Ontario Cheap Dinner: Big Salad at $4.83/Serving

Key Facts

• Big Salad costs $57.93 total and $4.83 per serving at Fortinos. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• English cucumber is $0.99 at Food Basics 780 Talbot St. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• Spinach is $1.49 at Fortinos. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• Dried cranberries are $0.88 at Fortinos. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• Green onions are $7.99 at Costco. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 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

Big Salad is the lowest-cost featured Ontario dinner recipe in this comparison at $4.83 per serving, based on a $57.93 basket that serves 12. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. If you are looking for cheap dinner recipes under $5 per serving in Ontario, this is the strongest complete-recipe option in the current data because it spreads a large produce-heavy basket across 12 portions.

For your grocery plan, the biggest cost drivers are not the greens; they are the higher-priced add-ins. Organic cluster tomatoes at Foodland cost $13.21, green onions at Costco cost $7.99, and baby carrots at Food Basics cost $5.99. By contrast, several flavour and texture ingredients are under $2, including dried cranberries at $0.88 from Fortinos, English cucumber at $0.99 from Food Basics 780 Talbot St., spinach at $1.49 from Fortinos, and yellow hot peppers at $1.65 from Fortinos.

This matters because budget meals in Ontario often depend less on finding one dramatic discount and more on building a basket where inexpensive ingredients stretch the total recipe yield. A large salad can become a dinner when it includes crunchy vegetables, seeds, croutons and sweet or pickled elements. You can also use the same basket to create multiple cheaper recipes during the week, which is why the article below separates the full 12-serving Big Salad from two smaller salad-based dinner variations.

Recipe 1: Big Salad — $4.83 per serving

Big Salad costs $57.93 total and $4.83 per serving in Ontario, making it the cheapest complete featured dinner recipe in this guide. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. You get 12 servings from one large produce-forward basket, which makes this recipe useful for family dinners, work lunches, potlucks or two nights of leftovers.

This recipe works as a budget dinner because it combines low-cost fresh ingredients with a few higher-impact toppings. The $0.99 English cucumber from Food Basics 780 Talbot St., $1.49 spinach from Fortinos and $0.88 dried cranberries from Fortinos help offset the higher-priced organic cluster tomatoes at $13.21 from Foodland and green onions at $7.99 from Costco. If you are shopping for budget meals in Ontario, you should think of this recipe as a “volume” meal: the total bill is not the lowest basket in the article, but the 12-serving yield brings the per-serving cost below $5.

Ingredients with Prices

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

The full basket adds up to $57.93, which matches the recipe total in eezly’s Ontario pricing data. For your own shopping list, you should pay close attention to the tomato and green onion line items because together they account for $21.20 of the basket. The lowest individual prices in the recipe are dried cranberries at $0.88, English cucumber at $0.99, spinach at $1.49 and yellow hot peppers at $1.65.

Where to Buy Cheapest

Food Basics and Fortinos carry most of the lowest-priced ingredients in this recipe, while Costco and Foodland appear for specific items. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. You would buy the English cucumber and iceberg lettuce at Food Basics 780 Talbot St. for $0.99 and $2.99 respectively, while Fortinos is the source for dried cranberries at $0.88, spinach at $1.49, yellow hot peppers at $1.65, radicchio at $2.51 and whole sweet red peppers at $3.79.

Your most practical shopping strategy is to split the basket only when the difference is meaningful for your meal plan. If you are already near Food Basics 780 Talbot St., the $0.99 cucumber, $2.99 lettuce, $3.99 sunflower seeds and $2.99 croutons make it a strong stop for the base of the salad. If you are already shopping Fortinos, the store covers several lower-priced add-ins, including dried cranberries, spinach, yellow hot peppers and radicchio.

You should be more selective with the highest-priced ingredients. Green onions at Costco cost $7.99, which may make sense if you will use the remainder in stir-fries, omelettes or soups. Organic cluster tomatoes at Foodland cost $13.21, so you should treat them as a premium item within this budget dinner rather than a minor garnish.

Recipe 2: Spinach Cucumber Tomato Crunch Salad — $5.33 per serving

Spinach Cucumber Tomato Crunch Salad costs $26.66 total and $5.33 per serving when priced as a five-serving Ontario dinner basket. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. This version uses six of the listed ingredients: spinach, English cucumber, organic cluster tomatoes, celery, sunflower seeds and pickled onions.

The purpose of this recipe is to show how you can turn the same Ontario price data into a smaller dinner without buying every ingredient in the full Big Salad. Your total basket is lower at $26.66, but the per-serving cost is slightly higher because the recipe is priced over five dinner servings rather than 12 side-style servings. Food Basics 780 Talbot St. provides the English cucumber at $0.99 and sunflower seeds at $3.99, Fortinos provides spinach at $1.49, Food Basics provides celery at $2.99 and pickled onions at $3.99, and Foodland provides organic cluster tomatoes at $13.21.

Ingredients with Prices

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

The price story in this recipe is simple: tomatoes dominate the cost. Foodland’s organic cluster tomatoes at $13.21 represent nearly half of the $26.66 basket. If you want the most filling version, you should use the sunflower seeds generously because they add texture and make the salad feel more like dinner.

Where to Buy Cheapest

Food Basics and Food Basics 780 Talbot St. provide four of the six priced ingredients for this recipe, making Food Basics the most important banner for this smaller basket. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. You would buy celery and pickled onions at Food Basics, then buy English cucumber and sunflower seeds at Food Basics 780 Talbot St.

Fortinos contributes the lowest spinach price in the data at $1.49, which is one of the best value points in the whole article. Foodland is the store for the $13.21 organic cluster tomatoes, so your decision on this recipe depends largely on whether those tomatoes are central to the meal you want. If you are planning a vegetarian dinner with fewer cooked ingredients, the tomato cost may be justified because it provides much of the body and freshness.

Recipe 3: Iceberg Radish Pepper Salad — $5.22 per serving

Iceberg Radish Pepper Salad costs $26.10 total and $5.22 per serving when priced as a five-serving Ontario dinner basket. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. This recipe uses iceberg lettuce, English cucumber, radishes, whole sweet red peppers, sunflower seeds, dried cranberries, croutons and green onions.

This is the crunchiest of the three budget meals, and it avoids the $13.21 tomato line item that drives up Recipe 2. Your basket is still above $25 because green onions from Costco cost $7.99 and sunflower seeds from Food Basics 780 Talbot St. cost $3.99. However, several of the remaining ingredients are low-cost: dried cranberries are $0.88 at Fortinos, English cucumber is $0.99 at Food Basics 780 Talbot St., radishes are $2.48 at Food Basics and iceberg lettuce is $2.99 at Food Basics 780 Talbot St.

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

This recipe is a useful option if you want a dinner that feels larger than its ingredient count. Iceberg lettuce, cucumber, radishes and peppers create volume, while sunflower seeds and croutons make the bowl more substantial. You should use the green onions across multiple meals because the $7.99 Costco price is the largest single cost in this specific recipe.

Price Comparison Table: All Recipes Side by Side

Big Salad is the best per-serving value at $4.83, while the two smaller dinner salads cost $5.33 and $5.22 per serving. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. If your main goal is to keep dinner under $5 per serving, the 12-serving Big Salad is the strongest choice in the current Ontario data.

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

The comparison shows why serving count matters as much as basket cost. Recipe 2 has the lowest total bill at $26.66, but it costs $5.33 per serving because it is portioned as a five-serving dinner. Big Salad has the highest total basket at $57.93, but it becomes the cheapest recipe because the cost is divided across 12 servings.

For your household, the right choice depends on how you use leftovers. If you want one large prep session that covers multiple lunches and dinners, Big Salad is the most efficient option. If you want a smaller basket and can tolerate a per-serving cost slightly above $5, the Iceberg Radish Pepper Salad is the lower-cost of the two five-serving recipes at $5.22 per serving.

Ontario Salad Basket Index: 8 Staple Prices

The strongest low-price ingredients in this Ontario salad basket are dried cranberries at $0.88, English cucumber at $0.99 and spinach at $1.49. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. These items are useful because they add sweetness, volume and greens without pushing your dinner cost sharply higher.

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

This basket index is especially helpful if you are not making the full recipe. You can use it to build your own cheapest recipes around the lowest-priced ingredients first, then add one or two higher-cost toppings only if they change the meal enough to justify the spend. For example, your base could be cucumber, spinach, radishes and iceberg lettuce, with dried cranberries added for sweetness.

Fortinos appears repeatedly among the lower-priced add-ins, while Food Basics 780 Talbot St. is important for the cucumber and lettuce base. You should compare your actual route before splitting the shop, because the lowest item price is only useful if the extra stop makes sense for your time and transportation. Still, if you already shop near these stores, the item-level differences help you assemble a more deliberate budget dinner.

Top Priced Ingredients for Budget Dinner Planning

The best low-price entries in the Ontario recipe data are dried cranberries at $0.88 from Fortinos, English cucumber at $0.99 from Food Basics 780 Talbot St. and spinach at $1.49 from Fortinos. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. These are not advertised flyer savings in the provided data; they are the lowest current ingredient prices available for this recipe costing.

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

You should treat these as the practical “best buys” in the recipe set because each one contributes a noticeable role for less than $3. Dried cranberries are the lowest absolute price at $0.88, but cucumber and spinach may be more useful for dinner because they provide more volume. Radishes, radicchio, iceberg lettuce and celery sit in the $2.48 to $2.99 range, which makes them strong add-ons when you want a bigger plate without relying on expensive packaged mains.

The table also shows where your basket starts to become more expensive. Ingredients such as green onions at $7.99 from Costco and organic cluster tomatoes at $13.21 from Foodland are not poor choices, but you should buy them when they are central to your meal plan. If they will only be used once, your per-serving cost can rise quickly.

How to Shop These Budget Meals in Ontario

Your cheapest path is to build the meal around the lowest-cost base ingredients first, then decide whether the premium toppings are worth adding. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. In this data, that means starting with English cucumber at $0.99 from Food Basics 780 Talbot St., spinach at $1.49 from Fortinos, iceberg lettuce at $2.99 from Food Basics 780 Talbot St., and celery at $2.99 from Food Basics.

You can then choose one crunch topping and one flavour topping rather than buying every possible add-in. Sunflower seeds cost $3.99 at Food Basics 780 Talbot St., croutons cost $2.99 at Food Basics, and dried cranberries cost $0.88 at Fortinos. If you buy all three, the salad becomes more textured and filling; if you are trying to keep the smallest possible basket, dried cranberries and croutons are the lower-cost pair.

For Ontario households, the key lesson is that cheapest recipes are usually built ingredient by ingredient. You do not need every item from the full Big Salad to make a satisfying dinner. You can use the full $57.93 basket when you want 12 servings, or you can assemble a smaller $26.10 to $26.66 dinner salad when you want fewer leftovers.