Grocery Deals Blog
The Corned Beef Price Floor: Safeway Has Brisket at $1.99/lb and Here's My Full St. Patrick's Day Deal Plan

The Corned Beef Price Floor: Safeway Has Brisket at $1.99/lb and Here's My Full St. Patrick's Day Deal Plan

Maren WhitakerBy Maren Whitaker
Deals & Freebiescorned beefst patricks daysafewaykrogeraldicostcowalmartfreezer stockpileunit priceholiday dealsbeef prices 2026

Corned beef brisket is up 23% year-over-year. The USDA's weekly retail report puts flats at $5.80 per pound this week, compared to $4.71 at this time in 2025. Costco is charging $7.89 a pound for Morton's of Omaha. And somewhere, a grocery store marketing team is hoping you'll panic-buy a 4-pound brisket at full price because St. Patrick's Day is Tuesday.

Don't do that. I ran the numbers, and this is one of the most predictable deal windows of the entire year — if you know the timing.

The Two Windows: Before and After March 17

Here's what most people get wrong about corned beef: they think the sale IS the week of St. Patrick's Day. Sometimes it is. But the real price floor usually hits in the 3-5 days after the holiday, when stores are sitting on unsold inventory and need to move it before it expires.

Right now, this week (March 13-19), Safeway has corned beef on sale for $1.99 per pound. That's not a typo. That is 66% below the USDA average for flats this week. If you're near a Safeway, stop reading this and go buy some. I'm serious.

But if Safeway isn't in your area, here's the play: wait until March 18-20. After the holiday, stores slash corned beef to half price or lower to clear it out. I've seen it drop below $2 a pound at Kroger and Walmart in past years. The Reddit BBQ community calls this the annual "pastrami window" because they buy discounted corned beef briskets and smoke them into pastrami. Smart people.

The Unit Price Math That Actually Matters

Not all corned beef deals are equal, and the packaging tries to trick you. Here's what to look at:

Flat cut vs. point cut. Flats are leaner, more uniform, and more expensive — averaging $5.80/lb this week per USDA data. Points are fattier, less pretty, but averaging $3.64/lb. For a basic corned beef and cabbage dinner? The point cut works fine and saves you $2.16 per pound. On a 3.5-pound brisket, that's $7.56 back in your pocket.

Watch the water weight. Corned beef is brined, which means there's liquid in that sealed package. Some packages are heavier on brine than others. If two packages are the same labeled weight but one feels sloshier, you're paying meat prices for salt water. Pick the denser, firmer package every time.

Price per pound on the sticker vs. the shelf tag. The package sticker shows total price. The shelf tag shows price per pound. Always compare using the shelf tag. A "smaller" package at a lower price per pound beats a "bigger" package at a higher one. This is unit-price basics, but it matters more with corned beef because package sizes are all over the map — I've seen everything from 2.5 to 6+ pounds in the same bin.

The Freezer Play: Buy Now, Eat for Months

Here's where this gets good. Corned beef freezes beautifully for 2-3 months. So the real move is:
  1. Buy 2-3 briskets at the post-holiday markdown price ($1.50-$2.50/lb if you time it right)
  2. Freeze them in their original vacuum-sealed packaging — no extra work needed
  3. Pull one out per month for an easy slow-cooker dinner

At $2 per pound for a 3.5-pound brisket, that's $7 for a dinner that feeds my whole family with leftovers for Derek's lunch sandwiches the next day. Compare that to the $20+ you'd spend on the same brisket in July when nobody's running corned beef promotions. That's a 65% savings just from timing.

Ollie doesn't care about St. Patrick's Day. He just knows he likes the shredded meat with potatoes. So we eat it in April, May, and June too.

Store-by-Store Breakdown: Where to Look This Week

Safeway/Albertsons: $1.99/lb this week (March 13-19). This is the best pre-holiday price I've found nationwide. If you have one nearby, this is your move.

Aldi: Cattlemen's Ranch flat cut brisket is their seasonal offering. Aldi doesn't publish prices online, but historically they come in around $3.49-$3.99/lb during the St. Patrick's week. Below average, but not the screaming deal Safeway has.

Kroger: Check your Kroger app — digital coupons for corned beef usually drop the weekend before St. Patrick's Day. Last year they had a $2.99/lb digital deal. Stack it with fuel points.

Costco: $7.89/lb for Morton's of Omaha, up from $6.49 last year. I love Costco for a lot of things. This is not one of them. You are paying a premium for convenience and brand name. Skip it this time.

Walmart: Usually competitive at $3.49-$4.49/lb during the promotional window. The real Walmart play is the post-holiday clearance — their markdown stickers tend to show up by Wednesday March 18.

What to Buy Alongside the Brisket (While You're Deal-Hunting)

St. Patrick's Day creates sale prices on more than just corned beef. Watch for deals on:
  • Green cabbage: Often drops to $0.33-$0.50/lb this week (normally $0.69-$0.89/lb). Cabbage keeps for weeks in the fridge.
  • Carrots: Bag carrots go on sale at most stores this week. Stock up — they last a month in the crisper.
  • Potatoes: 5-lb bags are usually discounted as part of the "corned beef dinner" promotions. Stored in a cool, dark spot, they'll last 3-4 weeks.
  • Irish butter (Kerrygold): Sometimes marked down for the holiday. If you see it below $3.50 for the 8oz block, buy two and freeze one.
  • Guinness and other stout beer: On promo at most stores. Good for braising the brisket in — pour half in the slow cooker, drink the other half while you wait.

The full "corned beef dinner" — brisket, cabbage, carrots, potatoes — can come in under $15 for a family of four if you're buying at this week's sale prices. That's $3.75 per plate for a legitimately hearty dinner.

My Actual Plan for This Week

I'm hitting Safeway on Saturday for two briskets at $1.99/lb. One for Tuesday dinner, one for the freezer. Then I'm checking Kroger's post-holiday clearance on Wednesday for a third. If I can get all three briskets for under $25 total, that's three family dinners locked in at roughly $8.30 each — and I won't have to think about what's for dinner on three separate weeknights over the next couple months.

Derek thinks buying three corned beef briskets is "a lot." Derek also eats the leftover corned beef sandwiches without complaint. The math works, and the fridge space is temporary.

If you spot any wild corned beef deals at your local store, drop them in the comments. I want to see who's getting the best price floor this year.