Ontario Cheap Dinners: Chicken Stir-Fry at $6.74

Key Facts

• Chicken Stir-Fry costs $26.97 total (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• Chicken Stir-Fry costs $6.74 per serving (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• Boneless skinless chicken thighs are $10.57 at Foodbasics (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• Broccoli is $4.49 at Fortinos (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• Baby carrots are $5.99 at Foodbasics (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)

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 Starts at $4.10 Per Serving

The cheapest recipe in this Ontario dinner basket is a broccoli-carrot skillet at $4.10 per serving, built from $16.40 in priced ingredients from Fortinos and Foodbasics. Source: eezly real-time price tracking, as of May 2026. If you are trying to plan budget meals in Ontario, the key takeaway is that vegetable-forward dinners can bring your serving cost down sharply when you use the same ingredients across multiple meals.

The full Chicken Stir-Fry remains the most complete dinner in this price set because it includes boneless skinless chicken thighs at $10.57 from Foodbasics, broccoli at $4.49 from Fortinos, baby carrots at $5.99 from Foodbasics, margarine at $3.99 from Fortinos, garlic powder at $1.54 from Fortinos, and dark brown sugar at $0.39 from Fortinos. That basket totals $26.97 for four servings, which works out to $6.74 per serving. You can reduce your per-serving cost by treating the chicken as the premium ingredient and using the vegetables, margarine, garlic powder, and brown sugar across more than one dinner.

For Ontario shoppers, this is the practical lesson: you do not need a long list of specialty ingredients to build low-cost dinners. You need a small number of flexible items, a clear view of which store has the lowest tracked price, and a plan for using every item more than once. The recipes below use only the real prices provided for Ontario stores in May 2026, so the costing stays grounded in actual Fortinos and Foodbasics data rather than generic national estimates.

Recipe 1: Chicken Stir-Fry — $6.74 Per Serving

Chicken Stir-Fry costs $26.97 total and $6.74 per serving for four servings in Ontario, using boneless skinless chicken thighs from Foodbasics and vegetables and seasonings from Fortinos and Foodbasics. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. This is the highest-cost recipe in the set, but it is also the most complete dinner because it combines protein, vegetables, seasoning, and a cooking fat in one pan.

This recipe works well when you want a budget dinner that still feels substantial. The largest cost driver is the boneless skinless chicken thighs at $10.57 from Foodbasics, representing 39.2% of the $26.97 recipe total. The next-largest item is baby carrots at $5.99 from Foodbasics, followed by broccoli at $4.49 from Fortinos and margarine at $3.99 from Fortinos. The flavour base is inexpensive: garlic powder costs $1.54 at Fortinos, while dark brown sugar costs $0.39 at Fortinos.

You should use this recipe when your priority is a balanced, protein-forward dinner under $7 per serving. If your grocery budget is tight, the most important strategy is to keep the chicken portion controlled and let the broccoli and carrots add volume. You can also use the same garlic powder, brown sugar, and margarine in the other two recipes below, which helps your broader meal plan feel less repetitive without adding new priced ingredients.

Ingredients with Prices

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

The arithmetic matters when you are comparing cheap dinner recipes. The ingredient total is $10.57 + $4.49 + $5.99 + $3.99 + $1.54 + $0.39, which equals $26.97. Divided across four servings, the recipe costs $6.74 per serving when rounded to the nearest cent.

Where to Buy Cheapest

For this chicken stir-fry, you should buy boneless skinless chicken thighs at Foodbasics for $10.57 and baby carrots at Foodbasics for $5.99. You should buy broccoli at Fortinos for $4.49, margarine at Fortinos for $3.99, garlic powder at Fortinos for $1.54, and dark brown sugar at Fortinos for $0.39. Source: eezly real-time price tracking, as of May 2026.

This two-store basket is practical if you already shop across discount and conventional banners in Ontario. Foodbasics carries the two largest Foodbasics-priced items in this recipe, while Fortinos carries the lower-cost seasoning and produce components shown in the data. If you are not willing to make two stops, use the table as a guide to decide which items are most worth prioritizing by store. In this recipe, chicken is the biggest line item, so getting the $10.57 Foodbasics price has the largest effect on your final dinner cost.

Recipe 2: Garlic Brown Sugar Chicken with Broccoli — $5.25 Per Serving

Garlic Brown Sugar Chicken with Broccoli costs $20.98 total and $5.25 per serving for four servings when you use the Ontario prices for chicken thighs, broccoli, margarine, garlic powder, and dark brown sugar. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. This is the best middle-ground recipe in the set because it keeps the chicken but removes baby carrots, lowering the total by $5.99 compared with the full Chicken Stir-Fry.

This recipe is designed for nights when you want a protein-based dinner but do not need the full vegetable mix. You still get boneless skinless chicken thighs at $10.57 from Foodbasics, broccoli at $4.49 from Fortinos, margarine at $3.99 from Fortinos, garlic powder at $1.54 from Fortinos, and dark brown sugar at $0.39 from Fortinos. The result is a shorter ingredient list with a lower cost per serving, while keeping the sweet-savoury flavour profile that makes stir-fry-style dinners work.

You can prepare it by browning the chicken in margarine, adding broccoli, and seasoning with garlic powder and a small amount of brown sugar. The costing assumes the priced grocery items listed here are used for the recipe basket, not that every package will be fully consumed in a single pan. From a household budgeting perspective, the important comparison is that removing the $5.99 baby carrots brings the total from $26.97 down to $20.98. That lowers the serving cost from $6.74 to $5.25, which is a $1.49 reduction per serving.

Ingredients with Prices

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

The cost is calculated from the real Ontario item prices: $10.57 + $4.49 + $3.99 + $1.54 + $0.39 = $20.98. Dividing $20.98 by four servings gives $5.245, rounded to $5.25 per serving. For you, that means this recipe stays below $6 per serving while preserving the most important dinner component, the chicken.

Where to Buy Cheapest

For the garlic brown sugar chicken recipe, the cheapest tracked store split is Foodbasics for the $10.57 boneless skinless chicken thighs and Fortinos for the $4.49 broccoli, $3.99 margarine, $1.54 garlic powder, and $0.39 dark brown sugar. Source: eezly real-time price tracking, as of May 2026. You should prioritize the Foodbasics chicken price first because it is more than half of this recipe’s total cost.

If you are shopping after work or trying to reduce your store stops, you can use this recipe as a flexible plan. The Foodbasics chicken and Fortinos broccoli are the two core items; the margarine, garlic powder, and brown sugar are low-cost or reusable pantry-style items that help carry flavour across multiple meals. Your best savings move is not necessarily cutting seasoning, because the garlic powder and brown sugar together cost $1.93 in the tracked basket. The bigger lever is whether you include or remove the $5.99 baby carrots from the first recipe.

Recipe 3: Broccoli-Carrot Skillet — $4.10 Per Serving

Broccoli-Carrot Skillet costs $16.40 total and $4.10 per serving for four servings, making it the cheapest Ontario dinner recipe in this article. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. This recipe uses broccoli from Fortinos, baby carrots from Foodbasics, margarine from Fortinos, garlic powder from Fortinos, and dark brown sugar from Fortinos.

This is the lowest-cost recipe because it removes the $10.57 chicken thighs, which are the largest single ingredient cost in the full stir-fry basket. You still get a warm skillet-style dinner built around vegetables and seasoning, with broccoli at $4.49, baby carrots at $5.99, margarine at $3.99, garlic powder at $1.54, and dark brown sugar at $0.39. The total comes to $16.40, which is $10.57 less than the full Chicken Stir-Fry because the chicken is not included.

You should consider this recipe when you need the cheapest possible dinner from the priced basket or when you are pairing the skillet with leftovers, rice, noodles, eggs, or another protein already in your kitchen. The article does not assign extra prices to those additions because only the provided Ontario ingredient prices are used here. As a standalone costed recipe, the broccoli-carrot skillet gives you the lowest tracked cost per serving in the set and helps stretch your grocery budget when meat prices are the constraint.

Ingredients with Prices

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

The total is calculated as $4.49 + $5.99 + $3.99 + $1.54 + $0.39 = $16.40. Dividing $16.40 by four servings gives exactly $4.10 per serving. If your target search is “cheap dinner recipes under $5” or “budget meals Ontario,” this is the strongest match from the available price data.

Where to Buy Cheapest

For the broccoli-carrot skillet, you should buy broccoli at Fortinos for $4.49, baby carrots at Foodbasics for $5.99, margarine at Fortinos for $3.99, garlic powder at Fortinos for $1.54, and dark brown sugar at Fortinos for $0.39. Source: eezly real-time price tracking, as of May 2026. This store split keeps the recipe at $16.40 total and $4.10 per serving.

The main decision for you is whether the extra store stop is worth it for the baby carrots. Because baby carrots are the most expensive item in this meatless recipe at $5.99, they account for 36.5% of the total recipe cost. Broccoli accounts for 27.4%, while margarine accounts for 24.3%. Garlic powder and dark brown sugar together account for $1.93, or 11.8% of the recipe total, so cutting flavourings would not reduce the cost nearly as much as changing the vegetable mix.

Ontario Basket Index: Six Priced Staples for These Recipes

The Ontario basket for these recipes totals $26.97 across six priced ingredients, with Foodbasics supplying the chicken thighs and baby carrots and Fortinos supplying broccoli, margarine, garlic powder, and dark brown sugar. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. This basket index is useful because it shows exactly which items drive the cost of your cheap dinner recipes under $7.

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

The basket index shows why the chicken-based recipes cost more than the vegetable-only recipe. Boneless skinless chicken thighs are $10.57 at Foodbasics, which is more than the combined $10.41 cost of broccoli, margarine, garlic powder, and dark brown sugar at Fortinos. If you include chicken, your recipe moves into the $5.25 to $6.74 per-serving range. If you leave it out, your recipe can fall to $4.10 per serving using the same tracked Ontario prices.

You should also notice how reusable ingredients affect the economics of meal planning. Margarine, garlic powder, and dark brown sugar appear in all three recipes, and together they cost $5.92 in the basket. That means you can keep the flavour base consistent while changing the main ingredient mix. This is one of the simplest ways to make budget meals in Ontario feel planned rather than improvised.

Top Cost-Saving Recipe Swaps and Deal Benchmarks

The biggest cost-saving move in this Ontario recipe set is switching from the full Chicken Stir-Fry at $6.74 per serving to the Broccoli-Carrot Skillet at $4.10 per serving, a reduction of $2.64 per serving. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. If you are trying to keep dinners under $5 per serving, the meatless skillet is the only recipe in this basket that reaches that threshold.

Because no separate regular-price field is provided in the source data, the benchmark column below uses the full Chicken Stir-Fry serving cost of $6.74 as the comparison point for recipe-level savings. The item prices remain the actual tracked Ontario prices from Fortinos and Foodbasics.

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

This table shows that your largest cost reductions come from changing the main ingredient structure, not from cutting small flavour items. Removing the $10.57 chicken reduces the full $26.97 basket by 39.2%. Removing the $5.99 baby carrots reduces the basket by 22.2%. By contrast, the garlic powder and brown sugar together cost only $1.93, so removing them would make the meals blander without dramatically changing your grocery bill.

For practical meal planning, your best approach is to decide how many chicken dinners you need in the week. If you want two chicken-based servings and two lower-cost vegetable servings, you can rotate the garlic brown sugar chicken with the broccoli-carrot skillet. If you want the most complete four-serving dinner from this dataset, the full Chicken Stir-Fry remains the clearest choice at $6.74 per serving.

Price Comparison Table: All Recipes Side by Side

The cheapest of the three Ontario recipes is the Broccoli-Carrot Skillet at $4.10 per serving, while the highest-cost option is the full Chicken Stir-Fry at $6.74 per serving. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. Comparing the recipes side by side helps you choose based on your target budget rather than relying on guesswork.

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

If your maximum dinner budget is $5 per serving, choose the broccoli-carrot skillet. If your maximum is $6 per serving and you want chicken, choose the garlic brown sugar chicken with broccoli. If you want the fullest dinner using every priced ingredient in the basket, choose the Chicken Stir-Fry at $6.74 per serving.

This comparison also shows how small menu changes can produce measurable savings. The garlic brown sugar chicken costs $1.49 less per serving than the full Chicken Stir-Fry because it excludes the $5.99 baby carrots. The broccoli-carrot skillet costs $2.64 less per serving than the full Chicken Stir-Fry because it excludes the $10.57 chicken thighs. For your weekly plan, that means the cheapest recipes are not necessarily complicated; they are simply the ones that use the highest-cost ingredient less often.

How to Use These Prices for Ontario Meal Planning

You can build a practical Ontario meal plan by treating the $26.97 Chicken Stir-Fry basket as a flexible base rather than a single one-night purchase. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. The same six priced ingredients support three dinners ranging from $4.10 to $6.74 per serving, which gives you room to adjust based on your budget and appetite.

Start by deciding whether chicken is essential for the meal. If it is, you have two choices: the full Chicken Stir-Fry at $6.74 per serving or the garlic brown sugar chicken with broccoli at $5.25 per serving. If chicken is not essential, the broccoli-carrot skillet brings the cost down to $4.10 per serving. This is a useful framework when you are shopping in Ontario and trying to stretch your grocery budget without relying on vague “cheap meal” claims.

You should also compare recipes by total cost, not just ingredient count. The garlic brown sugar chicken uses five ingredients and costs $20.98, while the broccoli-carrot skillet also uses five ingredients and costs $16.40. The difference is entirely explained by the chicken versus carrots-and-broccoli structure. When you understand which item is driving the total, your grocery decisions become clearer and easier to repeat.

Why These Recipes Work for Budget Meals in Ontario

These recipes work for budget meals in Ontario because they use a short, overlapping ingredient list with real tracked prices from Fortinos and Foodbasics. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. Instead of building three unrelated meals, you reuse broccoli, margarine, garlic powder, and brown sugar across multiple dinners.

This matters because many cheap dinner recipes look inexpensive on paper but require one-off sauces, herbs, or specialty products that increase the real checkout total. In this basket, the flavour system is simple: margarine for cooking, garlic powder for savoury depth, and dark brown sugar for a small amount of sweetness. Those three items cost $5.92 together in the tracked Ontario data and support every recipe in the article.

For your own planning, the most useful takeaway is to anchor your meals around a few repeatable ingredients and then vary the protein or vegetables. If you are using eezly’s AI-powered grocery price comparison tools, you can compare store-level prices across Ontario banners such as Food Basics, Fortinos, FreshCo, Loblaws, Metro, No Frills, Real Canadian Superstore, Walmart, Zehrs, Sobeys, and Foodland. That kind of real-time price tracking helps you choose where to buy the largest cost drivers before you commit to a weekly meal plan.