It seems that the price of everything is going up in price so it is important that we get value for money from our food ingredients. The chicken still offers great value for a source of protein at the dinner table. Of course it all depends on what cut of the chicken you get to give you the greatest value. Different recipes call for different cuts of chicken but today when you are cooking on a budget you need to plan for value. Here are some cheap chicken recipes to get you started.

Think chicken breast for quick cooking, stir fry or pan fry. Thighs and legs longer cooking times.

Average Price Of Chicken Cuts In The UK Supermarkets

I went to a few of the of the supermarkets and took a sample of prices for different cuts of chicken. After that I worked out the average price per cut. The prices are all £ per kilo, and usually the bigger the bird or the larger the quantity of chicken you buy the prices do come down in price.

Cut	Price
Chicken Wings	£1.75
Drumsticks	£2.09
Extra Large Whole Chicken	£2.50
Chicken Thighs	£2.60
Whole Large Chicken	£2.62
Corn Fed Whole Chicken	£5.00
Chicken Breast	£6.39
Free Range Whole Chicken	£6.60
Pre Flavoured Cook in The Bag	£7.14
Mini Chicken Breast	£7.47
Filleted Chicken Thighs	£7.58

Chefs always say “buy the most expensive chicken you can afford”, but, with the energy costs rising the budget is also shrinking. The most expensive chickens are the free range chickens along with the corn fed chickens, or any other speciality chicken range. The biggest surprise from this research is the cost of the filleted chicken thigh, for them removing the bone and the skin the cost is nearly 3 times more. After a little practice it is quite easy to remove the bones from a chicken thigh, and the best bit is you get to keep the skin on where all the flavour is at.

There are variations in the actual cost because it depends how much of the actual cut you can eat. For example, take the chicken wings which are the cheapest per kilo but , there is a lot of bone in there so the actual cost of actual meat is actually higher. However, with a kilo of chicken wings you can make a great snack for 2 people for around £1.70. I bought 1 kilo of chicken thighs at Sainsbury’s, there were 5 in the pack, thats enough for 5 meals for me. So the cost of the protein is just 52p per meal, the firsts dish I made was chicken methi with rice. I added a few leftovers from the fridge so total cost was under £1.

The Value Of The Whole Chicken

With a little butchery skill the whole chicken is great value for money, you can get to chicken breast and 2 large legs. The bones can be used to create your own stock for soups and sauces. Or you could go the classic route and do roast chicken on a Sunday, and then a chicken stew on the Monday. This is exactly what Jess did with her cheap food shopping post.

The first time I cooked a chicken breast with the skin on the flavour was fantastic. You will be surprised how much more chickeny it tastes, along with the crispy skin makes it so much more satisfying.