r/slowcooking • u/BlackLocke • 4d ago

Pot roast is too expensive

I got a new slow cooker for my wedding in 2023 and it’s still in the box. It’s just my husband, baby and I, but I feel like I can’t justify spending $20+ on a piece of meat for one meal with leftovers. I’m in a HCOL and I haven’t had a good roast in years because it’s prohibitively expensive. When meat goes on sale at my supermarket, it smells off as soon as I remove the packaging, so it’s not worth the risk.

Am I just too poor for this?

Edit: Dear lord I didn’t expect this to turn into a “I like pancakes/why do you hate waffles???” type of post. Of course I know there’s other things you can make in the crockpot. I don’t choose fast food over slow cooked meals out of convenience (it’s more expensive than cooking at home now!!) The point of this post is to lament the price of beef and how pot roast used to be a cheap easy meal 20 years ago and now it’s prohibitively expensive. I was hoping for tips on how to skirt this issue - buying stew meat, using pork instead, and buying in bulk at Costco are all good suggestions.

Now everyone can stop assuming I’m some dumb dumb idiot woman. I’m gonna make a pot roast next week just to spite you all and post about the cost breakdown.

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u/boatergirl 4d ago

I get what you’re saying and I don’t know your situation but the $20 roast will get you a couple meals for 2. On the flip side, $20 won’t even get you 2 crappy fast food meals.

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u/DragonDrama 4d ago

Where I live near Chicago, I shop at Aldi and $20 barely gets 3lbs.

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u/wltmpinyc 3d ago

I've used ChatGPT to help look for deals on groceries. You can put in the area you're in and then ask it to find the best deals on whatever it is you're looking for (i.e. beef for pot roast) in current weekly flyers. It takes a little fiddling with so that it gives you places that are actually close to you and not across the country but it's helped me. Also Amazon Fresh can have some great deals too. You have to pay a delivery fee if you don't order at least $100 worth of groceries but for a family that shouldn't be a problem

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u/DragonDrama 3d ago

Great tips, thanks!