Kroger's $1.99 Ribs and Fourth of July Cookout Deals

It's Fourth of July week, and the stores know it. Pork ribs are on sale practically everywhere you look, and several stores have chicken leg quarters or wings priced low enough that feeding a crowd doesn't have to hurt your wallet. If you're planning any kind of cookout between now and the holiday, this is a good week to stock up.

This Week's Best Deals

Kroger: St. Louis Style Pork Ribs at $1.99/lb. That's about as low as ribs get. Kroger also has boneless pork half loin at $1.99/lb., so if ribs feel like too much work, you can slice that loin into chops and grill them in half the time. Either way, pork is the move at Kroger this week.

Lidl: Smithfield Fresh Baby Back Ribs at $2.99/lb. A different cut and a slightly different texture than St. Louis style, but very good on a charcoal grill. Lidl also has brioche hamburger buns for $2.99 and Sweet Baby Ray's barbecue sauce for $1.79, so you can put together a solid cookout spread without running to three different stores.

Giant: Fresh Chicken Leg Quarters at $0.79/lb. Seventy-nine cents a pound is hard to argue with. Leg quarters hold up beautifully on the grill because the fat in the dark meat keeps them from drying out. Rub them with some of Giant's Old Bay Seasoning (on sale at $3.99) and you've got something worth eating.

Piggly Wiggly: Southern Peaches at $1.39/lb. Stone fruit season is here, and $1.39 a pound for fresh peaches is a genuine bargain. Eat them as they are, slice them over ice cream, or halve and grill them alongside your pork. Piggly Wiggly also has Northwest Cherries at $3.49/lb. if you want to grab both while they're at their best.

Food City: Whole Boneless Pork Loin at $1.99/lb. Another strong pork deal. A whole boneless loin gives you flexibility. Roast part of it, slice the rest into chops for later in the week, or cube it up for kebabs. Food City also has Pillsbury Crescents, Cinnamon Rolls, or Grands! Biscuits for $0.99, which is worth picking up while you're there.

Quick Breakfast and Lunch Ideas

Biscuits and peaches. Food City's Pillsbury Grands! Biscuits at $0.99 pair nicely with Piggly Wiggly's fresh peaches at $1.39/lb. Warm a biscuit, slice a ripe peach over it, and breakfast is done with almost no effort.

Lunch meat and King's Hawaiian rolls. Giant has King's Hawaiian Slider, Pretzel Slider, Sub Rolls, or Hamburger Buns for $2.99, and Boar's Head Lower Sodium Ham at $5.99/lb. in the deli. A few slices of ham tucked into a slider roll with some mustard makes a quick and satisfying lunch.

Deli salad plate. ALDI has pasta salad for $3.89 and potato salad for $1.79. Together that's a respectable cold lunch for a hot summer day, especially if you add Piggly Wiggly's Northwest Cherries on the side.

We've built out full meal plans around this week's best sales, and you can find them on the site. If you're shopping at any of these stores this week, take a look before you head out. A little planning goes a long way, especially when the deals are this good.