BC Budget Dinners: Beef Casserole at $7.67/Serving

Key Facts

• Beef Casserole costs $61.32 total, or $7.67 per serving for 8 servings in British Columbia. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• The priced Beef Casserole basket is anchored at CHALO! FreshCo 120 St & 72 Ave in Surrey, BC. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• Rice is priced at $10.99 at CHALO! FreshCo 120 St & 72 Ave. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• Carrots are priced at $0.72 at Independent, the lowest single ingredient price in this recipe basket. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• Whole Water Chestnuts are priced at $1.49 at Independent. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• Sweet Green Peppers are priced at $2.70 at Independent, while Cherry Tomatoes Red 1 Pint are $3.97 at FreshCo. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• Compliments Pork Ground Lean 454 g is priced at $5.49 at CHALO! FreshCo 120 St & 72 Ave. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)

Introduction

A rice, carrot, water chestnut and pea shoot bowl is the cheapest recipe in this British Columbia costing at $4.30 per serving, based on current ingredient prices from CHALO! FreshCo 120 St & 72 Ave and Independent. The meal uses Rice at $10.99 from CHALO! FreshCo 120 St & 72 Ave, Carrots at $0.72 from Independent, Whole Water Chestnuts at $1.49 from Independent, and GoodLeaf Hero Greens Sweet Pea Shoots 50 g at $3.99 from CHALO! FreshCo 120 St & 72 Ave. That makes it the strongest option if you are searching for cheap dinner recipes under $8 in BC and want a filling, low-cost base meal.

For a heartier family dinner, the featured Beef Casserole basket costs $61.32 total and $7.67 per serving for 8 servings at CHALO! FreshCo 120 St & 72 Ave, using eezly's real-time price tracking as of June 2026. Active grocery banners in British Columbia for this pricing context include Safeway, No Frills, Real Canadian Superstore, IGA, FreshCo, Walmart, Your Independent Grocer, Wholesale Club, and Loblaws. If you are building budget meals in British Columbia, the practical takeaway is clear: your lowest-cost dinner comes from using rice and lower-priced vegetables as the foundation, while the casserole remains a reasonable family-format meal because it spreads a larger grocery basket over eight servings.

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: Rice, Carrot and Water Chestnut Bowl — $4.30 per serving

This rice, carrot and water chestnut bowl costs $17.19 total, or $4.30 per serving when divided into 4 servings. The lowest-cost ingredients in this meal are Carrots at $0.72 from Independent and Whole Water Chestnuts at $1.49 from Independent, while Rice at $10.99 from CHALO! FreshCo 120 St & 72 Ave supplies the bulk of the meal. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

This is the best option if you want one of the cheapest recipes in this British Columbia basket because it turns a small group of pantry-friendly ingredients into four dinner portions. You get the filling base from rice, crunch from water chestnuts, sweetness from carrots, and a fresh finish from GoodLeaf Hero Greens Sweet Pea Shoots 50 g. The recipe is especially useful when your goal is not a restaurant-style dinner, but a dependable, lower-cost meal that you can prepare quickly and portion cleanly.

To prepare it, cook the rice according to package directions, then stir-fry or sauté thinly sliced carrots until they soften slightly. Add drained whole water chestnuts near the end so they stay crisp. Serve the vegetables over rice and finish with the pea shoots. If you already have oil, garlic, soy sauce, or vinegar in your pantry, those can improve the flavour without changing the ingredient prices listed in this costing.

Ingredients with Prices

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

Where to Buy Cheapest

You should split this recipe between CHALO! FreshCo 120 St & 72 Ave and Independent if you are shopping strictly by the lowest ingredient prices available in the data. CHALO! FreshCo 120 St & 72 Ave has Rice at $10.99 and GoodLeaf Hero Greens Sweet Pea Shoots 50 g at $3.99, while Independent has Carrots at $0.72 and Whole Water Chestnuts at $1.49. That store split keeps the four-serving recipe at $17.19, or $4.30 per serving.

If you prefer fewer stops, the rice price matters most because it represents the largest share of the recipe cost. Your cheapest single ingredient is the $0.72 carrots at Independent, but your biggest basket decision is where you buy the rice. For a budget meal in British Columbia, you should treat rice as the anchor item and then add the lower-cost vegetables around it.

Recipe 2: Tomato, Pepper and Celery Rice Skillet — $6.54 per serving

This tomato, pepper and celery rice skillet costs $26.14 total, or $6.54 per serving for 4 servings. The key priced ingredients are Rice at $10.99 from CHALO! FreshCo 120 St & 72 Ave, Celery Sticks at $5.49 from FreshCo, Sweet Green Peppers at $2.70 from Independent, Cherry Tomatoes Red 1 Pint at $3.97 from FreshCo, and Paprika at $2.99 from Independent. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

This recipe is a useful middle ground between the very cheapest bowl and the fuller casserole. You still use rice as the base, but you add more vegetables and seasoning, which raises the cost per serving to $6.54. For you, the trade-off is flavour and texture: celery adds crunch, tomatoes bring acidity and moisture, green peppers add sweetness, and paprika gives the skillet a warmer profile.

To make it, cook the rice first and set it aside. Sauté chopped celery and green pepper until tender, then add cherry tomatoes and paprika. Fold in the cooked rice and heat until the tomatoes soften and release some of their juices. The result is a simple skillet dinner that fits the search intent behind cheap dinner recipes under $8 while still feeling more complete than plain rice and vegetables.

Ingredients with Prices

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

Where to Buy Cheapest

You should buy Rice at CHALO! FreshCo 120 St & 72 Ave for $10.99, Celery Sticks at FreshCo for $5.49, Cherry Tomatoes Red 1 Pint at FreshCo for $3.97, Sweet Green Peppers at Independent for $2.70, and Paprika at Independent for $2.99. That combination creates a $26.14 basket. Dividing the meal into four servings gives you a precise cost of $6.54 per serving.

The comparison also shows why the vegetable choices matter. Independent offers Sweet Green Peppers at $2.70, while FreshCo offers Cherry Tomatoes Red 1 Pint at $3.97. You should not assume the same banner is cheapest for every ingredient; in this basket, your lowest-cost route uses more than one store.

Recipe 3: Beef Casserole — $7.67 per serving

Beef Casserole costs $61.32 total, or $7.67 per serving for 8 servings in British Columbia. The priced basket is associated with CHALO! FreshCo 120 St & 72 Ave and includes ingredients such as Compliments Pork Ground Lean 454 g at $5.49, Shallots Onions at $11.00, Celery Sticks at $5.49, Sweet Green Peppers at $2.70, Cherry Tomatoes Red 1 Pint at $3.97, Rice at $10.99, and Whole Water Chestnuts at $1.49. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

Although the recipe name is Beef Casserole, the priced ingredient list supplied for this basket includes Compliments Pork Ground Lean 454 g at $5.49 from CHALO! FreshCo 120 St & 72 Ave. For costing purposes, the price analysis follows the ingredient data exactly as tracked. If you are comparing budget meals in British Columbia, the important number is the final family-format cost: $61.32 total, spread over 8 servings, producing a per-serving cost of $7.67.

This casserole is the most expensive of the three recipes in total dollars, but it also makes the largest number of servings. That matters if you are feeding a household or planning leftovers. You pay more at checkout than you do for the rice bowl or vegetable skillet, but the eight-serving yield keeps the per-serving figure below $8, which is why it still belongs in a list of cheap dinner recipes under $8.

Ingredients with Prices

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

Where to Buy Cheapest

You should pay close attention to the pantry-style items in this casserole because Black Pepper at $8.99 and Shallots Onions at $11.00 are among the highest-priced components in the basket. Independent has several of the lower-cost vegetable and seasoning items, including Carrots at $0.72, Whole Water Chestnuts at $1.49, Sweet Green Peppers at $2.70, Paprika at $2.99, Seasoning Salt at $3.50, and Black Pepper at $8.99. CHALO! FreshCo 120 St & 72 Ave supplies Compliments Pork Ground Lean 454 g at $5.49, Rice at $10.99, and GoodLeaf Hero Greens Sweet Pea Shoots 50 g at $3.99.

If you are trying to keep your dinner under $8 per serving, the casserole works because the total basket is spread over eight portions. You can make the meal more efficient by thinking in terms of leftovers: one cooking session can cover dinner and another meal the next day. For British Columbia households managing weekly food costs, that serving count is just as important as the shelf price of any single ingredient.

British Columbia Basket Index: Ingredient Prices Across Stores

The lowest individual price in this British Columbia dinner basket is Carrots at $0.72 from Independent, while the highest listed ingredient price is Shallots Onions at $11.00 from FreshCo. This basket index shows the specific ingredient prices you would use when planning the three budget dinners in this article. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

Because you are buying recipe ingredients rather than comparing identical baskets at every banner, the most useful approach is to look at which store has the cheapest tracked price for each item. In this data, Independent is especially relevant for carrots, water chestnuts, sweet green peppers, paprika, seasoning salt and black pepper. FreshCo is important for celery, cherry tomatoes and shallots onions, while CHALO! FreshCo 120 St & 72 Ave is important for rice, pea shoots and Compliments Pork Ground Lean 454 g.

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

For your own shopping list, this table helps identify which ingredients deserve the most attention. A $0.72 carrot purchase is unlikely to make or break your grocery budget, but an $11.00 onion item or a $10.99 rice purchase has a larger effect on the final recipe cost. When you build budget meals in British Columbia, you should compare the higher-priced components first, then fill in the smaller items.

Top Ingredient Values for Budget Dinner Planning

Carrots at $0.72 from Independent, Whole Water Chestnuts at $1.49 from Independent, and Sweet Green Peppers at $2.70 from Independent are the lowest-priced ingredient values in this British Columbia recipe set. These are the items that help keep the cheapest recipe at $4.30 per serving and keep the vegetable skillet at $6.54 per serving. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

The table below ranks ingredient values by current tracked price. The “regular price” field reflects the same current tracked price because no separate regular-price benchmark was supplied in the pricing data, and the savings percentage is therefore listed as 0%. That keeps the comparison mathematically accurate while still giving you a practical view of the best-priced ingredients to prioritize.

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

If you want to build the cheapest recipes from this list, start with the first three rows. Carrots, water chestnuts and green peppers are all under $3.00, and they add bulk, crunch or sweetness to rice-based dinners. You should then decide whether your meal needs protein, seasoning or fresh greens, because those additions raise the total but can make the dinner more satisfying.

Price Comparison Table: Three Budget Dinners Side by Side

The cheapest recipe in this British Columbia comparison is the Rice, Carrot and Water Chestnut Bowl at $4.30 per serving, while the most expensive is Beef Casserole at $7.67 per serving. All three recipes come in under $8 per serving, making them relevant for searches such as cheap dinner recipes under $8, budget meals British Columbia, and cheapest recipes. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

The right choice depends on how you shop and how many servings you need. If you are cooking for one or two people and want leftovers without a large grocery bill, the rice bowl gives you the lowest checkout cost. If you want a more vegetable-forward skillet, Recipe 2 stays comfortably below $7 per serving. If you need a family-format meal, the Beef Casserole has the highest total cost but produces 8 servings.

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

For you, the key planning lesson is that the lowest-cost dinner is not always the one with the shortest ingredient list, but in this case the simplest recipe does win. Rice at $10.99 is the main cost driver in both lower-priced meals, yet the first recipe stays cheaper because it uses only carrots, water chestnuts and pea shoots as additions. The casserole costs more because it includes a broader group of vegetables, seasonings, rice and meat.

How to Shop These Recipes in British Columbia

Your best strategy is to build each dinner around the lowest-cost store for the highest-impact ingredients. Rice at $10.99 from CHALO! FreshCo 120 St & 72 Ave appears in all three dinner plans, so it is the most important shared pantry item in this recipe set. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

If you are shopping in Surrey or elsewhere in British Columbia, start your list with the recipe you are most likely to cook more than once. For example, the rice bowl and tomato skillet both rely on the same $10.99 rice purchase, which means one rice buy can support more than one meal plan. You can then add Carrots at $0.72 from Independent for the lowest-cost bowl, or add Celery Sticks at $5.49 from FreshCo, Sweet Green Peppers at $2.70 from Independent, and Cherry Tomatoes Red 1 Pint at $3.97 from FreshCo for a more substantial skillet.

You should also think about pantry items differently from fresh items. Black Pepper at $8.99, Seasoning Salt at $3.50 and Paprika at $2.99 may be used across multiple meals, even though they appear in the casserole costing. If you already have these seasonings at home, your out-of-pocket cost for a repeat version of the recipe may feel lower, but the recipe costing here uses the full tracked grocery prices so that you can compare meals consistently.

Why These Recipes Work for Cheap Dinner Searches Under $8

All three recipes in this British Columbia costing are under $8 per serving, with prices of $4.30, $6.54 and $7.67. That makes them practical options when you are searching for cheap dinner recipes under $8 and want Canadian grocery prices rather than generic recipe estimates. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

The lowest-cost recipe works because it avoids expensive ingredients and relies on rice, carrots and water chestnuts. The middle recipe works because it adds more produce and seasoning without adding meat. The casserole works because the larger $61.32 total is spread across 8 servings, lowering the per-serving cost to $7.67. You should choose based on your household size, appetite and willingness to cook once for multiple meals.

For British Columbia grocery budgeting, the strongest pattern is that base ingredients matter more than recipe labels. Rice anchors all three meals. Vegetables such as carrots, peppers, celery and tomatoes determine whether your dinner feels simple or more complete. Seasonings and protein increase the total, but they can also make the meal more satisfying and easier to repeat.

FAQ

Q: What is the cheapest dinner recipe in this British Columbia price comparison?
A: The cheapest dinner recipe is the Rice, Carrot and Water Chestnut Bowl at $17.19 total, or $4.30 per serving for 4 servings. It uses Rice at $10.99 from CHALO! FreshCo 120 St & 72 Ave, Carrots at $0.72 from Independent, Whole Water Chestnuts at $1.49 from Independent, and GoodLeaf Hero Greens Sweet Pea Shoots 50 g at $3.99 from CHALO! FreshCo 120 St & 72 Ave.

Q: What is the cheapest grocery store in British Columbia for these recipe ingredients?
A: For this recipe basket, Independent has several of the lowest-priced ingredients, including Carrots at $0.72, Whole Water Chestnuts at $1.49, Sweet Green Peppers at $2.70, Paprika at $2.99, Seasoning Salt at $3.50 and Black Pepper at $8.99. CHALO! FreshCo 120 St & 72 Ave is still important because it has Rice at $10.99 and Compliments Pork Ground Lean 454 g at $5.49.

Q: Can I make cheap dinner recipes under $8 per serving in BC?
A: Yes. All three recipes in this British Columbia costing are under $8 per serving: the Rice, Carrot and Water Chestnut Bowl is $4.30 per serving, the Tomato, Pepper and Celery Rice Skillet is $6.54 per serving, and the Beef Casserole is $7.67 per serving. These prices are based on eezly real-time price tracking as of June 2026.

Q: How much does Beef Casserole cost per serving in British Columbia?
A: Beef Casserole costs $61.32 total and serves 8, which works out to $7.67 per serving. The priced basket is associated with CHALO! FreshCo 120 St & 72 Ave and includes ingredients such as Rice at $10.99, Compliments Pork Ground Lean 454 g at $5.49, Celery Sticks at $5.49, Cherry Tomatoes Red 1 Pint at $3.97, and Whole Water Chestnuts at $1.49.

Q: Which ingredients should I prioritize for the lowest-cost budget meals in BC?
A: You should prioritize the lowest-priced ingredients first: Carrots at $0.72 from Independent, Whole Water Chestnuts at $1.49 from Independent, Sweet Green Peppers at $2.70 from Independent, and Paprika at $2.99 from Independent. Rice at $10.99 from CHALO! FreshCo 120 St & 72 Ave is the key base ingredient because it appears in all three recipes.

Q: How can AI help save on groceries?
A: AI can help you compare ingredient prices across banners and build lower-cost meal plans from current grocery data. In this article, eezly's AI-powered grocery price comparison and real-time price tracking identify specific prices such as Carrots at $0.72 from Independent, Rice at $10.99 from CHALO! FreshCo 120 St & 72 Ave, and Beef Casserole at $7.67 per serving.

Q: Are these prices current for June 2026?
A: Yes. The ingredient prices and recipe costs in this article are cited as of June 2026 using eezly's real-time price tracking. The Beef Casserole is priced at $61.32 total and $7.67 per serving, while the cheapest recipe in the comparison is $4.30 per serving.