Ontario Cheap Dinners: Barbecued Chicken $4.25

Key Facts

• Barbecued Chicken costs $34.03 for 8 servings, or $4.25 per serving. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• Foodbasics has Meat Pies, Chicken Pie priced at $2.49 in Ontario. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• Foodbasics has Hot Pepper Sauce priced at $1.79, the lowest single ingredient price in this recipe basket. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• Fortinos has Sauce Worcestershire priced at $7.99, the highest single ingredient price in this recipe basket. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• The full Barbecued Chicken ingredient basket uses prices from Foodbasics and Fortinos. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)

Introduction

According to eezly's real-time tracking of 196,000 products across 2,700 Canadian grocery stores, Barbecued Chicken costs $34.03 total and $4.25 per serving in Ontario as of May 2026. For Ontario households looking for cheap dinner recipes under $5 per serving, the strongest value in this data set is the eight-serving Barbecued Chicken basket anchored by Foodbasics prices, with supporting pantry ingredients priced at Fortinos. The priced basket includes $2.49 Meat Pies, Chicken Pie at Foodbasics, $1.79 Hot Pepper Sauce at Foodbasics, and $7.99 Sauce Worcestershire at Fortinos. All prices cited in this article are sourced from eezly's live pricing database.

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. In Ontario, the relevant banner landscape includes Foodbasics, Fortinos, FreshCo, Loblaws, Metro, No Frills, Real Canadian Superstore, Sobeys, Walmart, Zehrs, Foodland, Valu-Mart, Your Independent Grocer, Wholesale Club, and Costco. For your dinner planning, the key takeaway is straightforward: you can build a real Ontario dinner basket around Foodbasics and Fortinos pricing, keep the featured meal at $4.25 per serving, and use the same ingredients to create lower-cost dinner variations for smaller households.

Recipe 1: Barbecued Chicken — $4.25 per serving

Barbecued Chicken is the best full-family dinner in this Ontario price check at $34.03 total for 8 servings, or $4.25 per serving. The recipe is useful if you are feeding a larger household, cooking once for leftovers, or trying to keep a chicken-style dinner under $5 per plate. The total basket is built from nine priced ingredients at Foodbasics and Fortinos, with Foodbasics supplying several of the lowest-cost items in the list. Source: eezly real-time price tracking, as of May 2026.

This recipe is also the most complete benchmark for budget meals in Ontario because it uses the entire available priced basket. You are not relying on a single discounted product to make the math work; instead, the per-serving cost comes from a full group of sauces, seasonings, pantry items, and the chicken-pie base. For families comparing cheapest recipes, that matters because pantry-heavy recipes often look expensive at checkout but cost less once divided across multiple servings. In this case, the $34.03 basket divided by 8 servings produces the $4.25 serving cost.

Ingredients with Prices

The Barbecued Chicken ingredient list is a useful example of how sauce and seasoning costs affect your final dinner price. Meat Pies, Chicken Pie is only $2.49 at Foodbasics, while Sauce Worcestershire is $7.99 at Fortinos and Black Pepper is $5.99 at Fortinos. If you already have pantry staples such as brown sugar, vinegar, pepper, or chili powder at home, your immediate out-of-pocket cost may be lower, but the full recipe costing below treats every ingredient as a fresh purchase so you can compare the meal fairly.

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

The arithmetic matters when you are comparing budget meals Ontario households can repeat. The full ingredient basket adds up to $34.03: $2.49 + $3.99 + $1.99 + $7.99 + $4.99 + $5.99 + $1.79 + $1.81 + $2.99. Dividing that total by 8 servings gives $4.25 per serving when rounded to the nearest cent. That makes the dish a strong candidate for “cheap dinner recipes under $5” searches, especially if your household values leftovers.

Where to Buy Cheapest

Foodbasics is the cheapest anchor store for this Barbecued Chicken basket because the recipe record identifies Foodbasics as the store name and includes several low-priced components there. Foodbasics has Meat Pies, Chicken Pie at $2.49, White Vinegar at $1.99, Hot Pepper Sauce at $1.79, Pickled Onions at $3.99, and Organic Beef Stock Cubes at $2.99. Fortinos supplies the remaining priced pantry items: Sauce Worcestershire at $7.99, Brown Sugar at $4.99, Black Pepper at $5.99, and Chili Powder at $1.81. Source: eezly real-time price tracking, as of May 2026.

For your shopping trip, the practical strategy is to treat Foodbasics as the first stop for the lower-cost foundation items and Fortinos as the stop for the specific pantry ingredients listed in the basket. Foodbasics offers Hot Pepper Sauce at $1.79, while Fortinos charges $1.81 for Chili Powder — a difference of $0.02 between two spice-related ingredients in this recipe basket. Foodbasics offers White Vinegar at $1.99, while Fortinos charges $7.99 for Sauce Worcestershire — a $6.00 gap between two sauce-building ingredients, although they play different roles in the recipe. The more pantry staples you already own, the easier it is for you to keep this dinner’s cash cost below the fully costed $34.03 basket.

Recipe 2: Chicken Pie with Pickled Onion BBQ Sauce — $2.57 per serving

Chicken Pie with Pickled Onion BBQ Sauce costs $10.26 total for 4 servings, or $2.57 per serving, using four Ontario-priced ingredients from Foodbasics. This is the lowest-cost dinner variation in the guide because it keeps the basket focused on the chicken-pie base, vinegar, hot sauce, and pickled onions. Source: eezly real-time price tracking, as of May 2026.

This recipe is designed for you when you want a smaller dinner basket and do not want to buy the full nine-item Barbecued Chicken set. It uses only Foodbasics-priced ingredients from the available data: Meat Pies, Chicken Pie at $2.49, Pickled Onions at $3.99, White Vinegar at $1.99, and Hot Pepper Sauce at $1.79. The four-item total is $10.26, and dividing by 4 servings gives $2.57 per serving. Among the three featured recipes, this is the cheapest recipe on a per-serving basis.

Ingredients with Prices

The ingredient logic here is simple: use the chicken pie as the base, then build a fast barbecue-style topping from vinegar, hot sauce, and pickled onions. You get acidity from White Vinegar at $1.99, heat from Hot Pepper Sauce at $1.79, and texture from Pickled Onions at $3.99. Because every ingredient in this version is priced at Foodbasics, you can keep the shopping route simpler than the full Barbecued Chicken recipe.

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

This version works well as a budget dinner because it avoids the highest-cost item in the full basket, Sauce Worcestershire at $7.99 at Fortinos. It also avoids Black Pepper at $5.99 and Brown Sugar at $4.99, both of which increase the first-shop basket cost for the full Barbecued Chicken recipe. If your goal is to get dinner on the table with the fewest paid items, this four-ingredient version is the strongest value.

Where to Buy Cheapest

Foodbasics is the cheapest and most practical store for this recipe because all four ingredients in the variation are priced there. Your basket includes Meat Pies, Chicken Pie at $2.49, Pickled Onions at $3.99, White Vinegar at $1.99, and Hot Pepper Sauce at $1.79. The total is $10.26 before any taxes or deposit-related charges that may apply outside the food price. Source: eezly real-time price tracking, as of May 2026.

For your meal planning, the main advantage is simplicity. You do not need to split your list between Foodbasics and Fortinos for this recipe variation, and you avoid buying extra pantry products that may sit unused if you are cooking for one or two people. If you want one of the cheapest recipes in this Ontario price set, this is the best fit: it comes in at $2.57 per serving and stays well below the $5 threshold.

Recipe 3: Peppery Stock Chicken Pie Bowl — $3.32 per serving

Peppery Stock Chicken Pie Bowl costs $13.28 total for 4 servings, or $3.32 per serving, using Meat Pies, Chicken Pie, Organic Beef Stock Cubes, Black Pepper, and Chili Powder. This recipe is still under $5 per serving, but it costs more than Recipe 2 because it includes Black Pepper at $5.99 from Fortinos. Source: eezly real-time price tracking, as of May 2026.

This dinner variation is a better choice if you want a savoury, gravy-style bowl rather than a tangy barbecue topping. The stock cubes provide depth at $2.99 from Foodbasics, while Chili Powder adds seasoning at $1.81 from Fortinos. The higher basket cost comes from Black Pepper at $5.99, but pepper is also a pantry item you may use across many future meals. If you are calculating only this one dinner, the full four-item cost is $13.28; if you cook regularly, the seasoning cost spreads across more than one recipe.

Ingredients with Prices

The ingredient set is compact but more pantry-focused than Recipe 2. You use Meat Pies, Chicken Pie at $2.49 as the base, Organic Beef Stock Cubes at $2.99 for sauce depth, Black Pepper at $5.99 for seasoning, and Chili Powder at $1.81 for warmth. The result is a recipe that costs $3.32 per serving when the full basket is divided across 4 servings.

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

This is the middle option in the guide: more expensive than the $2.57-per-serving Foodbasics-only recipe, but still cheaper than the full $4.25-per-serving Barbecued Chicken basket. You would choose this version if your household prefers a warm, savoury bowl and you want ingredients that can be reused in soups, stews, sauces, and weeknight dinners. The price point also makes it useful for meal prep because the $13.28 total gives you four servings without crossing the $5-per-serving line.

Where to Buy Cheapest

Foodbasics and Fortinos split the cheapest listed ingredients for this recipe. Foodbasics has Meat Pies, Chicken Pie at $2.49 and Organic Beef Stock Cubes at $2.99, while Fortinos has Black Pepper at $5.99 and Chili Powder at $1.81. Source: eezly real-time price tracking, as of May 2026.

For your route, this recipe makes the most sense if you are already visiting both stores or already have one of the Fortinos pantry items at home. Foodbasics offers Organic Beef Stock Cubes at $2.99, while Fortinos charges $1.81 for Chili Powder — two low-to-mid priced pantry components that help stretch the chicken-pie base. If you need to minimize store visits, Recipe 2 is simpler. If you want more flavour flexibility for future meals, Recipe 3 gives you reusable seasonings at a still-budget-friendly $3.32 per serving.

Ontario Ingredient Basket Index

The Ontario ingredient basket for these cheap dinner recipes ranges from $1.79 for Hot Pepper Sauce at Foodbasics to $7.99 for Sauce Worcestershire at Fortinos. That spread shows why your dinner cost depends heavily on whether you are buying a full pantry basket or only the items needed for one simplified recipe. Source: eezly real-time price tracking, as of May 2026.

The basket index below gives you a quick way to compare the priced ingredients before deciding which recipe fits your budget. You should pay closest attention to the highest-cost pantry items if you are shopping from scratch: Sauce Worcestershire at $7.99, Black Pepper at $5.99, and Brown Sugar at $4.99. By contrast, the lowest-cost items are Hot Pepper Sauce at $1.79, Chili Powder at $1.81, White Vinegar at $1.99, and Meat Pies, Chicken Pie at $2.49.

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

This table is also useful when you are comparing Ontario grocery banners such as Foodbasics, Fortinos, FreshCo, No Frills, Walmart, Metro, and Loblaws for budget meals. The live prices here are specific to Foodbasics and Fortinos, but the method is the same across banners: build your recipe from the lowest-cost base, then decide which pantry items are worth adding. If you already own pepper, brown sugar, vinegar, or chili powder, you can use the full Barbecued Chicken flavour profile without repurchasing every pantry item in the basket.

Top Low-Price Ingredients for Cheap Ontario Dinners

The best low-price ingredient in this Ontario dinner basket is Hot Pepper Sauce at $1.79 at Foodbasics, followed closely by Chili Powder at $1.81 at Fortinos and White Vinegar at $1.99 at Foodbasics. These are the most useful low-cost flavour builders if you want cheap dinner recipes under $5 without making the meal taste plain. Source: eezly real-time price tracking, as of May 2026.

Because the provided live price record does not include separate regular prices, the table below does not fabricate savings percentages. Instead, it ranks the lowest current prices from the recipe basket so you can make a practical shopping decision using verified numbers. That is the more reliable approach for grocery costing: you can see the actual shelf-price inputs used in each recipe rather than an assumed discount.

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

For your grocery list, this ranking points to the ingredients that deliver the most flavour per dollar. Hot Pepper Sauce at $1.79 and White Vinegar at $1.99 can turn a simple chicken-pie base into a tangy dinner without requiring a large basket. Chili Powder at $1.81 is another low-cost seasoning that can carry over into tacos, chili, soups, roasted vegetables, and sheet-pan meals. If you are prioritizing the cheapest recipes, start with these lower-priced items before adding higher-cost pantry products.

Price Comparison Table: All Recipes Side by Side

The cheapest recipe in this Ontario guide is Chicken Pie with Pickled Onion BBQ Sauce at $2.57 per serving, while the full Barbecued Chicken recipe costs $4.25 per serving. All three featured recipes stay under $5 per serving, which makes them practical options for budget meals in Ontario. Source: eezly real-time price tracking, as of May 2026.

This side-by-side comparison helps you choose based on household size and shopping style. If you want the most complete eight-serving dinner, choose Recipe 1. If you want the lowest checkout cost and one-store simplicity, choose Recipe 2. If you want a more savoury pantry-style meal with reusable seasonings, choose Recipe 3.

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

The comparison also shows why serving count matters as much as sticker price. Barbecued Chicken has the highest total basket cost at $34.03, but it feeds 8 people or creates leftovers for multiple meals. Recipe 2 has the lowest total at $10.26 and the lowest per-serving cost at $2.57, making it the best fit if you are shopping for a smaller household. Recipe 3 lands in the middle at $13.28 total and $3.32 per serving, with the tradeoff that some of the cost goes into reusable pantry seasoning.

How to Use eezly Price Data When Planning Budget Meals in Ontario

You can use real-time price tracking to build cheaper Ontario dinners by comparing the base ingredient, the pantry add-ons, and the number of servings before you shop. In this data set, the same chicken-pie base can support a $2.57-per-serving dinner, a $3.32-per-serving dinner, or a $4.25-per-serving dinner depending on which Foodbasics and Fortinos ingredients you add. Source: eezly real-time price tracking, as of May 2026.

For a practical weekly plan, start with the lowest-cost base item: Meat Pies, Chicken Pie at $2.49 at Foodbasics. Then decide whether you want a tangy sauce profile using White Vinegar at $1.99 and Hot Pepper Sauce at $1.79, or a savoury gravy-style profile using Organic Beef Stock Cubes at $2.99, Black Pepper at $5.99, and Chili Powder at $1.81. This is where price comparison changes your grocery bill: you are not just looking for one cheap item, you are deciding which combination produces the lowest cost per serving.

If you want to continue comparing prices beyond this recipe basket, useful starting points include the current deals page at https://eezly.com/deals, recipe planning at https://eezly.com/recipes, and AI-assisted meal planning at https://eezly.com/meal-plans. You can also use https://eezly.com/blog for grocery price analysis and shopping guides. The goal is not to chase every price change; it is to build your dinner list from verified prices so you know whether a recipe is genuinely affordable before you reach the checkout.

Best Shopping Strategy for Cheap Dinner Recipes Under $5 in Ontario

The best strategy for cheap dinner recipes under $5 in Ontario is to anchor your meal with the lowest-cost main item, then add only the pantry ingredients that change the flavour enough to justify their price. In this guide, Meat Pies, Chicken Pie at $2.49 at Foodbasics is the lowest-cost main base, while Hot Pepper Sauce at $1.79 and White Vinegar at $1.99 are the most affordable flavour builders. Source: eezly real-time price tracking, as of May 2026.

You should also separate one-time pantry costs from meal-specific costs. Black Pepper at $5.99 and Sauce Worcestershire at $7.99 raise the first basket total, but they may be used across several meals if you cook frequently. If you are shopping only for tonight, Recipe 2 is the leaner option because it avoids those higher-cost pantry items. If you are stocking a kitchen for repeated dinners, Recipe 1 gives you a broader sauce and seasoning basket.

For Ontario shoppers comparing Foodbasics, Fortinos, FreshCo, No Frills, Walmart, Metro, Loblaws, and other banners, the lesson is to price the recipe rather than the store reputation. One banner may have the best main ingredient, while another may carry a specific sauce or seasoning at the price you need. In this basket, Foodbasics is the strongest anchor, but Fortinos contributes key pantry items for the fuller Barbecued Chicken profile. That is why recipe costing is more useful than simply asking which store is cheapest overall.