Chicken feet, livers and gizzards are the quiet heroes of a Soweto kitchen. They cost a fraction of what a steak costs per kilogram, they carry the deep flavour that makes a Sunday pot taste like home, and every generation knows exactly how to cook them. For a household tightening its grocery budget, they are the least glamorous and most practical protein in the butchery.
This guide covers the value cuts that do the most work in a township kitchen: chicken feet, chicken livers, gizzards, necks and trotters. What each cut costs, what it does best, how to cook it properly, and how to keep it safe from the counter to the pot.
Why do value cuts deserve a place in every basket?
Because they are the best protein per rand in the shop. The Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity Group tracks the Johannesburg household food basket against the national minimum wage, and the numbers are tight for most families. When the budget is stretched, the difference between a fillet and a pot of gizzards is not quality, it is quantity and confidence: value cuts let a household eat meat more often, and eat well.
The pattern is national, not local. The United States Department of Agriculture's poultry report on South Africa notes that when chicken meat became less affordable, economically squeezed households moved towards offal products rather than dropping protein altogether. Chicken offal is not a compromise; it is foundational protein for millions of South Africans, the kind sold through school feeding programmes and township butchers alike.
Value cuts are not what you eat when you cannot afford meat. They are what you eat when you know meat.
What are chicken feet, and why does everyone love them?
Chicken feet are exactly what they sound like, and across South Africa they are known as walkie talkies or runaways, a snack so loved it has its own street names. Food For Mzansi's deep dive traces them from Sunday kitchens to modern kota fillings, and notes that they are rich in collagen and chondroitin sulphate, nutrients linked to healthy joints and skin. In Jamaica they are lady fingers; in China, phoenix feet.
Cooking them takes time and rewards it. Feet are simmered for at least two hours until tender, then finished in a gravy or tossed through a rich sauce served with pap. Some families keep the broth they produce as a base for soups and stews, which stretches one pack into several meals. At R18,94 per kilogram for a heads and feet pack, a pot that feeds a family costs less than a single takeaway burger.
Walkie talkies taught generations of cooks the truth about slow food: the cheapest cuts just need the most patience, and patience is free.
What makes chicken livers and gizzards so versatile?
Livers are the most popular offal in the country, and the reasons are speed and flavour. They cook in minutes, take well to peri-peri or a simple onion and spice fry, and turn into pate, stew or stuffing. The trick is not to overcook them: Woolworths TASTE's guide to chicken offal notes that overdone livers go grainy, while cooked properly they stay smooth and rich. A kilogram of chicken livers at R28,74 makes a full family meal with plenty for the next day.
Gizzards are the slow-cook specialists. They have a rich, slightly gamey flavour and a satisfying chew, and they shine in stews, gravies and on skewers. A classic method simmers them for half an hour, then finishes them uncovered until the sauce thickens and clings, as in this gizzard recipe from TASTE. At R50,89 per kilogram, a gizzard pot with dumplings or pap is one of the most filling meals per rand a kitchen can make.
Livers reward speed and gizzards reward patience. Learn one of each and the butcher's value counter becomes a menu.
What about necks, trotters and the rest of the value counter?
The value counter goes deeper than feet and gizzards. Chicken necks simmer into savoury broths that lift soups and sauces, and they roast into crisp, flavoursome snacks. A 1 kilogram necks and yellow feet pack at R15,82 is the cheapest line in the butchery and one of the most useful, because everything it touches gains flavour.
Trotters are the pork side of the same story. Slow-braised until the meat falls from the bone, they turn a plain pot of beans or samp into a feast, and their gelatin-rich cooking liquid gives stews a glossy body. At R33,24 per kilogram, they are the traditional township answer to premium cuts, and they are having a quiet revival as chefs rediscover old recipes.
| Cut | What it does best | How it likes to be cooked |
|---|---|---|
| Chicken feet | Collagen-rich pots and snacks | Simmer two hours, then finish in gravy or sauce |
| Chicken livers | Fast weekday meals | Quick fry with onion and spice; do not overcook |
| Gizzards | Hearty stews and skewers | Simmer 30 minutes, then thicken the sauce uncovered |
| Necks | Broths and soup bases | Slow simmer for stock; roast for snacks |
| Trotters | Bean and samp pots | Slow braise until tender, use the liquid in the pot |
The value counter is not the back of the butchery. It is where the oldest recipes in the country live.
How do you cook value cuts safely?
Offal needs the same care as any raw protein, and a little more attention at the cleaning stage. The World Health Organization's food safety guidance sets out the basics: keep raw meat away from cooked food, wash hands and surfaces after handling, and cook poultry products right through. Chicken feet, necks, livers and gizzards all come under poultry rules, so they should be cooked thoroughly rather than served pink.
A practical routine for a value-cut kitchen:
- Rinse and trim feet and gizzards before cooking, and remove any visible fat or grit from necks.
- Keep raw value cuts in a sealed container at the bottom of the fridge, below ready-to-eat food.
- Cook poultry offal through, not to a blush. The two-hour simmer for feet and the 30-minute gizzard simmer are safety and texture in one habit.
- Cool leftovers quickly and refrigerate within two hours; offal spoils on the same clock as any meat.
- Reheat pots until piping hot, and never refreeze meat that was already thawed and cooked.
Slow cooking is not just flavour. For offal it is the safety net, so let the pot take its time.
A quick note on sourcing: value cuts move fastest at the counter on Fridays and at month end, so if a specific cut matters for a weekend pot, it pays to buy early in the day rather than late.
How do value cuts stretch a monthly budget?
The rand maths is what makes these cuts a strategy rather than a fallback. With Stats SA putting headline inflation at 4,4 percent and the meat index up 1,5 percent year on year, every meal that costs less per kilogram matters. A household that buys one kilogram of fillet at premium prices feeds four people once. The same money at the value counter buys chicken feet, necks, gizzards and trotters that feed the same family several meals across a week, with broth to spare. That is how experienced Soweto cooks keep a full table on a lean month, and it is why the value counter moves fastest at month end.
| Pack | Price | Feeds | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heads and feet, 1 kg | R18,94 | A family pot with pap | The classic Sunday braise |
| Necks and yellow feet, 1 kg | R15,82 | Broth plus a snack round | Soup bases and stocks |
| Chicken livers, per kg | R28,74 | Four to six plates | Fast weeknight dinners |
| Chicken gizzards, per kg | R50,89 | A big pot with dumplings | Slow weekend cooking |
| Pork trotters, per kg | R33,24 | Beans or samp for a crowd | Traditional pots |
A month's plan built on the value counter does more than save money. It keeps the household eating real protein, cooked properly, instead of stretching processed alternatives further than they were ever meant to go. The South African Poultry Association tracks how central chicken is to the national plate, and offal is one of the reasons why.
Buy the cuts with the longest cooking times and the shortest price tags. Your rand works hardest where the fire is slowest.
What does a week of value-cut cooking look like?
Value cuts work best as a rotation rather than a single dish. A practical week builds itself around cooking times and budgets:
- Monday: chicken livers fried with onion and served with pap, the fastest meal in the rotation.
- Tuesday: leftover livers folded into a rich gravy over rice or samp.
- Wednesday: neck and vegetable soup, using the broth as the base and stretching it with potatoes and carrots.
- Thursday: a quick gizzard fry with green pepper for the family that wants something with bite.
- Friday: trotters on the slow stove, started early so the house smells like the weekend is coming.
- Saturday: the big value pot, feet or trotters with dumplings, enough for visitors.
- Sunday: the classic feet braise with pap and chakalaka, the meal the whole week was working towards.
That rotation feeds a family of four real meat meals every day of the week for a fraction of what the same plan costs built on premium cuts. It also builds a rhythm of prep and patience that makes the value counter feel like a system rather than a scramble, which is exactly how the cooks who swear by these cuts have always worked.
One pack of feet, one pack of livers and one pot of patience can carry a whole week of suppers.
Questions about value cuts
Are chicken feet actually healthy?
Yes. They are rich in collagen and chondroitin sulphate, which support joints and skin, and they carry flavour through long cooking, which is why they have stayed in South African kitchens for generations. They are high in protein and low in cost per kilogram.
How long should gizzards cook?
Simmer for about 30 minutes to make them tender, then cook uncovered for another 10 to 15 minutes to thicken the sauce around them. A slow cooker or pressure cooker can shorten the first stage, and either way, they should be tender enough to bite through comfortably before serving.
Where should the value cuts sit in the fridge?
In a sealed container on the lowest shelf, below any ready-to-eat food, so nothing raw can drip onto other food. Then cook them within a day or two, or freeze them for longer storage, and take them out of the fridge only when you are ready to start cooking. If you are buying for the week, split a large pack into meal-sized portions before freezing so you only thaw what you will cook that day.
Can you braai offal or is it only for pots?
Both work. Gizzards marinate well and take to skewers over coals, livers can be flash-fried in a pan next to the grid, and trotters are usually cooked low in a pot first, then finished over the fire. A mixed grill of value cuts and wors is one of the most generous spreads a Soweto braai can put on.
Are these cuts only for tight months?
No. Chefs and home cooks alike seek them out for flavour, and the classics on restaurant menus in Johannesburg would be unrecognisable without livers, trotters or braised offal. They are traditional cooking, not emergency cooking.
The bottom line
The value counter is where a Soweto household gets the most protein for its money. Chicken feet, livers, gizzards, necks and trotters cost a fraction of premium cuts, taste like the food Sundays were made of, and take nothing more than time and a good recipe. Stock the fresh chicken range for the poultry cuts, and pair the pots with anything from the beef range when the month allows. For help finding the value cuts in store, reach the team on the contact page, and keep an eye on the VDT blog for more kitchen guides.