Quebec Budget Meals: Chicken Salad from $3.42/Serving

Key Facts

• Chicken Salad costs $60.56 for 10 servings, or $6.06 per serving in Quebec. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast is priced at $18.83 at Metro. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• Nonfat Yogurt Plain Sweetened is priced at $7.49 at Maxi. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• Sealtest 1% Cottage Cheese Low Fat 250 g is priced at $3.99 at IGA. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• Celery and Red Onions are each priced at $4.99 at Metro. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• The lowest-cost recipe variation in this guide is Cottage Cheese Crunch Salad at $3.42 per serving. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)

Introduction: The Cheapest Quebec Dinner Recipe Is $3.42 Per Serving

Cottage Cheese Crunch Salad is the cheapest recipe in this Quebec dinner-costing guide at $34.24 for 10 servings, or $3.42 per serving. That total uses real June 2026 prices for Sealtest 1% Cottage Cheese Low Fat at $3.99 at IGA, celery at $4.99 at Metro, green bell peppers at $7.99 at Metro, red onions at $4.99 at Metro, salad seasoning at $3.79 at Canada inc., and Quick Lemon Juice 1 L at $8.49 at Canada inc. If you want cheap dinner recipes under $7 in Quebec, this recipe set gives you three practical options priced at $3.42, $4.36 and $6.06 per serving.

The main lesson for your grocery basket is that the lowest-cost meal is not always the smallest basket; it is the basket that uses the most efficient ingredients for the number of servings. Chicken adds valuable protein, but the $18.83 Metro price for boneless skinless chicken breast is the single largest cost driver in the full Chicken Salad. If you want a lighter dinner or a side-dish-style budget meal, the cottage cheese version lowers your per-serving cost by $2.64 compared with the full chicken recipe.

For Quebec households shopping across Metro, Maxi, IGA and other banners such as Super C, Provigo, Walmart and Costco, the practical takeaway is straightforward: compare ingredient by ingredient, not just store by store. In this data set, Metro has the chicken breast, red onions, celery and green bell peppers; Maxi has the yogurt; IGA has the cottage cheese; and Canada inc. has the lemon juice and seasoning. Your cheapest recipe depends on how much protein you want, how many servings you need, and whether you are building a full dinner salad or a lighter budget meal.

Recipe 1: Cottage Cheese Crunch Salad — $3.42 per serving

Cottage Cheese Crunch Salad costs $34.24 for 10 servings, or $3.42 per serving, making it the cheapest recipe in this Quebec budget meals guide. The cost is driven by a low $3.99 price for Sealtest 1% Cottage Cheese Low Fat 250 g at IGA, plus affordable vegetable and seasoning ingredients from Metro and Canada inc. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

This recipe works best when you want a cold dinner salad, a lunch-prep base, or a side dish that can stretch across several meals. You still get a creamy element from cottage cheese, crunch from celery and green bell peppers, and acidity from lemon juice. Because the recipe does not use chicken breast, you avoid the highest-priced ingredient in the full chicken salad basket.

You should choose this recipe when your priority is getting the lowest possible per-serving cost from the provided Quebec ingredient prices. At $3.42 per serving, it costs $0.94 less per serving than the simplified chicken yogurt salad and $2.64 less per serving than the full Chicken Salad. Over 10 servings, that difference is meaningful: the cottage cheese version totals $34.24, while the full Chicken Salad totals $60.56.

Ingredients with Prices

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

Where to Buy Cheapest

For this recipe, your cheapest listed cottage cheese option is Sealtest 1% Cottage Cheese Low Fat 250 g at IGA for $3.99. Metro supplies the vegetable base, with celery at $4.99, red onions at $4.99, and green bell peppers at $7.99. Canada inc. supplies the flavouring items, with salad seasoning at $3.79 and Quick Lemon Juice 1 L at $8.49.

Your best strategy is to treat this as a split-store basket if you already shop near more than one banner. IGA gives you the lowest listed cottage cheese price in the data, while Metro carries the vegetables used in the basket. If you prefer fewer store stops, you should weigh your travel time against the $3.42 per-serving result; the recipe is already the cheapest of the three even before considering convenience.

Recipe 2: Chicken Yogurt Salad — $4.36 per serving

Chicken Yogurt Salad costs $43.59 for 10 servings, or $4.36 per serving, using chicken breast, yogurt, celery, lemon juice and seasoning. This recipe keeps the core protein of the full Chicken Salad but removes higher-cost add-ins such as green bell peppers, red onions and cottage cheese. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

This is the best middle-ground recipe if you want a protein-based dinner while keeping your cost under $5 per serving. The $18.83 Metro price for boneless skinless chicken breast remains the largest line item, but the recipe avoids the $7.99 green bell pepper cost and the $4.99 red onion cost from the full version. You still get creaminess from Nonfat Yogurt Plain Sweetened at $7.49 at Maxi and brightness from Quick Lemon Juice 1 L at $8.49 at Canada inc.

You should choose this recipe when you want chicken in your dinner but do not need the full salad basket. At $4.36 per serving, it is $1.70 cheaper per serving than the full Chicken Salad. Across 10 servings, the simplified version costs $43.59 compared with $60.56 for the full version, a difference of $16.97 based on the itemized prices above.

Ingredients with Prices

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

Where to Buy Cheapest

Metro is the key stop for this recipe because it carries the boneless skinless chicken breast at $18.83 and celery at $4.99 in the provided Quebec pricing. Maxi is the listed source for Nonfat Yogurt Plain Sweetened at $7.49. Canada inc. supplies the Quick Lemon Juice 1 L bottle at $8.49 and salad seasoning at $3.79.

If you are comparing budget meals in Quebec, this recipe shows why you should price the protein separately from the rest of the basket. Chicken breast accounts for more than any other single ingredient in this recipe, so your final cost depends heavily on that one Metro price. Your best move is to use the chicken efficiently across all 10 servings and avoid adding extra ingredients unless they are already in your fridge.

Recipe 3: Full Chicken Salad — $6.06 per serving

The full Chicken Salad costs $60.56 for 10 servings, or $6.06 per serving, using all eight priced ingredients in the Quebec data set. This is the most expensive recipe in the guide, but it is also the most complete version, combining chicken breast, yogurt, cottage cheese, vegetables, lemon juice and seasoning. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

This recipe is best if you want a full dinner salad that can serve a household, support meal prep, or cover multiple lunches and dinners. It includes boneless skinless chicken breast at $18.83 at Metro, Nonfat Yogurt Plain Sweetened at $7.49 at Maxi, Red Onions at $4.99 at Metro, Celery at $4.99 at Metro, Green Bell Peppers at $7.99 at Metro, Quick Lemon Juice 1 L at $8.49 at Canada inc., Salad Seasoning at $3.79 at Canada inc., and Sealtest 1% Cottage Cheese Low Fat 250 g at $3.99 at IGA.

You should choose the full Chicken Salad when variety matters more than the absolute lowest cost. Compared with the $3.42 cottage cheese version, the full recipe adds chicken and yogurt while keeping the vegetable crunch. Compared with the $4.36 simplified chicken yogurt salad, it adds red onions, green bell peppers and cottage cheese for a fuller texture and more complete salad profile.

Ingredients with Prices

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

Where to Buy Cheapest

Metro is the main store in the full Chicken Salad basket, with red onions at $4.99, boneless skinless chicken breast at $18.83, celery at $4.99 and green bell peppers at $7.99. Maxi contributes the Nonfat Yogurt Plain Sweetened at $7.49. IGA contributes the Sealtest 1% Cottage Cheese Low Fat 250 g at $3.99, while Canada inc. contributes the Quick Lemon Juice 1 L bottle at $8.49 and Salad Seasoning at $3.79.

If you are shopping for cheap dinner recipes under $7 per serving in Quebec, this full version still qualifies at $6.06 per serving. The trade-off is that you must buy more individual ingredients than you need for the simpler versions. If your pantry already has lemon juice or seasoning, your actual out-of-pocket trip may be lower, but the recipe costing here uses the full listed prices so you can compare each meal consistently.

Basket Index: Quebec Ingredient Prices by Store

Metro carries four of the eight priced ingredients in the full Chicken Salad basket, including the $18.83 boneless skinless chicken breast that drives the overall recipe cost. Maxi, IGA and Canada inc. each supply specific supporting ingredients, which means your lowest-cost approach may involve more than one stop. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

The basket index below is not a generic grocery list; it is the exact priced ingredient set used to cost the full Chicken Salad recipe. You can use it to decide which items are worth buying as part of a planned meal and which ingredients may be optional depending on your budget. If you are trying to build budget meals in Quebec, this kind of ingredient-level comparison is more useful than simply asking which banner is cheapest overall.

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

This table also shows why small items can have an outsized role in your final dinner cost. Lemon juice at $8.49 costs more than the yogurt at $7.49 and more than the green bell peppers at $7.99, so it is not just the protein that matters. If you use the lemon juice across multiple meals, your household gets more value from that purchase than if you use it once.

Top Ingredient Deals for These Cheapest Recipes

The best-value ingredient in this recipe set is Salad Seasoning at $3.79 from Canada inc., while the lowest-priced protein-style ingredient is Sealtest 1% Cottage Cheese Low Fat 250 g at $3.99 from IGA. The most expensive ingredient is Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast at $18.83 from Metro. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

Because the source data provides current tracked prices rather than separate flyer regular prices, the table below uses the tracked June 2026 price as the reference price and shows 0.0% price variance. This keeps the arithmetic transparent and avoids overstating savings that are not present in the provided data. You can still use the table to identify the lowest absolute prices in the meal basket.

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

For your dinner plan, the actionable takeaway is to build meals around the lower-priced ingredients when your goal is cost control. Cottage cheese, celery, red onions and seasoning can anchor a lower-cost salad-style meal. Chicken breast raises the total cost, but it also makes the meal more filling, which may be worth it if you are replacing takeout or preparing several dinners in advance.

Price Comparison Table: All Recipes Side by Side

Cottage Cheese Crunch Salad is the cheapest recipe at $3.42 per serving, followed by Chicken Yogurt Salad at $4.36 and full Chicken Salad at $6.06. The difference between the least expensive and most expensive recipe is $2.64 per serving. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

When you compare these recipes side by side, the clearest cost driver is chicken breast. The two recipes that include chicken cost $4.36 and $6.06 per serving, while the no-chicken cottage cheese version costs $3.42 per serving. That does not make chicken a poor choice; it simply means you should use it deliberately when you want a higher-protein dinner.

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

If you are searching for cheap dinner recipes under $5 in Quebec, the first two recipes qualify. If your threshold is cheap dinner recipes under $7, all three recipes fit. Your best choice depends on whether you want the lowest price, the most protein, or the most complete salad basket.

How to Shop These Budget Meals in Quebec

You can lower the friction of these budget meals by planning your store stops around the highest-impact ingredients first. Metro matters most for the chicken recipes because Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast is $18.83 there, and Metro also supplies celery, red onions and green bell peppers in the data. Maxi matters for the yogurt at $7.49, while IGA matters for the $3.99 cottage cheese.

If you are shopping in Quebec across banners such as Metro, Maxi, IGA, Super C, Provigo, Walmart, Costco and Wholesale Club, your decision should start with the recipe you want to cook. For the cheapest meal, start with IGA cottage cheese and Metro vegetables. For the chicken meals, start with Metro chicken breast and then decide whether the extra yogurt, lemon juice and vegetables are worth the additional basket cost.

You should also think in terms of servings rather than package prices alone. A $60.56 full Chicken Salad may look expensive at checkout, but it makes 10 servings at $6.06 each. A $34.24 cottage cheese salad is easier on the basket and lands at $3.42 per serving, but it may not replace the same kind of protein-heavy dinner for every household. The right answer depends on your appetite, schedule and whether you are preparing lunches, dinners or both.

Using AI Price Comparison for Meal Planning

AI can help you save on groceries by comparing ingredient prices across stores before you build your meal plan. In this article, the recipe costing uses real ingredient prices from Metro, Maxi, IGA and Canada inc., then converts those prices into total recipe costs and per-serving costs. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

For your weekly planning, the most useful approach is to ask which recipe gives you the best cost per serving for the type of meal you need. If you want the cheapest possible dinner salad, the $3.42 Cottage Cheese Crunch Salad is the answer. If you want chicken but still want to stay under $5 per serving, the $4.36 Chicken Yogurt Salad is the better fit. If you want the full ingredient profile, the $6.06 Chicken Salad remains under $7 per serving.

You can explore current grocery deals at https://eezly.com/deals, compare recipe ideas at https://eezly.com/recipes, and build broader dinner plans at https://eezly.com/meal-plans. If you often shop a specific banner, you can also review store-focused pages such as https://eezly.com/stores/maxi or browse new grocery analysis at https://eezly.com/blog. The goal is not to make meal planning complicated; it is to prevent you from discovering the total cost only after you have already filled your cart.