The carnivore diet is surprisingly one of the more affordable ways to eat, because it drops the avocados, nut butters, specialty snacks and supplements other diets pile on. Fattier cuts, weekly meat sales, online bulk orders and buying a whole or partial animal bring the cost down further.
You’re ready to go on the Carnivore Diet, but you think it may be too expensive! Dollar signs flash before your eyes, and you almost toss the idea out the window. Is the carnivore diet really that expensive? Is a more conventional diet cheaper? In this article, we look at the cost of eating all meat….all the time.
- What exactly comprises the carnivore diet?
What exactly can you eat on the carnivore diet? The diet stresses leaning heavily on red meat, especially fatty cuts that help you meet your daily calorie needs. Foods on the green list of the carnivore diet include:
- Beef
- Pork
- Lamb
- Organ meats
- Poultry
- Fish
- Eggs
- Lard
- Bone marrow
- Butter
- Salt and pepper
- Water
- Bone broth
If you plan to follow the strictest version of the carnivore diet, you’ll eat only what’s on the list above. Some people are more flexible, though. They may include some foods that come from animals indirectly, like milk, yogurt, and cheese.
Others still take coffee and tea.
- How much food does one consume under the Carnivore diet?
Many people think a meat diet is very expensive and can put one in the poor house. In reality, compared with other diets or eating lifestyles, it is surprisingly one of the more affordable options.
Can a carnivore diet be more affordable than going vegan or keto?
Without a doubt! Generalizations aside, look at all the extra ingredients you end up buying on the other diets. For example, you buy expensive avocados, cashew and almond butter, cacao products, oils, teas, herbs, seasonings, kombucha, raw snacks like cookies and brownies, and now and then some very costly supplements.
Supplements can really add up at the till. Think of the vitamins, mushroom teas, elixirs, MCT oils, protein powders and the rest of the stuff in the health food store or supplement aisle. A carnivore diet generally does not include all these extras, so it ends up being quite affordable.
- Buy Cheaper Cuts
When you are new to the carnivore diet, you might need to choose leaner, choosier cuts. Your body is not yet used to this diet, and leaner cuts help you avoid digestion issues and minimize keto flu symptoms. As your tolerance grows, you can step down to fattier cuts and ground beef. You’ll find these are much cheaper options.
Another way to approach this is to start with the different ratios of fat in ground beef. For instance, start with a 90/10 for a week, then an 85/15, then an 80/20 and a 70/30 and so on.
Also note that fattier cuts make you feel fuller. Sometimes you just end up eating less meat by the pound. You will get full faster on a 70/30 burger than on a 90/10.
- Buy what’s on sale
Lots of grocery stores have a weekly ad. Look out for which stores have meat offers. You could find that you save greatly this way.
- Buy your meat online
Buying meat online has major benefits. You get a large variety. You can order less common meats like organ meat and liverwurst. And you can double down on coupons or buy in bulk.
- Buy the whole animal
The ultimate way to go carnivore and save money in the long run is to buy a full cow or pig. The savings are huge. If you have a non-defrost freezer, you could potentially have meat for half to a full year, depending of course on how much you eat.
- Buy sections
You could also buy sections of an animal i.e., ½, ¼, ⅛ and so on…
Here is a very general breakdown of the costs for a full cow from a certified organic, grass-fed ranch.
The average hanging weight of a full cow is 500 pounds. (Hanging weight is basically all the meat minus blood, head, etc.)
With butcher fees, a whole cow costs approximately $3200 to $4400. That works out to $8.80 per pound on the high end and $6.40 per pound on the low end.
(You can pay even less if you buy from an uncertified organic farm or ranch, or buy non-grass-fed.) Non-grass fed beef is fattier. But it is usually fed grain and soy, which, depending on who you talk to, is controversial from a health and environmental perspective.
When you buy the full cow, you choose the cuts you want and how thick you want your steaks, so there is a certain amount of customization. Depending on the cuts you pick, you end up with around 100 to 150 pounds of ground beef too.
This is by far the best deal because you are getting all the cuts like ribeye steaks, filets, flanks, strips, and briskets.
- How much freezer space do you need?
The general rule of thumb is one cubic foot of space for every 35-40 pounds of packaged meat. So a quarter of a cow will fit in a standard chest freezer that has five to seven cubic feet.
Auto Defrost or Not???
Be careful what type of freezer you use to store your packaged meat. There is a huge difference between an auto-defrost freezer, most likely like the one in your kitchen, and a non-defrost freezer. The auto-defrost type actually has heating coils in its walls. They heat up, thaw the ice and then freeze again. This is not ideal, because meat next to the walls goes through the same thing. Your meat thaws and defrosts over and over again, so it will not last as long. If it is not eaten within 3 or so months, it may spoil.
If you are going big with a full cow and expect to keep it frozen through the year, you will need to invest in a non-defrosting chest-style freezer. These are very affordable. A non-defrosting freezer will pay for itself over time.
How else can you keep meat longer?
When you buy, the butcher will generally offer standard paper-style packaging or vacuum-sealed. Vacuum-sealed meat lasts longer, but it costs more because of the material and the time it takes to vacuum seal everything. So it is up to you. You can pay extra and have your meat last longer, or keep your meat for a shorter time at a lower cost.
Another fun way to buy your meat is at a livestock auction. You get to see the quality of the cow, pig, goat or chickens you are buying, and you bid up to where you are comfortable. A lot of the auctions help support programs like 4-H. These in turn help ranchers and their children with education and best practices. Plus, it’s a fun and exciting experience.
- So, is a carnivore diet affordable?
As you can see, there are a lot of ways to reduce your meat costs, even if it won’t be quite possible to cut them down to the bare minimum. If you are trying to lose weight on this diet, it is wise to stock up on eggs and cheese. They are great fillers to keep you going.
What matters, though, is that this lifestyle is affordable! You will eat out a lot less, and you no longer need to snack on anything at all. Think about the health care costs associated with poor health. Can you afford not to go carnivore?
Frequently asked questions
Is it expensive to eat a carnivore diet?
It costs less than most people expect. You skip the avocados, nut butters, cacao, kombucha, specialty snacks and supplements such as MCT oil and protein powder that other diets pile on. You also eat out less and stop snacking. Fattier cuts fill you up faster, so you often end up eating fewer pounds of meat.
What can you eat on the carnivore diet?
The strict version is beef, pork, lamb, organ meats, poultry, fish, eggs, lard, bone marrow, butter, bone broth, salt, pepper and water, leaning heavily on fatty red meat to meet your daily calorie needs. More flexible versions add foods that come from animals indirectly, such as milk, yogurt and cheese.
Can you drink coffee on the carnivore diet?
It depends on how strict you want to be. The strictest version limits drinks to water and bone broth. Many people follow a more flexible version that keeps coffee and tea, and some also add milk, yogurt and cheese. Choose the version you can stick with, then build every meal around meat.
What is the cheapest way to eat carnivore?
Move from lean cuts to fattier cuts and ground beef as your body adjusts, stepping from 90/10 toward 70/30 ground beef. Watch weekly grocery ads for meat sales, order online in bulk with coupons, and buy a whole, half, quarter or eighth of an animal. Livestock auctions are another option. Buying the whole animal saves the most.
How much freezer space does a quarter cow need?
Plan on one cubic foot of freezer space for every 35 to 40 pounds of packaged meat, so a quarter of a cow fits in a standard chest freezer of five to seven cubic feet. For long storage, use a non-defrosting chest freezer. Auto-defrost freezers warm their walls, and meat kept there may spoil within about three months.
Related reading
References
- Mbg Food (2019): The Carnivore Diet: Here Are The Benefits & Risks Of Going Meat-Only. Retrieved from https://www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/what-is-the-carnivore-diet
- Wild Lumens (2019): How much does the carnivore diet cost? A surprising breakdown. Retrieved from https://wildlumens.com/how-much-does-the-carnivore-diet-cost/
- CarnivoreStyle (2018): How To Do Carnivore Diet On A Budget. Retrieved from https://carnivorestyle.com/blog/carnivore-diet-on-a-budget/
- The cool Carnivore (2019): Keto diet, healthy eating, and lifestyle advice from a meat-eating carnivore. Retrieved from https://coolcarnivore.com/2019/06/15/5-easy-ways-to-eat-cheap-on-the-carnivore-diet/
Medically reviewed by Dr. Gurpreet Singh Padda, MD, MBA, MHP
Interventional pain physician, addiction medicine specialist and obesity medicine diplomate.
Licensed in Missouri and Illinois.
Last reviewed June 18, 2026
