Quebec Budget Dinner: $3.12 Hamburger Rice Skillet

Key Facts

• Hamburger Rice Skillet costs $21.82 total in Quebec. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• The recipe serves 7 people at $3.12 per serving. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• Lean Ground Beef is priced at $9.49 at Metro. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• Whole Water Chestnuts cost $1.50 at Maxi. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• Red Carrots cost $1.10 at Maxi. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• Instant Rice is priced at $3.49 at IGA. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)

Introduction: The Cheapest Priced Dinner Is Hamburger Rice Skillet at $3.12 Per Serving

Hamburger Rice Skillet is the cheapest fully priced dinner recipe in this Quebec basket, costing $21.82 total for 7 servings, or $3.12 per serving. The ingredient prices come from Metro, Maxi and IGA, giving you a practical example of how a budget meal in Quebec can be built by shopping across more than one banner. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking.]

For Quebec households looking for cheap dinner recipes under $4 per serving, this recipe is a strong example because it combines a higher-cost protein, lean ground beef at $9.49 from Metro, with lower-cost pantry and produce items such as red carrots at $1.10 from Maxi and onion recipe and soup mix at $1.25 from Maxi. You do not need a long ingredient list to build a filling dinner; in this case, six priced ingredients produce seven servings. That matters when you are trying to stretch a weekly grocery budget without relying only on pasta or canned goods.

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.

This article focuses on Quebec prices as of June 2026, using the active grocery banners available in the province, including Metro, Maxi, IGA, Super C, Walmart, Provigo, Costco and Wholesale Club. The fully priced recipe available in the data is Hamburger Rice Skillet, so the detailed recipe costing is centred on that meal rather than padded with invented prices. Where the article compares ingredients, it uses only the real prices supplied for this Quebec basket.

Recipe 1: Hamburger Rice Skillet — $3.12 Per Serving

Hamburger Rice Skillet costs $21.82 total in Quebec and serves 7 people, making it a $3.12-per-serving dinner as of June 2026. The recipe is built around lean ground beef at $9.49 from Metro, instant rice at $3.49 from IGA, and lower-priced supporting ingredients from Maxi, including red carrots at $1.10, whole water chestnuts at $1.50 and onion recipe and soup mix at $1.25. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking.]

This is the kind of budget meal Quebec households often look for because it combines protein, starch and vegetables in one pan. You are not paying for multiple premium ingredients, and the most expensive item, the lean ground beef, carries much of the recipe’s flavour and satiety. The rice extends the meal across seven servings, while the carrots, celery and water chestnuts add texture and volume without pushing the serving cost above $4.

At $3.12 per serving, this recipe fits comfortably into the search category of “cheap dinner recipes under $4” and “budget meals Quebec.” If you are feeding a family, the seven-serving yield also gives you flexibility: you can serve four portions at dinner and keep three portions for lunches, or you can use the whole skillet for a larger table. Your best savings strategy is not simply choosing one store, but buying the lowest-priced ingredient where it appears in the basket.

Ingredients with Prices

The full priced basket for Hamburger Rice Skillet totals $21.82 across six ingredients. Metro is the source for the most expensive ingredient, lean ground beef at $9.49, while Maxi supplies three of the lower-cost items: whole water chestnuts, red carrots and onion recipe and soup mix. IGA supplies instant rice at $3.49.

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

You should read this ingredient table as a practical shopping plan rather than a single-store receipt. If you buy only at Metro, you capture the beef price and celery price shown here, but you would miss the Maxi prices for water chestnuts, carrots and soup mix in this data set. If you buy only at IGA, you capture the instant rice price but not the lower-cost Maxi ingredients. The lowest priced basket shown is therefore a mixed-store approach using Metro, Maxi and IGA.

Where to Buy Cheapest

Metro supplies the key protein for this recipe, with lean ground beef priced at $9.49, while Maxi supplies the lowest-priced supporting ingredients available in the basket: red carrots at $1.10, onion recipe and soup mix at $1.25, and whole water chestnuts at $1.50. IGA supplies instant rice at $3.49. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking.]

If you are planning your route, prioritize the ingredients with the biggest impact first. Lean ground beef at $9.49 is the largest single line item, so confirming that Metro price before you shop matters more than optimizing a one-dollar ingredient. Celery at $4.99 from Metro is the second-largest item in this basket, followed by instant rice at $3.49 from IGA. Together, those three items represent the main cost drivers of the meal.

For the lower-cost ingredients, Maxi is the most important stop in this recipe’s supporting basket. Red carrots at $1.10, onion recipe and soup mix at $1.25, and whole water chestnuts at $1.50 keep the recipe from becoming beef-heavy and expensive. Your practical choice depends on your neighbourhood and transit pattern: if you already pass a Maxi and a Metro, splitting the basket can help you preserve the $3.12-per-serving result.

Recipe 2: Budget Skillet Base Using the Same Quebec Basket — Pricing Depends on the Same $21.82 Ingredient Set

A second budget dinner approach is to use the Hamburger Rice Skillet ingredient basket as a flexible skillet base, with the same priced ingredients totalling $21.82 across 7 servings. Because the available Quebec data provides one fully costed recipe, this section does not invent a separate recipe total; instead, it shows you how the same priced basket can support a budget meal format without changing the verified cost. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking.]

You can treat the lean ground beef, instant rice, carrots, celery and seasoning mix as a basic skillet framework. The rice provides the volume, the beef provides protein, and the vegetables help distribute the cost across more servings. This is useful when you want a cheap dinner recipe that does not depend on a long list of fresh herbs, specialty sauces or premium packaged items.

The key cost lesson is that your dinner remains affordable because the recipe uses a $9.49 protein across seven servings. That puts the beef component at a much lower per-serving impact than it would have in a four-serving recipe. When you combine it with $3.49 instant rice and low-priced Maxi ingredients such as $1.10 red carrots and $1.25 onion recipe and soup mix, you create a meal structure that is inexpensive without feeling sparse.

Ingredients with Prices

The priced ingredients remain the same verified Quebec basket. You should not treat this as a new eezly-generated recipe total; rather, it is a practical variation using the same costed groceries.

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

Where to Buy Cheapest

For this skillet-style budget meal, you still use Metro for lean ground beef at $9.49 and celery at $4.99, Maxi for the lower-cost add-ins, and IGA for instant rice at $3.49. This is the most concrete shopping pattern supported by the June 2026 Quebec data. If you want the lowest verified cost, you should keep the store assignments attached to each ingredient rather than assuming one banner will be cheapest for everything.

This matters for Quebec grocery planning because banners often compete differently by category. In this basket, Maxi is especially useful for small basket items under $2, while Metro carries the beef price used in the recipe costing. IGA’s role is specific but important: instant rice at $3.49 is the starch that helps turn a single package of ground beef into seven servings.

Recipe 3: Rice-and-Beef Leftover Bowls — Built from the $3.12-Per-Serving Skillet

Rice-and-beef leftover bowls can be built from the same Hamburger Rice Skillet batch, which costs $21.82 total and $3.12 per serving in Quebec. The practical value is that one seven-serving skillet can cover dinner and planned leftovers without requiring a second fully priced grocery basket. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking.]

If you cook the full skillet for a smaller household, your leftovers become part of the recipe’s value. For example, a two-person household could use two servings for dinner and keep several portions for lunches or a second dinner. You are still working from the same verified cost: $21.82 total and $3.12 per portion. That makes this meal especially useful if you are comparing budget meals in Quebec not only by dinner cost, but by how far the batch stretches.

The ingredient structure supports leftovers well because rice-based skillet meals reheat more predictably than delicate salads or fried items. The celery and carrots add body, while the soup mix gives the dish a consistent seasoning base. If you are trying to avoid buying separate lunch ingredients, using this recipe as planned leftovers can help you keep your grocery basket simpler.

For food budgeting, the important point is not that leftovers are free; it is that the original recipe’s seven-serving yield is already reflected in the $3.12 serving cost. You should portion the skillet after cooking so the servings remain realistic. If one person takes a double portion, your actual per-meal cost changes, but the recipe’s baseline remains seven servings at $3.12 each.

Price Comparison Table: Quebec Dinner Basket Side by Side

Hamburger Rice Skillet is the only fully priced dinner recipe in this Quebec data set, with a verified total cost of $21.82 and a cost per serving of $3.12. The comparison below presents the fully costed recipe alongside two practical meal uses that rely on the same verified ingredient basket rather than invented new grocery totals. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking.]

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

This comparison is useful because it separates recipe costing from meal planning. A recipe cost tells you what one batch costs; a meal plan tells you how to use that batch efficiently. In this case, the batch is large enough to support dinner plus leftovers, which is why the $3.12-per-serving figure is more useful than the $21.82 basket total by itself.

If you are searching for the cheapest recipes, you should compare meals on cost per serving rather than total basket cost alone. A $21.82 grocery basket may look larger than a $12 dinner, but if it feeds seven people, the per-person cost can still be lower. Here, the seven-serving yield is what makes the recipe work as a budget meal in Quebec.

Basket Index: Six Staple Prices Across Metro, Maxi and IGA

The Quebec basket index shows that the lowest-priced items in this recipe are concentrated at Maxi, while the highest-priced protein item is at Metro and the rice is at IGA. Red carrots cost $1.10 at Maxi, onion recipe and soup mix costs $1.25 at Maxi, and whole water chestnuts cost $1.50 at Maxi. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking.]

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

This table helps you see the recipe as a grocery basket rather than a list of instructions. If you want the lowest verified cost, you buy each item where the price appears in the data. You do not need to assume that one store wins the entire basket. In fact, this recipe demonstrates why Quebec budget grocery planning often benefits from comparing banners item by item.

The biggest practical takeaway is that small ingredients matter when they appear in multiples. Maxi’s three items cost $1.50, $1.10 and $1.25 respectively, keeping the supporting part of the recipe low. Metro’s role is still central because lean ground beef is the main protein, and IGA’s instant rice gives the recipe its seven-serving structure.

Top Priced Ingredients for This Quebec Budget Dinner

The top priced ingredients in this Quebec dinner basket range from $1.10 for red carrots at Maxi to $9.49 for lean ground beef at Metro. Because the data provided does not include regular prices, the table reports verified current prices and does not calculate savings percentages that would require unprovided regular-price data. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking.]

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

For your shopping list, the table makes the cost hierarchy clear. The ground beef is the ingredient you should watch most closely because it is the largest single price in the recipe. Celery is the next most expensive listed item at $4.99, while instant rice at $3.49 sits in the middle of the basket. The remaining Maxi items are all under $2 each, which helps keep the finished meal at $3.12 per serving.

The “top deals” concept in recipe costing is slightly different from flyer shopping. A deal is not only a discount from a regular price; it can also be an ingredient that makes the meal affordable because its current price is low within the basket. In this case, red carrots at $1.10 and onion recipe and soup mix at $1.25 are important budget anchors even without a stated discount percentage.

How to Shop This Recipe in Quebec Without Overspending

The best way to shop this recipe is to split the basket by verified lowest store: buy lean ground beef and celery at Metro, water chestnuts, red carrots and onion recipe and soup mix at Maxi, and instant rice at IGA. This store pattern supports the $21.82 total and $3.12-per-serving result as of June 2026. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking.]

You should start by checking whether the higher-cost items fit your route. Lean ground beef at $9.49 and celery at $4.99 are both at Metro in the provided data, so Metro is the most important single stop for the largest dollar items. If you only have time for one extra stop, Maxi is the next most useful because it supplies three low-cost ingredients for this recipe. IGA is specific to the rice item, and instant rice at $3.49 is important because it stretches the beef across seven servings.

For a Quebec household, this type of recipe is also useful because it is not overly dependent on seasonal produce pricing. Carrots, celery, rice, soup mix and ground beef are common ingredients across major banners, which makes the meal easier to plan than a recipe built around specialty fresh items. You can use eezly’s AI-powered grocery price comparison to check whether the same ingredients remain the best buys before you shop.

If your goal is “budget meals Quebec,” your habit should be to evaluate recipes by total cost, servings and ingredient concentration. A recipe with six ingredients is easier to price accurately than one with fifteen. It is also easier to substitute carefully if one item is unavailable, although you should avoid assuming a substitute has the same cost unless you verify it.

Why This Recipe Works for Cheap Dinner Planning Under $4

Hamburger Rice Skillet works as a cheap dinner under $4 per serving because the $21.82 basket is divided across 7 servings, producing a verified $3.12 per serving. The combination of $9.49 lean ground beef, $3.49 instant rice and several low-cost supporting ingredients keeps the meal filling without raising the per-person cost. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking.]

The rice is doing much of the budgeting work. When you use instant rice at $3.49 from IGA, you are adding bulk that helps spread the protein cost. The carrots and celery add vegetables, while the water chestnuts add texture that makes the meal feel less monotonous. The onion recipe and soup mix at $1.25 from Maxi provides seasoning without requiring several separate spice or sauce purchases.

You should also notice that the recipe avoids expensive extras. There is no cheese, cream, premium sauce, imported specialty vegetable or separate side dish in the priced basket. That simplicity is why the cost per serving stays low. When you are planning your own cheapest recipes, look for meals where one protein is extended by an affordable starch and supported by a few lower-cost vegetables or seasonings.

For families, the seven-serving yield is especially useful. If you are cooking for three or four people, you can turn one batch into dinner plus leftovers. If you are cooking for one or two, you can portion and refrigerate several meals. The grocery cost is still $21.82, but your meal planning value improves when you avoid buying additional lunches or takeout to fill the week.

How AI-Powered Grocery Price Comparison Helps With Recipe Costing

AI-powered grocery price comparison helps you reduce grocery costs by matching recipe ingredients to current store-level prices before you shop. In this Quebec basket, eezly’s real-time price tracking identifies Metro for lean ground beef at $9.49, Maxi for red carrots at $1.10, and IGA for instant rice at $3.49. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking.]

For recipe costing, the benefit is precision. You are not guessing that a recipe is affordable because it “uses cheap ingredients.” You are looking at actual priced ingredients and a calculated cost per serving. That is why the $3.12 figure is more actionable than a generic claim that rice skillets are inexpensive. You can compare the serving cost against your own grocery budget and decide whether the recipe belongs in your weekly meal plan.

You can also use this method to compare store strategy. If a recipe depends heavily on one expensive ingredient, you should verify that ingredient first. If a recipe uses several small pantry items, you should check whether one banner consistently carries those items at lower prices. In this example, the split between Metro, Maxi and IGA gives you a more optimized basket than simply assuming every item should be purchased at one store.

For more planning, you can compare live grocery deals at https://eezly.com/deals, browse recipe ideas at https://eezly.com/recipes, and build grocery-conscious plans at https://eezly.com/meal-plans. If you regularly shop at Maxi, you can also review store-specific options at https://eezly.com/stores/maxi. These tools are most useful when you already know the kind of meal you want and need to confirm the current cost.