We love turkey burgers, turkey meatballs, and even throwing in some ground turkey in our chili. You can usually buy them in sweet or spicy varieties. You can pan fry the links in a little oil, bake them in your oven, or poach in water before throwing them on a hot grill.

Make sure to cook these thoroughly to degrees internal temperature. I love to throw any leftovers into a breakfast frittata or on top of a quick pizza.

The Top Round steak also known as the London Broil comes from the top of the rear leg and can be a fairly tough cut of meat since this is a muscle that is used often by the cow.

So preparation is a must with this cut. You should definitely marinate your top round steak with a tenderizing marinade for 12 — 24 hours. This will keep your meat from getting tough and chewy. Never heard of it? You need one! It basically makes a bunch of tiny cuts into your meat, slicing many of the meat fibers.

And it also allows your marinade to penetrate deeper into the meat, resulting in more flavor. The Top Round steak can be cooked on the grill, stir fry, kabobs, and cutlets.

Hi, I'm Brittany Kline! A organization, productivity, and home systems expert. Serve with chips, salsa, and green salad. Rave Review: "Very easy to prep with ingredients I usually have on hand. Next time I think I may use plain yogurt instead of sour cream and mix it with a little taco seasoning to up the flavor and ease up the calories a little.

You could totally add a can of corn or another thing of beans as well and it would be delicious. Thanks for a keeper! Rave Review: "Even my 7-year-old ate this! I coupled it with the "Absolute Mexican Cornbread" and, needless to say, it was a keeper. I followed the recipe only substituting the dark red kidney beans for pinto beans and added a little bit of fresh jalapeños other than that it really doesn't need any tweaking!

Rave Review: "This recipe was fabulous!!!! Instead of spreading the ketchup and brown sugar on the bottom of the pan I mixed them together and used it as a glaze on top of the loaf and it came out beautifully. I won't be using any other meatloaf recipe again!

Yes, we know this recipe should be made with lamb in order to be called "shepherd's pie," and that since it's made with ground beef, it should be called "cottage pie.

Rave Review: "I've made this so many times that I must give everyone my updates. First, I season the beef with whatever I have on hand onion powder, garlic powder, seasoning salt, meat magic, etc. I use canned veggies drained , and then top it with instant potatoes.

I use either 4 cheese or roasted garlic! Then I top with about 1 cup of cheese any Cheddar mix will do. The result is delicious AND it is sooooooo much faster! But as I have traveled and worked and experienced foods from around the world, I look back and realize that many of the dishes she prepared, while simple, were perfect for that moment.

Sometimes we have to put emotion and love in a dish to make it extra-special. The dish I am going to give you today is one like that. Simple and easy, yet full of love and goodness. My mother used to serve this with corn on the cob and cornbread.

Very inexpensive and very good as well. Enjoy an Ozark memory Rave Review: "I found this while looking for something to do with a cabbage and ground beef I had on hand and I can't believe how delicious this came out and yet so easy to put together and, all in one pot!

I did my own thing with it though," comments Melissa Worthy. I chopped up one small onion, and after draining the beef I mixed the beef, cream of mushroom soup, and chopped onions together and let them simmer a bit. Then poured the mixture into a 10x10 casserole dish. I added sharp cheddar.

Then put the tots on, then added triple cheddar shredded cheese on top of the tots. My family loved it including my 2 year old who typically doesn't eat beef! Ground beef, noodles, corn and tomatoes make a complete meal in one skillet," says recipe creator windedmama.

Rave Review: "Good, quick, easy and made with stuff I always have in the pantry and freezer! Meat can really take a bite out of your grocery budget. Rethink the cuts you choose with this helpful guide, full of links to delicious recipes.

April 22, For many home cooks, meat takes the biggest bite out of the food budget. There are plenty of cheap cuts, though. Some require a little extra care to tenderize them or acceptance of the fact that their extra fat is what makes them delicious as well as affordable , but all will reward you with big flavor while saving you money.

Here are five cheap cuts we love. Not these guys. Lamb shoulder chops like the one pictured above deliver as much or more lamby goodness as pricier and tinier lamb rib or loin chops. And their sometimes chewy texture can be tenderized quickly with a citrus marinade or dry brining.

They also respond well to braising. Probably more fat, in fact, than the 15 to 20 percent of fat in ground chuck, the cheapest ground beef at the supermarket. So on occasion, anyway skip the ground sirloin or bison or turkey and enjoy an honest, juice-down-your-chin, extra-cash-in-your-pocket burger.

And cook it medium rare to medium, or why bother? These hardworking muscles contain long fibers and connective tissue, giving the meat the potential for toughness. Long, low-temperature cooking in braising juices tenderizes this inexpensive cut and enhances its satisfying, beefy flavor.

And it may not always become fork tender, but when it tastes this good, do you really care? A favorite pot roast recipe of mine is the Provençal dish, Layered Pot Roast with Anchovies, Capers and Garlic. Far more flavorful than more tender filet mignon or strip steaks, it is perfect for marinating and then quickly grilling.

Slicing it thinly across the grain overcomes the stringy fiber problem. This Grilled Moroccan Flank Steak makes delicious use of this inexpensive cut. The most economical cut of chicken is often no cut at all.

Sometimes bone-in thighs or drumsticks may be a little less per pound, but a whole chicken can provide a number of meals — and more flexibility. Cutting up a chicken is really quite easy and yields various pieces for a few dishes.

You can also roast an entire chicken and eat part of it as a meal, then use the leftover cold chicken for sandwiches, salads, or just out-of-the-fridge, eat-over-the-sink midnight snacks. And be sure to save the carcass to flavor a soup. They were often bought by thrifty home cooks to flavor soups or stretch food budgets.

But between current nose-to-tail cooking trends and the elevation of chicken wings to bar food gold, they can be as pricey as steaks.

Monitor journalism changes lives because we open that too-small box that most people think they live in. We believe news can and should expand a sense of identity and possibility beyond narrow conventional expectations. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier.

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. But you know what?

Save money and eat deliciously with these tasty budget-friendly cuts of meat. Hilary Meyer is a freelance recipe developer, tester and content creator. She has a bachelor's degree in anthropology from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a Culinary Arts degree from the New England Culinary Institute.

Hilary started working in the EatingWell test kitchen in before becoming an editor. She left for New York City in , but eventually returned home to Vermont where she belongs. Pictured recipe: Oven-Baked Chicken Drumsticks with Potatoes. I'm all about sticking to my budget. Unfortunately some of my favorite meats are on the expensive side.

Tender cuts of beef like tenderloin and filet are delicious, but can get expensive. Even the ever-popular chicken breast is the most expensive cut of chicken. So in an effort to save money, I'm choosing cuts of meat that are more budget-friendly but still totally delicious.

Here are 5 of the best, healthy, budget-friendly cuts of meat to eat any night of the week:. Pictured recipe: Cranberry-Balsamic Chicken Thighs. Dark meat is not only less expensive than white meat, but it's a little more forgiving when you cook it.

White meat tends to dry out if you overcook it, but chicken thighs and drumsticks tend to stay moist even if you overcook them a little. They have a slightly higher amount of fat and more connective tissue than breast meat, but more iron too.

Plus, bones act as insulators that slow the cooking process. That prevents the meat from drying out, hence the phrase "tender at the bone. Craving a New York strip steak? It has less fat than a strip steak, and because of that, it can be a little dry.

But that's easily remedied by watching it closely to prevent overcooking or by turning it into kebabs. And here's another money-saving tip: by pairing your steak kebabs with vegetables which tend to be a lot cheaper than meat means you won't need to buy as much sirloin to make your meal. Let's not forget about hamburger!

And if you don't use up all the ground beef you get in a package, you can easily freeze it for future use in an airtight bag. For those who don't like red meat or simply want to eat something different, don't forget about ground turkey. It's usually made from dark meat which makes it moist and it's mild in flavor, so it's good to mix in other flavor elements like fresh herbs, onion or flavorful cheese to jazz it up.

Try These: Healthy Ground Turkey Recipes. For a healthy choice, opt for "pork rib chops," which only have the loin attached to the bone and are an appropriate serving size, and skip "pork loin chops," which also have the tenderloin attached.

You'll be able to tell a pork loin chop by the T-shaped bone that holds the loin and tenderloin in place. The rib chop has only the rib bone. I coupled it with the "Absolute Mexican Cornbread" and, needless to say, it was a keeper. I followed the recipe only substituting the dark red kidney beans for pinto beans and added a little bit of fresh jalapeños other than that it really doesn't need any tweaking!

Rave Review: "This recipe was fabulous!!!! Instead of spreading the ketchup and brown sugar on the bottom of the pan I mixed them together and used it as a glaze on top of the loaf and it came out beautifully. I won't be using any other meatloaf recipe again! Yes, we know this recipe should be made with lamb in order to be called "shepherd's pie," and that since it's made with ground beef, it should be called "cottage pie.

Rave Review: "I've made this so many times that I must give everyone my updates. First, I season the beef with whatever I have on hand onion powder, garlic powder, seasoning salt, meat magic, etc. I use canned veggies drained , and then top it with instant potatoes.

I use either 4 cheese or roasted garlic! Then I top with about 1 cup of cheese any Cheddar mix will do. The result is delicious AND it is sooooooo much faster! But as I have traveled and worked and experienced foods from around the world, I look back and realize that many of the dishes she prepared, while simple, were perfect for that moment.

Sometimes we have to put emotion and love in a dish to make it extra-special. The dish I am going to give you today is one like that. Simple and easy, yet full of love and goodness. My mother used to serve this with corn on the cob and cornbread.

Very inexpensive and very good as well. Enjoy an Ozark memory Rave Review: "I found this while looking for something to do with a cabbage and ground beef I had on hand and I can't believe how delicious this came out and yet so easy to put together and, all in one pot!

I did my own thing with it though," comments Melissa Worthy. I chopped up one small onion, and after draining the beef I mixed the beef, cream of mushroom soup, and chopped onions together and let them simmer a bit.

Then poured the mixture into a 10x10 casserole dish. I added sharp cheddar. Then put the tots on, then added triple cheddar shredded cheese on top of the tots. My family loved it including my 2 year old who typically doesn't eat beef!

Ground beef, noodles, corn and tomatoes make a complete meal in one skillet," says recipe creator windedmama.

Rave Review: "Good, quick, easy and made with stuff I always have in the pantry and freezer! lettuce, tomatoes, black olives, etc. It also is great as leftovers for lunches!

Serve with taco sauce. Rave Review: "My family really enjoyed this meal! I sautéed onion and bell peppers with the meat and added a layer of black beans.

I also crumbled Queso Fresco over the finished pie. So I created my own creamy Stroganoff," says recipe creator Jessica. Rave Review: "Easy! My husband and my boys loved it. It made enough for leftovers for two more nights blessing and a curse. I used farfalle noodles instead of egg noodles and added garlic salt to taste.

The only thing I'll do differently next time is cook the mushrooms separately in the hamburger pan. They were a little under done because I didn't want to overcook the hamburger.

Quick and easy last minute dinner tastes delicious too! It's easy to cook, but tastes like it took hours to make! Rave Review: "This was a very simple recipe that my family loved. The only change I made was to add garlic powder.

I will be making this again, for sure! Adjustable with seasonings if needed as well, I used turkey stuffing as that is what I had on hand, came out fine.

Nice density, did not fall apart while serving as some tend to do. The stuffing can also be used for taco salads as well as tacos or burritos. Rave Review: "I have to say WOW, because this recipe was simple and delicious!