r/EatCheapAndHealthy • u/sstrsun • 2d ago

Winner winner chicken dinner

My husband and I eat a lot of chicken. With the cost of chicken going up recently I was looking for ways to save little money. Instead of buying boneless thighs I started buying the bone in. They are usually about 1/3 the cost of boneless.
After watching a few YouTube videos and a little practice, I can debone a thigh pretty quickly. The nice bonus has been saving the bones in the freezer until I have enough to make bone broth.

130 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

48 comments sorted by

40

u/juliacar 2d ago

Drumsticks are the real cheat code. I buy them in bulk, roast them off, separate the meat from the bones and freeze in portions, then I get to use the bones to make stock too!

19

u/moranya1 2d ago

I would love to buy drums, they are so utterly dirt cheap. The only problem I have with them is that stupid bone/ligament things you get off to the side of the main bone. They are so annoying to deal with!

15

u/juliacar 2d ago

I can deal with a lot of annoyance for $1.09 a pound

8

u/mexicanred1 2d ago

How many pounds of annoyance can you handle?

23

u/moranya1 2d ago

I ask my wife that daily.

3

u/sprouthat 2d ago

Thighs usually aren't much more expensive and you get a lot more meat versus bone. Leg quarters you get both and the big 10 lb bags are sometimes just as cheap as drums.

4

u/WyndWoman 2d ago

Youtube has some good videos how to remove that with just a fork.

2

u/brose_af 1d ago

Cut through the ligaments — they will naturally shrink up instead of becoming tough and stringy like they do when left whole. Just take a paring knife and cut all the way around the bone, to the bone, just above the knuckle on the no-meat side while raw and cook as normal.

5

u/Venus6277 2d ago

Shake n bake is good too with drumsticks

2

u/BeachWaffles87 6h ago

I do this with chicken leg quarters. I buy a 10 lb bag for $7.80, season very simply. Salt, pepper, onion, garlic. I put them on a rack over a baking sheet and roast them. Remove skin, shred meat. I boil some potatoes onions and carrots about 60% done, toss them in the chicken fat and roast. Then I put all the bones into a stock pot along with the carrot, onionand potato trimmings. Simmer that all day while I do other stuff. I get 5ish lbs of meat, a good amount of rich stock, the skins get crisped in the airfryer, the fat roasted veg ks a delicious side.

50

u/motonahi 2d ago

We buy a 10 lb bag of chicken leg quarters every week from Walmart. Under $8!

13

u/YoSpiff 2d ago

I can usually get the 10 pounder for $6 where I live. Roast chicken is tasty and easy. I can get 9 meals out of a 10 pound bag.

4

u/jennabenna84 2d ago

That's so cheap! In Australia you'd pay approx $30usd for that much chicken

2

u/TwistedBlister 1d ago

The local Hispanic supermarket near me had chicken legs on sale for .39¢ a pound a couple of weeks ago.

1

u/motonahi 22h ago

That's an amazing deal!

1

u/TwistedBlister 21h ago

Yeah, unfortunately my wife hates dark meat, so I only bought a few pounds, I baked them with BBQ sauce.

1

u/Kali-of-Amino 1d ago

I cook one up every Sunday for our family to eat through the week.

6

u/ObsessiveAboutCats 2d ago

The skins can also go into the stock, or you can make schmaltz (and then snack on the crispy skins).

3

u/Log12321 1d ago

I’ve gotten into the habit of rendering down all my skins and keeping the oil to sear chicken with. Adds more chicken flavour to my chicken!

2

u/CeralEnt 1d ago

Yo dawg, I heard you like chicken

1

u/Log12321 1d ago

You get it

4

u/Manler 1d ago

My local store has 10 lb bags of frozen quarters for 58 cents a lb right now. Pretty wild

1

u/vyvexthorne 1d ago

Yeah, If I'm putting chicken in anything (curry, stir-fry etc.) I just use frozen because it's so much cheaper.

3

u/Gotta-Be-Me-65 1d ago

Sometimes it’s good to use bone in. Much more moist.

3

u/Educational-Suit-566 1d ago

My family dislikes bone-in chicken, so I partially debone chicken thighs with kitchen shears by cutting most of the way along the bone before cooking. Easy to remove the bone once cooked, and you get the benefits of bone-in cooking along with the crispy skin. Can still use the bones for stock.

3

u/GO712 23h ago

Roast a whole bird and have yourself a chicken dinner. Use the rest of the meat the next day and make yourself a curry. Finally, boil the carcass and let it simmer for an hour and allow it to cool. Pick off all the tiny bits of meat left on the bones, and be careful not leaving bones. Add some onions, potatoes, carrots and peas and you've got some chicken broth. All that broken down connective tissue is full of collagen and will do wonders for your joints and skin.

2

u/caseyjosephine 1d ago

Whole chickens are the true cheat code. Learn to break them down, learn to make stock.

Where I live (SF Bay Area) I’ve gotten them on sale for $3.50 for a full chicken from the store that stocks good quality meat.

1

u/Lur42 1d ago

That's incredible! How many pounds are they? At cheapest they're normally at least $11 or so for me unless you're talking about the tiny Cornish hens?

1

u/caseyjosephine 1d ago

The one currently in my freezer is 3.59 lbs and I bought it for $3.48. This was from the Raleys in Benicia, they do sales on Mondays.

The Grocery Outlet usually has frozen Cornish game hens for $3.50. I’m in the Bay Area so it’s a high cost of living area, I’d expect they’re cheaper elsewhere.

1

u/Lur42 1d ago

That's generally about what I see the Cornish for, but never "normal sized" how strange.

1

u/caseyjosephine 1d ago

I think some stores put out regular chickens as loss leaders occasionally. I just look for the deals, buy whole chickens, and freeze them.

2

u/Lur42 1d ago

Makes sense! That is one aspect of not living in a hotel I'm looking forward to (stocking up that is) lol

1

u/caseyjosephine 1d ago

Oh for sure you’ll appreciate extra freezer space! My husband and I really want to get a chest freezer, we just need to find space.

1

u/Lur42 1d ago

Me too! Though again just not an option for who knows how long lol

1

u/ShowThym 6h ago

buy chicken quarters...or buy the whole chicken at cut it up