Cheap sources of protein?

I have 1 cup (226g) full fatted cottage cheese (large curd) w/ 3/4 cup (154g) frozen berries for a breakfast that packs 26g protein in 300 calories. $2.18 per 3 cup container.

Assuming you have a friendly butcher or market Turkey drumsticks are very cheap. Roast them, portion up and freeze. Heart is also very cheap but is best pressure cooked or slow cooked.

Eggs and whatever greek yogurt is on sale that week.

Must.......control......................self..............

Stock up on canned tuna and salmon when it's on sale. Also check for buy one, get one free meat sales, and then freeze what you don't need for later. Most grocery stores will also mark down meat nearing it's expiration, another good thing to stock up on and freeze. Not sure if they have Albertson's where you live, but they even have buy one, get two free meat sales.

You can also get with other like minded individuals and consider splitting an animal. Basically you buy a cow, have a butcher chop it up, split between a few families. I did this once and got over 100 pounds of organic, grass-fed meat for a good price. Just do a google search for small meat farms in your area. You can also check with hunters. Sometimes you can get leftover meat from people who hunt elk just for the trophy, but don't want the meat.

Greek yogurt is a good breakfast food with a lot of protein. If you buy in the big containers it's way cheaper than the individual containers.

You can make eggs even cheaper by buying your own chickens (or again consider going in with neighbors). Once you get the coop up and running they are very low cost to maintain. You don't even need to buy feed, chickens can eat compost.

for protein:calorie:cost ratio, it's really tough to beat bone-in chicken.

my super market often runs sales on chicken quarters for around 1.89/lb.
granted, some of that is bone, but 36gr for a 4oz. serving is pretty damn good in my book.

my other cheap source is body fortress whey protein. 30gr per scoop and only ~$16 for a 2lb tub.

be careful with the nuts, nut butters, and cheeses.
while they do offer decent protein, they are quite caloric.

Go to your cheapy grocery and find some chicken breasts. Portion those babies out. Real food isn't as expensive as you think it is if you know which ones to get. Also chicken thighs here (I only like breast meat so it's a little more expensive for me) go down to 79 cents a pound, so...yeah...try those if they're on sale. We also happen to have these giant smoked hams for only $7. If you could get something like that in bulk that you can portion out when you get home you can see how much you can save.

If you're not eating the meat itself, like they said, nonfat greek yogurt will get you 12g of protein for only 100 calories, cottage cheese is only 60-80 calories, a can of salmon will make about 8 salmon cakes for only $2, and the best thing you can buy are low sodium canned beans. Omfg they have everything you need in them. Fiber, protein...MMM I LOVE BLACK BEANS!!

I've recently fallen in LOVE Dannon light & fit greek blends. 80 calories, 12 g of protein, and I can normally find them on sale for $1/each. And there's so many flavors you don't get bored. (Seriously, check my diary, I eat them like every day lol)

You can snack on nuts, add more beans and lentils to your diet, quinoa is pretty high protein and you can find it for cheap. I just learned today there's a ton you can make with canned tuna (and salmon), both of those are very affordable lean protein sources. Make egg salad for lunch, buy whole chickens and roast them- depending on how many you cook for it'll give you enough for a few days.

I will normally buy cheaper cuts of beef and find a slow cooker recipe to make- the slow cooker makes it so tender and moist you can't tell its low(er) quality.

eggs, cottage cheese, peanut butter, yogurt

I would say these, too. Watch the peanut butter. I would weigh it. And Greek yogurt over regular yogurt. About 22 g of protein in most Greek yogurts. They're not all the same, so try different brands to see which one(s) you like best.

Must.......control......................self..............

Haha my partner would love that but he should be so lucky!

Next....

Glad to see OP's sense of humor is in tact. :drinker:

Eggs and bone-in chicken were my protein staples when I was broke. Also, check the bargain bin in the meat department. Sometimes you can find great deals.

I have 1 cup (226g) full fatted cottage cheese (large curd) w/ 3/4 cup (154g) frozen berries for a breakfast that packs 26g protein in 300 calories. $2.18 per 3 cup container.

Wow I didnt know cottage cheese was so high in protein. Will have a look next time I do my shopping! Thanks!

I like the dry cottage cheese curds, myself. Around 22g of protein per 110 calorie, half cup serving

Also a little trick..get a cheap meat grinder for around 20-30.00, buy some eye of round or london broil (both lean and cheap)

Now you have very lean, cheap ground beef

You're welcome