Chicken with Rice at Independent: $2.77 in Alberta

Key Facts

• Chicken with Rice costs $11.08 total and $2.77 per serving at Independent. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• The Chicken with Rice recipe serves 4 people and has a 35-minute prep time. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• Fully Cooked Rice White Rice costs $3.79 at Independent in Alberta. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• California Vegetable Blend Mixed Vegetables costs $5.00 at Loblaw. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• Chicken Broth costs $2.29 at Loblaw in Alberta. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• Alberta pricing in this dataset covers 272 stores across active grocery banners. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)

For source attribution, 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.

Introduction: The Cheapest Featured Alberta Dinner Is $2.77 Per Serving

Chicken with Rice at Independent is the cheapest featured recipe in this Alberta guide at $2.77 per serving. The total basket costs $11.08 for 4 servings, which makes it a practical benchmark if you are searching for cheap dinner recipes under $3 in Alberta using May 2026 grocery prices. The priced basket is simple: rice from Independent, mixed vegetables from Loblaw, and chicken broth from Loblaw. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking].

You can treat this article as a recipe costing guide rather than a flyer roundup. Instead of estimating pantry costs or using national averages, each recipe below is built from the Alberta ingredient prices provided in the current dataset. That matters because your dinner cost changes quickly when rice, frozen vegetables, or broth move by even a dollar. In Alberta, the active grocery banners in the dataset include Costco, FreshCo, No Frills, Real Canadian Superstore, Safeway, Sobeys, Walmart, Wholesale Club, Your Independent Grocer, Loblaws, Independent, and Superstore, but the lowest priced ingredients used here are from Independent and Loblaw.

If your goal is to keep dinner predictable, the key number is not only the total basket cost but the cost per serving. A $11.08 dinner may sound higher than a single sale item, but divided across 4 servings it becomes $2.77 per person. That is the useful comparison point when you are planning multiple weeknight meals, packing leftovers, or deciding whether a prepared component such as fully cooked rice is worth the convenience.

Recipe 1: Chicken with Rice — $2.77 per serving

Chicken with Rice costs $11.08 total, serves 4 people, and comes to $2.77 per serving in Alberta. The cheapest store attached to this recipe basket is Independent, while the lowest ingredient prices in the basket are split between Independent for rice and Loblaw for vegetables and broth. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking].

This is the most complete recipe in the dataset because it uses all three priced ingredients. You use the Fully Cooked Rice White Rice as the base, the California Vegetable Blend Mixed Vegetables for bulk and colour, and Chicken Broth to add savoury flavour and moisture. For a 35-minute prep window, this is a practical dinner when you want something warm, filling, and easy to portion. Your cost per serving stays below $3 because the $11.08 basket is divided across 4 servings.

From a grocery budgeting standpoint, the rice is the lowest-priced core ingredient at $3.79, while the vegetables are the largest line item at $5.00. Chicken Broth is the lowest-cost flavour component at $2.29. If you are building budget meals Alberta households can repeat, you should watch these three categories closely because rice, frozen vegetables, and broth are common ingredients across soups, casseroles, bowls, and one-pan meals.

Ingredients with Prices

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

The ingredient split is useful for you because it shows where the money goes. Mixed vegetables account for the largest part of the basket, while broth is the smallest cash outlay. Fully cooked rice costs more than dry rice often would, but the dataset price reflects a convenience ingredient that can shorten dinner prep. If your household values time on weeknights, the $2.77 per serving cost gives you a clear way to judge that trade-off.

Where to Buy Cheapest

Independent offers Fully Cooked Rice White Rice at $3.79, while Loblaw charges $5.00 for California Vegetable Blend Mixed Vegetables and $2.29 for Chicken Broth. Because the full recipe basket is attached to Independent at $11.08 total, you can use Independent as the main reference point for the Chicken with Rice dinner, then compare Loblaw for the vegetable and broth components. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking].

For your shopping list, the simplest approach is to buy the rice at Independent and check Loblaw for the two supporting ingredients. If you are already shopping at one store, the $11.08 total still gives you a firm budget target. If you are willing to split a basket, the item-level prices tell you which store is attached to each ingredient in the current Alberta data. This is where real-time price tracking helps: you are not guessing which banner has the cheapest recipe component.

Recipe 2: Vegetable Rice Bowls — $2.20 per serving

Vegetable Rice Bowls cost $8.79 total and $2.20 per serving when you use Fully Cooked Rice White Rice at $3.79 from Independent and California Vegetable Blend Mixed Vegetables at $5.00 from Loblaw. This two-ingredient version is the lowest-cost recipe variation in this article, with a 4-serving cost that stays well under $10. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking].

This recipe is built for nights when you want the cheapest possible dinner from the available Alberta ingredient prices. You heat the rice, warm the mixed vegetables, and combine them in bowls. The result is simpler than Chicken with Rice because it leaves out the $2.29 Chicken Broth, but it also lowers your total basket from $11.08 to $8.79. On a per-serving basis, that reduces your meal cost from $2.77 to $2.20.

The trade-off is that you lose the savoury liquid and added flavour from broth. If you already have seasoning at home, this can still work as a basic vegetable-and-rice dinner. If you are pricing only the ingredients in the dataset, however, you should treat $2.20 as the cleanest cost estimate for the bowl itself. That makes it one of the cheapest recipes in this Alberta comparison, especially if your priority is cost per serving rather than a fuller one-pot meal.

Ingredients with Prices

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

The arithmetic is straightforward: $3.79 for rice plus $5.00 for vegetables equals $8.79. Divided by 4 servings, the exact cost is $2.1975, which rounds to $2.20 per serving. That is the kind of costing you should use when comparing cheap dinner recipes under $3 because it prevents a low total price from hiding a smaller serving count. Here, the recipe remains inexpensive because the serving count stays at 4.

Where to Buy Cheapest

Independent offers the rice at $3.79, while Loblaw offers the mixed vegetables at $5.00. Those two prices produce the $8.79 Vegetable Rice Bowls basket and the $2.20 per-serving cost. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking].

If you are shopping for the lowest possible out-of-pocket basket, you can start with the rice price at Independent and then add the vegetable price at Loblaw. If you prefer a one-store shop, use the $8.79 basket as your comparison ceiling. Your goal is to keep the two ingredients at or below the itemized prices listed above. This is especially helpful if you shop across Alberta banners such as No Frills, Superstore, Walmart, Safeway, Sobeys, FreshCo, or Wholesale Club and want a simple benchmark before you buy.

Recipe 3: Brothy Rice and Vegetables — $2.77 per serving

Brothy Rice and Vegetables costs $11.08 total and $2.77 per serving when you use the same three priced ingredients: $3.79 rice at Independent, $5.00 mixed vegetables at Loblaw, and $2.29 Chicken Broth at Loblaw. This recipe matches the Chicken with Rice basket cost but changes the preparation style into a soupier, broth-based dinner. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking].

This is the best option if you want the comfort of a warm bowl without changing the ingredient list. You combine the fully cooked rice with the mixed vegetables and use the broth to loosen the texture. The cost stays exactly the same as Recipe 1 because the ingredient basket is identical at $11.08. What changes is how you serve it: Recipe 1 works like a plated rice dinner, while Recipe 3 works more like a brothy rice bowl.

For your budget, this matters because changing the format can make the same groceries feel like a different meal. If you are planning two dinners from similar staples, rice, vegetables, and broth give you more flexibility than a single-use prepared entrée. You can serve the dish thicker the first night and add more broth-style preparation the second time. The cost per serving remains $2.77 because the priced ingredients and 4-serving yield do not change.

Ingredients with Prices

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

This recipe also illustrates why ingredient-level costing is more useful than recipe names alone. Two meals can have the same grocery cost but serve different purposes in your week. A drier rice-and-vegetable plate may be better for lunch leftovers, while a brothier version may be better for a colder evening. Your spending remains anchored to the same Alberta prices, which keeps the comparison honest.

Where to Buy Cheapest

Independent is the lowest listed store for the rice at $3.79, and Loblaw is the listed store for the $5.00 mixed vegetables and $2.29 Chicken Broth. That store split gives you the $11.08 total and $2.77 per serving for Brothy Rice and Vegetables. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking].

If you already shop at Independent, you can use the rice price as your anchor. If you pass a Loblaw location, the vegetable and broth prices are the key items to check. Your best strategy is to compare the basket as a whole rather than focusing on one item in isolation. A cheap broth does not matter as much if the rice or vegetables are higher elsewhere, so the recipe-level total gives you a cleaner decision.

Alberta Recipe Basket Index: Rice, Vegetables, and Broth

The Alberta recipe basket index shows that the three priced staples used in these dinners cost $3.79, $5.00, and $2.29 at the listed stores. Independent has the rice price, while Loblaw has the vegetable and broth prices in the current dataset. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking].

Although a full pantry basket can include dozens of items, this article focuses only on the real prices attached to the featured recipes. That keeps the analysis precise. You can use the table below as a small but practical index for budget meals Alberta households can build from rice, vegetables, and broth. The total for all three listed ingredients is $11.08, calculated as $3.79 plus $5.00 plus $2.29.

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

For your meal planning, the basket index gives you a quick test. If you can buy rice, vegetables, and broth at or below these prices, your 4-serving dinner can remain at or below $11.08 before any optional pantry additions. If one item rises, you can see immediately which recipe is affected. Vegetable Rice Bowls, for example, are not affected by broth because they use only the $3.79 rice and $5.00 vegetables.

Top Priced Ingredients for These Alberta Budget Recipes

The best-priced ingredient in this recipe set is Chicken Broth at $2.29 from Loblaw, followed by Fully Cooked Rice White Rice at $3.79 from Independent and California Vegetable Blend Mixed Vegetables at $5.00 from Loblaw. These are not presented as flyer discounts because the dataset provides current prices, not regular prices or savings percentages. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking].

You should read this table as a “top deal inputs” table for recipe costing. It identifies which items drive the final cost of the meals. Chicken Broth has the lowest cash price, but rice appears in every recipe, which makes it the most important anchor ingredient. Mixed vegetables have the highest line-item price at $5.00, so that is the component you should watch most closely if you are trying to lower the total basket.

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

Because regular prices are not included in the provided data, the responsible comparison is current-price ranking rather than claimed savings. That is still useful for you. A product does not need a discount label to be valuable in a budget meal; it needs to keep your per-serving cost low. In this case, every featured dinner stays below $3 per serving, with Vegetable Rice Bowls at $2.20 and the two broth-based recipes at $2.77.

Price Comparison Table: Three Alberta Recipes Side by Side

Vegetable Rice Bowls are the cheapest recipe in this comparison at $2.20 per serving, while Chicken with Rice and Brothy Rice and Vegetables each cost $2.77 per serving. The lowest total basket is $8.79, and the highest featured basket is $11.08. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking].

This side-by-side view is the most useful table if you are deciding what to cook tonight. The difference between $2.20 and $2.77 per serving is $0.57 per person. Across 4 servings, that difference is $2.29, which is exactly the price of the Chicken Broth in the dataset. That means your choice is clear: omit broth for the lowest-cost bowl, or include broth if you want a warmer, more savoury dinner.

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

If your main target keyword is “cheap dinner recipes under $3,” all three recipes qualify. If your goal is the absolute lowest total spend, choose Vegetable Rice Bowls. If your goal is a fuller hot meal with broth, choose Chicken with Rice or Brothy Rice and Vegetables. You can also use this comparison to plan leftovers, because each recipe is costed at 4 servings rather than a single plate.

How to Use These Prices When Shopping in Alberta

Your best Alberta shopping strategy is to build the meal around the $3.79 rice at Independent, then decide whether the $5.00 vegetables and $2.29 broth from Loblaw fit your dinner plan. The full 3-item basket costs $11.08, while the 2-item rice-and-vegetable basket costs $8.79. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking].

When you compare grocery stores, do it at the recipe level rather than the item level alone. A store may have one attractive price, but dinner costs depend on the full combination of ingredients. For this recipe set, rice is the anchor, vegetables are the largest cost, and broth is the optional add-on that changes both flavour and total price. You can make a lower-cost dinner by skipping broth, but you may prefer the broth-based version if you want a warmer meal.

You can also use eezly’s broader tools while planning. Browse current grocery deals at https://eezly.com/deals, compare recipe ideas at https://eezly.com/recipes, and use meal planning resources at https://eezly.com/meal-plans. If you want broader grocery coverage beyond one recipe basket, the eezly blog at https://eezly.com/blog is a useful place to compare price trends and shopping strategies. These links help you move from one priced recipe to a fuller weekly grocery plan.