Quebec Potato Skillet: $5.22/Serving Budget Meal

Key Facts

• Potato, Carrot & Zucchini Skillet costs $20.86 total, or $5.22 per serving. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• Vegetarian Pot Pie costs $60.51 total, or $7.56 per serving, in Quebec. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• Green Beans are priced at $0.88 at Maxi, the lowest item in this basket. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• Sliced Carrots are priced at $1.79 at Metro for this Quebec recipe basket. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• Robin Hood Whole Wheat All Purpose Flour, 2.5 kg, is priced at $5.50 at Maxi. (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 Quebec Dinner Here Is $5.22 Per Serving

The cheapest recipe in this Quebec price analysis is the Potato, Carrot & Zucchini Skillet at $5.22 per serving. The full ingredient basket costs $20.86 using listed prices from IGA, Metro and Maxi, with Green Beans at $0.88 at Maxi, Zucchini at $1.72 at Maxi and Sliced Carrots at $1.79 at Metro. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

For your weekly meal planning, the practical takeaway is that simple vegetable-and-starch dinners remain among the strongest budget meals in Quebec when you compare stores item by item. Maxi has several of the lowest-priced vegetables in this dataset, including Green Beans at $0.88, Zucchini at $1.72, Broccoli at $3.50 and Cauliflower at $4.79. Metro is competitive on Sliced Carrots at $1.79 and Margarine at $2.99, while IGA carries the 907 g Raphaelle Red Skin Yellow Flesh Potatoes at $3.99 and Al Rif Chopped Frozen Spinach at $1.99.

This article costs three dinner recipes using only the Quebec ingredient prices supplied for May 2026. You will see the full ingredient basket for each meal, where each item is cheapest in the available data, and how the recipes compare side by side. The recipes are designed for people looking for budget meals Quebec shoppers can actually price at familiar banners such as IGA, Maxi and Metro.

Recipe 1: Potato, Carrot & Zucchini Skillet — $5.22 Per Serving

Potato, Carrot & Zucchini Skillet costs $20.86 total, or $5.22 per serving for 4 servings, using Quebec prices from IGA, Metro and Maxi. The lowest-priced ingredients in this recipe are Green Beans at $0.88 at Maxi, Zucchini at $1.72 at Maxi and Sliced Carrots at $1.79 at Metro. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

This is the most affordable dinner in the comparison because it relies on low-cost vegetables, potatoes and pantry seasonings rather than higher-priced specialty items. You can use the potatoes as the base, stretch the skillet with carrots, zucchini and green beans, and finish it with rosemary, black pepper and margarine. The basket includes full product prices rather than fractional spoonful estimates, which makes the costing more useful when you are planning what you actually need to buy.

Ingredients with Prices

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

Your main cost driver in this recipe is Black Pepper at $6.49 at Maxi, but that is also a pantry item you will likely use across multiple meals. If you already have pepper at home, your immediate out-of-pocket cost for the fresh ingredients would be lower, but the full priced basket is the cleaner benchmark for comparing recipes. The fresh produce portion alone is modest: potatoes, carrots, zucchini and green beans total $8.38.

Where to Buy Cheapest

Maxi is the key store for this skillet because it has Zucchini at $1.72, Green Beans at $0.88, Rosemary at $3.00 and Black Pepper at $6.49 in the provided Quebec pricing. Metro fills two important gaps with Sliced Carrots at $1.79 and Margarine at $2.99. IGA carries the potato base at $3.99 for the Raphaelle Red Skin Yellow Flesh 0.93 kg package.

If you want to minimize trips, you should decide whether the $0.88 Green Beans and $1.72 Zucchini at Maxi are worth prioritizing in your route. For a strictly lowest-price basket, you would split the shop across IGA, Metro and Maxi. For a simpler shop, you could use the table as a substitution guide and compare the same produce categories in your nearest banner before you buy.

Recipe 2: Broccoli-Cauliflower Spinach Gravy Bowls — $5.87 Per Serving

Broccoli-Cauliflower Spinach Gravy Bowls cost $35.24 total, or $5.87 per serving for 6 servings, using Quebec prices from Maxi and IGA. The lowest-priced components include Whole Water Chestnuts at $1.50 at Maxi, Al Rif Chopped Frozen Spinach at $1.99 at IGA and Reduced Salt Pepper Gravy at $2.29 at Maxi. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

This recipe is built around hearty vegetables and a gravy-style sauce that can make a meatless dinner feel more substantial. You use cauliflower and broccoli as the core, spinach for extra volume, water chestnuts for texture, and broth cubes, flour, margarine and gravy mix to create a thicker base. At $5.87 per serving, it stays comfortably within the “cheap dinner recipes under $8” search range while giving you a larger six-serving format.

Ingredients with Prices

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

The largest costs in this recipe are Robin Hood Whole Wheat All Purpose Flour at $5.50 at Maxi, Parsley at $4.69 at Maxi, Cauliflower at $4.79 at Maxi and Organic Low Sodium Vegetable Broth Cubes at $4.49 at IGA. Several of these are pantry or multi-use items, so your second batch would be cheaper if you already have flour, herbs or broth cubes available. For a first-shop comparison, however, the full basket cost gives you a conservative and transparent estimate.

Where to Buy Cheapest

Maxi is the dominant store for this bowl because it supplies Cauliflower at $4.79, Broccoli at $3.50, Flour at $5.50, Reduced Salt Pepper Gravy at $2.29, Whole Water Chestnuts at $1.50, Non-Hydrogenated Margarine at $2.50 and Parsley at $4.69. IGA is important for Al Rif Chopped Frozen Spinach at $1.99 and Organic Low Sodium Vegetable Broth Cubes at $4.49. Metro appears in the seasoning layer with Dried Tarragon at $3.99.

You should use Maxi as your first comparison point if this recipe is on your meal plan. The store carries most of the recipe’s lower-priced items in the provided dataset, especially the vegetables and sauce components. If your nearest IGA is convenient, the $1.99 spinach is a strong add-on because it adds volume to the bowls without pushing the serving cost above $6.

Recipe 3: Vegetarian Pot Pie — $7.56 Per Serving

Vegetarian Pot Pie costs $60.51 total, or $7.56 per serving for 8 servings, in Quebec, with IGA listed as the recipe store and ingredient prices from IGA, Metro and Maxi. The basket includes potatoes at $3.99 at IGA, carrots at $1.79 at Metro, green beans at $0.88 at Maxi and flour at $5.50 at Maxi. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

This is the most expensive recipe in the comparison, but it also serves 8 people and includes the broadest ingredient list. You are paying for a fuller pot pie basket with potatoes, carrots, zucchini, green beans, cauliflower, broccoli, spinach, herbs, broth, flour, gravy and margarine. For families or batch cooks, the $60.51 total may be more practical than it first appears because the finished dish is designed around eight servings.

Ingredients with Prices

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

The pot pie basket is broader than the other two recipes, so it functions as both a dinner recipe and a pantry restock. Black Pepper at $6.49, Flour at $5.50, Broth Cubes at $4.49 and herbs such as Parsley at $4.69 and Dried Tarragon at $3.99 increase the initial basket total. You may not use every gram of those pantry items in one meal, but the price-per-serving benchmark remains useful because it reflects what you would pay if you had to buy the full listed basket from scratch.

Where to Buy Cheapest

Maxi carries many of the best-priced items in the pot pie basket, including Green Beans at $0.88, Zucchini at $1.72, Cauliflower at $4.79, Broccoli at $3.50, Flour at $5.50 and Reduced Salt Pepper Gravy at $2.29. Metro is the lowest listed source for Sliced Carrots at $1.79, Dried Tarragon at $3.99, Frozen Scallop at $4.41 and Margarine at $2.99. IGA supplies the potatoes at $3.99, spinach at $1.99 and broth cubes at $4.49.

For your own route planning, you should treat this as a split-basket recipe. If you already shop at Maxi for produce, that banner covers most of the vegetable and pantry base. If you are near an IGA, the spinach and potatoes are useful additions, while Metro is relevant for carrots and margarine.

Basket Index: Quebec Staple Prices for These Recipes

An eight-item Quebec recipe basket totals $24.16 when you buy the listed staples at their observed stores: IGA for potatoes and spinach, Metro for carrots, and Maxi for zucchini, green beans, cauliflower, broccoli and flour. The lowest individual price is Green Beans at $0.88 at Maxi, while the highest item in this index is Robin Hood Whole Wheat All Purpose Flour at $5.50 at Maxi. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

This basket index is useful because it separates core meal-building ingredients from the longer recipe lists. If you are trying to keep your weeknight dinners simple, these are the items you are most likely to use repeatedly across skillets, bowls, soups and pot pies. You can also see that Maxi is especially prominent for vegetables in this dataset, while IGA and Metro still matter for specific items.

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

When you compare this index with the full recipe totals, you can see why the skillet is the cheapest meal. It uses the lower end of the vegetable price range and avoids the larger sauce-and-herb basket required for the pot pie. If your goal is to build budget meals Quebec households can repeat, this index gives you a practical short list to check before you commit to a full recipe shop.

Top Current Low-Price Ingredients in the Quebec Basket

The top low-price ingredients in this Quebec dinner analysis are Green Beans at $0.88 at Maxi, Whole Water Chestnuts at $1.50 at Maxi, Zucchini at $1.72 at Maxi and Sliced Carrots at $1.79 at Metro. Regular-price and savings-percent fields are not included in the provided source data, so the table ranks items by current observed price rather than advertised discount. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

This distinction matters for your grocery budget. A product does not need to be marked as a flyer special to be useful in a cheap recipe. If the current price is low and the ingredient stretches a meal, it can still be a strong budget choice for your dinner plan.

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

You should use this table as a starting point for building your cheapest recipes, especially when you want dinner ideas under $6 per serving. Green beans, zucchini, carrots and spinach are flexible enough to appear in skillets, casseroles, pot pies and rice bowls. If you combine them with a lower-cost starch such as potatoes, you can keep the per-serving price lower than a recipe built around a long list of herbs and pantry add-ons.

Price Comparison Table: All Recipes Side by Side

The cheapest recipe in this Quebec comparison is Potato, Carrot & Zucchini Skillet at $5.22 per serving, followed by Broccoli-Cauliflower Spinach Gravy Bowls at $5.87 per serving and Vegetarian Pot Pie at $7.56 per serving. All three recipes stay under $8 per serving using the listed May 2026 prices. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

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

For your own weekly plan, the skillet is the best first choice if your main goal is the lowest cost per serving. The broccoli-cauliflower bowls are a strong middle option because they serve 6 and include several pantry items that can carry over into later meals. The pot pie is the higher-ticket batch recipe, but it may still make sense when you need 8 servings and want one large dish that can cover dinner plus leftovers.

How to Use These Prices for Budget Meals in Quebec

You can keep these Quebec budget meals under $8 per serving by building around the lowest-priced vegetables first, then adding pantry ingredients only when they serve more than one meal. Maxi offers Green Beans at $0.88, Zucchini at $1.72, Broccoli at $3.50 and Cauliflower at $4.79, while Metro offers Sliced Carrots at $1.79 and IGA offers Al Rif Chopped Frozen Spinach at $1.99. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

The most practical strategy is to start with a short basket rather than a full pantry restock. If you already have pepper, flour, broth cubes or dried herbs, you can focus your purchase on the fresh produce and the one or two sauce items you need. If you do not have those pantry staples, the recipe totals above show your full first-shop cost so you can avoid surprises at checkout.

You should also compare by recipe role, not only by product name. Potatoes at $3.99 at IGA are a base ingredient, while Green Beans at $0.88 at Maxi are a low-cost volume ingredient. Flour at $5.50 at Maxi and Black Pepper at $6.49 at Maxi are pantry ingredients with a higher upfront cost but broader use across multiple dinners.

What These Quebec Prices Say About the Cheapest Recipes

The cheapest recipes in this analysis are the ones with fewer high-priced pantry and herb items, which is why the $5.22 Potato, Carrot & Zucchini Skillet beats the $7.56 Vegetarian Pot Pie. The pot pie uses more ingredients, including Black Pepper at $6.49, Flour at $5.50, Parsley at $4.69 and Broth Cubes at $4.49, which raises the total basket cost. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

For your dinner planning, this means you should not judge a recipe only by whether it is vegetarian, homemade or “simple.” A long ingredient list can push a meatless meal above a shorter skillet or bowl even when every individual item looks reasonable. If you want the cheapest recipes, you should favour meals that use four to seven core items and rely on pantry ingredients you already own.

In Quebec, familiar banners such as IGA, Maxi, Metro, Super C, Walmart, Costco and Provigo compete across different grocery categories. In this particular recipe basket, the observed prices point most often to Maxi for vegetables and pantry basics, Metro for carrots and margarine, and IGA for potatoes, spinach and broth cubes. That store-by-store variation is why item-level comparison matters more than assuming one banner is always cheapest.