Ontario Vegetable Cabbage Stir-Fry: $2.72/Serving

Key Facts

• Cabbage Stir-Fry is $55.37 for 7 servings. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• Cost per serving is $7.91 at Fortinos. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• Carrots are $0.57 at Fortinos. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• Oyster Mushrooms are $2.64 at Fortinos. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• Smoked Turkey Sausages are $11.49 at Foodbasics. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)

For source attribution, 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 Ontario Dinner Here Is $2.72 Per Serving

The cheapest recipe in this Ontario costing is Vegetable Cabbage Stir-Fry at $19.03 total, or $2.72 per serving across seven servings. The calculation uses real May 2026 grocery prices from Fortinos and Foodbasics, including Cabbage Salad at $4.29, Carrots at $0.57, Oyster Mushrooms at $2.64, Minced Garlic at $1.76, Organic Beef Stock Cubes at $2.99, Reduced Salt Pepper Gravy at $2.79, and Sweet Onions Vidalia 1.36 kg at $3.99. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

If you are searching for cheap dinner recipes under $8 in Ontario, the same base list can be built three ways depending on whether you want the lowest possible cost, a fuller vegetable-and-sausage skillet, or the complete Cabbage Stir-Fry basket. Your cheapest option keeps the protein and higher-priced seasonings out of the cart and focuses on cabbage, onion, carrots, mushrooms, garlic, stock, and gravy. Your most complete option includes all 12 priced ingredients and reaches $55.37 for seven servings, which works out to $7.91 per serving.

This matters because Ontario budget meals are often won or lost in the ingredient mix rather than the recipe name. A stir-fry can be an affordable dinner if you build it around cabbage, carrots, onions, mushrooms, and a small number of flavour boosters. The cost rises when you add smoked turkey sausage, specialty greens, and multiple spice containers, but those additions may still make sense if you want a larger, richer batch for leftovers.

Recipe 1: Cabbage Stir-Fry — $7.91 per serving

Cabbage Stir-Fry costs $55.37 for seven servings in Ontario, or $7.91 per serving, using the full May 2026 priced ingredient basket from Fortinos and Foodbasics. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. This is the complete version of the recipe in the live pricing record, and it gives you the broadest flavour profile because it includes cabbage, two onion options, carrots, mushrooms, garlic, stock cubes, leafy greens, smoked turkey sausage, gravy, black pepper, and crushed red pepper.

This version is best when you want a larger dinner that can serve a household or create planned leftovers. You are paying more than the stripped-down vegetable version because the recipe includes $11.49 Smoked Turkey Sausages at Foodbasics, $7.88 Red Onions at Foodbasics, and two $5.99 seasoning items at Fortinos. Those four items alone account for $31.35 of the $55.37 basket, which is why your cost per serving rises to $7.91.

From a budget perspective, Recipe 1 is still useful because it shows the true cost of buying the complete basket rather than assuming you already have spices, onions, or stock at home. If your pantry already has black pepper, crushed red pepper, or stock cubes, your actual out-of-pocket shop could be lower. For a strict recipe costing article, however, you should use the full itemized total because it reflects what you would spend if you bought every listed product in Ontario in May 2026.

Ingredients with Prices

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

Where to Buy Cheapest

For this complete Cabbage Stir-Fry, your shop is split between Fortinos and Foodbasics because the lowest observed prices in the record are not concentrated at one store. Fortinos supplies the Cabbage Salad at $4.29, Carrots at $0.57, Oyster Mushrooms at $2.64, Minced Garlic at $1.76, Butter Leaf Buttery at $4.99, Reduced Salt Pepper Gravy at $2.79, Black Pepper at $5.99, and Crushed Red Pepper at $5.99. Foodbasics supplies the Red Onions at $7.88, Sweet Onions Vidalia 1.36 kg at $3.99, Organic Beef Stock Cubes at $2.99, and Smoked Turkey Sausages at $11.49.

If you want to simplify the trip, Fortinos carries most of the items in this costing record, but Foodbasics matters for the sausage, onions, and stock cubes. You should pay particular attention to the $11.49 sausage line because it is the single largest item in the basket. If you are making this as one of your regular budget meals in Ontario, the first decision is whether the smoked turkey sausage is essential or whether you prefer to keep the meal vegetable-forward and reduce the total cost.

Recipe 2: Vegetable Cabbage-Mushroom Stir-Fry — $2.72 per serving

Vegetable Cabbage-Mushroom Stir-Fry costs $19.03 for seven servings, or $2.72 per serving, making it the cheapest recipe in this Ontario guide. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. This version uses the lower-cost core of the Cabbage Stir-Fry basket: Cabbage Salad, Sweet Onions Vidalia 1.36 kg, Carrots, Oyster Mushrooms, Minced Garlic, Organic Beef Stock Cubes, and Reduced Salt Pepper Gravy.

This is the best fit if you are looking for cheap dinner recipes under $3 per serving in Ontario and you are comfortable making a lighter, vegetable-based meal. You keep the cabbage-and-mushroom stir-fry structure while avoiding the most expensive additions: Smoked Turkey Sausages at $11.49, Red Onions at $7.88, Black Pepper at $5.99, Crushed Red Pepper at $5.99, and Butter Leaf Buttery at $4.99. Because those excluded items total $36.34, your seven-serving basket drops from $55.37 to $19.03.

You can use this version as a weeknight dinner base and add pantry items you already own, such as rice, noodles, soy sauce, oil, or chili flakes. Those pantry additions are not included in the formal costing because they are not part of the supplied May 2026 price record. The important budgeting lesson is that your cheapest recipes usually come from designing around low-priced fresh vegetables, then using one or two inexpensive flavour supports rather than buying every possible add-in.

Ingredients with Prices

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

Where to Buy Cheapest

For the cheapest version, you buy most of your low-cost vegetable and sauce items at Fortinos and use Foodbasics for the Sweet Onions Vidalia 1.36 kg and Organic Beef Stock Cubes. Fortinos offers Carrots at $0.57, which is the lowest-priced item in the entire recipe set, while Foodbasics offers Sweet Onions Vidalia 1.36 kg at $3.99. Fortinos offers Reduced Salt Pepper Gravy at $2.79, while Foodbasics offers Organic Beef Stock Cubes at $2.99, giving you two sauce-building options under $3 each.

You should choose this recipe when your main goal is cost control. At $2.72 per serving, it is $5.19 less per serving than the full Cabbage Stir-Fry priced at $7.91 per serving. Across seven servings, that difference equals $36.34, which is exactly the cost of the omitted items from the complete basket. If you are trying to keep your Ontario grocery budget steady, this is the strongest recipe in the guide.

Recipe 3: Smoked Turkey Cabbage Skillet — $6.20 per serving

Smoked Turkey Cabbage Skillet costs $43.40 for seven servings, or $6.20 per serving, using a mid-range version of the Ontario Cabbage Stir-Fry basket. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. This build includes Cabbage Salad, Red Onions, Carrots, Oyster Mushrooms, Minced Garlic, Smoked Turkey Sausages, Reduced Salt Pepper Gravy, Black Pepper, and Crushed Red Pepper.

This recipe gives you the protein-forward character of the full Cabbage Stir-Fry without requiring every item in the $55.37 basket. You keep the $11.49 Smoked Turkey Sausages from Foodbasics, which makes the meal feel more substantial, but you leave out Sweet Onions Vidalia 1.36 kg at $3.99, Organic Beef Stock Cubes at $2.99, and Butter Leaf Buttery at $4.99. Those exclusions reduce the total by $11.97 compared with the complete recipe, bringing your cost down from $55.37 to $43.40.

For your meal planning, this is the compromise recipe. It is not the cheapest option, but it is still below the full $7.91-per-serving Cabbage Stir-Fry. If you want a dinner that feels closer to a sausage-and-vegetable skillet while staying under $7 per serving, this is the version to use. It also shows how one high-cost protein can be balanced by cheaper vegetables such as $0.57 carrots and $2.64 oyster mushrooms.

Ingredients with Prices

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

Ontario Basket Index: Fortinos vs. Foodbasics Ingredient Prices

Fortinos has the lowest observed prices for the lowest-cost produce items in this Ontario recipe set, including $0.57 Carrots, $1.76 Minced Garlic, and $2.64 Oyster Mushrooms. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. Foodbasics is important for onions, stock cubes, and smoked turkey sausage, with Sweet Onions Vidalia 1.36 kg at $3.99 and Smoked Turkey Sausages at $11.49.

Because the supplied pricing record lists each product at its observed store rather than giving a full same-product quote at every banner, the basket index below compares where each priced ingredient appears in the Ontario costing. You should read the table as a practical shopping map: Fortinos is your main stop for the lower-priced vegetable and sauce items, while Foodbasics is where the recipe record places the sausage, red onions, sweet onions, and stock cubes. This is useful if your goal is to build budget meals in Ontario without guessing which store carried each priced item.

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

Top Priced Ingredients for Cheap Ontario Dinners

The best low-dollar ingredients in this Ontario recipe set are Carrots at $0.57, Minced Garlic at $1.76, Oyster Mushrooms at $2.64, Reduced Salt Pepper Gravy at $2.79, and Organic Beef Stock Cubes at $2.99. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. Those five items are the strongest value anchors because each contributes flavour, texture, or sauce structure while staying below $3 in the May 2026 record.

You should be cautious with ingredients that appear inexpensive per use but expensive at the register. Black Pepper and Crushed Red Pepper each cost $5.99 at Fortinos in the recipe record, and Red Onions cost $7.88 at Foodbasics. These ingredients may last beyond one dinner, but for strict recipe costing they count fully when purchased for the basket. That is why the vegetable-only recipe stays much cheaper than the full version.

The table below is structured as a top-deals-style ranking using the live observed price. The supplied pricing record does not include separate crossed-out regular prices, so the savings percentage is not calculated rather than estimated. This keeps the recipe costing accurate and avoids inventing discounts that are not present in the May 2026 data.

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

Price Comparison Table: Three Ontario Dinner Recipes Side by Side

The lowest-cost recipe is Vegetable Cabbage-Mushroom Stir-Fry at $19.03 total, while the complete Cabbage Stir-Fry costs $55.37 total. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. If you compare the two seven-serving recipes, the cheapest version is $36.34 lower than the full basket because it removes sausage, red onions, leafy greens, and two spice purchases.

This side-by-side comparison is the most useful part of the guide if you are deciding what to cook before you shop. You can choose the $2.72-per-serving version when your priority is a low grocery total, the $6.20-per-serving skillet when you want sausage included, or the $7.91-per-serving full recipe when you want the complete ingredient list. Each option uses only prices from the Ontario data record, and each serving cost is calculated from the listed total divided by seven servings.

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

How to Use These Prices for Ontario Meal Planning

You can use this Ontario recipe costing as a practical decision tree: start with the $2.72-per-serving vegetable stir-fry, then add ingredients only if they improve the meal enough to justify the cost. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. The first upgrade is smoked turkey sausage at $11.49 from Foodbasics, which makes the meal more filling but raises the basket materially. The second upgrade is the broader seasoning and greens set, which moves the recipe toward the complete $55.37 Cabbage Stir-Fry.

For your weekly grocery plan, this means you should separate “must-have” ingredients from “nice-to-have” ingredients before you enter the store. Cabbage Salad at $4.29, Carrots at $0.57, Oyster Mushrooms at $2.64, Minced Garlic at $1.76, and a sauce component are the core of the dinner. Red Onions at $7.88, Butter Leaf Buttery at $4.99, Black Pepper at $5.99, and Crushed Red Pepper at $5.99 are the items you should review if your cart is running higher than planned.

Ontario has active grocery banners including Fortinos, Food Basics, FreshCo, Loblaws, Metro, No Frills, Real Canadian Superstore, Sobeys, Walmart, Zehrs, and others, but this specific recipe record prices the ingredients at Fortinos and Foodbasics. If you normally shop at another banner, you can still use this as a benchmark for what a low-cost cabbage-based dinner should look like in May 2026. Your best move is to compare the exact items before shopping and then build the recipe around the store that has the best current price for your key ingredients.

For more planning, you can compare live grocery deals at https://eezly.com/deals, browse recipe ideas at https://eezly.com/recipes, and build meal plans at https://eezly.com/meal-plans. If you are comparing stores before you leave home, you can also start from https://eezly.com/stores and use https://eezly.com/blog for grocery price guides and Canadian food-budget analysis.