7 Things North Carolinians Buy on Sale at Ingles That Everyone Else Pays Full Price For

Not every item in a grocery ad is a bargain, but a few can stand out.

A western North Carolina extension office planned weekly menus around two Ingles ads, and the lowest prices determined what the meals were.

These are the things many North Carolinians buy on sale at Ingles that other shoppers pay full price for.

1. Chicken Thighs

The Haywood County Extension series called Local Deals, Delicious Meals builds a weekly dinner from the sale items in one local store’s ad.

For Ingles, the April 30, 2025 ad meant shredded chicken tacos ahead of Cinco de Mayo.

The price table sat under a heading that began “Great deals at Ingles.”

Harvest Farm chicken thighs were $1.08 a pound.

The thighs carried the menu.

The newsletter linked a recipe titled Mexican Pulled Shredded Chicken Thighs, so if you cooked along, you’d start with the same cut.

2. Boneless Pork Loin

Pork loin had a deadline.

The May 28, 2025 ad labeled boneless pork loin a two-day sale, at $1.98 a pound.

That was the lowest per-pound price among the meat and fish the newsletter listed.

No other row in the May table carried a sale label.

That week’s dinner was a taco salad with a choice of protein, or Mediterranean bowls.

The author named pork, fish and ground turkey as protein options.

Three pounds of the loin would have cost you $5.94, if you reached the store inside those two days.

3. Raspberries and Blackberries

In the April ad, raspberries and blackberries both carried a BOGO label.

Blueberries were the exception, priced at $2.48.

The week’s dessert was a yogurt bark with berries.

The newsletter prints no terms.

Before you plan a dessert around the label, read the shelf tag at your store.

4. Pork Tenderloin

If you missed the loin’s two days, the May ad still had pork.

Pork tenderloin was $2.98 a pound, a dollar above the loin’s sale price.

Pork showed up twice.

The author’s taco salad left the choice of protein up to you.

5. Mangoes

Mangoes were 78 cents.

The April menu used them in a mango avocado salsa on its chicken tacos.

The newsletter prints no unit.

The same table also listed avocados at $1.28, Roma tomatoes at 98 cents a pound and jalapenos at $1.48 a pound.

If you’re pricing out that salsa, you’d want to check each unit before you buy.

6. Taco Seasoning

Taco seasoning cost 50 cents in the April ad, the lowest dollar figure in its table.

Tortillas were 98 cents, and Old El Paso dinner kits were $2.98, the highest figure in the April table.

You had two options.

If your taco night skips the kit, the tortillas and seasoning came to $1.48.

7. Black Beans

Black beans carried a BOGO label in the April ad, as did frozen fajita blend vegetables and olive oil.

The menu paired the beans with rice in a Caribbean black beans and rice side.

The side was optional.

If you cook along, you can treat the beans as an easy add-on to the tacos.

Where the Ads Ran Higher

Ground turkey was $3.88 a pound in the May ad, so you’d have paid nearly twice the pork loin’s sale price.

Mahi mahi, at $6.98 a pound, was the highest per-pound price among the meat and fish the newsletter listed.

Avocados rose from $1.28 in the April ad to $1.50 in the May ad, though neither listing prints a unit.

No regular price appears.

The author of the May 28 newsletter admitted it was a tough week at Ingles, then added that grocery shopping has weeks like that.

Ingles’ Advantage Card FAQ says some items carry a special tag for Advantage Card savings.

Neither newsletter says which of its prices needed the card, so your shelf tag could show something else.

Rest of the May Table

The May 28 table also listed Perdue Short Cuts at $3.33, feta crumbles at $3.29 and Ingles deli tortilla chips at $2.99.

Borden shredded cheese was $2, and organic leaf lettuce was $2.48.

Cucumbers came by the bag.

Mini cucumbers were $2 a bag, and Chi-Chi’s tortillas were $1.50, against 98 cents for tortillas in the April table.

If you’re comparing lines, check the unit on your shelf tag.

Where the Recipes Came From

If you cooked the April 30 tacos, you’d follow a recipe credited to Bowl of Delicious.

The salsa and the yogurt bark came from North Carolina State Extension’s Med Instead of Meds, and the black beans and rice came from University of New Hampshire Extension.

Not everything was local.

For May 28, the taco salad and Spanish rice came from Purdue Extension, and the Mediterranean bowls came from Med Instead of Meds again.

Each recipe was linked on its newsletter page, so you could cook either menu from there and shop the table for the groceries.

Other Stores, Same Week

The April 30 newsletter said Haywood County's grocery stores all had Cinco de Mayo deals that included tacos and the fixings.

It linked the weekly ads for Ingles, Food Lion and Publix, and the May 28 newsletter linked the same three.

If you shopped at Food Lion that week, you may not have paid full price for taco fixings either.