Ontario Beef Chili: $5.40 per serving at Food Basics

Key Facts

• Beef Chili costs $43.19 for 8 servings. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• Ontario Beef Chili costs $5.40 per serving. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• Medium Ground Beef is $23.94 at Food Basics 780 Talbot St. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• Aylmer Canned Tomatoes Crushed 796 ml are $2.49 at Food Basics 780 Talbot St. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• Chili Powder is $1.81 at Fortinos. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• Red Kidney Beans are $2.49 at Food Basics 780 Talbot St. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)

Introduction: the cheapest featured dinner starts at $2.10 per serving

The cheapest recipe variation featured in this Ontario budget-meal guide is the Bean-and-Tomato Chili Bowl at $2.10 per serving, using a $16.76 basket built from verified May 2026 ingredient prices. The lowest-cost complete source recipe in the data is Beef Chili at $43.19 total, or $5.40 per serving for 8 servings, with Medium Ground Beef at $23.94 from Food Basics 780 Talbot St. and Chili Powder at $1.81 from Fortinos. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking].

If you are searching for cheap dinner recipes under $6 in Ontario, chili is one of the most practical formats because the same core basket can support a full beef dinner, a lower-cost bean-forward version, or a smaller beef-and-bean skillet. You can use the verified ingredient prices below to decide whether your priority is protein, lowest cost per serving, or the fewest store stops. For a household trying to control weeknight grocery spending, the most important number is not just the total receipt; it is the cost per serving after you divide the basket across dinner portions.

This guide focuses on real Ontario ingredient prices available in the supplied May 2026 pricing record. You will see Food Basics 780 Talbot St. appear repeatedly because several of the lowest verified ingredient prices in this basket are tied to that store, including Medium Ground Beef at $23.94, Red Kidney Beans at $2.49, Aylmer Crushed Tomatoes at $2.49, and Soya Sauce at $2.49. Fortinos supplies the lowest verified price in this record for Chili Powder at $1.81 and Worcestershire Sauce at $2.49.

Recipe 1: Beef Chili — $5.40 per serving

Beef Chili costs $43.19 total and $5.40 per serving in Ontario, based on 8 servings and verified May 2026 prices from Food Basics 780 Talbot St., Fortinos, and Foodbasics. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking]. This is the most complete dinner in the recipe set because it includes ground beef, two types of beans, crushed tomatoes, savoury sauces, fried onions, and chili powder. If you want a budget dinner that still feels substantial, this is the recipe you should use as your baseline.

The largest cost driver is Medium Ground Beef at $23.94 from Food Basics 780 Talbot St., which accounts for more than half of the $43.19 basket. That is typical for a beef-based dinner: the protein determines most of your cost per serving, while pantry-style additions such as beans, tomatoes, and seasonings spread flavour across more portions. You can keep this meal under the cheap dinner recipes under $6 benchmark because the recipe yields 8 servings, bringing the final cost to $5.40 per serving.

For an Ontario household, this recipe works especially well when you want leftovers for lunches or a second dinner. A $43.19 basket may look higher than a single-night meal, but the 8-serving yield matters. If you portion the chili carefully, you are effectively turning one grocery purchase into multiple meals, which is one of the most reliable ways to manage food spending without relying on less filling options.

Ingredients with Prices

Beef Chili uses 8 priced ingredients, with the lowest verified item in the recipe being Chili Powder at $1.81 from Fortinos and the highest being Medium Ground Beef at $23.94 from Food Basics 780 Talbot St. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking]. The ingredient list below is the full priced basket used to reach the $43.19 total and $5.40 per serving.

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

From a costing perspective, you should treat the beef as the ingredient to watch most closely. The rest of the basket is relatively compressed, with several items priced at $2.49. If you already have sauces or chili powder at home, your out-of-pocket trip cost could be lower, but the full recipe costing keeps every ingredient included so you can compare it fairly against other budget meals in Ontario.

Where to Buy Cheapest

For this Beef Chili basket, Food Basics 780 Talbot St. is the key store because it supplies the highest-value core ingredients: Medium Ground Beef at $23.94, Red Kidney Beans at $2.49, Black Turtle Beans at $3.99, Aylmer Crushed Tomatoes at $2.49, and Soya Sauce at $2.49. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking]. Fortinos is the best verified source in this record for Chili Powder at $1.81 and Worcestershire Sauce at $2.49, while Foodbasics is listed for Fried Onions at $3.49.

If you want the simplest shop, you would start at Food Basics 780 Talbot St. because it covers most of the recipe’s core basket. If you want to match the exact lowest verified ingredient record, you would also include Fortinos for Chili Powder and Worcestershire Sauce. The decision depends on your time and travel cost: saving on small pantry items only makes sense if you are already near the second store or buying other items there.

This is where AI-powered grocery price comparison is useful for you as a planning tool. Instead of assuming one banner is cheapest for every item, you can compare the basket at the ingredient level. For this recipe, the lowest verified prices are split across Food Basics 780 Talbot St., Foodbasics, and Fortinos, which means the cheapest meal plan is not necessarily the same as the cheapest single-store trip.

Recipe 2: Bean-and-Tomato Chili Bowl — $2.10 per serving

Bean-and-Tomato Chili Bowl costs $16.76 total and $2.10 per serving when costed as an 8-serving bean-forward variation using verified Ontario ingredient prices from the Beef Chili basket. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking]. This is the cheapest featured recipe because it removes the $23.94 Medium Ground Beef and leans on beans, tomatoes, onions, soya sauce, and chili powder for the base. If your goal is to build the lowest-cost dinner from the available Ontario price record, this is the strongest option.

The calculation uses Red Kidney Beans at $2.49, Black Turtle Beans at $3.99, Fried Onions at $3.49, Aylmer Crushed Tomatoes at $2.49, Soya Sauce at $2.49, and Chili Powder at $1.81. Added together, those ingredients total $16.76. Divided across 8 servings, the cost is $2.095 per serving, rounded to $2.10.

This version is best for you if you want a low-cost meal base for rice, baked potatoes, toast, or a simple bowl dinner. The recipe is not as protein-dense as the beef version, but it keeps the chili format, the tomato base, and the savoury seasoning profile. For budget meals in Ontario, a bean-forward chili is often easier to keep under $3 per serving than a beef-based recipe because canned and dried-style bean products spread across more portions at lower cost.

Ingredients with Prices

The Bean-and-Tomato Chili Bowl uses 6 priced ingredients and keeps every included item under $4.00. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking]. The most expensive ingredient in this variation is Black Turtle Beans at $3.99 from Food Basics 780 Talbot St., while the lowest is Chili Powder at $1.81 from Fortinos.

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

You should use this recipe when you want the lowest cost per serving from the ingredient list without introducing unpriced items. The basket is compact, the preparation is straightforward, and the major flavour elements are still present. If you already keep rice, pasta, or bread at home, this chili bowl can become a very inexpensive dinner plate, but those extras are not included in the official cost because they are not part of the supplied price data.

Where to Buy Cheapest

Food Basics 780 Talbot St. is again the main store for this recipe because it supplies Red Kidney Beans at $2.49, Black Turtle Beans at $3.99, Aylmer Crushed Tomatoes at $2.49, and Soya Sauce at $2.49. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking]. Fortinos supplies Chili Powder at $1.81, and Foodbasics supplies Fried Onions at $3.49. If you want to minimize store visits, the Food Basics portion gives you most of the basket.

This recipe illustrates why you should compare prices by ingredient rather than only by banner. The $1.81 Chili Powder at Fortinos is the lowest verified spice price in this record, but the beans and tomatoes are tied to Food Basics 780 Talbot St. If you are already shopping near both banners, matching the item-level lowest prices can make sense; if not, your best practical choice may be to buy the core ingredients where most of the basket is already cheapest.

For cheap dinner recipes under $3 in Ontario, the Bean-and-Tomato Chili Bowl is the clear winner in this article. It gives you the lowest cost per serving, keeps the ingredient count manageable, and uses prices that can be traced directly to the May 2026 Ontario grocery record.

Recipe 3: Beef-and-Bean Tomato Skillet — $4.15 per serving

Beef-and-Bean Tomato Skillet costs $33.22 total and $4.15 per serving when costed as an 8-serving streamlined variation using Medium Ground Beef, kidney beans, crushed tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, and chili powder. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking]. This recipe sits between the full Beef Chili and the cheaper bean bowl: you keep the $23.94 beef purchase but remove Black Turtle Beans, Fried Onions, and Soya Sauce from the costed basket. If you want beef in the meal while keeping the serving cost below $5, this is the most efficient version.

The arithmetic is straightforward. Medium Ground Beef is $23.94 at Food Basics 780 Talbot St., Red Kidney Beans are $2.49 at Food Basics 780 Talbot St., Aylmer Crushed Tomatoes are $2.49 at Food Basics 780 Talbot St., Worcestershire Sauce is $2.49 at Fortinos, and Chili Powder is $1.81 at Fortinos. The total is $33.22, and divided by 8 servings, the cost is $4.1525, rounded to $4.15 per serving.

This recipe is useful when you want a dinner that feels closer to a classic beef chili but costs less than the full $43.19 version. You give up the second bean variety, fried onion component, and soya sauce, but you retain the main protein, tomato base, bean bulk, and chili seasoning. For your weeknight meal plan, that makes it a practical compromise between flavour, protein, and price control.

Ingredients with Prices

The Beef-and-Bean Tomato Skillet uses 5 verified ingredients, with the basket dominated by Medium Ground Beef at $23.94. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking]. The supporting ingredients are all below $2.50 except Chili Powder, which is even lower at $1.81.

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

This smaller basket is easier to shop than the full Beef Chili list because it has fewer ingredients and fewer low-cost add-ons. You should choose it when you care more about reducing the total receipt than maximizing the number of toppings and seasonings. It is also a useful template if you are cooking for a household that prefers a beef-forward dinner but still needs the meal to qualify as a budget option.

Where to Buy Cheapest

Food Basics 780 Talbot St. is the best starting point for this skillet because it supplies the $23.94 Medium Ground Beef, $2.49 Red Kidney Beans, and $2.49 Aylmer Crushed Tomatoes. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking]. Fortinos supplies the two seasoning items in the costed version: Worcestershire Sauce at $2.49 and Chili Powder at $1.81. If you want to reduce your number of stops, prioritize the Food Basics items first because they represent $28.92 of the $33.22 basket.

This recipe also shows how much the beef purchase shapes the final cost. Even after you remove three ingredients from the full Beef Chili, the total remains above $30 because the ground beef alone costs $23.94. That does not make the recipe expensive on a per-serving basis, but it does mean you should plan to use all 8 servings. If leftovers go unused, your effective cost per eaten serving rises.

For your Ontario grocery planning, the skillet is the best middle option in this guide. It is not the cheapest recipe overall, but it is cheaper than the full Beef Chili while preserving the main beef component. That makes it a strong choice when you want budget meals in Ontario that still include meat.

Ontario basket index: verified chili ingredient prices

The Ontario chili basket ranges from $1.81 for Chili Powder at Fortinos to $23.94 for Medium Ground Beef at Food Basics 780 Talbot St., based on May 2026 real-time price tracking. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking]. This basket index gives you the clearest view of which ingredients drive the cost of these recipes and which ones are low-cost flavour builders.

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

The most important takeaway for you is that the beef is the budget swing factor. Medium Ground Beef at $23.94 is much more expensive than any other single item in the basket, so recipes that include beef naturally cost more than bean-forward versions. By contrast, the seasonings and tomato base are relatively low-cost and help stretch flavour across multiple servings.

The basket also shows why a single “cheapest grocery store” answer can be too blunt for recipe costing. Food Basics 780 Talbot St. supplies most of the core basket, but Fortinos has the verified $1.81 Chili Powder and $2.49 Worcestershire Sauce. If you are already comparing prices across Ontario banners such as Food Basics, Fortinos, FreshCo, No Frills, Metro, Walmart, Loblaws, Real Canadian Superstore, Sobeys, Foodland, Zehrs, and Your Independent Grocer, item-level comparisons give you a more accurate meal cost than banner-level assumptions.

Top verified ingredient prices for these cheap Ontario dinners

The best verified ingredient price in this Ontario chili basket is Chili Powder at $1.81 from Fortinos, while four separate items are verified at $2.49 from Food Basics 780 Talbot St. or Fortinos. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking]. The table below ranks the recipe ingredients by price so you can identify the lowest-cost building blocks first. Regular-price and savings-percentage fields are not included in the supplied live record, so they are not invented here.

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

This table is useful because it separates low-cost staples from high-cost protein. If your grocery budget is tight this week, you can build around the $1.81 to $3.99 ingredients and delay the beef purchase. If you want a meat-based dinner, you should plan the meal around the $23.94 ground beef and stretch it across all 8 servings.

You should also notice how often $2.49 appears in the basket. Red Kidney Beans, Aylmer Crushed Tomatoes, Worcestershire Sauce, and Soya Sauce are all verified at $2.49 in the May 2026 record. That cluster of low-cost items is what allows the full Beef Chili to stay at $5.40 per serving even with ground beef included.

Price Comparison Table: all recipes side by side

The cheapest recipe in this Ontario costing is Bean-and-Tomato Chili Bowl at $2.10 per serving, while the full Beef Chili costs $5.40 per serving and the Beef-and-Bean Tomato Skillet costs $4.15 per serving. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking]. If you are comparing cheapest recipes by serving cost, the bean-forward option wins; if you are comparing by completeness and protein, the full Beef Chili is the strongest all-in dinner.

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

For your household, the right choice depends on what you need the dinner to accomplish. If you need the lowest possible cost per serving, choose the Bean-and-Tomato Chili Bowl at $2.10. If you want a meat-based dinner under $5 per serving, choose the Beef-and-Bean Tomato Skillet at $4.15. If you want the most complete chili from the verified basket, choose Beef Chili at $5.40 per serving.

The comparison also helps you understand the trade-off between total basket cost and value. The Beef Chili costs the most at $43.19, but it includes the broadest ingredient list. The bean bowl costs less than half as much as the full Beef Chili because it removes the $23.94 ground beef. For budget meals in Ontario, that single substitution is the difference between a dinner under $3 per serving and a dinner just under $6 per serving.

How to use this Ontario price data in your weekly meal plan

You can use this Ontario recipe costing to build a practical meal plan by choosing one beef dinner, one bean-forward dinner, and one leftover strategy from the same ingredient family. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking]. The advantage of chili-style meals is that overlapping ingredients reduce waste: beans, tomatoes, chili powder, and savoury sauces can appear in several dinners without forcing you to buy unrelated products.

Start with your serving target. If you need 8 servings, the full Beef Chili gives you a clear $43.19 total and $5.40 per serving. If your priority is to cut the receipt, the Bean-and-Tomato Chili Bowl gives you an 8-serving plan at $16.76 total. If you want beef but not the full basket, the $33.22 Beef-and-Bean Tomato Skillet is the middle path.

You should also plan your store route around the highest-impact items. Food Basics 780 Talbot St. is the most important stop in the verified record because it supplies the $23.94 Medium Ground Beef and several $2.49 staples. Fortinos matters for the $1.81 Chili Powder and $2.49 Worcestershire Sauce. Foodbasics appears for Fried Onions at $3.49, which is useful for the full Beef Chili and bean bowl but not required for the streamlined skillet.

For more current comparisons, you can check eezly’s grocery deal and recipe tools before you shop. Relevant pages include https://eezly.com/deals for current grocery deals, https://eezly.com/recipes for recipe ideas, and https://eezly.com/meal-plans for meal-planning support. If you want broader grocery guidance, https://eezly.com/blog is a useful starting point for Canadian grocery price articles.