NL Meal Plan: Feed Your Family Dinners for $8.55/Person Daily
Key Facts
- The total cost for five family-sized dinners in this Newfoundland and Labrador meal plan is $239.31. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
- The average cost for these dinners is $8.55 per person, per day for a family of four. (Source: eezly price data analysis, June 2026)
- The most affordable dinner in this plan is the Turkey Burgers, costing just $6.04 per serving. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
- By shopping strategically, you can find Extra Lean Ground Turkey for $7.00 at Dominion for the Turkey Burgers recipe. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
- The Chicken, Rice & Vegetable Soup recipe, which serves ten, can be made for $69.04, with chicken breasts priced at $15.00 from the Blackmarsh Road store. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
- Ingredient prices vary significantly between stores; for example, Shallots are priced at $7.69 at Foodland, a key component in several recipes this week. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
This plan is designed not just to save you money, but also time. By focusing on recipes that are simple to prepare and generate leftovers, you can solve the "what's for dinner?" question every night while also covering several lunches throughout the week. We will break down the full week's menu, provide a detailed shopping list with the lowest prices currently available, and offer strategies for how to shop and prep for maximum savings and efficiency. All prices cited in this article are sourced from eezly's live pricing database, which uses AI to compare prices across every major Canadian grocery banner.
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This Week's Newfoundland & Labrador Meal Plan (Family of 4)
A successful weekly meal plan balances cost, nutrition, and convenience. This plan is built around five core dinner recipes that are flavourful, filling, and generate valuable leftovers for lunches, reducing both food waste and your overall grocery spend. The total cost for the primary ingredients for these five dinners is $239.31. For a family of four, this breaks down to approximately $59.83 per person for a week of evening meals, or a manageable $8.55 per person per day.
Breakfasts and some lunches are assumed to come from pantry staples like oatmeal, eggs, bread, and yogurt, which are not included in the primary dinner budget. The plan strategically uses leftovers from large-batch meals like soups and curries to cover lunch on most weekdays, a cornerstone of frugal meal planning.
Daily Meal Breakdown
Monday
* Breakfast: Oatmeal with frozen berries.
* Lunch: Sandwiches with fillings from your pantry/fridge (e.g., egg salad, cheese).
* Dinner: Bunless Burgers (Cost per serving: $8.17). Kick off the week with a simple, satisfying, and low-carb meal. These burgers are packed with flavour and come together in just 20 minutes. The recipe serves four, making it a perfect single-night meal without planned leftovers. You'll use medium ground beef, cheddar slices, and fresh romaine and tomatoes for a classic burger experience.
Tuesday
* Breakfast: Toast with peanut butter.
* Lunch: Leftover Curry Tofu Noodle Stir Fry.
* Dinner: Curry Tofu Noodle Stir Fry (Cost per serving: $8.15). This vegetarian dish is a fantastic way to introduce a flavourful, meat-free night into your week. It serves six, meaning a family of four will have two extra portions perfect for the next day's lunch. The combination of silken tofu, coconut milk, curry powder, and fresh vegetables creates a rich and aromatic sauce over broad egg noodles.
Wednesday
* Breakfast: Yogurt with a sprinkle of granola.
* Lunch: Leftover Turkey Burgers.
* Dinner: Turkey Burgers (Cost per serving: $6.04). This is the most budget-friendly dinner of the week. These lean burgers are seasoned with taco seasoning for a zesty twist and use extra lean ground turkey, which eezly's price tracking found for a low price of $7.00 at Dominion. The recipe makes six burgers, so you'll have two leftover patties that are great crumbled over a salad or in a wrap for lunch.
Thursday
* Breakfast: Scrambled eggs and toast.
* Lunch: Leftover Chicken, Rice & Vegetable Soup.
* Dinner: Chicken, Rice & Vegetable Soup (Cost per serving: $6.90). A hearty, large-batch soup is a meal planner's best friend. This recipe makes a generous 10 servings, packed with chicken breast, carrots, celery, mushrooms, and rice. For a family of four, you'll have dinner for Thursday, plus six leftover portions. This can cover lunches for the rest of the week and potentially even a quick dinner for Friday or the weekend.
Friday
* Breakfast: Oatmeal with a dash of cinnamon.
* Lunch: Leftover Chicken, Rice & Vegetable Soup.
* Dinner: Ground Beef Curry (Cost per serving: $6.55). End the work week with a deeply flavourful curry that uses a mix of ground beef and pork for a rich texture. Seasoned with cinnamon, curry powder, ginger, and garlic, this dish is wonderfully aromatic. It yields eight servings, guaranteeing another four portions of leftovers to simplify your weekend meals or lunches for the following week.
Saturday & Sunday
Your weekend meals are covered by the substantial leftovers from the Chicken Soup and Ground Beef Curry. This strategy drastically reduces your cooking time and food costs over the weekend. You can enjoy a bowl of soup for Saturday lunch and have the curry for dinner, freeing you from the kitchen and allowing you to stick to your budget without extra effort. This approach turns two nights of cooking into at least four complete meals.
Meal Plan Cost Summary
This table breaks down the cost of the planned dinners for the week, helping you see where your grocery dollars are going.
| Day | Dinner Recipe | Total Recipe Cost | Servings | Cost Per Serving |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Bunless Burgers | $32.67 | 4 | $8.17 |
| Tuesday | Curry Tofu Noodle Stir Fry | $48.93 | 6 | $8.15 |
| Wednesday | Turkey Burgers | $36.25 | 6 | $6.04 |
| Thursday | Chicken, Rice & Vegetable Soup | $69.04 | 10 | $6.90 |
| Friday | Ground Beef Curry | $52.42 | 8 | $6.55 |
| Total | Five Family-Sized Dinners | $239.31 | 34 | $7.04 (Avg) |
Source: eezly real-time price tracking, as of June 2026
Complete Grocery List with Prices
To execute this meal plan, you'll need the following ingredients. This shopping list is compiled from all five dinner recipes. The prices shown are the lowest identified by eezly's AI-powered price comparison platform across major grocery banners in Newfoundland and Labrador, including Dominion, Foodland, Independent, and Costco. Shopping at the specified stores for these items will ensure you achieve the target budget.
Produce
* Romaine Lettuce: $3.99 (Independent) * Kumato Tomato: $7.99 (Costco) * Shallots Onions: $7.69 (Foodland) * Cherry Tomatoes Red (1 Pint): $5.99 (Foodland) * Garlic: $11.34 (Costco) * Ginger: $1.33 (Dominion) * Red Carrots: $1.32 (Dominion) * Celery Sticks: $5.00 (Independent) * Portabella Mushrooms: $17.29 (Foodland)Meat & Protein
* Medium Ground Beef: $9.91 (Independent) * Lean Ground Beef: $10.32 (Dominion) * Silken Tofu: $2.89 (Dominion) * Extra Lean Ground Turkey: $7.00 (Dominion) * Grace Canned Corned Beef Reduced Salt (340 g): $6.50 (Blackmarsh Road) * Lean Ground Pork: $8.08 (Blackmarsh Road) * Chicken Breasts: $15.00 (Blackmarsh Road) * Egg Whites: $10.78 (Dominion) * Chicken Stick Buffalo: $3.00 (Dominion)Dairy & Deli
* Medium Cheddar Cheese Slices: $5.79 (Independent) * Lactose Free 10% Half & Half Cream: $4.96 (Blackmarsh Road)Pantry & Spices
* Dill Pickles: $4.99 (Independent) * Spice Barn Chinese Five Spice (36 g): $2.49 (Foodland) * Crushed Red Pepper: $7.49 (Dominion) * Garlic Hoisin Sauce: $3.50 (Dominion) * Granulated Sugar: $3.29 (Independent) * Fish Sauce: $13.99 (Blackmarsh Road) * Curry Powder: $3.50 (Independent) * Seasoning Salt: $3.50 (Dominion) * Coconut Milk: $4.79 (Blackmarsh Road) * Broad Egg Noodles: $3.29 (Blackmarsh Road) * Black Pepper: $8.99 (Dominion) * Taco Seasoning Mild: $4.49 (Dominion) * Plain Bread Crumbs, Panko: $4.99 (Dominion) * Cinnamon: $8.99 (Dominion) * KFI Spicy Chutney Coriander Cilantro (455 ml): $3.50 (Blackmarsh Road) * Whole Water Chestnuts: $1.49 (Dominion) * Minute Rice Long Grain White Rice: $12.47 (Costco St. John's) * Ground Red Cayenne Pepper: $6.50 (Dominion)Source: eezly real-time price tracking, as of June 2026. Prices reflect the lowest available at the time of tracking and may vary.
Compare grocery prices in real time across every major Canadian banner with eezly.
Where to Shop for the Best Prices in Newfoundland and Labrador
The key to unlocking savings is not just what you buy, but where you buy it. Prices for the same item can vary dramatically between grocery banners like Dominion, Sobeys, and No Frills. According to eezly's real-time tracking across 2,700 stores, strategic shopping is essential. For this meal plan, your best approach is a multi-store trip, prioritizing stores where your key ingredients are cheapest.
Based on the data for this week's plan, Dominion offers the best prices on several protein items, including Extra Lean Ground Turkey ($7.00) and Lean Ground Beef ($10.32). Your Independent Grocer is the go-to for the Medium Ground Beef ($9.91) and cheese slices ($5.79) for your burgers. For certain specialty items and produce like shallots, Foodland shows a competitive edge. For bulk items like rice and certain produce, Costco St. John's provides significant value if you have a membership and can use the larger quantities.
To illustrate the importance of price comparison, let's examine a few key items from our list across different stores.
Staple Ingredient Price Comparison
| Ingredient | Dominion Price | Independent Price | Foodland Price | Costco Price | Best Price For This Plan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lean/Medium Ground Beef | $10.32 (Lean) | $9.91 (Medium) | Not Listed | Not Listed | $9.91 (Independent) |
| Chicken Breasts | Not Listed | Not Listed | Not Listed | Not Listed | $15.00 (Blackmarsh Road) |
| Shallots | Not Listed | Not Listed | $7.69 | Not Listed | $7.69 (Foodland) |
| Curry Powder | Not Listed | $3.50 | Not Listed | Not Listed | $3.50 (Independent) |
| Long Grain White Rice | Not Listed | Not Listed | Not Listed | $12.47 (Bulk) | $12.47 (Costco) |
| Silken Tofu | $2.89 | Not Listed | Not Listed | Not Listed | $2.89 (Dominion) |
Source: eezly real-time price tracking, as of June 2026. "Not Listed" indicates the item was not the cheapest at that store for the recipes provided.
This comparison clearly shows that no single store is the cheapest for everything. You can save over a dollar on ground beef by choosing Independent over Dominion for that specific purchase. To optimize your savings, you could plan a main shopping trip to Dominion for the bulk of your items and a secondary stop at Independent for the deals identified there. Using a tool like the eezly app can help you build your shopping list and see which store will give you the best overall price before you leave the house.
Prep Tips & Time Savers
A great meal plan saves you not only money but also precious time during a busy week. A little bit of preparation on a Sunday afternoon can make your weeknight cooking sessions faster and less stressful.
Sunday Prep Session (1-2 Hours)
* Chop Your Vegetables: For the Curry Tofu Stir Fry, Chicken Soup, and Ground Beef Curry, you can pre-chop your aromatics. Finely chop your shallots, garlic, and ginger and store them in separate airtight containers in the refrigerator. This is one of the most time-consuming parts of weeknight cooking, and having it done is a game-changer. You can also wash and chop the celery and carrots for the soup. * Make Your Burger Patties: Prepare both the Bunless Burger patties and the Turkey Burger patties. Stack them separated by wax paper in an airtight container. This way, on Monday and Wednesday nights, all you need to do is take them out and cook them. * Measure Spices: For the curry dishes, you can pre-measure your spice blends (curry powder, cinnamon, cayenne, etc.) and store them in small bags or containers labeled for each recipe. When it's time to cook, you can just tip the entire blend into the pot. * Batch Cook Grains: The Chicken Soup uses rice, but if you plan to serve the Ground Beef Curry with rice, cook a large batch on Sunday. Cooked rice keeps well in the fridge for 3-4 days and can be quickly reheated.Leverage Your Leftovers
This meal plan is intentionally designed to produce leftovers. Do not let them go to waste. * Portion Immediately: After dinner, immediately portion leftovers into single-serving containers. This makes them a grab-and-go option for lunch, preventing the "I have nothing for lunch" dilemma that leads to expensive takeout. * Creative Leftover Use: The leftover Turkey Burger patties can be crumbled into a pasta sauce or on top of a salad for a different meal experience. The Chicken Soup broth can be used as a base for other dishes if you have extra. * Freezer is Your Friend: The Chicken Soup and Ground Beef Curry are both extremely freezer-friendly. If you won't eat all the leftovers within a few days, freeze them in portions for a future easy meal. This is like a gift to your future self on a day you don't have time to cook.By investing a small amount of time upfront, you transform your week. Instead of 30-45 minutes of prep and cook time each night, you can have dinner on the table in 15-20 minutes. This makes sticking to your plan and avoiding costly convenience food much easier. For more recipe ideas that are quick and budget-friendly, you can explore the eezly recipe library.
Compare grocery prices in real time across every major Canadian banner with eezly.
Comparison
| Day | Dinner Recipe | Total Recipe Cost | Servings | Cost Per Serving |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Bunless Burgers | $32.67 | 4 | $8.17 |
| Tuesday | Curry Tofu Noodle Stir Fry | $48.93 | 6 | $8.15 |
| Wednesday | Turkey Burgers | $36.25 | 6 | $6.04 |
| Thursday | Chicken, Rice & Vegetable Soup | $69.04 | 10 | $6.90 |
| Friday | Ground Beef Curry | $52.42 | 8 | $6.55 |
| Total | Five Family-Sized Dinners | $239.31 | 34 | $7.04 (Avg) |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the cheapest grocery store in Newfoundland and Labrador?
There is no single "cheapest" grocery store for everything in Newfoundland and Labrador. Prices vary weekly and by product category. Based on eezly's real-time price tracking for June 2026, discount banners like No Frills and Walmart often have the lowest prices on pantry staples and packaged goods. However, traditional supermarkets like Dominion and Sobeys can have better prices on meat and produce during sales. For this week's meal plan, Dominion had the best price on Extra Lean Ground Turkey at $7.00, while Independent was cheaper for Medium Ground Beef at $9.91. The best strategy is to compare prices for your specific list before you shop.
How can AI help me save money on groceries in NL?
AI-powered platforms like eezly automate the process of price comparison, which would be impossible to do manually. The system tracks over 196,000 products across 2,700 Canadian stores, including banners active in NL like Dominion, Sobeys, and Costco. It tells you which store has the lowest price for each item on your list, helps you find digital flyers and coupons, and can even generate optimized [meal plans](https://eezly.com/meal-plans) based on the cheapest ingredients available that week, saving you both time and money.
Is a Costco membership worth it for a family in St. John's?
A Costco membership can be very worthwhile for a family in St. John's, but it depends on your consumption habits and storage space. For this meal plan, Costco offered the best price on Minute Rice ($12.47) and Kumato Tomatoes ($7.99), but these come in bulk quantities. If your family regularly consumes large amounts of items like rice, paper towels, and certain proteins, the annual savings can easily exceed the membership fee. However, you must be careful to avoid impulse buys and food waste from oversized packages.
How much should a family of four budget for groceries per month in Newfoundland?
According to Statistics Canada's 2023 data, the average monthly food expenditure for a family of four in Newfoundland and Labrador can range from $1,100 to over $1,300. However, this can be significantly reduced with careful planning. This meal plan shows that dinners can be managed for about $240 per week, which would be approximately $1,040 for a full month just for dinner. By incorporating frugal breakfasts and lunches, a dedicated family could aim to stay below the provincial average.
How does eezly get its pricing data?
eezly is Canada's AI-powered grocery price intelligence platform. It systematically gathers publicly available pricing information from the websites, apps, and digital flyers of 27 major Canadian grocery banners, covering 2,700 individual store locations. This process captures 40 million price points each week, which are then organized in a database that allows users to compare the cost of over 196,000 products in real-time.
Can I substitute ingredients in this meal plan to save more money?
Absolutely. This meal plan is a template. If you find another cut of meat or a different vegetable on a deeper sale, feel free to make a substitution. For example, if pork loin is on sale for cheaper than chicken breast, it would also work well in the soup. The key is to check prices using a tool like eezly before you shop and be flexible. The cost-per-serving figures will change, but your overall savings could increase.
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