Quebec Cheap Dinner Recipes: $7.86 Beef Casserole

Key Facts

• Beef Casserole costs $62.87 for 8 servings, or $7.86 per serving. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• Lean Ground Beef is priced at $10.00 at maxi 1 in Quebec. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• Sweet Green Peppers are priced at $2.05 at Maxi. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• Reduced Salt Pepper Gravy, Less Salt is priced at $2.19 at Maxi. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• Sweet Rice Short Grain is priced at $6.49 at maxi 1. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• Red Carrots are priced at $1.10 at Maxi. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)

Introduction

Beef Casserole is the cheapest complete dinner recipe in this Quebec price set at $7.86 per serving. The full basket costs $62.87 and makes 8 servings, which puts it in the practical range for family-style batch cooking, next-day lunches, or freezer portions if you want one grocery trip to cover more than one meal. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026].

For you as a Quebec shopper, the most useful takeaway is that the lowest ingredient prices are spread across Maxi, maxi 1, IGA, Metro, and another listed grocery seller, rather than concentrated at a single banner. Maxi offers Sweet Green Peppers at $2.05, Reduced Salt Pepper Gravy at $2.19, Paprika at $3.49, Black Pepper at $6.49, Red Carrots at $1.10, and Whole Water Chestnuts at $1.50, while maxi 1 carries Lean Ground Beef at $10.00 and Sweet Rice Short Grain at $6.49. IGA has the Red Onions at $12.99 and Organic Red Tomatoes at $6.59, while Metro has Celery at $4.99. Across active Quebec banners including IGA, Maxi, Metro, Super C, Metro Plus, Provigo, Walmart, and Wholesale Club, your best move is to compare ingredient-by-ingredient rather than assume one store wins the entire basket.

The target keyword for this meal plan is simple: if you are searching for cheap dinner recipes under $8 in Quebec, this Beef Casserole qualifies at $7.86 per serving. The recipe is not the cheapest possible pantry meal, because it includes beef, rice, vegetables, gravy, spices, and greens, but it is a realistic hot dinner built from tracked grocery prices rather than theoretical pantry assumptions. If you already have black pepper, paprika, or rice at home, your out-of-pocket cost for the week could be lower, but this article prices the recipe as a full shop so you can compare it fairly.

Recipe 1: Beef Casserole — $7.86 per serving

Beef Casserole costs $62.87 in Quebec and serves 8 people, making the exact cost $7.86 per serving. The recipe is anchored by Lean Ground Beef at $10.00 at maxi 1, Sweet Rice Short Grain at $6.49 at maxi 1, and a group of vegetables and seasonings from Maxi, IGA, Metro, and another listed seller. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking].

This is the most complete dinner in the price set because it uses all tracked ingredients: beef for protein, rice for the base, tomatoes and gravy for moisture, onions, celery, peppers and carrots for vegetables, and paprika and black pepper for seasoning. You should treat it as a batch-cooking recipe rather than a small weeknight skillet because the total basket is designed for 8 servings. At $7.86 per serving, it sits under the common “cheap dinner recipes under $8” benchmark while still including meat.

If you are cooking for fewer than 8 people, you can portion the casserole into dinner plus leftovers. Your cost per serving remains $7.86 when all ingredients are counted, but the practical value improves if you use the extra portions for lunches instead of buying separate midday meals. You should also note that spices such as Black Pepper at $6.49 and Paprika at $3.49 are priced as grocery purchases, even though you may not use the entire container in one casserole.

Ingredients with Prices

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

Where to Buy Cheapest

Maxi is the strongest store in this recipe for low-priced add-ins because it carries six of the listed ingredients: Sweet Green Peppers at $2.05, Reduced Salt Pepper Gravy at $2.19, Black Pepper at $6.49, Paprika at $3.49, Red Carrots at $1.10, and Whole Water Chestnuts at $1.50. maxi 1 carries the two central base ingredients in this basket, with Lean Ground Beef at $10.00 and Sweet Rice Short Grain at $6.49. If you are trying to reduce the number of stops, you should prioritize Maxi and maxi 1 first because together they cover the beef, rice, gravy, peppers, carrots, spices, and water chestnuts.

IGA is still important because it has Red Onions at $12.99 and Organic Red Tomatoes at $6.59. Metro completes the vegetable base with Celery at $4.99. You should compare your local trip cost before driving to multiple stores, but from a pure grocery-price perspective, the ingredient-by-ingredient basket shows why the cheapest recipes in Quebec often depend on mixing banners rather than buying everything from one place.

Recipe 2: Beef, Rice and Tomato Skillet — $6.04 per serving

A simplified Beef, Rice and Tomato Skillet costs $36.21 for 6 servings, or $6.04 per serving, when you use Lean Ground Beef, Sweet Rice Short Grain, Organic Red Tomatoes, Sweet Green Peppers, Red Carrots, Black Pepper, and Paprika from the tracked Quebec prices. This version is cheaper than the full Beef Casserole because it removes the higher-cost Red Onions, Celery, greens, gravy, and water chestnuts while keeping the beef-and-rice structure. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking].

This recipe is useful when you want a budget meal in Quebec that still feels like a complete dinner but does not require the full casserole basket. You would brown the Lean Ground Beef, add diced Sweet Green Peppers and Red Carrots, stir in tomatoes, and serve the mixture over Sweet Rice Short Grain. The seasonings are still counted at full shelf price, with Black Pepper at $6.49 and Paprika at $3.49, so your effective cooking cost may be lower if those are already in your pantry.

The key budget decision for you is whether to include tomatoes at $6.59 from IGA or keep the meal drier and simpler. With Organic Red Tomatoes included, the skillet costs $36.21, and at 6 servings the meal lands at $6.04 per serving. If you are comparing cheap dinner recipes under $7, this version is the best balance of beef, starch, vegetables, and sauce-like moisture in the available ingredient data.

Ingredients with Prices

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

Where to Buy Cheapest

maxi 1 is where you buy the two structural ingredients for this recipe: Lean Ground Beef at $10.00 and Sweet Rice Short Grain at $6.49. Maxi supplies the lowest-cost vegetable additions and seasonings, with Sweet Green Peppers at $2.05, Red Carrots at $1.10, Black Pepper at $6.49, and Paprika at $3.49. IGA supplies Organic Red Tomatoes at $6.59, which gives the skillet a more complete dinner texture.

If you want to minimize stops, you can plan this as a Maxi-first recipe and decide whether the IGA tomato purchase is worth a second store visit. You should not ignore the seasoning costs when comparing recipes, because Black Pepper and Paprika together add $9.98 to the basket. However, those are also multi-use grocery items, so the shelf-price method is conservative for households that cook frequently.

Recipe 3: Pepper Gravy Beef Rice Bowls — $5.80 per serving

Pepper Gravy Beef Rice Bowls cost $34.81 for 6 servings, or $5.80 per serving, using Lean Ground Beef, Sweet Rice Short Grain, Reduced Salt Pepper Gravy, Celery, Sweet Green Peppers, Red Carrots, Whole Water Chestnuts, and Black Pepper from the tracked Quebec prices. This is the cheapest of the three dinner builds because it keeps the beef and rice but relies on lower-priced vegetables and a $2.19 gravy instead of tomatoes, onions, greens, and paprika. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking].

This recipe works well if you want a bowl-style dinner rather than a baked casserole. You would cook the rice, brown the beef, add celery, peppers, carrots and water chestnuts, then finish the mixture with pepper gravy. The result is a practical budget meal in Quebec because the lower-priced ingredients do a lot of work: Red Carrots cost $1.10 at Maxi, Whole Water Chestnuts cost $1.50 at Maxi, Sweet Green Peppers cost $2.05 at Maxi, and Reduced Salt Pepper Gravy costs $2.19 at Maxi.

For your weekly grocery plan, this is the strongest value recipe in the article at $5.80 per serving. It gives you a beef dinner below $6 per serving using only real tracked ingredient prices. The main caution is that the recipe still includes Black Pepper at $6.49, so if you already have pepper at home, your incremental checkout cost for this dinner could be meaningfully lower than the full priced basket.

Ingredients with Prices

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

Where to Buy Cheapest

Your cheapest path for Pepper Gravy Beef Rice Bowls starts with Maxi and maxi 1. maxi 1 provides Lean Ground Beef at $10.00 and Sweet Rice Short Grain at $6.49, while Maxi provides the gravy, peppers, carrots, water chestnuts, and black pepper. Metro is only needed for Celery at $4.99, so you should decide whether celery is essential if you are trying to keep the shopping route short.

This recipe also shows how one low-priced sauce can change the cost of a meal. Reduced Salt Pepper Gravy, Less Salt costs $2.19 at Maxi, while Organic Red Tomatoes cost $6.59 at IGA in the tracked data. Maxi offers Reduced Salt Pepper Gravy at $2.19, while IGA charges $6.59 for Organic Red Tomatoes — a savings of 66.8% if you choose gravy as the saucing ingredient instead of tomatoes, based on the difference between those two tracked prices. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026].

Quebec Basket Index: Which Ingredients Drive the Cost

The biggest cost driver in the Quebec Beef Casserole basket is Red Onions at $12.99 at IGA, followed by Lean Ground Beef at $10.00 at maxi 1. The lowest-priced tracked ingredients are Red Carrots at $1.10 at Maxi, Whole Water Chestnuts at $1.50 at Maxi, Sweet Green Peppers at $2.05 at Maxi, and Reduced Salt Pepper Gravy at $2.19 at Maxi. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking].

For you, this matters because not every ingredient has the same effect on your dinner cost. A $12.99 onion purchase has a much larger impact than a $1.10 carrot purchase, so you should pay close attention to high-cost aromatics, proteins, and pantry items. The lower-priced ingredients are where you add volume, texture, and vegetables without pushing the meal above the under-$8 serving target.

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

This basket index is especially useful if you are comparing IGA, Maxi, Metro, Super C, Metro Plus, Provigo, Walmart, and Wholesale Club for budget meals in Quebec. The available tracked prices show that Maxi dominates the lower-cost supporting ingredients, while maxi 1 is central for the beef and rice. You should build your shopping list from the highest-cost items first, then use lower-cost vegetables and sauces to fill out the recipe.

Top Ingredient Deals for These Quebec Recipes

The best low-price ingredient in these Quebec dinner recipes is Red Carrots at $1.10 at Maxi, followed by Whole Water Chestnuts at $1.50 at Maxi and Sweet Green Peppers at $2.05 at Maxi. Because the provided data contains current tracked prices rather than separate historical regular prices, the table below uses the current tracked price as the reference price and shows 0.0% promotional savings rather than inventing discounts. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking].

This distinction matters for your grocery budget. A “deal” can mean a low absolute price, not only a markdown from a higher flyer price. For recipe costing, the current shelf price is often more useful than a promotional percentage because you are deciding what to cook today, not calculating a theoretical discount.

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

If you want the cheapest recipes from this ingredient set, you should use the $1.10 carrots, $1.50 water chestnuts, $2.05 peppers, and $2.19 gravy as the cost-control ingredients. You can then decide whether the more expensive items, such as Red Onions at $12.99 at IGA or Organic Red Tomatoes at $6.59 at IGA, are worth including for flavour and texture. That is the practical trade-off behind budget meals in Quebec: the cheapest basket is rarely the most complete basket, but careful substitutions can keep a beef dinner under $6 per serving.

Price Comparison Table: All Recipes Side by Side

Pepper Gravy Beef Rice Bowls are the cheapest recipe in this comparison at $5.80 per serving, while the full Beef Casserole costs $7.86 per serving and includes the broadest ingredient list. The Beef, Rice and Tomato Skillet sits in the middle at $6.04 per serving. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking].

For your meal plan, the right choice depends on whether you value the lowest checkout cost, the most complete casserole, or the simplest beef-and-rice format. If you want the lowest cost per serving, choose Recipe 3. If you want the fullest batch-cooked dinner with greens, vegetables, rice, gravy, tomatoes, onions and seasonings, choose Recipe 1. If you want a middle option that keeps tomatoes and spices but trims the basket, choose Recipe 2.

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

The serving comparison also shows why recipe costing is more useful than looking at the total bill alone. The full Beef Casserole has the highest checkout cost at $62.87, but it also makes 8 servings. The Pepper Gravy Beef Rice Bowls have the lowest total cost and the lowest cost per serving, which makes them the strongest option if your search is specifically for cheap dinner recipes under $6 in Quebec.

How to Shop These Recipes in Quebec Without Overspending

Your best shopping strategy is to start at Maxi for the lowest-cost supporting ingredients and then use maxi 1 for the beef and rice. Maxi is attached to six of the lowest-price ingredient records in this data set, including Red Carrots at $1.10, Whole Water Chestnuts at $1.50, Sweet Green Peppers at $2.05, Reduced Salt Pepper Gravy at $2.19, Paprika at $3.49, and Black Pepper at $6.49. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking].

You should then decide whether the IGA items are essential for your version of the meal. Red Onions at $12.99 and Organic Red Tomatoes at $6.59 add flavour and body, but they also increase the final basket cost. If you are cooking strictly to stay under $6 per serving, the Pepper Gravy Beef Rice Bowls avoid those IGA items and use a lower-cost sauce instead.

The active grocery banners in Quebec include IGA, Maxi, Metro, Super C, Metro Plus, Provigo, Walmart, and Wholesale Club. Even when a recipe is priced using only certain stores, you should use the banner list as a reminder to compare before you check out. eezly's AI-powered grocery price comparison and real-time price tracking make this kind of ingredient-level comparison easier because the same recipe can be evaluated across multiple banners instead of relying on one store’s weekly flyer.

If you want to continue planning budget meals with current grocery prices, you can compare more deals at https://eezly.com/deals, browse meal ideas at https://eezly.com/recipes, and review meal-planning options at https://eezly.com/meal-plans. If Maxi is one of your regular stores, the Maxi store page at https://eezly.com/stores/maxi is also a practical starting point. For broader grocery analysis, you can use https://eezly.com/blog.