Lower-Cost Protein Sources
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MyriiStorm
Posts: 609 Member
I'm having a hard time meeting my minimum protein most days. I would love to be able to eat a T-bone steak for dinner each night, but most meats put a strain on my budget. I don't mind eating eggs a few times a week, but don't want them every day. What are some other sources of protein that don't cost an arm and a leg? Is protein powder economical? I'm hoping some of the more math-inclined members here might have done a cost analysis. 
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Tins of tuna or other fish might be good for you.
Also, if you look into organ meats, they are cheaper - if that's your thing.
If you have a freezer, look for sales - buy in bulk and freeze it in portions.1 -
A few things:
1. Shop for a different grocery store - find the one with the best prices, best specials. In CO, Sprouts has the best meat prices with weekly specials.
2. When meat goes on sale, stock up and freeze it. Here in CO, there's a store called Alberton's which does monthly Buy One Get Two Free specials on pork and chicken.
3. Buy less preferred cuts of meat or shop the manager's specials (typically meats that have 40-72 hours remaining).
I cannot speak for all protein powders, but my protein powder has 300g of protein per container (15 servings) for $34. Chicken offers 140g of protein in 1lb (roughly), which costs between $1.99 and $2.99 per pound.0 -
Chicken drumsticks!1
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Ground beef, Boston Butt (sliced into pork steaks if you choose) chuck steak and roasts, chicken leg quarters-these cuts often go on sale. Like our local supermarket has 73/27 ground beef on sale for $1.98/lb right now so I bought 15 lbs and debating going to get more at that amazing price! Same store has leg quarters for $.29 per lb so 10 lbs of chicken for $2.90. And pork Boston butt is now $.98/lb. I buy in bulk when prices are good and freeze for later.
I only buy ribeyes when the price is $6.99 a lb. Occasionally they have it for this price at our Kroger. Sometimes they have t-bone or strip steak for this price.
Some protein powders can be economical. You will just have to find on with some good protein without a lot of added junk. Iso pure zero carb was recommended on another thread by @Gallowmere1984. I did check out the price for this on Amazon. It is $39.99 for 3lb container/22 servings per container with 50g of protein/serving. So $1.82 per serving for a whole lot of protein. And that in turn will save you money on meat!
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I'd love to eat steak every day too. Unfortunately, my favourite is one of the most expensive cuts.
Here's where I typically get protein. I'm in Canada and our prices are higher so may not work the same for you. I know Costco US has a protein powder (Muscle Milk?) that is at least 1 lb. larger than the one up here for the same price.
1. Costco Leanfit protein powder $39.99 for 64 servings (25g per serving, 2g carbs) = $0.62 serving
2. Olympic plain Greek yogurt tub $9.99 for 10 servings (21g protein, 9g carbs) = $0.99 serving
3. Costco canned chicken breast $11.99 for 6 cans/10.5 servings total (there's actually 21 but I've doubled the serving to get an equivalent protein for comparison - 26 g protein, 0g carbs) = $1.14 serving
4. Meat. Chicken thighs are the most economical up here, about $1.00 for 28g protein ($3.99/lb). I stock up when I go to the US because fresh chicken breasts are $1.99/lb to $2.99/lb there (more like $5.99/lb where I live . . . on sale). Sometimes I can get a 3kg box of chicken breasts for $20.00 but I find it to be lower quality meat.
5. Protein bars can be around $1.00 a serving if you buy them by the case, but many are higher in carbs/sugars so you'd have to decide if that's worth it.
I also eat things like pumpkin seeds and almonds, which are not super high in protein, but contain enough that it adds up throughout the day.
Good luck!0 -
I often actually just use a single scoop (31g) of the isopure, and it's still 25g. More protein than even the best "low carb" (lol) protein bar, and a lot cheaper.2
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I ditto the chicken leg quarters, thighs and drumsticks....1
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Well there ya go! If you just use 1 scoop for 25g of protein and 0 carbs, the IsoPure will cost you $.91/serving! Even better!0
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My favorites for quick inexpensive protein boosts are:
- String cheese, about 7 grams of protein per stick.
- Gerber's Graduates Lil' Sticks, about 10 grams of protein per jar.
- Pork Rinds, about 63 grams of protein in an entire 3.5 oz bag.0 -
It's a pain, but I ditto the above suggestion to price-compare between stores, buy & freeze what is on sale (assuming you have freezer space...not everyone does). Most places publish their ads online a few days before the sale cycle starts, so you could strategically plan where you grocery shop each week.
Another suggestion for a source of cheap, fresh meat in your area would be Aldi. Sometimes they have the best prices on fresh meat, especially when they do steaks/etc on sale. They publish their ads at least a week in advance. I also like that (at least our Aldi), has several antibiotic free/natural options.
Other options would be to look for local farmers in your area who do package deals (bundles, 1/4 cow, 1/2 cow, etc). We have a great delivery meat service where if I work the bundle/sale prices ends up being cheaper per pound than grocery store meat most of the time (& I know it is grass raised, antibiotic-free, & lives a happy existence in the outdoors instead of crowded factory farms).
Other suggestions for cheap added protein sources:
- lunch meat (work sales/coupons)
- sliced cheeses
- jerky (watch the carbs, some of them are loaded with sugar)
- unsweetened, protein-added milk alternatives (I personally like the Good Karma Flax Milk + Protein. 1 cup of the unsweetened has 1 g carb & 5 g protein & is 45 calories)0 -
Oh, and eggs!0
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tinned fish and, I found I liked it, um ..... spam. salty and fatty.1
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Buy whole chickens and cut them into pieces yourself, not hard to do, and a lot cheaper than buying each chicken part seperately2
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I'm struggling budget-wise too right now @MyriiStorm plus I don't have a freezer and we only have a tiny fridge with the closest full grocery store 20 miles away.
I've assessed the per kg price of all of my grocery store's meats and found my cheapest option to be ground beef, pork shoulder roasts, and chicken thighs (unfortunately our whole chickens are quite small and pricey). So we're eating pretty boring meals right now.
My typical day is scrambled eggs with cheese and mushrooms for breakfast, salad with cheese and a hard boiled egg for lunch and hamburger patties with sauteed mushrooms, onions and peppers for dinner, all of which average out to about £3 ($4.50) each per day for me and my husband.
Just eating ramen, bread, rice and potatoes would definitely be cheaper, but I just can't go back to that.1 -
Hardboiled eggs wrapped in sausage (get in bulk, pork or turkey or make a combo) as scotch eggs... Another way to make it taste different. Bulk sausage is $2.50/pound where I live, $1.50/pound when it's on clearance. I can get turkey sausage as low as $0.99/1 pound tube when it's about to go bad - just freeze and use when needed. Boil eggs, peel, wrap in sausage, chill to hold form, then bake, eat hot or cold, slathered in mustard or mayo or just plain. They'll change your way of thinking about eggs, and 1 is usually a decent meal for me, 2 if I'm starving. Pretty cheap overall.0
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dasher602014 wrote: »tinned fish and, I found I liked it, um ..... spam. salty and fatty.
I actually had 4/5ths of a can of Hormel Bacon Spam for dinner last night. For some reason, I remember the stuff being utterly terrible when I was younger, but after eating it for the first time in 20 years, damn that was good.
And this morning, I ate the rest of the Spam, and a can of Mackerel.0 -
Thanks for all the suggestions! I actually picked up a container of Trader Joe's Vanilla Soy Protein Powder today. At $0.57 per serving of 25g protein and 0g carbs I think it will help. Alas, I have a very small freezer, so will have to put more effort into watching the weekly sales for good deals on meat. The cans of tuna and Spam (I love that stuff!) will help, too.1
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MyriiStorm wrote: »Thanks for all the suggestions! I actually picked up a container of Trader Joe's Vanilla Soy Protein Powder today. At $0.57 per serving of 25g protein and 0g carbs I think it will help. Alas, I have a very small freezer, so will have to put more effort into watching the weekly sales for good deals on meat. The cans of tuna and Spam (I love that stuff!) will help, too.
I can't find a lab analysis of that stuff, so I'm searching to see if it's just a rebrand of another manufacturer's powder. Because of the testing methods involved for checking protein content, manus can toss in a bunch of worthless nitrogen generating free-form aminos like aspergine and taurine to make it test higher for protein than it really is, unless one actually runs specific tests on it. With it being vanilla, I assume the powder's white so it would be hard to check visually. With chocolate, if you see white specs in it, it's generally been doctored with relatively useless aminos.0
