Ontario Cheap Dinner: Honey Chicken at $7.29/Serving

Key Facts

• Honey Chicken costs $29.18 total for 4 servings (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• Honey Chicken costs $7.29 per serving in Ontario (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• Boneless skinless chicken breast fillets are $12.41 at Foodbasics (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• Honey is $5.99 at Foodbasics in Ontario (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• Lemon juice is $1.79 at Foodland in Ontario (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)

Introduction: The Cheapest Featured Ontario Dinner Is Honey Chicken at $7.29 Per Serving

Honey Chicken is the cheapest fully priced dinner recipe in this Ontario dataset at $7.29 per serving, with a total basket cost of $29.18 for four servings. The recipe is built around boneless skinless chicken breast fillets at $12.41 from Foodbasics, honey at $5.99 from Foodbasics, reduced sodium gluten-free tamari soy sauce at $8.99 from Foodbasics, and lemon juice at $1.79 from Foodland. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

If you are looking for cheap dinner recipes under $8 per serving in Ontario, this Honey Chicken basket is a practical benchmark because it uses a short ingredient list and relies on products priced at common Ontario grocery banners. You can make the full recipe as written for $7.29 per serving, or you can adapt the same ingredient basket into simpler versions that come in lower on a per-serving basis. The lowest-cost adaptation in this guide is Lemon-Honey Chicken, which uses chicken, honey, and lemon juice for a calculated $20.19 total, or about $5.05 per serving.

The most important shopping decision is where you buy each ingredient. Foodbasics carries the higher-cost core items in this basket, including the $12.41 chicken, $8.99 tamari, and $5.99 honey, while Foodland has the lemon juice at $1.79. If you already shop at Food Basics, FreshCo, No Frills, Walmart, Metro, Loblaws, Fortinos, Zehrs, Foodland, or Real Canadian Superstore in Ontario, you should still compare the exact basket before checkout because small differences on chicken, sauces, and sweeteners can change the true cost of a weeknight dinner.

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.

Recipe 1: Honey Chicken — $7.29 Per Serving

Honey Chicken costs $29.18 total for four servings in Ontario, or $7.29 per serving, using Foodbasics and Foodland ingredient prices from May 2026. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. This is the complete recipe basket in the data, and it is the best starting point if you want a balanced sweet-savoury chicken dinner with a short shopping list.

The cost profile is driven mainly by the chicken and the tamari. Boneless skinless chicken breast fillets account for $12.41 of the total, while reduced sodium gluten-free tamari soy sauce adds $8.99. Honey contributes $5.99, and lemon juice is the lowest-priced item at $1.79. If you are planning budget meals in Ontario, this means your biggest opportunity is not trimming pennies from lemon juice; it is making sure your chicken and sauce purchases are aligned with your meal plan.

Because this recipe serves four, it works well as a family dinner or as a two-person dinner with leftovers for lunch. You can serve it with pantry staples you already have, such as rice, noodles, or frozen vegetables, but those items are not included in the $29.18 figure because no prices were supplied for them in the May 2026 ingredient data. The cleanest way to read the price is that your priced protein-and-sauce basket comes to $7.29 per serving before any optional side dishes.

Ingredients with Prices

The complete Honey Chicken basket includes four priced ingredients. The total is an exact sum of the provided item prices: $12.41 for chicken, $8.99 for tamari, $5.99 for honey, and $1.79 for lemon juice, which equals $29.18. Divided across four servings, the recipe cost is listed at $7.29 per serving in the source data.

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

The ingredient list is short, which helps you control spending. You are not building a dinner around ten or twelve separate grocery items, each with its own opportunity to push the bill higher. Instead, you are buying one protein and three flavour-building ingredients. That makes Honey Chicken a useful template for cheap dinner recipes under $8 per serving in Ontario.

Where to Buy Cheapest

Foodbasics is the cheapest listed source for the main Honey Chicken basket items in this dataset, with chicken at $12.41, tamari at $8.99, and honey at $5.99. Foodland is the listed source for lemon juice at $1.79. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. For this specific basket, you would buy most of the recipe at Foodbasics and the lemon juice at Foodland if you are strictly following the lowest listed item sources.

In practice, your best choice depends on how you shop. If you have both Foodbasics and Foodland nearby, splitting the basket gives you the item-level cheapest sourcing reflected in the data. If making an extra stop adds fuel, transit, delivery, or time costs, you may prefer to buy the full basket where the main items are concentrated. For this recipe, the Foodbasics share of the basket is $27.39 before lemon juice, so Foodbasics is the anchor store for your Ontario Honey Chicken dinner.

You should also consider whether you will use the tamari and honey across multiple meals. The $8.99 tamari and $5.99 honey raise the first-basket cost, but they are ingredients that often carry into future recipes. If your pantry already has one of those items, your immediate out-of-pocket cost for this dinner could be lower than the full $29.18 basket, although the standardized recipe costing remains $7.29 per serving.

Recipe 2: Lemon-Honey Chicken — $5.05 Per Serving

Lemon-Honey Chicken costs a calculated $20.19 total for four servings, or about $5.05 per serving, using the priced chicken, honey, and lemon juice from the Ontario May 2026 data. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. This variation removes the $8.99 tamari from the complete Honey Chicken basket, which lowers the priced ingredient total while preserving the sweet-acid flavour profile.

This is the most budget-focused version in the article because it keeps the protein and the two lower-cost flavour ingredients. You still buy boneless skinless chicken breast fillets at $12.41 from Foodbasics, honey at $5.99 from Foodbasics, and lemon juice at $1.79 from Foodland. The exact ingredient sum is $12.41 plus $5.99 plus $1.79, which equals $20.19. Spread over four servings, that gives you a dinner costing approximately $5.05 per serving.

You should choose this version when you want a cheap dinner recipe under $6 per serving and do not need the savoury depth of tamari. It is especially useful if you are cooking for children or anyone who prefers a milder sauce. It also reduces your upfront basket cost by avoiding the highest-priced sauce item in the original recipe. If your goal is to keep the dinner simple, the Lemon-Honey Chicken version is the most efficient use of the priced ingredients.

Ingredients with Prices

The Lemon-Honey Chicken variation uses three priced items. It keeps the $12.41 chicken as the base, adds $5.99 honey for sweetness, and uses $1.79 lemon juice for acidity. The variation does not include tamari, so the total falls from $29.18 to $20.19.

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

This recipe is a good example of how you can turn one priced basket into multiple budget meals. You are not inventing a new shopping list; you are simplifying the original Honey Chicken formula. That is useful when you want to keep your Ontario grocery bill predictable and avoid buying a specialty sauce for a single dinner. If you already have a savoury pantry item at home, you may also be able to season the dish without adding another paid ingredient to the basket.

Where to Buy Cheapest

Foodbasics is the listed source for the two largest Lemon-Honey Chicken ingredients, with chicken at $12.41 and honey at $5.99. Foodland is the listed source for lemon juice at $1.79. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. If you are shopping only for this version, Foodbasics remains the primary stop because it accounts for $18.40 of the $20.19 basket.

For many Ontario households, that matters more than the nominal count of items. The chicken and honey determine most of your cost, so you should prioritize the store where those two items are priced. The lemon juice is inexpensive at $1.79, and it is the only item in this variation listed at Foodland. If you are already visiting Foodland, you can add it to your basket; if not, you should weigh the value of a separate trip against your actual travel cost.

This version also gives you a useful benchmark for budget meals Ontario shoppers can compare against other dinners. At about $5.05 per serving, it sits below the full Honey Chicken recipe while still using chicken breast rather than a lower-cost protein substitute. That makes it a practical option when you want a recognizable main dish without pushing the per-serving cost above $6.

Recipe 3: Tamari-Lemon Chicken — $5.80 Per Serving

Tamari-Lemon Chicken costs a calculated $23.19 total for four servings, or about $5.80 per serving, using chicken, tamari, and lemon juice from the Ontario May 2026 price data. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. This variation removes honey from the full Honey Chicken basket, lowering the total by $5.99 while keeping the savoury tamari and bright lemon flavour.

This is the better choice if you want a less sweet dinner and still want the gluten-free reduced sodium tamari listed in the source data. The basket uses boneless skinless chicken breast fillets at $12.41 from Foodbasics, reduced sodium gluten-free tamari soy sauce at $8.99 from Foodbasics, and lemon juice at $1.79 from Foodland. The ingredient sum is $12.41 plus $8.99 plus $1.79, which equals $23.19. Divided by four servings, the estimated serving cost is $5.80.

You should consider this version when you want cheap dinner recipes under $6 per serving but prefer a sharper, more savoury profile than Lemon-Honey Chicken. It costs $3.00 more than the Lemon-Honey variation because tamari is $8.99 while honey is $5.99. That difference is straightforward: Foodbasics offers tamari at $8.99, while Foodbasics offers honey at $5.99 — a $3.00 difference between the two flavour bases, based on eezly data for May 2026.

Ingredients with Prices

The Tamari-Lemon Chicken variation uses three priced items and keeps the higher-cost sauce from the original Honey Chicken recipe. The chicken remains the largest single cost at $12.41, followed by tamari at $8.99. Lemon juice remains the lowest-cost item at $1.79.

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

This variation is a strong middle ground. It is cheaper than the full $29.18 Honey Chicken basket but more expensive than the $20.19 Lemon-Honey version. You are paying for the tamari’s savoury flavour, and you are dropping honey to keep the cost below $6 per serving. If your household prefers salty, tangy chicken rather than sweet chicken, this version gives you a lower-cost path than buying the full set of flavour ingredients.

Where to Buy Cheapest

Foodbasics is the listed source for the two main Tamari-Lemon Chicken ingredients, with chicken at $12.41 and tamari at $8.99. Foodland is the listed source for lemon juice at $1.79. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. That makes Foodbasics the anchor store again, because $21.40 of the $23.19 basket is priced there.

If you are comparing Ontario grocery banners such as Food Basics, FreshCo, No Frills, Walmart, Metro, Loblaws, Zehrs, Fortinos, Real Canadian Superstore, and Foodland, your main question should be whether the chicken and sauce prices beat this Foodbasics benchmark. For this specific data set, Foodbasics carries the chicken and tamari prices used in the recipe costing. You can use those prices as your reference point when deciding whether another store’s chicken promotion is actually strong enough to change your plan.

The tamari price also affects future meals. If you use only part of the bottle for this recipe, the upfront $8.99 cost may support additional dinners later in the week. For standardized recipe costing, however, the full priced item is included because that is what you would pay at checkout when building the basket from scratch.

Ontario Basket Index: Ingredient Prices for the Chicken Dinner Basket

The Ontario chicken dinner basket is anchored by Foodbasics, where the chicken is $12.41, tamari is $8.99, and honey is $5.99; Foodland supplies the lemon juice at $1.79. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. This basket index shows the exact priced components you can use to build the three dinner options in this guide.

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

The basket index helps you see why one recipe is cheaper than another. Lemon-Honey Chicken is the lowest-cost option because it excludes the $8.99 tamari. Tamari-Lemon Chicken is the middle option because it excludes the $5.99 honey. Full Honey Chicken costs the most because it includes all four priced ingredients.

You can use this same method for other budget meals Ontario households cook regularly. Start with the protein, identify the flavour ingredients, and then decide whether every sauce or condiment is necessary for that particular dinner. When you cut a single $5.99 or $8.99 item from a small recipe basket, the per-serving cost can move meaningfully, especially when the recipe serves four.

Best-Priced Ingredients and Recipe Deals in This Ontario Basket

The best-priced item in this Ontario dinner basket is lemon juice at $1.79 at Foodland, while the lowest-cost full dinner variation is Lemon-Honey Chicken at $20.19 total and about $5.05 per serving. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. The table below ranks the available ingredient and recipe opportunities by their current priced role in the meal plan.

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

This table does not assign a savings percentage where no regular price is available in the source data. That is intentional: a percentage discount is only meaningful when both the current price and regular price are known. What you can use confidently is the current price ranking. Lemon juice is the lowest-priced item, honey is the lower-cost flavour base compared with tamari, and the chicken is the essential protein cost that determines the foundation of the dinner.

For your own planning, the practical takeaway is simple. If you want the cheapest recipe, make Lemon-Honey Chicken for about $5.05 per serving. If you want a savoury version and are comfortable paying more for tamari, make Tamari-Lemon Chicken for about $5.80 per serving. If you want the full sweet-savoury recipe, make Honey Chicken for $7.29 per serving.

Price Comparison Table: All Recipes Side by Side

Lemon-Honey Chicken is the cheapest recipe in this guide at about $5.05 per serving, followed by Tamari-Lemon Chicken at about $5.80 per serving and full Honey Chicken at $7.29 per serving. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. The comparison matters because each recipe serves four and uses the same core Ontario price data.

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

The side-by-side view shows how much the sauce choices matter. The full Honey Chicken recipe includes both honey and tamari, which makes it the highest-cost option. Lemon-Honey Chicken uses honey but skips tamari, producing the lowest basket total. Tamari-Lemon Chicken uses tamari but skips honey, creating a middle-cost option with a more savoury flavour.

If you are searching for cheapest recipes in Ontario, you should treat the per-serving number as your main comparison point. A $29.18 basket may look high at checkout, but spread across four servings it becomes $7.29 per serving. A $20.19 basket is easier to absorb and lands near $5.05 per serving. Your best choice depends on whether you value the complete flavour profile or the lower basket cost more.

For more Ontario grocery comparisons and meal ideas, you can review current grocery deals at https://eezly.com/deals, browse recipe ideas at https://eezly.com/recipes, compare planning options at https://eezly.com/meal-plans, and read more grocery price coverage at https://eezly.com/blog.