatever you are cooking to be swimming in liquid.

We have just cut down on meat, make more veggie meals having lentils or chickpeas as protein instead.

I used to rather like mutton for this, although I think it has become a bit fashionable again recently as it’s gone up in price. (Like everything I suppose.)

Availability will vary, and it can be an acquired taste, but goat can be very good, especially in stews and curries (where you’d normally use lamb or beef). Generally not expensive. It tastes a bit like lamb but has a stronger, sometimes gamier flavour. You generally have to slow cook/roast it because it’s less tender than lamb.

With chicken, check some of the online butchers who deliver by courier. Some of them do bulk packs of chicken breast (or thigh, or sausages, or whatever really) and provided you’ve got the freezer space to keep 48 chicken breasts it’s usually cheaper (per unit) than the supermarket. Better quality/higher welfare, too.

Steaks — a bit of a stretch and this is a personal taste thing, but I buy tuna steaks now instead of beef. They’re still relatively expensive but by weight cheaper than beef. And you can do lots of tasty things with a good tuna steak.

No, because I am vegan.

I also find that veggie batch meals tend to keep longer - could this be an option?

I have a ninja foodi multicooker and I cook the meat in there as it's done so much quicker. A 1kg gammon joint can be pressure cooked in 22 minutes and then air crisped a bit if you wanted.
I have started to go back to stuff like mince and beef which aren't lean as they are cheaper.
I like game season as stuff like partridges and pheasants are sold quite cheaply around here.

Pork shoulder steaks are great. They are very tender either in a casserole or marinated with the dry spice rubs. Both the Chinese 5 spice and spicy Jamaican ones go great with pork.

I’ll second pork shoulder steaks, & pork shoulder. I’ve enjoyed Sainsbury lamb breast, it’s greasy but if cooked right the cracking is heavenly. Pork mince makes a lovely meat loaf. Tesco do frozen chicken breast cheap. No need to go veggie 5 out of 7 🥹 but for the odd meal. There’s always tuna & pasta, or roe, sardines, pilchards, & mackerel. They’re really cheap & make a good meal, if you like them.

Don't eat dead animals? Solved the problem for you there and also helped the animals and the planet

I am, and I wish we could get really cheap meat like mutton. Where can I buy that? I bet it's amazing in stews and curries.

The only one I’m buying is chicken thighs but I’ve always bought them. I hate all the other meats you’ve mentioned. We’ve continued buying chicken breasts, rib eye steak, 5% fat mince, beef joint (occasionally) and chickens to roast.

We always eat "unfashionable" cuts (grew up outside of UK). You can cook amazing dishes with cheaper cuts which need stewing.
I seond mutton as well. Lamb shoulder can be bought cheap and it's lovely. Beef leg, the super tough part is great for things like gulash.

My kids love a tin of corned beef (mashed&fried) with rice.
They sometimes just have hot dogs for tea - it doesn’t cost much over a £1 for a tin & buns + we get a night off cooking 😉
As for cheap fresh meat- WINGS !

We got ours in butcher in a back if asian supermarket (they have usually lots of interesting meat including hard chicken, various offal etc)

Yes to chicken thighs and occasionally turkey mine but chicken thighs have gone up in price a lot. They were £1.79 but now £2.29, still cheaper than breast though.
I do cook quite a few news in the slow cooker to save on our oven cost and also cause I can make a lot more to keep for another day.
We have also cut down on our meat meals so now having a few days veggie/vegan to cut down on our meat costs

Mutton isn’t cheap is it? . It takes longer to grow than lamb and is harder to find so usually is more expensive. Chicken thighs are the desirable bit of the chicken in most parts of the world because it has more flavour so I’d guess people will adapt and then not like breast.

What cut is the 2pound steak?