So you’re on a budget and looking for a bargain in 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, though. Quite often they are marked in ounces rather than pounds, or are in odd sized packages. Oh those wiley producers – it makes comparing to a $ per pound item so much more difficult.

If the package is marked in ounces, you’ll need to divide the price by the number of ounces on the package then multiply by 16 to get the $ per pound. If the package is in an odd amount, say 2.5 pounds, divide the price by 2.5 to get the price per pound. You’ll need to know the pricing of boneless breasts found elsewhere in the store to make a comparison.

In my area, although often on a 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, I also have a product that cooks at all about the same time! Win, win!

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 left overs, that’s three meals!

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