Quebec Budget Dinner: Chicken Salad at $6.06/Serving

Key Facts

• Chicken Salad is $60.56 for 10 servings, or $6.06/serving (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• Boneless skinless chicken breast is $18.83 at Metro in Quebec (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• Nonfat plain sweetened yogurt is $7.49 at Maxi (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• Sealtest 1% cottage cheese is $3.99 at IGA (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• Red onions and celery are each $4.99 at Metro (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)

Introduction

The cheapest complete dinner in this Quebec recipe costing is a cottage cheese chicken salad variation at $4.81 per serving, while the full Chicken Salad recipe costs $6.06 per serving. The core protein is boneless skinless chicken breast at $18.83 from Metro, and the lowest-priced dairy add-in is Sealtest 1% Cottage Cheese Low Fat 250 g at $3.99 from IGA. If you are searching for cheap dinner recipes under $7, the full 10-serving Chicken Salad basket fits that ceiling while still using a lean protein, vegetables, and dairy-based dressing components.

You should think of these recipes as practical price maps, not just cooking instructions. The key to keeping your dinner cost controlled is splitting your shop by store where the price data supports it: Metro for chicken breast, celery, red onions, and green bell peppers; Maxi for yogurt; IGA for cottage cheese; and Canada inc. for lemon juice and salad seasoning. When you use those store-specific prices, your total changes meaningfully depending on which ingredients you include.

Recipe 1: Chicken Salad — $6.06 per serving

Chicken Salad costs $60.56 for 10 servings in Quebec, or $6.06 per serving. The recipe uses boneless skinless chicken breast from Metro at $18.83, nonfat plain sweetened yogurt from Maxi at $7.49, and Sealtest 1% Cottage Cheese Low Fat 250 g from IGA at $3.99. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

This is the most complete version of the dinner because it includes all eight priced ingredients in the Quebec basket. You get protein from chicken breast, creamy texture from yogurt and cottage cheese, acidity from lemon juice, and crunch from celery, green bell peppers, and red onions. If you are planning lunches as well as dinner, the 10-serving format gives you a costed batch meal rather than a one-night recipe.

From a personal finance perspective, the most important number is not just the $60.56 total. It is the $6.06 cost per serving, because that lets you compare this homemade dinner against takeout, prepared meals, and single-serve grocery options. For a household trying to keep dinner under $7 per person in Quebec, this recipe is a realistic benchmark using live grocery prices rather than generic national averages.

Ingredients with Prices

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

Where to Buy Cheapest

Metro is the key store for this Chicken Salad basket because the recipe’s largest-cost item, boneless skinless chicken breast, is priced at $18.83 there. Metro also has red onions at $4.99, celery at $4.99, and green bell peppers at $7.99, which means you can buy the core produce and protein together. For your dairy components, you would split the shop: Maxi offers nonfat plain sweetened yogurt at $7.49, while IGA has Sealtest 1% Cottage Cheese Low Fat 250 g at $3.99.

You should prioritize the chicken price first because it represents the largest single item in the recipe. Boneless skinless chicken breast at Metro costs $18.83, while the next-highest ingredient is Quick Lemon Juice 1 L at $8.49 from Canada inc. That means a small change in the chicken price would affect your cost per serving more than a small change in celery or seasoning.

For cheap dinner recipes under $7, the practical shopping strategy is to buy the protein where it is tracked cheapest in the recipe data and then decide whether a second stop is worth it for dairy. If you already shop at Maxi or IGA, the $7.49 yogurt and $3.99 cottage cheese prices are useful additions. If you are minimizing travel, the Metro-based portion of the basket still gives you the main ingredients that define the meal.

Recipe 2: Yogurt Chicken Salad Bowls — $4.86 per serving

Yogurt Chicken Salad Bowls cost $48.58 for 10 servings in Quebec, or $4.86 per serving. This lower-cost version keeps the Metro chicken breast at $18.83, Maxi yogurt at $7.49, Metro celery and red onions at $4.99 each, Canada inc. lemon juice at $8.49, and Canada inc. salad seasoning at $3.79. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

This version removes cottage cheese and green bell peppers from the full Chicken Salad basket. By doing that, you reduce the total by $11.98 compared with the full $60.56 recipe. That is a 19.78% lower total cost, while still keeping the chicken, yogurt dressing, lemon juice, seasoning, celery, and onions that make the meal recognizable as a chicken salad dinner.

You should choose this version when you want a cheaper batch meal but still want a creamy dressing base. The yogurt provides the main texture, while the lemon juice and seasoning keep the flavour from becoming flat. The vegetable mix is simpler, but celery and red onions still provide enough crunch for bowls, wraps, or a plated salad-style dinner.

Ingredients with Prices

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

Where to Buy Cheapest

Metro remains your main stop for Yogurt Chicken Salad Bowls because the chicken breast, red onions, and celery are all priced there in the Quebec data. Maxi is the specific store for the nonfat plain sweetened yogurt at $7.49. Canada inc. supplies the lemon juice at $8.49 and salad seasoning at $3.79.

This version is useful if you want budget meals Quebec stores can support with fewer ingredients. You avoid the $7.99 green bell pepper purchase and the $3.99 cottage cheese purchase, which brings the total down to $48.58. If your priority is the lowest cost per serving while keeping yogurt in the recipe, this is the better option than the full Chicken Salad.

The best way to shop this meal is to check the protein and dairy prices before you build the rest of your basket. Metro offers boneless skinless chicken breast at $18.83, while Maxi offers yogurt at $7.49 — a combination that keeps the serving cost under $5. You can then add the Metro celery and onions to complete the bowl without returning to the full $60.56 basket.

Recipe 3: Cottage Cheese Chicken Pepper Salad — $4.81 per serving

Cottage Cheese Chicken Pepper Salad costs $48.08 for 10 servings in Quebec, or $4.81 per serving. This is the lowest-cost dinner in the article, using Metro chicken breast at $18.83, IGA cottage cheese at $3.99, Metro green bell peppers at $7.99, Metro red onions at $4.99, Canada inc. lemon juice at $8.49, and Canada inc. salad seasoning at $3.79. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

This recipe removes the $7.49 yogurt and $4.99 celery from the full Chicken Salad basket. It keeps cottage cheese as the dairy component and green bell peppers as the main vegetable. Compared with the full $60.56 Chicken Salad, this version saves $12.48, which is a 20.61% lower total cost.

You should choose this version if you want the cheapest recipes in this set and prefer a thicker dairy texture. Cottage cheese at $3.99 from IGA is the lowest-priced dairy item in the data, and it helps keep the recipe’s per-serving cost at $4.81. The green bell peppers cost more than celery at $7.99, but removing yogurt still makes this the least expensive of the three costed dinner options.

Ingredients with Prices

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

Where to Buy Cheapest

Metro supplies the biggest share of this recipe’s basket, including boneless skinless chicken breast at $18.83, green bell peppers at $7.99, and red onions at $4.99. IGA is the store to note for Sealtest 1% Cottage Cheese Low Fat 250 g at $3.99. Canada inc. remains the source for Quick Lemon Juice 1 L at $8.49 and Salad Seasoning at $3.79.

The reason this recipe edges out the yogurt version is arithmetic, not a vague savings claim. Yogurt Chicken Salad Bowls cost $48.58, while Cottage Cheese Chicken Pepper Salad costs $48.08. That is a $0.50 difference across the full 10-serving batch, or $0.05 per serving.

For your grocery budget, the choice between Recipe 2 and Recipe 3 is less about dramatic savings and more about preference. If you prefer yogurt, you pay $4.86 per serving. If you prefer cottage cheese and peppers, you pay $4.81 per serving. Both options sit comfortably below the full Chicken Salad cost of $6.06 per serving.

Quebec Basket Index: Staple Prices Across Stores

The Quebec chicken salad basket ranges from $3.79 for salad seasoning at Canada inc. to $18.83 for boneless skinless chicken breast at Metro. These eight prices show where your dinner budget is concentrated, with chicken breast accounting for the largest single item and seasoning the smallest. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

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

You should read this basket index as a shopping-priority list. The $18.83 chicken breast price at Metro is the most important number to verify before you cook because it has the largest effect on your final cost per serving. The $3.79 salad seasoning matters less in absolute dollars, but it appears in every version, so it is still part of the repeatable pantry cost.

The basket also shows why store choice matters even when you are not chasing a flyer special. Metro carries several of the core ingredients in this costing, Maxi has the yogurt price, and IGA has the cottage cheese price. If you already pass more than one banner during your regular shop, splitting the basket can keep your recipe cost aligned with the lowest tracked prices.

Top Priced Ingredients for These Budget Meals

The lowest-priced ingredient in the Quebec recipe data is Salad Seasoning at $3.79 from Canada inc., followed by Sealtest 1% Cottage Cheese Low Fat 250 g at $3.99 from IGA. The source data provides live tracked prices rather than separate flyer regular prices, so the regular-price column below uses the same tracked benchmark and shows 0.0% savings. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

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

For your weekly meal planning, this table is still useful even without a separate flyer discount column. It tells you which ingredients are the low-dollar add-ins and which item dominates the basket. Chicken breast at $18.83 is the major cost driver, while cottage cheese at $3.99 is a comparatively inexpensive way to add dairy texture.

If you want the cheapest recipes from this basket, you should build around the $3.99 cottage cheese, $3.79 seasoning, and $4.99 red onions before deciding whether yogurt or celery belongs in your final version. The full Chicken Salad includes everything and costs $6.06 per serving. The two trimmed versions stay below $5 per serving because each removes selected mid-priced ingredients.

Price Comparison Table: All Recipes Side by Side

Cottage Cheese Chicken Pepper Salad is the cheapest of the three Quebec dinners at $4.81 per serving, while the full Chicken Salad costs $6.06 per serving. Yogurt Chicken Salad Bowls sit in the middle at $4.86 per serving. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

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

This side-by-side comparison gives you the clearest answer if your main goal is cost control. The cheapest recipe is Cottage Cheese Chicken Pepper Salad at $48.08 total. The most complete recipe is the full Chicken Salad at $60.56 total, but you pay $12.48 more than the cheapest version.

You should choose based on how you actually eat leftovers. If you want the fullest salad with yogurt, cottage cheese, celery, peppers, onions, lemon juice, and seasoning, the $6.06 serving cost is still within a cheap dinner recipes under $7 target. If you want the lowest batch cost, the $4.81 cottage cheese version is the stronger budget play.

How to Shop These Quebec Budget Meals Efficiently

Your best shopping route starts with Metro because Metro carries the $18.83 boneless skinless chicken breast used in all three recipes. Metro also has red onions at $4.99, celery at $4.99, and green bell peppers at $7.99, which makes it the anchor store for the basket. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

Once your Metro items are covered, you can decide whether to make one additional stop or two. Maxi matters if you want the yogurt version, because nonfat plain sweetened yogurt is priced at $7.49 there. IGA matters if you want the cottage cheese version, because Sealtest 1% Cottage Cheese Low Fat 250 g is priced at $3.99 there.

For a simple dinner plan, you can cook the chicken once and then assemble servings differently through the week. You might use the yogurt version for bowls and the cottage cheese version for a thicker plated salad. That gives you variety while keeping your core grocery purchase tied to the same priced Quebec ingredients.

The practical takeaway is that the cheapest recipes are not always the ones with the fewest ingredients. Recipe 3 includes green bell peppers at $7.99 but still beats Recipe 2 by $0.50 on the full batch because it uses cottage cheese instead of yogurt and omits celery. That kind of ingredient-level comparison is where real-time price tracking helps you avoid relying on assumptions.