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?

Went to the local butcher yesterday to buy mince. We’ve not had it for ages, as usually have Qorn mince these day, but I really fancied making a mince pie.

Nearly fell over when the butcher weighed it out, put in the bag, and said “that’s £16 please”
SIXTEEN pounds for some mince!!
I was too shocked to dispute it, so just paid, and hot footed it out, thinking WTF!!
Pie was nice though! 🤣

I slow cook gammon with about 250ml of water, onion and carrot pieces. Then I use the liquid to make lentil soup.

Sometimes I cook an extra large gammon and use leftovers in stirfry with sweet chilli sauce.

Anyone wishing to do this, just ask in the vegan section, they're be more than happy to help with ideas.

I never realised there is a vegan section here. Always thought it may be missing with so many vegans coming onto theeads about meat

Seconding the Asda stewing lamb packs. I make Welsh Cawl with it in the winter from an Abel and Cole recipe but I don’t use neck fillets, just the stewing lamb and then pick the meat off the bone and add the rest of the ingredients. Sometimes also do dumplings if I need it to go far. It’s awesome when it’s cold outside.
www.abelandcole.co.uk/recipes/welsh-cawl?altmenu=cucumber

We always buy 'cheap' meat tbh because it's tastier. Stuff like oxtail, pig cheeks, cheaper cuts of brisket done in the slow cooker. Oxtail chilli is amazing 😍. And I prefer chicken thigh over breast, loads more flavour. We're lucky to live in an area with traditional butchers and farm shops that don't charge the earth.

Someone pays the price for cheap meat, it's usually the farmers and the animals. I eat vegetarian meals rather than buy cheap meat. Cheap pork in particular seems grim to me. Pigs are highly intelligent animals and must suffer enormously when intensively farmed. There are so many nutritious and tasty veggie options nowadays, it's not all lentils and tofu.

Decent gammon, brisket etc is not cheap meat.

The £2 Asda steak sounds awful. Chewy, probably tiny. I'd rather get A decent steak, slice it really thin and use in pho or stir fry etc so it goes a lot further and is actually enjoyable.

I don't think of it as cheaper, but meat appropriate for the dish. I never curry chicken breast, always thighs. Some cuts of meat require slower cooking but, imo, often tastier for it. I buy what works for the meal I am preparing and what I have noticied is that meat that cost lessper kg is rising in price faster than other items. Supermarkets will cotton on to charging more for our changing tastes and budgets and will want as much of our income as they can get!

Mutton, ox tail, cheek etc. long slow cooking and it's beautiful.
I'm lucky my DP shoots. Last weekend he sourced me 3 brace of duck and I've got a venison haunch in the freezer. He supplies me with pigeon and I get rabbit and hare too. There is a fab page on fb that links people who use game with people who shoot and have excess and it's brilliant. Most of my meat is free, or incredibly cheap, wild and local.

Aldi still has decent meat at a more reasonable price.

I am rarely envious but I am shiny green now!

A cold day in hell before I feed my family turkey mince. We've always eaten chicken thighs for the flavour and so much more nutritious in a casserole with the bone stock.
We've had pigs trotters - delicious but very fiddly when you get to eventually eat them. Cheap as chips though and very nutritious.
Ox tail casseroles - absolutely delicious, the stock is fantastic for immune system, but again, cooking takes ages and fiddly at the end.

One of my favourite childhood dishes was roast stuffed lambs heart. super cheap
The meat is very lean, tastes like mild lamb and does not have a strong offal taste. Just harder to find. Not many supermarkets have them.

Can't believe no one talking about liver! Appreciate its not for all but is incredibly cheap, nutritious and quick to cook.

We already use chicken thighs and wings, mince and pork. We also have kidneys and heart.DH likes liver but I don't.

Is Turkey mince that bad? What about Turkey steaks?

I'm buying good quality, expensive meat but using it carefully. For example, I buy mince beef from our local farm shop and make a bolognaise with onions, carrots, courgettes etc (pretty much any veg I have) and then add some black beans to bulk it out. Cook it in the slow cooker for hours for maximum taste. Sometimes add kidney beans and chili too to make it into a Chili. Eat a portion and save 3 more in the freezer. A really nutritious, easy way of feeding the family for 4 days for about £10.
Also buy lots of chicken thighs as previous posters say - cheaper than breast and tastier.
A small amount of high quality meat mixed with pulses/beans is definitely the way to go I think.

Not their chicken breasts!

Love chicken legs. The meat is always so much better than breast.
A big gammon could last for two dinners, roast on Sunday, for sandwiches through the week.
Bacon pieces in a 500g or 1kg pack. Great for pasta.
Most of my sausages, pork loin steaks, steak has a yellow sticker on it. I bought a dry aged steak the other week that had a £2 sticker on it. It was originally £8.10.
Best time to shop is in the evening.

He's a good lad @Bubblebubblebah! The name of the fb page is giving up the game if you are interested. It is a really, really good resource. You generally have to pluck/skin and draw yourself but they are simple skills to learn and worth it.

Ooooooh! Thank you!!! I have done some skinning before so should be fine 😁

I’ve always preferred cheaper cuts - chicken thighs, wings, lamb neck, oxtail, pork belly, sausages are some of our favourites.

Unfortunately a lot of the other cheaper cuts are hard to find. Not much offal or bits like trotters sold in our supermarkets or even in our local butcher (no demand apparently).

I buy beef mince from our butcher, as we cannot stand the stringy stuff in supermarkets. It still £10 per kilo, and I get 3 meals out of this for 4. My butcher hasn’t put prices up yet, so meat is working out cheaper buying it there. We have steak every now and then, 2 sirloin steaks in M&S are £9, £12 in Tesco. I got some venison steaks from Tesco, these were £2.50 each pack of 2, may put them in burger buns. DH and dog love liver.

I saw frozen ones in chinese supermarket.
And beef tendon!