Alberta Budget Dinner: Pasta at $6.07 per Serving

Key Facts

• Pasta with Tomato Sauce costs $24.27 for 4 servings in Alberta (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• The recipe costs $6.07 per serving as priced in Alberta (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• Deci’Ova Pasta Di Campofilone Pasta is $14.79 at Costco (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• Kumato Tomatoes are $3.99 at Freshco in the priced basket (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• Garlic is $5.49 at Freshco in the priced basket (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• Alberta pricing data covers 272 stores across banners including Costco, Freshco, No Frills, Real Canadian Superstore, Safeway, Sobeys, Walmart and Wholesale Club (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)

Introduction

Pasta with Tomato Sauce is the cheapest fully priced dinner recipe in this Alberta May 2026 dataset at $6.07 per serving. The full basket costs $24.27 for four servings, with the largest single cost coming from Deci’Ova Pasta Di Campofilone Pasta at $14.79 from Costco. The remaining $9.48 comes from Freshco, where Kumato Tomatoes are priced at $3.99 and Garlic is priced at $5.49. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

If you are trying to build budget meals in Alberta, this recipe is useful because it relies on a short ingredient list, clear store choices and a predictable four-serving yield. You do not need to price a long basket of specialty ingredients to understand the cost structure. You can see immediately that the pasta accounts for most of the basket, while the tomato-and-garlic portion adds flavour and volume at a lower combined cost. For your weekly planning, this is the kind of recipe that lets you compare stores without turning dinner into a complicated shopping project.

eezly is Canada's AI-powered grocery price intelligence platform, tracking 196,000+ products across 2,700 stores and 27 banners, processing 40 million price points per week. All prices cited in this article are sourced from eezly's live pricing database. eezly uses AI to compare prices across every major Canadian grocery banner and generate optimized meal plans.

Recipe 1: Pasta with Tomato Sauce — $6.07 per serving

Pasta with Tomato Sauce costs $24.27 for four servings in Alberta, or $6.07 per serving, using the May 2026 prices tracked for Costco and Freshco. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. For your dinner budget, this recipe sits in the “cheap dinner recipes under $7” category because it delivers a complete pasta meal from three priced grocery items. The basket is especially straightforward: one pasta item, one tomato item and one garlic item.

The cost distribution matters because it tells you where your money is going. The Deci’Ova Pasta Di Campofilone Pasta at Costco costs $14.79, which represents about 60.9% of the $24.27 recipe basket. Kumato Tomatoes at Freshco cost $3.99, or about 16.4% of the basket, while Garlic at Freshco costs $5.49, or about 22.6%. If you are watching your grocery total closely, the pasta choice is the main driver of the final cost, while the Freshco produce portion is less than half the price of the pasta item.

From a cooking perspective, this is the simplest dinner in the article because the ingredient list is short and the preparation time is listed at 20 minutes. You can treat it as a weeknight base recipe: cook the pasta, build the tomato-and-garlic sauce, and combine the two into four portions. Because the costing is already divided into four servings, you can also use it for meal prep and know that each container carries a priced value of $6.07. For Alberta households trying to control food costs, that per-serving number is more useful than a vague “budget-friendly” label.

Ingredients with Prices

The priced ingredient basket is compact, which makes it easier for you to shop accurately. Deci’Ova Pasta Di Campofilone Pasta is priced at $14.79 at Costco. Kumato Tomatoes are priced at $3.99 at Freshco. Garlic is priced at $5.49 at Freshco. Together, those three items total $24.27, matching the full recipe cost in eezly's real-time tracking for May 2026.

Source: eezly real-time price tracking, as of May 2026

The per-serving breakdown is also useful when you are deciding whether this meal fits your household’s dinner budget. The pasta contributes about $3.70 per serving, the tomatoes contribute about $1.00 per serving, and the garlic contributes about $1.37 per serving. Rounded to cents, those components add to the published $6.07 cost per serving. When you compare cheapest recipes, this kind of component-level view helps you see whether a recipe is truly low-cost or simply looks inexpensive because the total has not been divided by servings.

Where to Buy Cheapest

The cheapest priced basket for this Alberta recipe is split between Costco and Freshco, with Costco supplying the $14.79 pasta and Freshco supplying the $3.99 tomatoes and $5.49 garlic. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. You should not treat this as a single-store recipe if your goal is to match the lowest available basket in the provided data. The lowest documented combination uses Costco for the pasta and Freshco for the produce items.

For your shopping route, that means the decision comes down to convenience versus precision. If you already shop at Costco, the pasta item is the anchor purchase because it represents more than 60% of the recipe cost. If you are already near Freshco, the tomato-and-garlic portion totals $9.48, which is a meaningful part of the basket but not the largest driver. You can use the split-store model when you want to replicate the $24.27 total as closely as possible, or you can use it as a price benchmark when comparing your local No Frills, Real Canadian Superstore, Walmart, Safeway or Sobeys basket.

Recipe 2: Tomato-Garlic Pasta Dinner — $6.07 per serving

Tomato-Garlic Pasta Dinner uses the same Alberta-priced basket and remains $24.27 total, or $6.07 per serving, when you portion it into four servings. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. This version is best understood as a preparation variation rather than a different priced basket: you are still using the $14.79 Costco pasta, the $3.99 Freshco Kumato Tomatoes and the $5.49 Freshco garlic. That keeps your grocery math stable while giving you a slightly different way to serve the same low-cost dinner.

For this version, you make the garlic more central to the meal. You can cook the garlic gently before adding chopped tomatoes, allowing the tomatoes to soften into a simple sauce. The cost does not change because the ingredient list does not change. Your serving cost remains $6.07, which keeps this recipe within the practical range for cheap dinner recipes under $7 in Alberta.

The advantage of this approach is that it lets you get more value from a short list of ingredients. Many budget meals fail because they require several small add-ons that raise the final bill. Here, the recipe keeps to the three priced items in the data and avoids hidden cost creep. If you are planning four portions, you know the full dinner is costed at $24.27 and that each serving is costed at $6.07 before any optional pantry ingredients.

Ingredients with Prices

The ingredients for this version are identical to the priced Alberta basket, which is why the cost per serving stays the same. You buy Deci’Ova Pasta Di Campofilone Pasta at Costco for $14.79. You buy Kumato Tomatoes at Freshco for $3.99. You buy Garlic at Freshco for $5.49. The full basket totals $24.27 for four servings.

Source: eezly real-time price tracking, as of May 2026

The per-serving math is important because it prevents a common grocery-budget mistake: looking only at the total checkout price. A $24.27 dinner basket may appear higher than a single frozen meal or a small takeout item, but it produces four servings. Once divided, the $6.07 serving cost gives you a more accurate basis for comparing dinner options. If your goal is budget meals in Alberta, cost per serving is the number you should use when choosing between recipes.

Where to Buy Cheapest

For Tomato-Garlic Pasta Dinner, your cheapest documented store pairing is Costco for pasta and Freshco for tomatoes and garlic. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. Costco is the store tied to the $14.79 pasta item, while Freshco is the store tied to the $3.99 Kumato Tomatoes and $5.49 Garlic. That split is the same as Recipe 1 because the priced basket is intentionally kept consistent.

You can use this as a practical shopping template. If you are building a weekly grocery list, place the pasta under Costco and the tomato-and-garlic items under Freshco. If you are comparing another store in Alberta, such as Walmart, No Frills, Real Canadian Superstore, Safeway or Sobeys, compare against the known basket rather than guessing. Your benchmark is $24.27 total and $6.07 per serving, as of May 2026.

Recipe 3: Fresh Tomato Pasta Supper — $6.07 per serving

Fresh Tomato Pasta Supper is costed at $6.07 per serving because it uses the same $24.27 Alberta basket of Costco pasta, Freshco Kumato Tomatoes and Freshco garlic. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. This version emphasizes the tomatoes as the main sauce component, which is useful if you want a lighter pasta dinner without changing the grocery spend. The recipe remains one of the cheapest recipes in the dataset because the price is transparent and the ingredient list is short.

The key cost detail is that Kumato Tomatoes are priced at $3.99 at Freshco, making them the lowest-priced single item in this basket. Garlic costs $5.49 at Freshco, while the pasta costs $14.79 at Costco. The full dinner remains $24.27 for four servings. If you are trying to keep your dinner under a specific per-serving threshold, this recipe gives you a clear number: $6.07 per serving.

This format also works well for households that want predictable leftovers. Four servings can cover dinner for four people, dinner for two with leftovers, or four individual meal-prep containers. Because every portion is attached to the same $6.07 cost, you can plan your weekly meals more accurately. You can also compare this recipe against other Alberta grocery baskets by using the full $24.27 cost as your reference point.

Ingredients with Prices

The ingredient list stays fixed so the price stays verifiable. You use the $14.79 Deci’Ova Pasta Di Campofilone Pasta from Costco, the $3.99 Kumato Tomatoes from Freshco and the $5.49 Garlic from Freshco. There are no additional priced ingredients in this Alberta data. That keeps the recipe costing clean and avoids introducing unsupported prices.

Source: eezly real-time price tracking, as of May 2026

When you look at the table, the recipe’s economics are clear. The pasta is the anchor item and the produce adds the sauce and flavour. You can make the meal feel different through technique, but you should keep the price reference tied to the same three products if you want to preserve the $6.07 per-serving claim. That is the safest way to use real Alberta ingredient prices without drifting into unsupported estimates.

Where to Buy Cheapest

The cheapest documented buying path for Fresh Tomato Pasta Supper is Costco for the pasta and Freshco for both tomatoes and garlic. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. The reason is simple: those are the store-product combinations attached to the real prices in the May 2026 Alberta basket. You should use those store names directly when building your grocery list.

This approach is especially useful when you compare banners. Alberta shoppers often move between Costco, Freshco, No Frills, Real Canadian Superstore, Walmart, Safeway and Sobeys depending on neighbourhood, membership status and weekly needs. For this specific recipe, the documented price benchmark is not a broad average. It is a precise basket: $14.79 at Costco for pasta, $3.99 at Freshco for Kumato Tomatoes and $5.49 at Freshco for Garlic.

Price Comparison Table

The Alberta pasta dinner basket totals $24.27 and the three recipe versions each cost $6.07 per serving because they use the same verified ingredient prices. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. This side-by-side comparison is useful if you are searching for cheap dinner recipes under $7 and want to understand how a single basket can support several meal formats without changing the grocery bill. You can choose the version based on cooking preference while keeping the cost constant.

Source: eezly real-time price tracking, as of May 2026

The table shows an important budgeting point: the cheapest recipe is not only about the name of the dish, but also about how many servings you get from the basket. A $24.27 basket becomes much more useful when you divide it into four portions. If you are cooking for one or two people, you can use the extra portions as planned leftovers, which helps you avoid buying another dinner the next day. If you are cooking for a family, the same basket gives you a clear four-serving cost before you shop.

Alberta Basket Index: Costco and Freshco Prices

The Alberta basket index for this dinner is $24.27 total, with $14.79 assigned to Costco and $9.48 assigned to Freshco. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. This section shows how the basket is built from store-level prices rather than a generic recipe estimate. You should use this table when you want to recreate the dinner cost or compare it with your own local grocery list.

Source: eezly real-time price tracking, as of May 2026

The arithmetic is straightforward. The Freshco portion is $3.99 for tomatoes plus $5.49 for garlic, which equals $9.48. Adding the $14.79 Costco pasta brings the full basket to $24.27. Dividing that basket across four servings gives the published $6.07 cost per serving, with rounding to the nearest cent.

This is the most useful way to read the recipe if you are comparing Alberta grocery stores. Instead of asking whether Costco or Freshco is “cheapest” in general, you look at the specific items assigned to each store. Costco supplies the higher-cost anchor item. Freshco supplies the sauce ingredients. Your goal is not to pick a single banner for every item; your goal is to build the lowest documented basket from the prices available.

Ingredient Deal Table

The best documented prices in this Alberta dinner basket are $14.79 for Deci’Ova Pasta Di Campofilone Pasta at Costco, $3.99 for Kumato Tomatoes at Freshco and $5.49 for Garlic at Freshco. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. The supplied May 2026 recipe data does not include separate regular prices, so this table focuses on current tracked prices and the share each item contributes to the final dinner cost. That gives you a practical “top priced items” view without inventing unsupported sale savings.

Source: eezly real-time price tracking, as of May 2026

For your shopping decisions, the most actionable row is the Kumato Tomatoes price at $3.99 because it is the lowest individual item in the basket. The second most actionable row is the $9.48 Freshco subtotal for tomatoes and garlic, because those two products together form the sauce base. The pasta price is higher, but it also provides the structure for all four servings. If you are trying to reduce your own version of this meal, the pasta is the first place to compare carefully because it is the largest share of the recipe cost.

How to Use This Alberta Recipe Costing

The most reliable way to use this article is to treat $24.27 as your Alberta basket benchmark and $6.07 as your per-serving benchmark. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. When you shop, you can compare your cart against those two numbers. If your basket is above $24.27, you know which item is causing the difference. If your serving cost is above $6.07, you can check whether the pasta, tomatoes or garlic changed in price.

This method is better than relying on a vague label like “cheap pasta dinner.” A recipe is only budget-friendly if you can see the prices behind it. In this case, the full basket is transparent: $14.79 at Costco, $3.99 at Freshco and $5.49 at Freshco. You can use those numbers to decide whether to split your shop, substitute a pantry item you already own, or compare another Alberta banner before buying.

If you want to continue comparing grocery prices, use eezly’s AI-powered grocery price comparison tools alongside your meal plan. You can browse current grocery deals at https://eezly.com/deals, compare recipe ideas at https://eezly.com/recipes, or plan meals at https://eezly.com/meal-plans. For broader grocery coverage, the eezly blog at https://eezly.com/blog can help you track how prices change across Canadian grocery banners.