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Ingredient prices

Chicken breast price per pound

Boneless chicken breast, US city average. The default protein on most American menus and typically the most price-stable of the major proteins.

Also known as boneless skinless chicken breast or chicken.

September 2026 · US city average

$4.15

per lb

1 month
−0.7%
3 months
−0.4%
12 months
−1.2%

2024-01 to 2026-07

4.443.95Jan '24Jul '26

What the last 12 months did to a plate

Representative portions and volumes — substitute your own. The point isn't the exact figure, it's that a −1.2% move on one ingredient turns into a specific annual number on a specific dish, and that number is usually larger than it feels.

DishUsesCost todayChange per platePer year at 310/wk
Grilled chicken sandwich6 oz$1.56−$0.02−$308.29
Caesar with chicken5 oz$1.30−$0.02−$130.94
Chicken parmesan8 oz$2.08−$0.03−$145.86
Chicken tacos (3)4.5 oz$1.17−$0.01−$141.72

Volumes differ per row — each is a plausible weekly count for that dish. Computed from the BLS series above; your supplier price will differ by region, volume and grade.

What moves this price

  • Feed costs. Corn and soy dominate; broiler production responds faster to feed prices than beef does, which is part of why chicken is steadier.
  • Short production cycle. Six to seven weeks from chick to processing means supply corrects quickly — shocks fade faster than in beef.
  • Breast-vs-wing demand. Wing demand spikes (football season, wing promotions) can pull whole-bird economics around and move breast pricing indirectly.

Buying notes

  • Portion-cut breast costs more per pound and removes both trim loss and prep labour. Compare on prime cost, not food cost alone — the pre-portioned option often wins once labour is in the picture.
  • Breast size drift is a real and under-noticed cost: cases sold as "6–8 oz" that arrive mostly at 8 oz raise every plate's cost without any price change. Weigh a sample per delivery.
  • Thigh is materially cheaper per pound, cooks more forgivingly on a busy line, and works in most applications where the breast isn't the point of the dish.

This is the national average. Yours is the one that matters.

Marji reads your actual supplier invoices, so you see what you paid — and which of your dishes crossed their margin target because of it. The national number is only useful for telling a market move apart from a vendor move.

Track my real costs free →See it in the index

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