Buying protein on a budget

Compare price per pound of the food you will eat, not the splashiest sale. Eggs, chicken thighs, dry lentils, canned tuna with a label you have read, and plain yogurt are the usual winners. Prices move. The ranking is the habit.

A family pack is cheap per pound and expensive if half of it spoils. Freeze it in flat portions the day you buy it, or do not buy it.

Ground turkey and cabbage, rice and beans and eggs, and a pot of lentils are the weeknight versions. Budget meal prep and budget dinners use those ingredients without pretending a protein bar is a bargain.

Skip the cart full of snacks that were "high protein" and also half the grocery bill.