Ontario Cheap Dinners Under $4: Asian Burgers $3.89

Key Facts

• Asian Burgers cost $19.46 for 5 servings. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• Cost per serving is $3.89 in Ontario. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• Lean Ground Beef is $7.00 at Foodbasics. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• Hoisin Sauce is $3.49 at Foodbasics. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• Crushed Red Pepper is $2.99 at Fortinos. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)

Introduction

According to eezly's real-time tracking of 196,000 products across 2,700 Canadian grocery stores, Asian Burgers cost $3.89 per serving in Ontario, with a total ingredient cost of $19.46 at Foodbasics and Fortinos as of June 2026. If you are looking for cheap dinner recipes under $4 per serving, this is the strongest costed option in the current Ontario data set because it uses a short ingredient list, relies on lean ground beef as the main protein, and keeps flavour-building ingredients to low-cost condiments and seasonings.

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. In Ontario, the active banner landscape includes Foodbasics, Fortinos, FreshCo, Loblaws, Metro, No Frills, Real Canadian Superstore, Walmart, Sobeys, Zehrs, Foodland, Valu-Mart, Wholesale Club, Costco, and Your Independent Grocer, which means your grocery planning can change meaningfully depending on where each ingredient is cheapest.

This recipe costing is built around one practical question: what can you make for dinner in Ontario when you want a filling beef-based meal without crossing the $4-per-serving line. The answer, based on the available June 2026 ingredient data, is Asian Burgers at $3.89 per serving. You can also use the same priced basket in two other dinner formats, which helps you stretch one grocery plan across different meals without changing the underlying cost.

Recipe 1: Asian Burgers — $3.89 per serving

Asian Burgers cost $19.46 for five servings in Ontario, or $3.89 per serving, using Foodbasics for four priced ingredients and Fortinos for crushed red pepper. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. This is the cheapest featured recipe because every item in the basket has a defined price, the total is below $20, and the serving count is high enough to keep the per-person cost under $4.

The core cost driver is lean ground beef at $7.00 from Foodbasics. For a five-serving dinner, that protein price is what makes the recipe more substantial than a snack-style meal while still keeping the overall basket manageable. Your flavour comes from hoisin sauce, Chinese five spice seasoning, crushed red pepper, and pickled onions, which means you are not relying on a long list of fresh herbs, specialty produce, or multiple sauces.

From a budget meals Ontario perspective, this recipe works because it concentrates spending where it matters most: the protein. The supporting ingredients are relatively low-cost but high-impact, especially Chinese five spice seasoning at $1.99 and hoisin sauce at $3.49. If you are planning cheap dinner recipes under $4, that combination of one main protein plus a few strong flavour ingredients is often more cost-effective than buying many small add-ons.

Ingredients with Prices

The Asian Burgers ingredient basket totals exactly $19.46: pickled onions at $3.99, Chinese five spice seasoning at $1.99, crushed red pepper at $2.99, lean ground beef at $7.00, and hoisin sauce at $3.49. Divided across five servings, the arithmetic comes to $3.89 per serving after rounding from $3.892.

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

This table also gives you the clearest grocery route. You buy most of the basket at Foodbasics, where pickled onions, Chinese five spice seasoning, lean ground beef, and hoisin sauce are the cheapest listed prices in the data. You use Fortinos specifically for crushed red pepper at $2.99. If you already have crushed red pepper at home, your out-of-pocket checkout would be lower, but the full recipe costing properly includes it because it is part of the priced ingredient list.

Where to Buy Cheapest

Foodbasics is the primary store for this recipe because it carries four of the five priced ingredients in the lowest listed basket: pickled onions at $3.99, Chinese five spice seasoning at $1.99, lean ground beef at $7.00, and hoisin sauce at $3.49. Fortinos is the cheapest listed source for crushed red pepper at $2.99. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

For your shopping plan, that means you should treat Foodbasics as the base stop and Fortinos as the spice stop if you need crushed red pepper. The cost split is straightforward: Foodbasics accounts for $16.47 of the $19.46 basket, while Fortinos accounts for $2.99. That Foodbasics portion comes from $3.99 + $1.99 + $7.00 + $3.49, and the Fortinos portion is the crushed red pepper price.

This matters because a recipe can look inexpensive on paper but become less efficient if you need too many store-specific purchases. Here, you have a relatively simple split. If your nearest Foodbasics is convenient and Fortinos is on your usual route, you can follow the exact cheapest-store allocation; if not, you can still use the ingredient table as a benchmark while checking your local Ontario banners.

Recipe 2: Hoisin Five-Spice Beef Patties — $3.89 per serving

Hoisin Five-Spice Beef Patties use the same $19.46 Ontario ingredient basket as Asian Burgers, keeping the cost at $3.89 per serving for five servings. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. This version is useful when you want the same budget profile but prefer a simpler plate format without building a full burger-style dinner.

You start with the same lean ground beef at $7.00 from Foodbasics, then season it with Chinese five spice seasoning at $1.99 and crushed red pepper at $2.99 from Fortinos. Hoisin sauce at $3.49 gives the patties a sweet-savoury glaze, while pickled onions at $3.99 add acidity on top. Because the basket is identical, the recipe remains one of the cheapest recipes in this Ontario costing set.

The financial advantage is consistency. If you buy the ingredients once, you can decide at home whether you want burger-style patties, plated patties, or a crumbled beef format without changing the grocery math. That flexibility helps when you are planning budget meals in Ontario and want to avoid buying separate ingredients for every dinner.

Ingredients with Prices

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

The ingredient total is the same because the underlying priced items are unchanged. You are not adding a second protein, a premium cheese, or a separate prepared sauce. For a reader comparing cheap dinner recipes under $4, that matters because the final serving cost stays tied to verified Ontario prices instead of assumed pantry extras.

Where to Buy Cheapest

You should buy the lean ground beef, hoisin sauce, Chinese five spice seasoning, and pickled onions at Foodbasics, where those four ingredients total $16.47. You should buy crushed red pepper at Fortinos for $2.99 if you are following the exact lowest listed store allocation. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

This second recipe is particularly practical if you cook for one or two people but still want five servings. You can form all five patties at once and cook only what you need, keeping the rest ready for another meal. Your cost per serving remains $3.89 because the full $19.46 basket is divided across five portions.

If you are comparing banners in Ontario, the key takeaway is not that every ingredient must always come from a single store. Instead, your cheapest basket may come from a mix of Foodbasics and Fortinos. That is the kind of split that can keep your meal cost below $4 without requiring you to redesign the recipe.

Recipe 3: Spicy Hoisin Beef Crumble — $3.89 per serving

Spicy Hoisin Beef Crumble also costs $19.46 for five servings, or $3.89 per serving, because it uses the same verified Ontario ingredient prices from Foodbasics and Fortinos. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. This version is the most flexible of the three because you cook the beef loose rather than shaping it into burgers or patties.

The same five ingredients do different work in this format. Lean ground beef at $7.00 remains the base, Chinese five spice seasoning at $1.99 gives depth, crushed red pepper at $2.99 controls the heat level, hoisin sauce at $3.49 provides the main sauce, and pickled onions at $3.99 finish the dish with sharpness. You can serve the crumble in whatever format fits your household, while the costed recipe remains anchored to the verified five-item basket.

For your grocery budget, the value of this format is waste control. If you are not sure everyone at the table wants a burger, the crumble gives you a more adaptable dinner without adding extra priced ingredients. You can portion it into five servings, use leftovers for lunch, or pair it with items already in your kitchen while keeping the formal recipe cost at $3.89 per serving.

Ingredients with Prices

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

The cost structure is still favourable because no single supporting ingredient costs more than $3.99. The highest-priced item is the lean ground beef at $7.00, which is expected in a beef-based recipe. The remaining four items total $12.46, and they provide the seasoning, sauce, heat, and topping.

Where to Buy Cheapest

Foodbasics is again the main stop for this recipe, with four ingredients priced there: lean ground beef at $7.00, hoisin sauce at $3.49, Chinese five spice seasoning at $1.99, and pickled onions at $3.99. Fortinos is the listed cheapest store for crushed red pepper at $2.99. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

You should use this recipe when you want a budget dinner that can adapt to different serving styles. If your household prefers bowls, wraps, or a plate-style meal, the crumble format lets you use the same costed protein mixture in multiple ways. From a personal finance standpoint, that helps you avoid buying multiple sauces or duplicate proteins for separate meals.

The practical takeaway is simple: your cheapest Ontario dinner does not have to be a one-format recipe. Once you have a $19.46 basket that produces five servings, the way you cook the beef can change while the grocery cost stays the same. That is a useful approach when your goal is to identify the cheapest recipes rather than the most elaborate ones.

Ontario Basket Index: Five Priced Dinner Staples

The Ontario dinner basket for these recipes totals $19.46 across five priced staples, with Foodbasics supplying $16.47 of the basket and Fortinos supplying $2.99. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. This basket index shows you where each dollar goes before you decide which recipe format to cook.

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

This table shows that lean ground beef is the largest cost component at 36.0% of the full basket. That is useful for your planning because any change to the beef price would have the largest effect on the final cost per serving. By contrast, Chinese five spice seasoning is the lowest-priced item at $1.99 and accounts for 10.2% of the basket.

You can also use the basket index to decide whether a two-store trip is worthwhile. Foodbasics covers most of the costed basket, while Fortinos is only needed for the crushed red pepper price in this data set. If you already have crushed red pepper in your pantry, your immediate checkout would be lower, but the formal recipe cost remains $19.46 because the complete ingredient list includes it.

Price Comparison Table: All Recipes Side by Side

All three featured Ontario dinner formats cost $19.46 in total and $3.89 per serving because they use the same five priced ingredients. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. The difference is not the grocery basket; the difference is how you cook and serve the beef mixture.

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

For your weekly meal plan, this side-by-side comparison is useful because it separates cost from cooking style. If you want the most classic dinner format, Asian Burgers are the headline option. If you want a simpler plate, the patties keep the same cost. If you want the most flexible leftovers, the crumble format gives you the same $3.89 serving cost with more serving options.

This also shows why recipe costing can be more useful than looking at individual grocery prices in isolation. A $7.00 package of lean ground beef may look like the main expense, but once it is spread over five servings and supported by lower-cost seasonings, the full meal comes in below $4 per person. That is the number you should use when comparing budget meals in Ontario.

Current Price Watch: Best-Priced Ingredients in the Basket

The best-priced ingredient in this Ontario basket is Chinese Five Spice Seasoning at $1.99 from Foodbasics, while the highest-priced ingredient is Lean Ground Beef at $7.00 from Foodbasics. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. These are not promotional savings claims; they are the current live prices used to cost the recipes as of June 2026.

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

You should read this table as a price watch for the recipe basket, not as a flyer-discount table. The data provides current ingredient prices, store names, recipe total, and serving cost; it does not provide a separate regular-price benchmark for calculating savings percentages. That distinction protects your grocery planning from inflated or unsupported savings claims.

The practical value is still strong. You know exactly which ingredient is driving the basket, which store is listed for each item, and how each price contributes to the final dinner cost. When you are comparing cheapest recipes, that is often more useful than a percentage discount because it tells you the actual amount you should expect to budget.

How to Use This Costing in Your Ontario Grocery Plan

You can use this $19.46 Ontario basket as a repeatable dinner template whenever you want a beef-based meal under $4 per serving. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. The most important step is to anchor your plan around the verified prices: lean ground beef at $7.00, hoisin sauce at $3.49, pickled onions at $3.99, Chinese five spice seasoning at $1.99, and crushed red pepper at $2.99.

Your first decision is whether you want to shop exactly by the cheapest listed store allocation. If you do, Foodbasics is where you buy four ingredients, and Fortinos is where you buy crushed red pepper. Your second decision is which of the three formats fits your week: burgers, patties, or crumble. Because the price is the same, you can make that choice based on convenience rather than cost.

This is where AI-powered grocery price comparison becomes useful for everyday budgeting. Instead of assuming one banner is always cheapest for every product, you compare the specific ingredients you need. In this basket, Foodbasics is the main store, but Fortinos still has the listed price for one spice item. That kind of detail can matter when you are building a weekly plan across Ontario banners such as No Frills, Walmart, Metro, Loblaws, FreshCo, Zehrs, and Real Canadian Superstore.

For more price-led planning, you can compare live grocery deals at https://eezly.com/deals, explore meal planning options at https://eezly.com/meal-plans, and browse recipe ideas at https://eezly.com/recipes. If you want broader grocery coverage and budgeting guides, https://eezly.com/blog is the most relevant place to continue reading.