America loves their warehouse stores – Costco, Sam’s Club, BJ’s.
The mindset is that you can load up on a larger quantity of stuff for a cheaper price. Is that really true?
Do stores like Costco really save money on your grocery bill? I am on a mission to answer that question. I am starting by looking at the per pound prices of different items in the store. I originally wrote about the beef prices at Costco and that has become one of my most visited posts on the blog. I thought it was time to take another trip to Costco to do another investigation. In the month of October I will be releasing a series of posts exploring the cost and discussing whether or not those prices are good enough to justify joining the club.
Are You Really Getting a Good Deal?
To really grasp if you are getting a good deal on a store like Costco that sells in large quantities, you need to look at the price per pound. This is how I always shop. The final price doesn’t matter to me as much as the per ounce or pound price. You will be a more wise and informed shopper if you take the time to get this information. You still have to factor in if you want the amount of the product offered before you buy. Are you going to use it all? When it comes to buying meat I don’t mind freezing it for later use, especially when it’s a good deal or sale.
The Price of Chicken at Costco
With that said, in this post we are going to take a look at the price of chicken at Costco. The prices are from the Costco location in Ann Arbor, Michigan recorded on Monday, September 29th, 2014. Prices may vary depending on your location.
Make sure to check out my prices on Organic Chicken at Costco
| Chicken Type | Price |
|---|---|
| Whole Fryer | $1.09/lb |
| When it comes to buying chicken – buying the whole bird is always going to be the cheapest per pound option. I like purchasing the whole bird because I like using all the bones to make homemade chicken stock afterward. Whenever I roast a whole chicken I always use a probe thermometer to help me know when it's perfectly cooked. | |
| Drumsticks | $1.29/lb |
| Sometimes my kids do better with just having drumsticks. They like have a "stick" to hold onto – it makes it fun. I still end up with bones in the end to make stock with. Check out one of my favorite drumstick recipes – Roasted Chicken Drumsticks with Potatoes & Kale | |
| Thighs | $1.29/lb |
| We prefer dark meat in our household. We think it has more flavor. | |
| Boneless Thighs | $2.49/lb |
| Here is where the price starts to go up. It's actually not that difficult to remove the skin and bones of thighs yourself. I understand some people just can't deal with cutting up chicken if you have to fork over more money for the already boned thighs don't feel bad about that. I have learned to deal with chicken but I wouldn't want to de-bone a fish filet. Here is a recipe for boneless thighs : Clementine Glazed Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs | |
| Boneless Skinless Breasts | $2.99/lb |
| For an everyday price of boneless skinless chicken breasts this is as good as it gets. I do know of stores that will put them on sale for $1.99/lb every so often so this price wouldn't make me want to get a membership. I just stock up and freeze when it is $1.99/lb. | |
| Breast Tenderloins | $2.99/lb |
| This cut comes from a seldom used muscle attached to the chicken breast. It is more tender than the rest of the chicken breast. The fact that it is the same price as the just the breast makes it a good option. Of course chicken tenders are good to make with this cut although most places just use cut up breast meat instead. |
I wanted to point out that I did not find any bone-in chicken breasts at Costco. I don’t know if they were out or they just don’t carry them. The prices of the various cuts of chicken are not bad. They aren’t shockingly good either. I feel I don’t need a membership to Costco just for chicken, but if I had one I might buy chicken there from time to time.
How to Remove a Chicken Tenderloin
I wanted to share this video of how to remove a tenderloin from the chicken breast, so you can see what it looks like. It’s not guaranteed that when you buy chicken breast the tenderloin will still be attached. If you want to do this I recommend picking up a boning knife. It will make the job a lot easier.
Chicken Related Reading Material
If you want to master cooking chicken and all the dishes you can make with it mI provided a list below of some of the best books to pick up on chicken.
- Poulet: More Than 50 remarkable Recipes That Exalt the Honest Chicken – This chicken recipe book is organized by cuisines from American to Latin to South Asian and more. Each recipe includes a grain, vegetable, bread, and salad to go with the chicken dish.
- Chicken Night by Williams-Sonoma – I find an appreciation for the Williams-Sonoma books. They typically have good recipes with fantastic photography in them.
- Fried & True – This is a collection of fried chicken recipes. This book contains personal stores to go along with the recipes. I love it when books are more than just recipes.
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Miillie
May 29, 2015 at 6:10 pmThis is great information – many thanks!
As for buying a Costco membership, keep in mind that we bought our furnace and air conditioner replacements there for HALF of what we were quoted by a reputable local heating and cooling company – same efficiency same features.
We buy eye glasses for the whole family there – VERY inexpensive compared to other options. We save a boatload.
We bought a high-end queen mattress for half of what we would pay elsewhere for the same mattress from the same manufacturer.
We consider the food prices to be “ok”, sometimes “good”, but where we save money is on the other things we buy there, not just food.
We bought a bottle of 365 pills that contain the same active ingredient as Claratin for our son’s allergy for about $12 a year, as opposed to about $15 a month for real Claratin at the drug store. Works just as well, too.
We bought an automobile for about $100 over dealer cost with no haggling with the dealer.
Best source for incredibly inexpensive (but very very good quality) mens gold toe dress socks.
So…considering everything, our Costco membership pays us back many times over each year.
Eric Samuelson
May 31, 2015 at 4:01 pmThanks for sharing your experiences. So far I have only been looking at the membership in regards to food, because well this is a food blog.