This doesn't mean that you can't create a great meal with a cut that costs less. Barbecue and Grilling give you the ability to cook these cuts right and make something better than most any restaurant can turn out. These are the perfect meats for the grill or smoker that cost less but still make for a great cookout.

The secret to any rib is to cook it low and slow so you get tender meat and great flavor. When shopping for ribs, look for ones that have plenty of meat and a small amount of fat. The fat will keep the meat moist while it cooks, but don't pay for excessive amounts of fat. At least half the weight of a rack of ribs is bone so take fewer bones for the price if you can find it.

Maximize the meat and get the most for your money. Make sure you talk to your butcher so you are sure of what you are getting. Chuck steaks are not as tender as their more expensive cousins and will benefit from a good marinade.

This will make the meat more tender so you won't notice that you save yourself some money. Also, avoid overcooking chuck steaks. They are perfect at medium rare, but tough at well done no matter how you prepared it before it hit the grill. Nowadays people seem to be coming up with hundreds of ways of making a better burger.

Truth is keep it simple and it will be perfect. Choose fresh ground beef, handle it as little as possible, and you will have a great burger every time without spending a lot on expensive meats and ingredients. Another tip is avoid making your burger patties too thick. This may sound like a good idea, but thick burgers require a longer cooking time meaning a dryer burger.

Also, you can stretch your ground meat farther by making a patty that fits your bun, not your eye. Of course the secret of turning these tough pork roasts into a wonderful meal is to smoke them low and slow and turn it into barbecue pulled pork.

This is one of the most popular types of barbecue and has been a mainstay of American cooking for centuries. The reason for this is because this is not only an inexpensive cut of meat, but an inexpensive way to prepare it.

As well as being cheaper and as close to nature as possible, cooking chicken on the bone makes for tastier and juicier meat. During cooking, the rich and concentrated chicken-y flavour from the bone marrow oozes into the meat for a superior flavour.

With chicken on the bone, you also get the added bonus of nutrient-packed skin, fat and cartilage which are super tasty too. You can buy pork shoulder both on and off the bone. It is a fairly tough cut of meat taken from the shoulder region, which is marbled with fat.

Given the right treatment - usually cooking low and slow - pork shoulder transforms from tough to tender and is really versatile. Slow cook your pork shoulder and add to casseroles, stews and ragus or shred for pulled pork to use in tacos and homemade burgers.

Beef from the supermarket is usually always Grass Fed, so is a brilliant source of vital nutrients. It is a really affordable cut of beef, which is perfect for feeding a crowd or the whole family on a budget - costing less than £10 per kilo, enough to feed five hungry people.

Like pork shoulder, the secret to juicy and tender brisket is cooking low and slow. Beef brisket is the perfect slow cooker meat and given the time and attention it needs can be just as delicious as prime cuts. As with chicken on the bone, beef and pork ribs inherit the juicy, rich flavour of delicious bone marrow as they cook.

You can eat your ribs off the bone, enjoying the naturally sweet and succulent meat that's marbled with fat. Of course, ribs on the bone are famously cooked on the barbecue for that smokey and chargrilled flavour.

You can also cook your ribs in the oven or air fryer. Serve with a dollop of our Unsweetened BBQ sauce for a match made in meaty heaven. Beef mince is one of the most versatile meats there is - you can use it to make anything from Bolognese and kebabs to homemade burgers and much more.

It's also just as nutritious as other cuts of beef - providing a great source of protein, zinc, B12 and many other vitamins and minerals. Grass Fed beef mince is a little more expensive, but as ground beef is a bargain to start with - it's certainly worth the upgrade.

Skirt steak is taken from the underbelly of the cow. It's extremely good value for money and is actually the most popular meat used to make Cornish pasties! The secret to a well cooked skirt steak is to cook the meat no further than medium, which will avoid it becoming tough.

As opposed to conventional lamb neck, lamb scrag is taken from the top of the neck rather than lower down nearer the chest. Again, scrag is one of the least expensive cuts of meat - but this does not mean that it lacks flavour.

Last but not least, organ meats are perhaps the most affordable and the most nutritious, inexpensive meats of them all. From heart to liver and even kidneys, brains and intestines - organ meats, also known as offal, are classed as off-cuts and sold extremely cheaply.

We always like to champion organ meats as they're so nutrient-dense, but lots of people don't know where to start when it comes to preparing and cooking offal. Check out our recipe and article below to discover just how easy it is to start cooking with organ meats.

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Beef brisket Pork shoulder Chuck eye steak

Budget-friendly Meat Selection - Ground beef or ground turkey Beef brisket Pork shoulder Chuck eye steak

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EatingWell's Editorial Guidelines. Trending Videos. The Secret to Making Cheap Meat Tender and Tasty. How to Cook Chicken Thighs. Healthy Steak Recipes. But if you're looking for an equally tender, mild and juicy cut, look no further than the petite tender.

Simply because pigs are cheaper to raise than cows, pork is one of the least expensive meats you'll see at the grocery store. Chicken is relatively inexpensive when compared to red meat, but there are still ways to make it more affordable.

Even if your family is partial to white meat, you can use the drumsticks to add flavor to stock or soup. Go with a classic roast chicken , or even try spatchcocking and grilling. Related Content:. Use limited data to select advertising.

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Budget-friendly Meat Selection - Ground beef or ground turkey Beef brisket Pork shoulder Chuck eye steak

Nowadays people seem to be coming up with hundreds of ways of making a better burger. Truth is keep it simple and it will be perfect. Choose fresh ground beef, handle it as little as possible, and you will have a great burger every time without spending a lot on expensive meats and ingredients.

Another tip is avoid making your burger patties too thick. This may sound like a good idea, but thick burgers require a longer cooking time meaning a dryer burger. Also, you can stretch your ground meat farther by making a patty that fits your bun, not your eye.

Of course the secret of turning these tough pork roasts into a wonderful meal is to smoke them low and slow and turn it into barbecue pulled pork.

This is one of the most popular types of barbecue and has been a mainstay of American cooking for centuries.

The reason for this is because this is not only an inexpensive cut of meat, but an inexpensive way to prepare it. Once you have your pork smoked and pulled, pile it up on cheap white bread buns and you have the perfect sandwich.

Inexpensive, versatile, and easy to prepare chicken is always a favorite. The secret to saving yourself money when buying chicken is to avoid the pre-cut pieces.

With a little practice you can easily cut up a whole chicken and save yourself some money. Take those pieces and throw them on the grill over a medium fire, brush on some barbecue sauce, and you have a great meal.

Also, avoid buying prepared skinless, boneless chicken breasts. It really isn't too much trouble to cut out the breast meat from a skin on, bone in chicken breast and the price difference is definitely worth the bother.

Over the years they have become popular for many dishes and the price has gone up so they are not as economical as they once where. What makes these cuts a good deal is what you can do with them.

Since these are tougher cuts of meat your best bet is to marinate, grill, and slice. Serve these meats up on rice or pasta, as fajitas, in tacos or in other dishes.

This stretches the meat making a meal for many out of a smaller cut of meat. Of course once you cook it low and slow you will only get about half the weight in meat, but few things are better and barbecue brisket.

However, when it comes to meat that is not always the case. Some of the most inexpensive cuts of meat can be just as tasty, nutritious and versatile as conventional cuts. Next time you're at the supermarket or butchers, look out for these inexpensive cuts of meat which provide great taste and nutrition as well as amazing value.

Chicken on the bone is always cheaper. Buying meat on the bone also means that it is as minimally processed as possible. As well as being cheaper and as close to nature as possible, cooking chicken on the bone makes for tastier and juicier meat.

During cooking, the rich and concentrated chicken-y flavour from the bone marrow oozes into the meat for a superior flavour. With chicken on the bone, you also get the added bonus of nutrient-packed skin, fat and cartilage which are super tasty too.

You can buy pork shoulder both on and off the bone. It is a fairly tough cut of meat taken from the shoulder region, which is marbled with fat. Given the right treatment - usually cooking low and slow - pork shoulder transforms from tough to tender and is really versatile.

Slow cook your pork shoulder and add to casseroles, stews and ragus or shred for pulled pork to use in tacos and homemade burgers. Beef from the supermarket is usually always Grass Fed, so is a brilliant source of vital nutrients.

It is a really affordable cut of beef, which is perfect for feeding a crowd or the whole family on a budget - costing less than £10 per kilo, enough to feed five hungry people. Like pork shoulder, the secret to juicy and tender brisket is cooking low and slow. Beef brisket is the perfect slow cooker meat and given the time and attention it needs can be just as delicious as prime cuts.

As with chicken on the bone, beef and pork ribs inherit the juicy, rich flavour of delicious bone marrow as they cook. You can eat your ribs off the bone, enjoying the naturally sweet and succulent meat that's marbled with fat.

Of course, ribs on the bone are famously cooked on the barbecue for that smokey and chargrilled flavour. You can also cook your ribs in the oven or air fryer. Serve with a dollop of our Unsweetened BBQ sauce for a match made in meaty heaven. Beef mince is one of the most versatile meats there is - you can use it to make anything from Bolognese and kebabs to homemade burgers and much more.

It's also just as nutritious as other cuts of beef - providing a great source of protein, zinc, B12 and many other vitamins and minerals. Grass Fed beef mince is a little more expensive, but as ground beef is a bargain to start with - it's certainly worth the upgrade.

Skirt steak is taken from the underbelly of the cow. It's extremely good value for money and is actually the most popular meat used to make Cornish pasties!

The secret to a well cooked skirt steak is to cook the meat no further than medium, which will avoid it becoming tough. As opposed to conventional lamb neck, lamb scrag is taken from the top of the neck rather than lower down nearer the chest.

It's also the best of this primal cut —just make sure you talk to your butcher so you're sure of what you are getting. Chuck steaks are not as tender as their more expensive cousins so it will benefit from a good marinade; this will make the meat juicier when cooked, resulting in an end product that is equally as good as a pricey piece of prime.

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Use profiles to select personalised content. Measure advertising performance. Measure content performance. Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources.

Develop and improve services. Use limited data to select content. List of Partners vendors. The Best Inexpensive Cuts of Meat. By Derrick Riches. Derrick Riches. Derrick Riches is a grilling and barbecue expert. He has written two cookbooks.

Learn about The Spruce Eats' Editorial Process. Trending Videos. Whole Chicken. Beef and Pork Ribs. Flat Steaks. Continue to 5 of 9 below. Pork Shoulder.

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