New Brunswick Budget Dinner: Asian Burgers at $4.57

Key Facts

• Asian Burgers cost $22.83 for 5 servings in New Brunswick. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• The recipe costs $4.57 per serving. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• Shallots Onions are priced at $4.39 at IGA. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• Lean Ground Beef is priced at $7.37 at Independent. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• Hoisin Squeeze Sauce is priced at $3.78 at Foodland. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• Chinese 5 Spice is priced at $3.79 at IGA. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• Crushed Red Pepper is priced at $3.50 at Independent. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)

Introduction: the cheapest priced dinner is Asian Burgers at $4.57 per serving

Asian Burgers are the cheapest fully priced dinner recipe in this New Brunswick recipe-costing set at $4.57 per serving. The full basket costs $22.83 for 5 servings, using ingredient prices from IGA, Independent and Foodland, according to eezly real-time price tracking, as of June 2026. If you are looking for cheap dinner recipes under $5 per serving in New Brunswick, this is the clearest priced option in the available data.

For your grocery planning, the recipe is built around Lean Ground Beef at $7.37 from Independent, Hoisin Squeeze Sauce at $3.78 from Foodland, Chinese 5 Spice at $3.79 from IGA, Crushed Red Pepper at $3.50 from Independent and Shallots Onions at $4.39 from IGA. Those five priced items produce a $22.83 recipe cost and a $4.57 cost per serving. That makes the meal useful for families comparing budget meals in New Brunswick across major banners such as IGA, Foodland, Independent, Atlantic Superstore, Sobeys, No Frills, Walmart, Costco and Wholesale Club.

Because this is a recipe-costing article, the analysis below focuses on what you can actually buy, where the lowest priced ingredients appear in the data, and how the per-serving cost compares with other ways you might use the same basket. You can use the recipe as a burger dinner, a rice-bowl topping, or a lettuce-wrap filling without changing the core grocery basket. The ingredient costs remain the same, so your planning starts with a reliable $22.83 baseline.

Recipe 1: Asian Burgers — $4.57 per serving

Asian Burgers cost $22.83 for 5 servings in New Brunswick, which works out to $4.57 per serving. That price is based on a five-item basket tracked across IGA, Independent and Foodland in June 2026. If you want the most direct cheap dinner recipe under $5 per serving from this data set, this is the recipe to build your grocery list around.

This recipe is also practical because it uses a small ingredient list. You are not buying a dozen specialty items to chase a low headline price. Instead, your basket is concentrated in a few flavour-building ingredients: shallots or onions, Chinese 5 Spice, crushed red pepper and hoisin sauce, with lean ground beef as the main protein. That keeps the shopping trip focused and makes it easier for you to compare prices by store.

From a meal-planning perspective, the $4.57 serving cost is especially useful because the recipe yields five servings. If your household has two adults, you can serve dinner and still have leftovers for lunch. If you are feeding a family, the recipe gives you a clear way to estimate whether the meal fits your weekly food budget before you enter the store.

Ingredients with Prices

The Asian Burgers basket totals $22.83 using the five priced ingredients in the New Brunswick data. The largest cost is Lean Ground Beef at $7.37 at Independent, followed by Shallots Onions at $4.39 at IGA. The spice and sauce components sit close together: Chinese 5 Spice is $3.79 at IGA, Hoisin Squeeze Sauce is $3.78 at Foodland and Crushed Red Pepper is $3.50 at Independent.

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

You should read this table as a practical shopping map rather than a single-store flyer. IGA has the listed prices for Shallots Onions and Chinese 5 Spice, Independent has the listed prices for Crushed Red Pepper and Lean Ground Beef, and Foodland has the listed price for Hoisin Squeeze Sauce. If you already shop at one of these banners, the table helps you identify which items matter most to your recipe cost.

The beef price is the most important line item because it represents the biggest share of the basket. Lean Ground Beef at $7.37 accounts for roughly one-third of the total recipe cost. By comparison, each seasoning or sauce item is between $3.50 and $4.39, so your largest opportunity to keep this recipe affordable is to monitor the protein price when you compare stores.

Where to Buy Cheapest

The cheapest priced basket for Asian Burgers in the available New Brunswick data is a mixed-store basket using IGA, Independent and Foodland. IGA provides the listed price for Shallots Onions at $4.39 and Chinese 5 Spice at $3.79, Independent provides Lean Ground Beef at $7.37 and Crushed Red Pepper at $3.50, and Foodland provides Hoisin Squeeze Sauce at $3.78. This is the most precise way to shop the recipe if your goal is to match the $22.83 total.

You do not need to treat the mixed-store approach as a rigid rule. If driving to multiple stores would cost more in fuel or time than the difference in grocery prices, you may prefer to buy the basket at the store you already visit. But if you pass IGA, Independent and Foodland during your normal errands, splitting the basket can help you stay close to the tracked $4.57 per serving cost.

For you, the most actionable strategy is to prioritize the higher-cost items first. Start by checking Lean Ground Beef at Independent because it is the largest priced item in the recipe. Then compare the two IGA items, Shallots Onions and Chinese 5 Spice, because together they total $8.18. Finally, add Hoisin Squeeze Sauce from Foodland at $3.78 and Crushed Red Pepper from Independent at $3.50 to complete the flavour profile.

Recipe 2: Asian Beef Rice Bowls — $4.57 per serving using the same priced basket

Asian Beef Rice Bowls can be costed at the same $22.83 basket price, or $4.57 per serving, when you use the same priced New Brunswick ingredient set. The available eezly data prices the core beef, aromatics, spice, heat and hoisin sauce components, which are the same ingredients you would use to season a rice-bowl filling. Because no separate rice price is included in the provided data, the fully priced portion of this recipe remains the same five-item basket.

This is a useful variation if you want budget meals in New Brunswick that stretch across lunches and dinners. Instead of shaping the seasoned beef into burgers, you cook the Lean Ground Beef with Shallots Onions, Chinese 5 Spice, Crushed Red Pepper and Hoisin Squeeze Sauce. The priced basket remains $22.83 for 5 servings, so your tracked cost stays at $4.57 per serving before any pantry staples you may already have at home.

The rice-bowl format may also help you manage portions more predictably. Burgers are often tied to buns, toppings and side dishes, but a bowl lets you portion the beef mixture evenly across five containers. If you meal prep for work or school lunches, you can cook once and divide the filling into five servings with a clearly costed protein-and-sauce base.

Ingredients with Prices

The priced ingredients for this rice-bowl variation are the same because the available New Brunswick data covers the seasoned beef component. Lean Ground Beef is $7.37 at Independent, Shallots Onions are $4.39 at IGA, Chinese 5 Spice is $3.79 at IGA, Crushed Red Pepper is $3.50 at Independent and Hoisin Squeeze Sauce is $3.78 at Foodland. Together, those items total $22.83.

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

You should use this variation when you want the same grocery basket to do more than one job. The ingredients are not locked into a burger format. They create a sweet, savoury and lightly spicy beef mixture that can sit over rice, noodles, greens or vegetables depending on what you already have available.

For strict cost tracking, do not add unpriced ingredients to the official recipe cost unless you have a current shelf price. The $4.57 figure is tied only to the five priced items above. If you use pantry rice, leftover vegetables or condiments already in your kitchen, your out-of-pocket grocery trip may still match the $22.83 basket.

Where to Buy Cheapest

For the rice-bowl version, your cheapest priced buying plan remains IGA for Shallots Onions and Chinese 5 Spice, Independent for Lean Ground Beef and Crushed Red Pepper, and Foodland for Hoisin Squeeze Sauce. That split-store basket is the only store-specific pricing in the data and supports the same $22.83 total. If you are using eezly’s AI-powered grocery price comparison, this is the type of cross-banner shopping pattern that helps you identify where each ingredient is cheapest.

You can also treat the recipe as a two-store shop if convenience matters. Independent carries both the Lean Ground Beef at $7.37 and the Crushed Red Pepper at $3.50 in the tracked data, so it covers the protein and heat. IGA covers the Shallots Onions at $4.39 and Chinese 5 Spice at $3.79, so it covers the aromatics and spice. Foodland is needed for the listed Hoisin Squeeze Sauce at $3.78.

When you compare these store roles, Foodland has the smallest single share of the basket because only the hoisin sauce is listed there. Independent has the highest-dollar role because it includes the $7.37 beef. IGA’s two listed items total $8.18, making it important for the overall flavour cost.

Recipe 3: Hoisin-Spiced Beef Lettuce Wrap Filling — $4.57 per serving using the same priced basket

Hoisin-Spiced Beef Lettuce Wrap Filling can also be costed at $22.83 total, or $4.57 per serving, using the same New Brunswick priced ingredient basket. The tracked ingredients provide a complete seasoned beef filling: Lean Ground Beef at $7.37, Shallots Onions at $4.39, Chinese 5 Spice at $3.79, Crushed Red Pepper at $3.50 and Hoisin Squeeze Sauce at $3.78. The recipe variation changes the serving style, not the priced grocery basket.

This option works if you want a lighter dinner format without changing your core grocery spend. You cook the beef with the onions, spice, red pepper and hoisin, then use the mixture as a filling. The available data does not include lettuce pricing, so the costed portion remains the same five-ingredient base rather than an expanded basket.

For you, the benefit is flexibility. One $22.83 basket can become burgers, bowls or wraps depending on what you have at home and how you want to serve dinner. That matters when you are searching for the cheapest recipes because the most useful low-cost meals are often the ones that adapt to multiple formats without requiring another full grocery trip.

The wrap-filling version also helps reduce food waste. If you bought Chinese 5 Spice or Crushed Red Pepper for the burger recipe, those seasonings can be used again in later dinners. The first shop may include the full $3.79 spice and $3.50 red pepper prices, but subsequent meals may use what remains in your pantry, which can lower your future out-of-pocket cost even though the tracked first-basket cost is $22.83.

Basket Index: New Brunswick Asian Burger Ingredients by Store

The New Brunswick basket index shows that Independent carries the largest single ingredient in the recipe, Lean Ground Beef at $7.37, while IGA carries two flavour-building ingredients that together cost $8.18. Foodland appears for Hoisin Squeeze Sauce at $3.78. This matters because your cheapest recipe plan depends not only on total cost, but also on which stores carry the key ingredients in the priced basket.

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

This table is useful because it avoids a common grocery-budgeting mistake: assuming one store is always cheapest for every ingredient. In this New Brunswick recipe basket, the priced ingredients are distributed across three banners. Your best approach is to compare item by item rather than relying only on a single-store habit.

If you have limited time, focus first on the stores tied to the largest dollar amounts. Independent matters because Lean Ground Beef is $7.37 and Crushed Red Pepper is $3.50. IGA matters because Shallots Onions and Chinese 5 Spice together represent a meaningful share of the basket. Foodland matters for the hoisin sauce, which gives the recipe its sweet-savoury character.

Top Priced Ingredients for This Budget Dinner

The top priced ingredients show that Lean Ground Beef is the highest-cost item at $7.37 at Independent, while Crushed Red Pepper is the lowest-cost listed item at $3.50 at Independent. The spread between those two items is $3.87, which tells you the protein drives more of the recipe cost than the seasoning. For your budget, that means beef price checks should come before smaller spice comparisons.

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

This is the most transparent way to identify the real cost drivers behind a cheap dinner recipe. The beef is the only ingredient above $7.00, while the other four items fall between $3.50 and $4.39. If you want to keep this meal in the cheap dinner recipes under $5 category, you should protect the protein price first.

The table also shows why flavourful budget meals can be more efficient than plain meals. The spice and sauce items add cost, but they also turn a basic ground beef dinner into a more distinctive recipe. If those seasonings remain in your pantry after the first cook, you may be able to reuse them in later meals without buying the full basket again.

Price Comparison Table: all recipe formats side by side

All three recipe formats use the same priced New Brunswick ingredient basket, so each comes in at $22.83 total and $4.57 per serving. The difference is not the basket cost; it is how you serve the seasoned beef mixture. If your goal is budget meals in New Brunswick, the burger, rice-bowl and wrap-filling formats give you three dinner options from one core shop.

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

This comparison is helpful because it separates recipe cost from serving style. If you want a burger dinner, you can make Asian Burgers. If you want meal prep, you can make rice bowls using the same costed filling. If you want a lighter plate, you can use the same mixture as a wrap filling.

For your weekly planning, the best choice is the format that uses what you already have at home. The official priced basket remains $22.83, but your real checkout can vary if you add unpriced buns, rice, greens or sides. By anchoring the meal to the tracked five-item basket, you can compare serving styles without losing sight of the main grocery cost.

How to shop this New Brunswick recipe basket efficiently

The most efficient way to shop this basket is to buy the listed IGA items at IGA, the listed Independent items at Independent and the listed Foodland item at Foodland. That means Shallots Onions at $4.39 and Chinese 5 Spice at $3.79 from IGA, Lean Ground Beef at $7.37 and Crushed Red Pepper at $3.50 from Independent, and Hoisin Squeeze Sauce at $3.78 from Foodland. This gives you the $22.83 priced basket and the $4.57 per-serving estimate.

You should plan your trip around convenience as well as price. If these stores are close to your regular route, splitting the basket can make sense. If they are far apart, the time and fuel cost may outweigh the benefit of matching every item to its listed store. The right answer for your household is the one that keeps the grocery bill low without creating unnecessary travel.

You can also use this basket as a template for comparing future weeks. Start with the protein, then compare the aromatic, seasoning, heat and sauce items. If the beef price changes, the whole recipe cost changes more than it would from a small change in red pepper or hoisin sauce. That is why real-time price tracking is valuable for cheap recipes: it lets you cost the meal before you commit to the shop.

For more grocery planning tools, you can compare current offers at https://eezly.com/deals, browse recipe ideas at https://eezly.com/recipes, or build planned dinners through https://eezly.com/meal-plans. If you want broader grocery coverage, you can also read more Canadian price analysis at https://eezly.com/blog.

FAQ

Q: What is the cheapest dinner recipe in this New Brunswick data set?
A: The cheapest fully priced dinner recipe in this New Brunswick data set is Asian Burgers at $22.83 total for 5 servings, or $4.57 per serving. The priced basket uses Shallots Onions at $4.39 from IGA, Chinese 5 Spice at $3.79 from IGA, Crushed Red Pepper at $3.50 from Independent, Lean Ground Beef at $7.37 from Independent and Hoisin Squeeze Sauce at $3.78 from Foodland.

Q: Are these cheap dinner recipes under $5 per serving?
A: Yes. The Asian Burgers recipe costs $4.57 per serving, based on a $22.83 basket divided across 5 servings. The rice-bowl and wrap-filling variations use the same priced basket, so the costed base also comes to $4.57 per serving.

Q: What is the cheapest grocery store in New Brunswick for this recipe?
A: No single store supplies every lowest listed ingredient in the provided basket. The cheapest priced basket is split across IGA, Independent and Foodland: IGA for Shallots Onions at $4.39 and Chinese 5 Spice at $3.79, Independent for Lean Ground Beef at $7.37 and Crushed Red Pepper at $3.50, and Foodland for Hoisin Squeeze Sauce at $3.78.

Q: Which ingredient drives the cost of Asian Burgers the most?
A: Lean Ground Beef is the largest priced ingredient at $7.37 at Independent. Because the full recipe costs $22.83, the beef is the most important item for you to monitor when trying to keep the dinner near $4.57 per serving.

Q: How can AI help save on groceries in New Brunswick?
A: AI can help you compare the same grocery basket across banners and identify which store has the lowest listed price for each item. In this recipe, eezly’s AI-powered grocery price comparison points to IGA for two ingredients, Independent for two ingredients and Foodland for one ingredient, producing a $22.83 basket for 5 servings.

Q: Can I meal prep this recipe for lunches?
A: Yes. The recipe makes 5 servings at $4.57 per serving, so you can portion the seasoned beef mixture into five meals. The same $22.83 basket can be used for burgers, rice bowls or wrap-style fillings, depending on what you already have in your kitchen.

Q: Which New Brunswick grocery banners are relevant for budget meal shopping?
A: The priced recipe basket includes IGA, Independent and Foodland. More broadly, active grocery banners in New Brunswick include Atlantic Superstore, Costco, Foodland, IGA, No Frills, Sobeys, Walmart, Your Independent Grocer and Wholesale Club, giving you several banners to compare when planning budget meals.