May is when dinner starts competing with end-of-school chaos, warmer nights, weekend plans, and the first real pull toward takeout. The best grocery buys right now are the ones that make boring weeknight meals easier without costing restaurant money.
Target’s grocery section has a strong mix of store-brand staples, fresh produce, frozen vegetables, and low-cost proteins that can stretch across breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. Prices are accurate at the time of publishing but may vary by store or sell out quickly.
Fresh bananas
Bananas are still one of the cheapest fresh foods you can put in your cart, and Target’s Good & Gather fresh banana is $0.29 each. That is useful when you need fruit in the house but do not want to gamble on a $7 container of berries going soft by tomorrow.
Use them for breakfast with oatmeal, slice them onto peanut butter toast, or freeze overripe ones for smoothies. They also help stretch snacks for kids, lunches, and late-night “I need something” eating without opening another bag of chips.
Fresh yellow onions
A 3-pound bag of Good & Gather yellow onions is $3.19, and that is a smart buy because onions quietly improve almost every cheap meal. Rice, beans, eggs, soup, pasta sauce, turkey, and potatoes all taste better when you start with onions.
This is not the fun part of grocery shopping, which is exactly why it matters. Keeping onions around helps you turn basic pantry food into actual dinner instead of the sad version of dinner you eat standing near the sink.
Fresh baby-cut carrots
Good & Gather baby-cut carrots cost $1.39 for a 1-pound bag. They work as a raw side, a lunchbox filler, or a quick vegetable to roast with chicken or potatoes.
The bigger value is that they do not require peeling, chopping, or much thought. If cooking feels like too much at 6:15 p.m., carrots can still get a vegetable on the plate with almost no effort. That matters in a real kitchen on a real weeknight.
Hass avocados
A 4-count bag of Good & Gather Hass avocados is $2.49, which is low enough to make avocado useful beyond one fancy piece of toast. They can add fat and texture to rice bowls, tacos, eggs, salads, and sandwiches.
This only makes sense if you will use them before they turn on you, because avocados have a rude little window between rock and regret. For households that eat tacos, burrito bowls, or egg breakfasts, the 4-pack can make cheap meals feel more filling.
Grade A large eggs
The 18-count Good & Gather Grade A large eggs are $2.19, which makes them one of the better protein buys in the grocery aisle. Eggs cover breakfast, but they also work for fried rice, egg salad, breakfast-for-dinner, and quick veggie scrambles.
An 18-count carton gives you enough to use eggs as more than a backup plan. For smaller households, it can cover several meals. For families, it helps fill plates when meat prices make you pause in the aisle.
Fresh ground turkey
Good & Gather 93/7 all-natural ground turkey is $4.69 for 16 ounces. One pound can become taco meat, pasta sauce, rice bowls, lettuce wraps, or burger patties, which is the kind of flexibility that keeps it from sitting forgotten in the fridge.
Ground turkey is also easy to stretch. Add beans, onions, rice, frozen vegetables, or diced tomatoes, and one package can cover more servings without feeling like you are just watering down dinner.
Thin-sliced chicken breast
Good & Gather thin-sliced boneless skinless chicken breast is $4.49 per pound, with the final price based on weight. Thin-sliced chicken cooks faster than thick breasts, which helps when you want dinner done before everyone starts circling the kitchen.
Use it for sandwiches, salads, wraps, pasta, or quick skillet meals. The value is not just the per-pound price, it is that thinner pieces are easier to portion and less likely to become dry, expensive disappointment.
Chunk light tuna in water
A 5-ounce can of Good & Gather chunk light tuna in water is $1.29. It is shelf-stable protein that does not ask anything from you except a can opener.
Tuna works for sandwiches, melts, pasta salad, rice bowls, or a quick lunch with crackers and vegetables. Keeping a few cans around can save you from buying lunch out when the fridge has ingredients but no obvious meal.
Premium white chunk chicken
Good & Gather premium white chunk chicken in water is $2.49 for a 10-ounce can. It is fully cooked, which makes it useful for nights when thawing meat did not happen.
Stir it into pasta, make chicken salad, add it to quesadillas, or use it in soup with broth and frozen vegetables. It costs more than dry beans, but it is still cheaper than grabbing prepared chicken when you need a fast protein.
Plain Greek whole milk yogurt
The 32-ounce Good & Gather plain whole milk Greek yogurt is $3.69. A large tub costs less per serving than single cups and gives you more ways to use it.
It works for breakfast with bananas or oats, but it can also stand in for sour cream on tacos, baked potatoes, and chili. That kind of double duty is useful when fridge space and grocery money are both limited.
Shredded mozzarella cheese
Good & Gather shredded mozzarella is $1.99 for an 8-ounce bag. It is a low-cost way to make basic meals more filling, especially pasta, eggs, tortillas, and homemade pizzas.
Cheese can be easy to overbuy, so the smaller bag is a good fit if you do not go through it quickly. For families, it stretches across several meals without jumping to the price of specialty cheese.
Mission yellow corn tortillas
The 30-count pack of Mission Super Soft yellow corn tortillas is $2.24. That is a lot of meal potential for the price, especially if tacos, quesadillas, egg wraps, or quick tostadas are regulars in your house.
Corn tortillas are also easier to stretch than sandwich bread for some meals. Add eggs, beans, turkey, avocado, or leftover chicken, and dinner looks planned even when it was absolutely not planned.
Good & Gather spaghetti
Good & Gather spaghetti starts at $0.99 for a 16-ounce package. Pasta is not exciting, but it is dependable, cheap, and easy to build into a full meal with sauce, vegetables, tuna, turkey, or chicken.
One box can cover a family dinner or several smaller meals, depending on how you portion it. If your pantry is thin, pasta is one of the first things worth adding back.
Marinara pasta sauce
Good & Gather marinara pasta sauce is $1.79 for a 23-ounce jar. It turns a box of pasta into dinner, but it can also work as pizza sauce, a simmer sauce for meatballs, or a shortcut base for soup.
Jarred sauce is one of those items where paying more does not always change weeknight dinner much. If you are feeding people who mostly need warm, saucy pasta after a long day, this does the job without draining the cart budget.
Instant enriched long grain white rice
The 28-ounce Good & Gather instant enriched long grain white rice is $2.89. Regular rice is cheaper by the pound, but instant rice earns its place when time is the problem.
Use it for stir-fries, burrito bowls, chicken and rice, soup, or a fast side with frozen vegetables. It helps you skip the pricier microwave cups while still keeping dinner simple.
Dry lentils
A 1-pound bag of Good & Gather dry lentils is $1.99. Lentils cook faster than many dry beans, so they are useful even if you did not plan dinner hours ahead.
They work in soup, curry-style bowls, taco filling, pasta sauce, and grain bowls. For anyone trying to cut meat spending without living on plain rice, lentils are one of the more practical pantry buys.
Low-sodium black beans
Good & Gather low-sodium black beans are $0.99 for a 15.5-ounce can. They are ready when you are, which makes them helpful for tacos, burrito bowls, soups, salads, and quick skillet dinners.
The low-sodium version gives you more control over seasoning, especially if you are adding salsa, broth, cheese, or taco seasoning. A few cans can stretch ground meat or replace it altogether for cheaper meals.
Petite diced tomatoes
A 14.5-ounce can of Good & Gather petite diced tomatoes is $0.99. Keep them around for chili, soup, pasta, rice, beans, and skillet meals that need moisture and flavor.
Canned tomatoes are one of the better pantry shortcuts because they turn odds and ends into something more like dinner. Onion, lentils, broth, tomatoes, and seasoning can get you a real pot of food for very little money.
Chicken broth
Good & Gather chicken broth is $1.39 for a 32-ounce carton. It is cheap help for soups, rice, lentils, sauces, and pan meals that need more flavor than water can offer.
Broth is also useful for using up small amounts of food. Leftover chicken, frozen vegetables, pasta, and a little broth can become soup instead of another round of refrigerator guilt.
Frozen mixed vegetables
The 28-ounce bag of Good & Gather frozen mixed vegetables is $2.39. The blend of carrots, corn, green beans, and peas works in fried rice, soup, pot pie filling, pasta, and quick sides.
Frozen vegetables are a good buy in May because they do not care how busy your week gets. They stay usable, they cook fast, and they keep you from tossing slimy produce you had every intention of using.
Vegetable oil
Good & Gather vegetable oil is $3.79 for a 48-ounce bottle. It is not glamorous, but it supports a lot of cheap cooking, from pancakes and muffins to roasted vegetables, skillet chicken, and homemade dressings.
A reasonably priced bottle of oil helps you cook the lower-cost staples already in your cart. That matters because dry lentils, frozen vegetables, onions, rice, and chicken all need a little help becoming meals people actually want to eat.
