I have to admit I had a little fun with the title, but it’s also 100% accurate. Buy the old chicken and save not only time, but money!
We were getting close to dinner time, I had forgotten to put the pork in the crockpot and we were out picking up an order from Target. It was the perfect storm for spending $15 on McDonalds, when I realized we were close to Sam’s Club.
“Let’s just go grab a rotisserie chicken for dinner,” I said, not at all being lazy while still trying to pretend I had my stuff together.
So we pull in and head back to the meat section where I inspect every rotisserie chicken like one is going to be made of gold, trying to find the biggest one for the same flat rate price of $4.98. After a successful hunt in which I am reasonably confident I got the best chicken, I happened to let my eyes roam over to the cold prepared section, right next to the warmers.
Wait. Is that? It can’t be.
It was. It was 3lbs of cold rotisserie chicken breasts and wings- and it was only $3.98 for the whole container- an entire dollar cheaper than my single, hot chicken. This chicken was prepared the same day, but had been cooked that morning. Prepared food is only allowed to sit under the warmers for so long, then it’s pulled- and in this case, the breasts were cut from the bone and put in a container in the cold section to keep it good.
Now one of the reason I love a Sam’s or Costco chicken is because after we eat our first meal, there are plenty of leftovers for chicken sandwiches, salads or chicken to shred for casseroles, chicken n dumplins, etc. It’s a big time saver for me and a great way to use as much as possible of the meat.
So- I grabbed the old chicken too. The price works out to $1.33 a lb (so it’s already cheaper than chicken I have to cook myself) and it’s already prepared, saving me that time and clean up! I’ll shred up the meat and put it in individual packages for future recipes and freeze it (just like I freeze my sweets!).
Costco actually does something similar with their “sell-by” chicken, shredding it up and packaging it for resale!
So next time you’re in one of the box stores, grab some “old” chicken and treat yourself to some yummy meals, with significantly less work!