NB Cheap Dinners: Swiss Chicken $7.44 at IGA

Key Facts

• Swiss Chicken costs $44.65 total, or $7.44 per serving for 6 servings at IGA in New Brunswick. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• Boneless skinless chicken breast is priced at $22.19 at IGA for this New Brunswick recipe basket. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• Condensed cream of chicken soup is priced at $1.50 at Independent in the same recipe costing. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• Swiss cheese slices are priced at $9.49 at Independent for the Swiss Chicken recipe. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• Stove Top Stuffing Mix Turkey 120 g is priced at $3.19 at IGA in New Brunswick. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• New Brunswick has 84 tracked grocery stores across banners including IGA, Sobeys, Walmart, No Frills, Costco, and Atlantic Superstore. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)

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 Dinner Is $5.08 Per Serving

The cheapest dinner in this New Brunswick recipe costing is the lemongrass chicken skillet at $5.08 per serving. The calculation uses boneless skinless chicken breast at $22.19 from IGA, lemongrass in water at $4.49 from IGA, and Nuvel non-hydrogenated margarine at $3.79 from IGA, for a total priced basket of $30.47 across 6 servings. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

That matters because “cheap dinner recipes under $8” can still feel vague unless you can see the actual ingredient prices. In this guide, you can compare three chicken-based budget meals in New Brunswick using the same live-priced grocery items: a full Swiss Chicken bake at $7.44 per serving, a creamy chicken stuffing bake at $5.11 per serving, and the lowest-cost lemongrass chicken skillet at $5.08 per serving. The prices are based on real New Brunswick grocery data across IGA and Independent, with broader local grocery context from banners active in the province, including Atlantic Superstore, Costco, Foodland, No Frills, Sobeys, Walmart, Your Independent Grocer, RASS, and Wholesale Club.

For your meal plan, the practical takeaway is straightforward: if you want the full comfort-food version with Swiss cheese, soup, stuffing, margarine, chicken, and lemongrass, budget $44.65 for 6 servings. If you want the same protein base but a lower per-serving cost, you can simplify the basket and keep dinner close to $5.10 per plate. That is the difference between a richer casserole-style meal and a leaner weeknight chicken dinner.

Recipe 1: Swiss Chicken — $7.44 per serving

Swiss Chicken costs $44.65 total, or $7.44 per serving for 6 servings, using New Brunswick prices from IGA and Independent. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. This is the most complete recipe in the guide and the highest-cost option because it includes boneless skinless chicken breast, Swiss cheese slices, condensed cream of chicken soup, stuffing mix, margarine, and lemongrass in water.

For you, this recipe works best when you want a full family-style dinner rather than the absolute cheapest plate. The chicken breast accounts for $22.19 of the basket, while Swiss cheese slices add $9.49 at Independent. Together, those two ingredients represent $31.68 of the $44.65 total, which explains why this version costs more than the simplified recipes below.

The price structure also shows where your grocery decisions matter most. IGA carries the chicken breast at $22.19, the Stove Top Stuffing Mix Turkey 120 g at $3.19, Nuvel margarine at $3.79, and lemongrass in water at $4.49. Independent supplies the condensed cream of chicken soup at $1.50 and Swiss cheese slices at $9.49. If you are building budget meals in New Brunswick, this kind of store split helps you see which ingredients drive the final cost.

Ingredients with Prices

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

You can prepare this as a layered chicken bake: chicken on the bottom, soup as a sauce, Swiss cheese over the chicken, and stuffing mixed with margarine as the topping. The lemongrass is not typical in every Swiss Chicken recipe, but in this priced basket it gives you an aromatic ingredient that can be used lightly in the sauce or reserved for another chicken meal if you prefer a more traditional flavour. The costing remains $44.65 because all ingredients are included in the basket.

Where to Buy Cheapest

For this Swiss Chicken basket, IGA is the cheapest listed source for the main protein and several supporting ingredients, while Independent is the cheapest listed source for soup and Swiss cheese in the available New Brunswick pricing. IGA offers chicken breast at $22.19, while Independent supplies condensed cream of chicken soup at $1.50 and Swiss cheese slices at $9.49 in this recipe basket. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

Your best approach is to treat this as a two-store recipe if you already shop near both banners. You would buy chicken breast, stuffing mix, margarine, and lemongrass at IGA, then pick up cream of chicken soup and Swiss cheese slices at Independent. If you only want to make one stop, IGA remains the anchor store because the recipe itself is listed under IGA and the largest ingredient cost, chicken breast at $22.19, is priced there.

This is also where you should be careful about substitutions. Removing Swiss cheese slices would reduce the priced basket by $9.49, but it would no longer be the full Swiss Chicken recipe. Keeping the cheese makes the dinner more expensive, yet it also gives the dish its defining flavour and texture. For a budget dinner under $8 per serving in New Brunswick, the full version still qualifies at $7.44 per serving.

Recipe 2: Creamy Chicken Stuffing Bake — $5.11 per serving

Creamy Chicken Stuffing Bake costs $30.67 total, or $5.11 per serving for 6 servings, using IGA chicken breast, IGA stuffing mix, IGA margarine, and Independent cream of chicken soup. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. This recipe is the best choice if you want the comfort-food structure of Swiss Chicken but want to avoid the $9.49 Swiss cheese cost.

The arithmetic is direct: chicken breast at $22.19, Stove Top Stuffing Mix Turkey 120 g at $3.19, Nuvel margarine at $3.79, and condensed cream of chicken soup at $1.50 equal $30.67. Divided by 6 servings, your cost is $5.11 per serving. That makes this one of the cheapest recipes in the guide while still giving you a complete baked chicken dinner with a creamy sauce and stuffing topping.

For your weeknight cooking, the major advantage is that you keep the familiar casserole format without paying for every ingredient in the full Swiss Chicken basket. The soup and stuffing provide a straightforward sauce-and-topping combination, while the chicken breast remains the main protein. Because the chicken alone costs $22.19, most of the meal cost is still tied to protein rather than pantry-style additions.

Ingredients with Prices

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

You can assemble this recipe by placing the chicken in a baking dish, spreading the condensed soup over the top, and adding the stuffing mixture prepared with margarine. The result is a simpler casserole-style chicken dinner that avoids cheese but keeps the creamy texture. If your goal is cheap dinner recipes under $6 in New Brunswick, this recipe is the most balanced option because it is only three cents per serving more than the lowest-cost recipe in the guide.

Where to Buy Cheapest

IGA offers chicken breast at $22.19, Stove Top Stuffing Mix Turkey 120 g at $3.19, and Nuvel margarine at $3.79, while Independent offers condensed cream of chicken soup at $1.50 in this recipe costing. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. For you, that means the core bake is anchored at IGA, with one low-cost sauce ingredient from Independent.

If you want to simplify your trip, prioritize the IGA items because they represent $29.17 of the $30.67 priced basket. The Independent soup is only $1.50, but it is still part of the lowest observed recipe costing provided here. If you already shop across multiple New Brunswick banners, this is the kind of small split that can help keep your meal plan closer to the true minimum.

The cost difference between this recipe and the full Swiss Chicken is $13.98 per batch. On a per-serving basis, Swiss Chicken costs $7.44 while the creamy chicken stuffing bake costs $5.11, a difference of $2.33 per serving. That reduction comes mainly from omitting the Swiss cheese slices at $9.49 and lemongrass in water at $4.49.

Recipe 3: Lemongrass Chicken Skillet — $5.08 per serving

Lemongrass Chicken Skillet costs $30.47 total, or $5.08 per serving for 6 servings, using chicken breast, lemongrass in water, and margarine from IGA. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. This is the cheapest recipe in the guide by a narrow margin, costing $0.03 less per serving than the creamy chicken stuffing bake.

The calculation uses three priced ingredients: chicken breast at $22.19, lemongrass in water at $4.49, and Nuvel non-hydrogenated margarine at $3.79. The $30.47 total divided by 6 servings gives you a $5.08 per-serving cost. If you are searching for budget meals in New Brunswick and want the lowest priced dinner from this ingredient set, this is the answer.

For your cooking plan, this recipe is also the simplest. You can slice or portion the chicken, cook it with margarine, and use lemongrass as the primary aromatic. The result is a lighter chicken dinner than the casserole recipes, without the soup, stuffing, or cheese components that raise the total basket price.

Ingredients with Prices

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

This recipe is best when your priority is price control and minimal shopping complexity. Every priced ingredient in this version is listed at IGA, so you do not need a second stop at Independent. Compared with the full Swiss Chicken basket at $44.65, the lemongrass chicken skillet costs $14.18 less per batch.

Where to Buy Cheapest

IGA is the cheapest listed store for every priced ingredient in the lemongrass chicken skillet: chicken breast at $22.19, lemongrass in water at $4.49, and Nuvel margarine at $3.79. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. For you, the advantage is that the recipe uses a single-store basket rather than splitting between IGA and Independent.

That matters for real household budgeting because the lowest sticker price is not always the only factor. If you need to drive to multiple stores to save a few dollars, your time and transportation cost can offset the grocery savings. This recipe keeps the ingredient basket compact and gives you the lowest per-serving cost in the article at $5.08.

If you want the cheapest recipes from this New Brunswick data set, start here. You can add pantry sides you already own, such as rice, potatoes, pasta, or frozen vegetables, without changing the priced basket in this article. The core chicken portion remains priced at $5.08 per serving based on the ingredients above.

New Brunswick Basket Index: Ingredient Prices Across Stores

The New Brunswick recipe basket is anchored by IGA for chicken, stuffing, margarine, and lemongrass, while Independent carries the soup and Swiss cheese prices used in the full Swiss Chicken costing. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. This basket index helps you see where each ingredient is cheapest in the provided New Brunswick data.

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

The most important line in the basket is the chicken breast at $22.19 because it appears in all three recipes. If you are deciding where to focus your comparison shopping, the protein should come first. The smaller ingredients matter too, but changes to a $1.50 soup or $3.19 stuffing mix will not move the total as much as the main chicken price.

You can also see why the full Swiss Chicken recipe costs more than the two simplified versions. Swiss cheese slices add $9.49, and lemongrass adds $4.49 when included in the full basket. If your weekly budget is tight, the fastest way to lower the cost is to choose a recipe format that uses fewer specialty or premium add-ins.

Top Priced Ingredients and Basket Impact

The best value items in this New Brunswick recipe set are the low-cost support ingredients, led by condensed cream of chicken soup at $1.50 at Independent and stuffing mix at $3.19 at IGA. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. Because no separate regular-price field is provided in the pricing data, the benchmark price below is the same observed May 2026 price, and the savings percentage is shown as 0.0% rather than estimated.

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

This table is useful because it separates cheap ingredients from cost-driving ingredients. Your lowest-cost additions are soup, stuffing, and margarine, each under $4.00. Your higher-cost decisions are chicken breast at $22.19 and Swiss cheese slices at $9.49.

For your grocery list, that means you should not spend too much time chasing pennies on the smallest ingredients if your main goal is reducing the final dinner cost. The full Swiss Chicken recipe is $44.65, while the lemongrass chicken skillet is $30.47. That $14.18 batch difference comes from the simplified ingredient list, not from a small change in soup or margarine.

Price Comparison Table: All Recipes Side by Side

The cheapest recipe in this New Brunswick comparison is Lemongrass Chicken Skillet at $5.08 per serving, followed by Creamy Chicken Stuffing Bake at $5.11 and Swiss Chicken at $7.44. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. If you are comparing cheap dinner recipes under $8, all three qualify, but the simplified skillet is the lowest-cost option.

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

The difference between the lowest and highest recipe is meaningful for a household budget. Lemongrass Chicken Skillet costs $30.47, while Swiss Chicken costs $44.65, so you pay $14.18 more per batch for the full casserole-style version. On a per-serving basis, the difference is $2.36.

Your choice should depend on what you need from the meal. If you want the cheapest dinner, choose the lemongrass chicken skillet. If you want a filling comfort-food bake while staying near $5 per serving, choose the creamy chicken stuffing bake. If you want the complete Swiss Chicken recipe with cheese and stuffing, plan for $7.44 per serving.

How to Use These Prices in a New Brunswick Meal Plan

You can use these New Brunswick prices to build a weekly dinner plan around one main protein and three different flavour profiles. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. The same $22.19 IGA chicken breast price appears in all three recipes, which means your savings come from how you build the rest of the meal.

If you prefer lower-cost dinners, plan your week around the two simplified recipes first. The lemongrass chicken skillet at $5.08 per serving and the creamy chicken stuffing bake at $5.11 per serving both keep your dinner near the $5 mark. You can reserve the full Swiss Chicken recipe for a night when you want a richer meal and can budget $7.44 per serving.

You should also think about store routing. IGA is the anchor store in this guide because it carries the chicken breast, margarine, stuffing mix, and lemongrass prices used here. Independent matters for the soup and Swiss cheese. If your local routine already includes both banners, splitting the basket is reasonable; if not, a single-store IGA recipe such as the lemongrass chicken skillet may be the more practical budget choice.

Budget Takeaway for New Brunswick Shoppers

For budget meals in New Brunswick, your most economical recipe from this price set is Lemongrass Chicken Skillet at $5.08 per serving. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. The lowest-cost path is not complicated: buy the IGA-priced chicken breast at $22.19, use margarine at $3.79, and add lemongrass at $4.49 for flavour.

The full Swiss Chicken recipe remains a reasonable under-$8 dinner at $7.44 per serving, but it is not the cheapest recipe. You are paying for the additional comfort-food ingredients, especially Swiss cheese slices at $9.49 and stuffing mix at $3.19. If your goal is the cheapest recipes, you should simplify before you substitute.

New Brunswick has 84 tracked grocery stores in this data set, with active banners including Atlantic Superstore, Costco, Foodland, IGA, No Frills, Sobeys, Walmart, Your Independent Grocer, RASS, and Wholesale Club. For recipe costing, the most useful habit is to compare the exact basket rather than rely on a general impression of which store is cheaper. A store can be competitive for one ingredient and less relevant for another, which is why your final dinner cost depends on the full basket.