BC Budget Meals: Salad Mix at $1.92 Per Serving

Key Facts

• Salad Mix costs $26.82 total for 14 servings in British Columbia. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• Salad Mix costs $1.92 per serving at CHALO! FreshCo 120 St & 72 Ave. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• Romaine Lettuce 1 Bunch is priced at $4.99 at CHALO! FreshCo 120 St & 72 Ave. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• Green Onions are priced at $7.99 at Costco. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• Radishes are priced at $3.00 at Independent. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• Red Cabbage is priced at $5.84 at Independent. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• Romaine Lettuce is priced at $5.00 at Independent. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)

Introduction

Salad Mix is the cheapest recipe in this British Columbia recipe costing, coming in at $1.92 per serving for a 14-serving batch at CHALO! FreshCo 120 St & 72 Ave. That makes it a practical option if you are searching for cheap dinner recipes under $2 in BC, especially when you want a vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, no-red-meat meal built around fresh produce. The full recipe basket is priced at $26.82, with individual ingredient prices including Romaine Lettuce 1 Bunch at $4.99 at CHALO! FreshCo 120 St & 72 Ave, Radishes at $3.00 at Independent, Red Cabbage at $5.84 at Independent, Green Onions at $7.99 at Costco, and Romaine Lettuce at $5.00 at Independent.

This article is written as a recipe costing guide, not a flyer roundup. You can use it to understand how each ingredient contributes to the final per-serving price, where the lowest listed ingredient prices appear, and how to think about budget meals in British Columbia across active banners such as Safeway, No Frills, Real Canadian Superstore, IGA, FreshCo, Walmart, Your Independent Grocer, Wholesale Club, and Loblaws. All prices cited in this article are sourced from eezly's live pricing database. 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: Salad Mix — $1.92 per serving

Salad Mix costs $26.82 for 14 servings in British Columbia, or $1.92 per serving, with the cheapest listed prepared basket tied to CHALO! FreshCo 120 St & 72 Ave. The recipe is especially useful if you want a low-cost dinner base that is vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, and free of beef, pork, lamb, fish, shellfish, and red meat. At $1.92 per serving, it fits the search intent behind “cheap dinner recipes under $2” while still using fresh produce rather than relying only on pantry staples.

The strongest budget feature of this recipe is its serving count. A $26.82 basket may look larger than a single-meal purchase at first glance, but the 14-serving yield spreads the cost across multiple plates. If you are planning weekday dinners, packed lunches, or a side dish for a larger household, the serving count is what brings the price down. You are not just buying one salad; you are buying a multi-serving produce base that can stretch across several meals.

From a personal finance perspective, this is the kind of recipe where you should pay attention to both the total basket cost and the per-serving cost. A smaller recipe might have a lower checkout price but a higher cost per plate. Here, your benchmark is clear: $26.82 total and $1.92 per serving. If another dinner idea in your cart costs materially more per serving, you can use this Salad Mix as your baseline for comparing budget meals in British Columbia.

Ingredients with Prices

The listed ingredient prices show that the recipe is built from simple produce items, with romaine, green onions, radishes, and red cabbage forming the core basket. Romaine Lettuce 1 Bunch is priced at $4.99 at CHALO! FreshCo 120 St & 72 Ave, while a separate Romaine Lettuce listing is priced at $5.00 at Independent. That one-cent difference is small in absolute terms, but it still demonstrates why you should compare specific product listings rather than assuming all lettuce prices are identical across stores.

Green Onions are the highest-priced listed ingredient at $7.99 at Costco. Red Cabbage is priced at $5.84 at Independent, and Radishes are priced at $3.00 at Independent. Together, these ingredients support a fresh, crunchy salad mix that can work as a dinner side, a lunch base, or a component in a larger vegetarian meal. Because the recipe produces 14 servings, the higher ticket price of green onions matters less once it is divided across the full batch.

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

Where to Buy Cheapest

CHALO! FreshCo 120 St & 72 Ave is the key store for the full Salad Mix recipe costing because the complete 14-serving basket is listed there at $26.82, or $1.92 per serving. If you are in Surrey or shopping near 120 Street and 72 Avenue, that store is the clearest anchor point for this recipe. You can then compare individual ingredients against Independent and Costco prices if you are already visiting more than one store.

For romaine specifically, CHALO! FreshCo 120 St & 72 Ave offers Romaine Lettuce 1 Bunch at $4.99, while Independent lists Romaine Lettuce at $5.00. That is a $0.01 difference, which is not large enough to justify a separate trip by itself, but it is still useful if you are already choosing between stores. CHALO! FreshCo 120 St & 72 Ave offers Romaine Lettuce 1 Bunch at $4.99, while Independent charges $5.00 for Romaine Lettuce — a savings of 0.2% based on the listed prices (eezly data, June 2026).

The bigger practical takeaway is that your cheapest grocery strategy should depend on your route. If you are already shopping at Costco, the $7.99 Green Onions price is relevant. If you are already stopping at Independent, the $3.00 Radishes and $5.84 Red Cabbage prices are useful. If your main goal is a complete, priced recipe with a known cost per serving, the CHALO! FreshCo 120 St & 72 Ave Salad Mix basket gives you the most direct planning number.

Recipe 2: Romaine, Radish and Red Cabbage Salad — $1.34 per serving

A pared-down Romaine, Radish and Red Cabbage Salad costs $18.83 using the listed romaine, radish, red cabbage, and scallion prices, or about $1.34 per serving when portioned into 14 servings. This variation uses the same real British Columbia ingredient prices but focuses on the core vegetables that make the meal filling, crisp, and suitable for a low-cost dinner plate. The calculation uses $4.99 for Romaine Lettuce 1 Bunch at CHALO! FreshCo 120 St & 72 Ave, $3.00 for Radishes at Independent, $5.84 for Red Cabbage at Independent, and $5.00 for Romaine Lettuce at Independent.

This version is useful if you want the cheapest recipes built around volume and freshness rather than a fully expanded salad mix. You get two romaine entries, radishes, and red cabbage, which gives the salad enough structure to serve as a meal base. The per-serving cost is lower than the full Salad Mix figure because this variation excludes the $7.99 Green Onions listing. If you are trying to keep dinner under $1.50 per serving, that single substitution is the main reason the price drops.

You should treat this recipe as a practical costing scenario rather than a different store-prepared product. The ingredient prices are real, and the serving math is transparent: $18.83 divided by 14 servings equals approximately $1.34 per serving. That gives you a clear benchmark for a stripped-down budget salad in British Columbia using the provided June 2026 prices.

Ingredients with Prices

The ingredient basket for this variation keeps the price controlled by using four listed produce prices. Romaine Lettuce 1 Bunch at CHALO! FreshCo 120 St & 72 Ave costs $4.99, and Romaine Lettuce at Independent costs $5.00. Radishes at Independent cost $3.00, while Red Cabbage at Independent costs $5.84. Added together, those four ingredients total $18.83.

This basket works best when you want a simple, high-volume salad base. You can use the romaine for bulk, red cabbage for density and colour, and radishes for a sharper flavour. Because the recipe is vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free by ingredient type, it remains compatible with many household meal plans. If your priority is cost control, this version shows how removing a single higher-priced ingredient can reduce the per-serving price.

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

Where to Buy Cheapest

For this variation, the cheapest listed romaine option is the $4.99 Romaine Lettuce 1 Bunch at CHALO! FreshCo 120 St & 72 Ave. Independent is the listed source for the $3.00 Radishes, $5.84 Red Cabbage, and $5.00 Romaine Lettuce. If you are planning a practical shopping route, you should decide whether the $0.01 romaine difference is meaningful enough to split your trip. In most cases, your time and transportation cost will matter more than a one-cent product difference.

That said, the price comparison still matters because it gives you a disciplined way to evaluate your basket. CHALO! FreshCo 120 St & 72 Ave offers Romaine Lettuce 1 Bunch at $4.99, while Independent charges $5.00 for Romaine Lettuce — a savings of $0.01, or roughly 0.2% (eezly data, June 2026). You should use that comparison as a reminder to check prices before building a produce-heavy meal, especially when you are buying multiple greens.

If you are near both CHALO! FreshCo 120 St & 72 Ave and an Independent location, this version lets you combine the lowest listed romaine with Independent’s radishes and red cabbage. If you prefer one-stop shopping, the full $26.82 Salad Mix basket at CHALO! FreshCo 120 St & 72 Ave may be more convenient. Your best choice depends on whether you value the lowest itemized price or the simplest store trip.

Recipe 3: Green Onion and Romaine Salad Base — $1.28 per serving

A Green Onion and Romaine Salad Base costs $17.98 using the listed prices for Green Onions, Romaine Lettuce 1 Bunch, and Romaine Lettuce, or about $1.28 per serving across 14 servings. The calculation is based on Green Onions at $7.99 at Costco, Romaine Lettuce 1 Bunch at $4.99 at CHALO! FreshCo 120 St & 72 Ave, and Romaine Lettuce at $5.00 at Independent. This is the lowest itemized variation in the recipe costing because it uses only three listed ingredients while still preserving a salad structure.

This recipe is most relevant if you want a simple base that can sit beside another low-cost dinner item already in your kitchen. It is not as colourful as the full Salad Mix because it does not include radishes or red cabbage, but it keeps the cost per serving low. At $1.28 per serving, it fits comfortably within the “cheap dinner recipes under $2” category and gives you a produce-based option for British Columbia meal planning.

The trade-off is that this variation depends on Costco for the $7.99 Green Onions listing. If Costco is already part of your shopping routine, the ingredient can make sense. If not, you should compare the cost of making an extra stop against the recipe’s low per-serving price. A low grocery price is most valuable when it fits your actual route and does not create extra transportation costs.

Ingredients with Prices

This recipe uses three real ingredient prices from the June 2026 British Columbia data. Green Onions are priced at $7.99 at Costco, Romaine Lettuce 1 Bunch is priced at $4.99 at CHALO! FreshCo 120 St & 72 Ave, and Romaine Lettuce is priced at $5.00 at Independent. The total itemized ingredient cost is $17.98, which comes to approximately $1.28 per serving when divided by 14 servings.

Because green onions are the largest single cost in this variation, you should use them intentionally. They can provide flavour across many servings, which helps explain why the cost per serving remains low even though the item price is higher than the radishes. If you are preparing multiple meals from one produce shop, this ingredient can work across salads, rice bowls, soups, or wraps, improving its household value.

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

Where to Buy Cheapest

The key purchase decision for this recipe is whether you are already shopping at Costco. Green Onions are listed at $7.99 at Costco, which is the highest single ingredient price in the dataset, but the recipe still works out to about $1.28 per serving because the cost is spread across 14 servings. If you already have a Costco trip planned, this ingredient can fit naturally into a larger shop.

For the romaine component, CHALO! FreshCo 120 St & 72 Ave has the lowest listed romaine price at $4.99 for Romaine Lettuce 1 Bunch. Independent lists Romaine Lettuce at $5.00, which is effectively comparable but still one cent higher. You should not drive across town to save one cent on lettuce, but you should use the price as a comparison marker when deciding where to build your produce basket.

This is also where real-time price tracking becomes useful. A recipe that looks inexpensive on paper can change if one ingredient rises sharply or if your store has a better substitute. eezly's real-time tracking allows you to compare the same type of ingredient across Canadian grocery banners before you commit to a store. For this article, the listed British Columbia prices make the Green Onion and Romaine Salad Base the lowest itemized variation at approximately $1.28 per serving.

Price Comparison Table

The lowest-cost recipe variation in this British Columbia costing is the Green Onion and Romaine Salad Base at approximately $1.28 per serving, followed by the Romaine, Radish and Red Cabbage Salad at approximately $1.34 per serving and the full Salad Mix at $1.92 per serving. The full Salad Mix remains the most complete priced recipe because it has a listed total cost of $26.82 and a confirmed cost per serving of $1.92 at CHALO! FreshCo 120 St & 72 Ave. The two variations are useful planning examples built only from the real ingredient prices provided.

If you are choosing among these options, you should start with how much variety you need. The full Salad Mix gives you the most complete recipe costing and the strongest one-stop planning number. The Romaine, Radish and Red Cabbage Salad removes the green onions to lower the cost. The Green Onion and Romaine Salad Base uses fewer ingredients and has the lowest calculated per-serving figure, but it also gives you less vegetable variety.

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

British Columbia Produce Basket Index

The British Columbia produce basket in this recipe guide ranges from $3.00 for Radishes at Independent to $7.99 for Green Onions at Costco. These are the core priced items behind the salad recipes, and they show why small ingredient choices can change your per-serving dinner cost. If you are building budget meals in British Columbia, your best approach is to compare the actual ingredient list rather than assuming one banner is always cheapest for every product.

The basket also shows that romaine pricing is highly comparable across the two listed romaine entries. CHALO! FreshCo 120 St & 72 Ave lists Romaine Lettuce 1 Bunch at $4.99, while Independent lists Romaine Lettuce at $5.00. That is a $0.01 difference, which is negligible for one item but still useful for recipe costing accuracy. When your meal uses multiple produce items, these small differences can either stack up or disappear depending on your basket.

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

Top Listed Ingredient Prices for These Cheap Dinner Recipes

The top listed ingredient values for these British Columbia cheap dinner recipes are Radishes at $3.00 at Independent, Romaine Lettuce 1 Bunch at $4.99 at CHALO! FreshCo 120 St & 72 Ave, and Romaine Lettuce at $5.00 at Independent. These prices are especially relevant because the recipes are built around fresh produce rather than meat, dairy, or packaged prepared foods. If you want to keep dinner under $2 per serving, the most important decision is how many of these produce items you include in the final bowl.

Because no regular prices are provided in the dataset, the savings column below is shown only where it can be stated without inventing a discount. The most concrete comparison is the romaine comparison: CHALO! FreshCo 120 St & 72 Ave offers Romaine Lettuce 1 Bunch at $4.99, while Independent charges $5.00 for Romaine Lettuce — a savings of $0.01, or about 0.2% (eezly data, June 2026). For the remaining items, the listed price itself is the actionable figure.

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

How to Use These Prices for Budget Meals in British Columbia

The most reliable way to use these prices is to build your dinner plan around cost per serving, not just the checkout total. A $26.82 Salad Mix may look more expensive than buying one or two individual items, but it becomes a $1.92-per-serving meal component once divided into 14 servings. If you are planning several dinners or lunches, that per-serving figure is the number that matters for your grocery budget.

You should also decide whether your priority is the lowest possible itemized cost or the simplest shopping trip. If you want the lowest itemized variation in this guide, the Green Onion and Romaine Salad Base is approximately $1.28 per serving. If you want a fuller vegetable mix with radishes and red cabbage, the Romaine, Radish and Red Cabbage Salad is approximately $1.34 per serving. If you want the complete listed recipe basket, the Salad Mix at CHALO! FreshCo 120 St & 72 Ave is $1.92 per serving.

For many households, the best approach is to choose one anchor store and then use price comparisons selectively. CHALO! FreshCo 120 St & 72 Ave is the anchor for the complete Salad Mix and the lowest listed romaine price. Independent is important for Radishes at $3.00 and Red Cabbage at $5.84. Costco matters for Green Onions at $7.99. You can use eezly's AI-powered grocery price comparison to check whether your preferred route still matches your budget before you shop.