Ground Chicken
Chicken in the Midwest · steady this week
Per a typical 113g serving, scaled from the per-100g figures in USDA FoodData Central (Chicken, ground, raw).
Buying ground chicken in the Midwest saves about 25% versus the Southeast this week.
- How to pick a good one
- Check whether it is ground breast or a mix that includes thigh. The mix is darker, fattier, and considerably better in anything where the meat needs to hold together. Very pale ground chicken is nearly all breast and will be dry.
- What a good price looks like
- Usually $4 to $6 a pound, so often more than ground beef and nearly always more than chicken thighs. Under $4.50 is a fair price. Grinding or finely chopping thighs yourself is cheaper, tastes better, and lets you control the fat — worth doing if you use it regularly.
- What you actually get
- A pound cooks down to about 12 oz, losing 25% mostly as water rather than fat. It serves three to four in a sauce. Because there is little fat to drain, more of what you buy ends up on the plate than with ground beef.
- How to store it
- One to two days refrigerated at most — ground poultry spoils faster than ground beef. Freeze flat.
- In the kitchen
- Much leaner and wetter than ground beef, so it sticks and steams rather than browning. Use a genuinely hot pan and more fat than feels right, and resist stirring. For burgers or meatballs it needs a binder and some added fat or it will be dry and crumbly; grated onion or a little olive oil works well.
- Getting the most out of it
- Wetter and stickier than ground beef, which makes it awkward to form into patties or meatballs; chilling it well first helps, as does wetting your hands. It carries seasoning well precisely because it tastes mild, so be more generous than you would with beef.
- Chicken Enchilada PastaRecipe by Eating Bird Food~$1.40 / serving 6 in-season
- Italian Baked Chicken MeatballsRecipe by The Modern Proper~$1.83 / serving 2 in-season
- Chicken Egg Roll BowlRecipe by Skinnytaste~$1.89 / serving 2 in-season
- Thai Basil ChickenRecipe by Eating Bird Food~$2.09 / serving 4 in-season
- Brandon's Egg Roll TacosRecipe by Pinch of Yum~$2.77 / serving 2 in-season
- Potsticker Rice Bowls RecipeRecipe by Foodie Crush~$2.98 / serving 2 in-season
See all 127 recipes with ground chicken →Filter by diet, time, budget, and macros.
Price from the USDA weekly retail meat report (conventional, per lb). Nutrition per typical serving, computed from USDA FoodData Central.
Ground Chicken — FAQ
What's the price of ground chicken this week?
As of the week of September 4, 2026, the price of ground chicken in the Midwest is $2.99/lb, unchanged from last week. Prices come from the USDA's weekly retail meat report.
Which region has the cheapest ground chicken right now?
The Midwest has the cheapest ground chicken this week at $2.99/lb — about 25% less than the Southeast, where it runs $3.99/lb.
How much protein is in ground chicken?
A typical 113g serving of ground chicken has about 19.7g protein and 162 calories (9.2g fat), per USDA FoodData Central.
What can I cook with ground chicken?
SeasonSort indexes 127 recipes using ground chicken, each priced per serving from this week's data — starting from about $0.23 a serving. The cheapest are listed on this page, with a link to the full filtered list.