Newfoundland Cheap Dinners: Beef Chili $5.97/Serving

Key Facts

• Beef Chili costs $47.75 total, or $5.97 per serving for 8 servings in Newfoundland and Labrador. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• Lean Ground Pork Chub is the largest priced ingredient at $22.69 at Costco St. John's. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• Red Kidney Beans are priced at $2.00 at Blackmarsh Road. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• Crushed Tomatoes are priced at $2.29 at Blackmarsh Road. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• Chili Powder is priced at $3.50 at Dominion. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• Newfoundland and Labrador active grocery banners include Foodland, Sobeys, Dominion, Your Independent Grocer, No Frills, and Walmart. (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 Featured Dinner Starts at $2.00 Per Serving

The cheapest recipe variation in this Newfoundland and Labrador dinner guide is Kidney Bean Tomato Chili at $15.98 total, or $2.00 per serving, using only priced ingredients from the same May 2026 chili basket. The full Beef Chili costs $47.75, or $5.97 per serving, while the meatless bean-and-tomato version costs $25.06, or $3.13 per serving. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

If you are trying to plan budget meals in Newfoundland and Labrador, chili is a strong starting point because the ingredient list is flexible. You can make the full protein-heavy version when you want a larger batch, or you can use the same price intelligence to build a lower-cost bean-based dinner. For your grocery trip, the key decision is whether the $22.69 ground-meat line at Costco St. John's belongs in the basket, because that one ingredient accounts for nearly half of the full $47.75 recipe cost.

This article focuses on three chili-style dinners built from real priced ingredients available in the province. You will see the full Beef Chili, a lower-cost bean-and-tomato chili, and a stripped-down kidney bean tomato chili. Each option uses the same verified Newfoundland and Labrador ingredient prices, so you can compare cost per serving without relying on national averages or generic recipe estimates.

Recipe 1: Beef Chili — $5.97 Per Serving

Beef Chili costs $47.75 total and $5.97 per serving for 8 servings in Newfoundland and Labrador as of May 2026. The largest priced line is Lean Ground Pork Chub at $22.69 from Costco St. John's, while the lowest-priced ingredient is Red Kidney Beans at $2.00 from Blackmarsh Road. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

For you, this is the fullest dinner option in the guide because it includes the complete priced chili basket: ground meat, two bean varieties, onion, tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, and chili powder. Although the recipe is named Beef Chili in the pricing feed, the specific priced meat line is Lean Ground Pork Chub at Costco St. John's. From a grocery-budget perspective, the important point is that this is the higher-protein, meat-included version, and it sets the $5.97-per-serving ceiling for the recipes compared here.

This version works best when you want leftovers, freezer portions, or a one-pot dinner that can carry multiple meals. At 8 servings, you can use it for dinner and still have portions available for lunches. If your priority is the lowest possible cost per serving, you can move to Recipe 2 or Recipe 3; if your priority is a fuller meat-based chili, this is the benchmark basket.

Ingredients with Prices

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

The ingredient math is straightforward: $22.69 + $2.00 + $4.29 + $4.69 + $2.29 + $3.50 + $4.79 + $3.50 equals $47.75. Divided across 8 servings, your cost comes to $5.97 per serving after rounding. The ground-meat line alone represents $22.69 of the basket, so you should treat it as the main cost driver when comparing cheap dinner recipes in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Where to Buy Cheapest

Costco St. John's offers the Lean Ground Pork Chub at $22.69, while Blackmarsh Road has Red Kidney Beans at $2.00, Black Turtle Beans at $4.29, Crushed Tomatoes at $2.29, and Soy Sauce at $4.79. Dominion has Worcestershire Sauce at $3.50 and Chili Powder at $3.50, while Foodland has Sunions Onion at $4.69. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

For your shopping plan, this is not a one-store basket. You would buy the main meat line at Costco St. John's, then rely on Blackmarsh Road for several pantry ingredients, including both beans and tomatoes. Dominion is where the two seasoning and sauce lines are priced in this dataset. Foodland is the priced store for the onion line, which matters because even a basic produce item can influence the final recipe cost when you are aiming for dinner under $6 per serving.

You do not need to treat every ingredient equally. If you already have soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, or chili powder in your pantry, your out-of-pocket trip cost would be lower than the full $47.75 basket. However, the recipe costing here includes the full shelf prices because that gives you a consistent benchmark for comparing the three dinners.

Recipe 2: Bean-and-Tomato Chili — $3.13 Per Serving

Bean-and-Tomato Chili costs $25.06 total and $3.13 per serving when you remove the $22.69 ground-meat line from the full Newfoundland and Labrador chili basket. That change lowers the recipe cost by $22.69, or 47.5%, compared with the $47.75 full Beef Chili basket. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

This is the best middle-ground option if you want a filling budget meal without paying for the largest ingredient in the full recipe. You still keep both Red Kidney Beans at $2.00 and Black Turtle Beans at $4.29 from Blackmarsh Road, plus Crushed Tomatoes at $2.29, Sunions Onion at $4.69, Worcestershire Sauce at $3.50, Soy Sauce at $4.79, and Chili Powder at $3.50. The result is a full-flavoured bean chili that stays well below the $6-per-serving threshold.

For your meal plan, Recipe 2 is useful because it keeps the structure of chili intact while reducing the basket dramatically. You still get beans, tomatoes, onion, and seasoning, but you avoid the single ingredient responsible for almost half of the full recipe cost. If you are searching for budget meals in Newfoundland and Labrador that can stretch across several servings, this $3.13-per-serving option is a practical alternative.

Ingredients with Prices

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

The arithmetic for Recipe 2 is $2.00 + $4.29 + $4.69 + $2.29 + $3.50 + $4.79 + $3.50, which totals $25.06. Dividing that by 8 servings gives you $3.13 per serving after rounding. Compared with the full Beef Chili at $5.97 per serving, this version saves $2.84 per serving.

Where to Buy Cheapest

Blackmarsh Road is the key stop for this bean-and-tomato version because it carries Red Kidney Beans at $2.00, Black Turtle Beans at $4.29, Crushed Tomatoes at $2.29, and Soy Sauce at $4.79 in the priced basket. Dominion supplies Worcestershire Sauce at $3.50 and Chili Powder at $3.50, while Foodland supplies Sunions Onion at $4.69. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

If you want to simplify your route, you can prioritize the stores attached to the highest number of ingredients. In this dataset, Blackmarsh Road is tied to four of the seven Recipe 2 ingredients, including the lowest-cost bean and the crushed tomatoes. Dominion covers two flavour-building pantry items. Foodland covers the onion line, which is a smaller but still necessary part of the basket.

You should also think about pantry carryover. Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, and chili powder are not single-meal ingredients for most households, so the per-meal value can improve after the first cook. For strict recipe costing, however, the table uses the full current shelf price because that is the clearest way to compare your options.

Recipe 3: Kidney Bean Tomato Chili — $2.00 Per Serving

Kidney Bean Tomato Chili costs $15.98 total and $2.00 per serving using Red Kidney Beans, Sunions Onion, Crushed Tomatoes, Worcestershire Sauce, and Chili Powder from the Newfoundland and Labrador price basket. This is the cheapest recipe in the guide, costing $31.77 less than the full Beef Chili basket. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

This recipe is the stripped-down budget option. You keep the basic chili profile by combining Red Kidney Beans at $2.00, Crushed Tomatoes at $2.29, Sunions Onion at $4.69, Worcestershire Sauce at $3.50, and Chili Powder at $3.50. You leave out the $22.69 ground meat, the $4.29 Black Turtle Beans, and the $4.79 Soy Sauce, which is why the total falls to $15.98.

For you, this is the most cost-conscious choice if your search is for the cheapest recipes rather than the most elaborate ones. At $2.00 per serving, it is well below the “cheap dinner recipes under $6” threshold and also below the $3.13-per-serving Bean-and-Tomato Chili. The tradeoff is that you get fewer ingredients and less variety, but the cost control is clear.

Ingredients with Prices

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

The ingredient total is $2.00 + $4.69 + $2.29 + $3.50 + $3.50, which equals $15.98. Spread across 8 servings, the cost is $2.00 per serving after rounding. Compared with Recipe 2 at $25.06, this stripped-down version is $9.08 cheaper, a 36.2% reduction.

Where to Buy Cheapest

Blackmarsh Road supplies the two lowest-cost core ingredients in this simplified chili: Red Kidney Beans at $2.00 and Crushed Tomatoes at $2.29. Foodland supplies Sunions Onion at $4.69, while Dominion supplies Worcestershire Sauce at $3.50 and Chili Powder at $3.50. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

Your most important decision for this version is whether you already have seasoning at home. If you do, your incremental shopping cost would focus on beans, tomatoes, and onion. If you need to buy every listed ingredient, the full basket still comes in at $15.98, making it the lowest-cost dinner featured here.

This is also the version to use when you want a base recipe that can be adapted later. You can add rice, bread, frozen vegetables, or extra protein from your pantry, but those additions are not included in the costing because they are not part of the supplied May 2026 price data. The published $2.00-per-serving figure reflects only the verified ingredients listed above.

Newfoundland and Labrador Chili Basket Index

The Newfoundland and Labrador chili basket ranges from $2.00 for Red Kidney Beans at Blackmarsh Road to $22.69 for Lean Ground Pork Chub at Costco St. John's. The meat line is the main cost driver, while beans, tomatoes, and seasoning form the lower-cost base of the recipe. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

This basket index helps you see where your money goes before you decide which recipe to cook. If you choose the full Beef Chili, you are paying for all eight ingredients. If you choose the bean-and-tomato version, you remove the most expensive line. If you choose the kidney bean tomato version, you keep only the most essential chili components.

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

For your planning, the strongest cost-control move is to decide whether the meat line is necessary for the meal you want. Costco St. John's offers the Lean Ground Pork Chub at $22.69, while the combined Red Kidney Beans and Crushed Tomatoes at Blackmarsh Road cost $4.29 together. That contrast explains why the meatless versions fall so sharply in price.

The store pattern is also useful. Blackmarsh Road appears repeatedly for beans, tomatoes, and soy sauce. Dominion appears for the two seasoning and sauce items priced at $3.50 each. Foodland appears for the onion, and Costco St. John's appears for the meat line.

Top Priced Ingredients for Budget Chili Planning

The lowest current price in the chili basket is Red Kidney Beans at $2.00 at Blackmarsh Road, while the highest current price is Lean Ground Pork Chub at $22.69 at Costco St. John's. Regular-price and savings-percent fields are not included in the supplied pricing data, so this table reports verified current prices only and does not calculate unverified discount percentages. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

You can still use this table as a deal-screening tool because it shows which items matter most to your recipe cost. The $22.69 meat line is where a future sale would have the biggest impact. By contrast, a small change on a $2.00 bean item would matter less to the total dinner cost, even though it is still worth tracking when you are building the cheapest recipes.

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

For your grocery trip, this table suggests a practical order of attention. First, verify the meat price if you are cooking Recipe 1. Second, check the bean and tomato prices if you are cooking Recipe 2 or Recipe 3. Third, look at pantry items such as soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and chili powder because you may not need to buy them every time you make chili.

Price Comparison Table: Three Cheap Dinner Recipes Side by Side

The three featured Newfoundland and Labrador recipes cost $5.97, $3.13, and $2.00 per serving, depending on how much of the full chili basket you include. The cheapest option is Kidney Bean Tomato Chili at $15.98 total, while the fullest option is Beef Chili at $47.75 total. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

This side-by-side table is the simplest way to choose your dinner. If your budget allows almost $6 per serving, Recipe 1 gives you the complete basket. If you want to cut the cost almost in half, Recipe 2 removes the meat and lands at $3.13 per serving. If your main goal is the lowest possible priced dinner from the available ingredients, Recipe 3 reaches $2.00 per serving.

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

The comparison shows why recipe costing is more useful than looking at a single ingredient in isolation. The $22.69 meat line at Costco St. John's changes the full basket substantially, but it may still make sense if you want a heartier dinner. If your priority is strictly cheap dinner recipes under $6 in Newfoundland and Labrador, all three options qualify, and two of them come in close to or below $3.13 per serving.

You should also consider how many ingredients you already own. If your pantry already includes soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, or chili powder, your actual checkout cost for any version may be lower. Still, the table gives you a fair comparison because every recipe is costed using the same May 2026 pricing source.

How to Shop These Recipes in Newfoundland and Labrador

You can shop the full Beef Chili basket by combining Costco St. John's for the $22.69 meat line, Blackmarsh Road for several pantry staples, Foodland for the $4.69 onion, and Dominion for $3.50 seasoning items. This multi-store pattern is why price comparison matters for budget meals in Newfoundland and Labrador. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

Your most efficient strategy is to start with the recipe you actually plan to cook, then remove unnecessary ingredients before you shop. If you are making Recipe 3, you do not need the $22.69 meat, the $4.29 Black Turtle Beans, or the $4.79 Soy Sauce. That choice alone brings the basket from $47.75 down to $15.98.

You should also separate true one-meal ingredients from pantry builders. Beans, tomatoes, onion, and meat are likely to be used directly in the meal. Soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and chili powder may last beyond one recipe, which can make future chili batches cheaper on a practical household basis. For consistent journalism-grade costing, however, this guide includes the full shelf price whenever an ingredient appears in a recipe.

In Newfoundland and Labrador, the active grocery banners in the pricing environment include Foodland, Sobeys, Dominion, Your Independent Grocer, No Frills, and Walmart. The priced stores in this chili basket include Costco St. John's, Blackmarsh Road, Foodland, and Dominion. When you compare these prices before you shop, you can decide whether the savings justify multiple stops or whether a simpler route is more valuable to your household.

Why These Recipes Work for Cheap Dinner Planning

These chili recipes work for cheap dinner planning because they let you control the most expensive ingredient while keeping the same basic meal format. The full Beef Chili is $5.97 per serving, the meatless bean-and-tomato version is $3.13 per serving, and the simplest kidney bean tomato version is $2.00 per serving. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

For you, the value is in the flexibility. A fixed recipe can force you into buying every ingredient, even when one line item drives the cost too high. A priced recipe framework lets you decide whether to cook the complete version or a lower-cost variation. That is especially useful when grocery prices vary by store and when pantry items may already be available at home.

The numbers also show that “budget” does not have to mean vague. The difference between Recipe 1 and Recipe 3 is $31.77 per batch, based on the listed ingredients. That is a concrete price gap you can use when planning dinners for a week, comparing meat-based and meatless meals, or deciding how much variety you want in a batch meal.

If you want to continue comparing meals beyond chili, you can use recipe costing as a repeatable method. Start with the full ingredient list, attach real store prices, calculate the total, and divide by servings. Then create lower-cost variations by removing or substituting the most expensive lines, while keeping the meal nutritionally and practically usable.