So you’re on a budget and looking for a bargain in frozen Boneless Chicken Breasts – and why not? Especially handy to pick up on sale and toss in the freezer for quick week-night meals.

Frozen Boneless Breasts – may be a good value but you’ll have to do the math

You’ll need to be careful if you want to be sure you’re getting a great price on these. Often often they are marked in ounces rather than pounds, or are in odd-sized packages. Oh, those wily producers!

It makes comparing to a $ per pound item so much more difficult. (I remember how many people groaned at “word problems” in school! I remember, too, the nuns refusing us calculators, telling us we wouldn’t have one in real life! Well, Sister, I have one right on my phone now!)

Here’s the Math. You’ll need to know the pricing of boneless breasts found elsewhere in the store to make a comparison, and generally, you’ll find fresh boneless chicken breast is always sold by the pound.

Figuring packages sold by the ounce:

• If the package is marked in ounces, you’ll need to divide the price by the number of ounces on the package and then multiply by 16 to get the $ per pound.
• For example, the 48-ounce package I was working with below was $5.99, and divided by 48 is about 12 cents per ounce. Multiply by 16 (16 ounces are in a pound) and you’ll find it was $2.00 per pound.
• I know that 48 ounces is three pounds, so I could divide the price by three. The problem is that will only work if the number of ounces adds up to whole pounds. 48 ounces = 3 pounds, 32 ounces = 2 pounds and so on.

Figuring packages labeled in pounds and ounces: 

• If labeled in pounds and ounces, first, work with all ounces – coz we like to avoid fractions on my site! A pound is 16 ounces, so convert those pounds to ounces, add together those ounces with the odd amount of ounces, and then divide the price by the total number of ounces. Multiply by 16 for the per-pound amount.
• Let’s say the package is 2 pounds 12 ounces and costs $6.99. Multiply the two pounds by 16 and you’ll find it’s 32 ounces. Add the 12 ounces, and the total ouces for the package is 48 ounces. Now, just like the above example, take the $6.99 and divide by 48 ounces, and you’ll get about 15 cents per ounce. Multiply by 16 for the per-pound price, and it’s $2.33 per pound.

Figuring packages labeled by the pound, but in odd amounts:

• If the package is in an odd amount in pounds, say 2.5 pounds, simply divide the price by 2.5 to get the price per pound.
• Let’s say the price was $4.99 and the package held 2.5 pounds. $4.99 divided by 2.5 = $2.00 per pound. Let’s try $4.99 with a 2.75 pound package. $4.99 divided by 2.75 = $1.81 per pound.

In my area, although often on sale, I find the sale price doesn’t usually reach the sale price for the packages of breasts in the refrigerator section, but this might vary in your area, and now and then there’s a big sale that’s worthwhile.

When I find them at a great price, here’s how I deal with them:

• When I thaw the packages, usually overnight, I make sure to place the package inside a container. There are almost always holes in the bag.
• These packages are often full of odd-sized pieces, some huge, some tiny. I trim the large ones to about five to six ounces each and cut the smaller pieces and trimmings for stir fry.
• I add as much flavor as possible to the breasts, marinades and rubs are going to be your friends here.

I find when I trim, not only do I get many more, reasonably sized servings, but I also have a product that cooks at all about the same time! Win, win! I always plan to use all those bits and pieces in another recipe, usually a stir fry. If there are enough small pieces to make a meal, an easy option is to freeze.

Back in the day, it was said to never refreeze meat. These days food experts say it’s no problem. Just do so promptly, being aware of how much time is spent thawing, both when first thawed and when thawing any chicken that’s been refrozen.

The 48-ounce bag I bought, below, had five pieces of chicken and a few scrappy parts. By trimming, I ended up with 8 decent-sized breast pieces, each about five to six ounces, and enough chicken for a stir fry. Instead of one meal with a few leftovers, that’s three meals for my family (plus a few leftovers.)

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