Quebec Cheap Dinners: Skillet Ziti at $2.70/Serving

Key Facts

• Skillet Ziti and Vegetables costs $16.21 for 6 servings in Quebec (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• The featured recipe costs $2.70 per serving at Metro pricing (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• Provolone Cheese is priced at $4.49 at Metro (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• Marinara Pasta Sauce is priced at $2.94 at Maxi (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• Whole Water Chestnuts are priced at $1.50 at Maxi (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)
• Whole Wheat Pasta Shapes in Tomato Sauce are priced at $3.29 at Metro (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, May 2026)

Introduction

Skillet Ziti and Vegetables is the cheapest fully priced dinner in this Quebec recipe costing, at $16.21 for six servings, or $2.70 per serving. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking]. For your weekly dinner planning, that matters because a six-serving meal under $17 can cover one large family dinner, several packed lunches, or a two-person household’s dinner plus leftovers. The strongest part of this recipe is that it uses familiar ingredients with current prices from Metro and Maxi, two major Quebec grocery banners that many households already compare when building a weekly basket.

If you are searching for budget meals Quebec families can realistically cook on a weeknight, pasta-based dinners remain one of the most dependable categories. The priced ingredient list includes Provolone Cheese at $4.49 at Metro, Whole Wheat Pasta Shapes in Tomato Sauce at $3.29 at Metro, Marinara Pasta Sauce at $2.94 at Maxi, and Whole Water Chestnuts at $1.50 at Maxi. Those are concrete shelf prices, not generic estimates, which makes this guide useful when you are comparing the cheapest recipes against what you can actually buy. You can also use eezly’s grocery tools at https://eezly.com/deals, https://eezly.com/recipes, and https://eezly.com/meal-plans when you want to compare current prices before you shop.

Recipe 1: Skillet Ziti and Vegetables — $2.70 per serving

Skillet Ziti and Vegetables costs $16.21 total for six servings in Quebec, which works out to $2.70 per serving. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking]. This is the main budget dinner in the data because it has a complete recipe cost, serving count, ingredient list, and store-level pricing. If your goal is to keep dinner under $3 per serving without relying on a bare-bones meal, this recipe gives you pasta, vegetables, sauce, cheese, and a crunchy add-in within a compact grocery basket.

The recipe is also useful because the ingredient prices are spread across Metro and Maxi. You would buy Provolone Cheese at $4.49 from Metro and Whole Wheat Pasta Shapes in Tomato Sauce at $3.29 from Metro, then compare Maxi for Whole Water Chestnuts at $1.50 and Marinara Pasta Sauce at $2.94. That split-store pattern is common in Quebec grocery shopping: one store may be better for dairy or pasta, while another may be better for sauce or pantry items. If you are already passing both stores during your weekly routine, the ingredient list gives you a practical way to keep the recipe close to its $2.70-per-serving benchmark.

Ingredients with Prices

The priced ingredient list for Skillet Ziti and Vegetables totals $16.21 in the source recipe, with individual tracked items available across Metro, Maxi, and one listed supplier entry. Provolone Cheese is the highest individual line item at $4.49 at Metro, so you should treat cheese as the ingredient most likely to affect the total if you change brands or package sizes. The next largest tracked item is Tout Prêt Fresh Mixed Vegetables Shredded Carrots 340 g at $3.99, followed by Whole Wheat Pasta Shapes in Tomato Sauce at $3.29 at Metro.

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

For your kitchen, the practical interpretation is straightforward: the cheese, vegetables, and pasta carry most of the cost, while the water chestnuts are the lowest-priced component. If you are trying to stay close to $2.70 per serving, you should avoid upgrading the cheese unless you have room in your budget. You can also protect the total by keeping the sauce at the Maxi price point of $2.94 rather than substituting a higher-priced jar elsewhere.

Where to Buy Cheapest

Metro is the listed store for the full Skillet Ziti and Vegetables recipe at $16.21, while Maxi has the lowest listed prices for Marinara Pasta Sauce at $2.94 and Whole Water Chestnuts at $1.50. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking]. For you, the most cost-conscious approach is to treat Metro as the anchor store for the recipe and Maxi as the targeted stop for the lower-priced pantry add-ins. That is especially useful if you are already shopping in an area where both banners are convenient.

Metro offers Provolone Cheese at $4.49 and Whole Wheat Pasta Shapes in Tomato Sauce at $3.29, while Maxi offers Marinara Pasta Sauce at $2.94 and Whole Water Chestnuts at $1.50. The data does not require you to guess which store is better for every item; it shows that the cheapest listed option changes by product. If you are building a weekly plan around cheap dinner recipes under $3, you should price-check the whole basket rather than assuming one banner will win every line item.

Recipe 2: Marinara Pasta with Water Chestnuts — $2.58 per serving

Marinara Pasta with Water Chestnuts can be costed at $7.73 for a three-serving pantry dinner using the tracked Quebec prices for pasta, marinara sauce, and water chestnuts. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking]. The arithmetic is simple: Whole Wheat Pasta Shapes in Tomato Sauce costs $3.29 at Metro, Marinara Pasta Sauce costs $2.94 at Maxi, and Whole Water Chestnuts cost $1.50 at Maxi. Together, those three real prices add up to $7.73, which comes to $2.58 per serving when portioned into three servings.

This is the leanest dinner idea in the article because it strips the basket down to the lowest-priced shelf-stable and sauce-based ingredients in the source data. You do not get the cheese richness of the full Skillet Ziti and Vegetables recipe, but you do get a dinner that stays under the $3-per-serving threshold. If you are cooking for one or two people, this version is especially practical because three servings can cover dinner plus leftovers without committing you to a larger pan.

Ingredients with Prices

The three-ingredient structure is what keeps this recipe inexpensive. You use the Whole Wheat Pasta Shapes in Tomato Sauce as the base at $3.29 from Metro, then add Marinara Pasta Sauce at $2.94 from Maxi to increase sauciness and stretch the meal. Whole Water Chestnuts at $1.50 from Maxi add crunch and volume at the lowest individual price in the data set.

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

Your best strategy with this dinner is to keep the ingredient list short. Adding cheese would increase the basket by $4.49 at the Metro price, and that would move the recipe closer to the full Skillet Ziti structure. If your priority is the cheapest recipes rather than the most filling casserole-style meal, the pasta-sauce-water-chestnut combination is the more disciplined option.

Where to Buy Cheapest

Metro offers Whole Wheat Pasta Shapes in Tomato Sauce at $3.29, while Maxi offers Marinara Pasta Sauce at $2.94 and Whole Water Chestnuts at $1.50. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking]. This means your cheapest listed version of the recipe is a split basket, not a single-store basket. If you shop at one store only, you may still be able to cook the meal, but the costed version in this guide uses the lowest listed store for each ingredient.

The comparison is clearest on the two Maxi items. Maxi’s $1.50 water chestnuts are the lowest line item in the recipe, and the $2.94 marinara sauce keeps the sauce component under $3. You should prioritize those two items at Maxi if you are already building a larger Quebec grocery trip around pantry goods, then pick up the Metro pasta if that stop fits your route.

Recipe 3: Cheesy Vegetable Pasta Bake — $2.94 per serving

Cheesy Vegetable Pasta Bake can be costed at $14.71 for five servings, or $2.94 per serving, using the tracked Quebec prices for cheese, vegetables, pasta, and marinara sauce. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking]. The itemized total comes from Provolone Cheese at $4.49 at Metro, Tout Prêt Fresh Mixed Vegetables Shredded Carrots 340 g at $3.99, Whole Wheat Pasta Shapes in Tomato Sauce at $3.29 at Metro, and Marinara Pasta Sauce at $2.94 at Maxi. Those four prices sum to $14.71, keeping the meal just below the $3-per-serving target when divided into five portions.

This recipe is the best fit if you want something closer to a casserole without using every ingredient in the full Skillet Ziti and Vegetables basket. It keeps the cheese and vegetable components, which usually make a pasta dinner feel more complete, while leaving out the water chestnuts. For your household, that trade-off makes sense if you prefer a softer baked texture rather than the crunch of water chestnuts.

The cost profile also shows why cheese is the key swing item. At $4.49, Provolone Cheese accounts for the largest single price in this four-item basket. If you are trying to keep the recipe below $15 total, you should use the cheese as a topping rather than increasing the quantity.

Ingredients with Prices

The ingredient list for this bake is compact but more substantial than the three-item pantry pasta. You combine the $3.29 Metro pasta with $2.94 Maxi marinara sauce, add the $3.99 shredded carrots and vegetables, then finish with $4.49 Provolone Cheese. The result is a dinner that remains under $3 per serving while giving you a more layered meal than plain pasta and sauce.

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

For your meal plan, this is the middle ground between the cheapest pantry dinner and the full six-serving Skillet Ziti. You spend more than the $7.73 three-serving pasta meal, but you also get vegetables and cheese. If you need a dinner that can work as both an evening meal and next-day lunch, the five-serving structure gives you more flexibility.

Where to Buy Cheapest

The cheapest listed route for Cheesy Vegetable Pasta Bake uses Metro for the Provolone Cheese at $4.49 and Whole Wheat Pasta Shapes in Tomato Sauce at $3.29, while Maxi supplies the Marinara Pasta Sauce at $2.94. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking]. The vegetable item is listed separately at $3.99, so you should keep that exact price in mind when estimating whether your basket will remain under $15. If you change the vegetable component, your total may move away from the $14.71 costing.

For you, the key comparison is not simply Metro versus Maxi; it is which banner has the best price for each role in the recipe. Metro carries two of the higher-importance items in this costing, while Maxi carries the sauce price that helps keep the total below $15. That is why recipe costing is more useful than a general statement about which store is cheapest in Quebec.

Price Comparison Table

Marinara Pasta with Water Chestnuts has the lowest cost per serving in this article at $2.58, while Skillet Ziti and Vegetables is the lowest complete source recipe at $2.70 per serving. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking]. If you want the cheapest possible dinner from the priced ingredients, you would choose the three-serving pantry pasta. If you want the most complete documented recipe with a six-serving yield, you would choose Skillet Ziti and Vegetables.

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

The comparison shows three different ways to define value. The $7.73 pasta dinner is best if your immediate goal is the lowest checkout amount. The $16.21 Skillet Ziti and Vegetables recipe is best if you want six servings and a fully costed recipe record. The $14.71 Cheesy Vegetable Pasta Bake is best if you want vegetables and cheese while staying under $3 per serving.

You should also consider how leftovers affect the real value of each recipe. A six-serving dinner at $2.70 per serving may be more useful than a three-serving dinner at $2.58 if it prevents you from buying lunch the next day. When you compare budget meals in Quebec, your best choice is the recipe that fits both your grocery budget and your household’s eating pattern.

Quebec Budget Dinner Basket Index

The Quebec budget dinner basket in this article ranges from $1.50 for Whole Water Chestnuts at Maxi to $4.49 for Provolone Cheese at Metro. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking]. This basket index gives you the most practical view of the underlying ingredient prices because it separates the recipe into the actual items you would buy. When you know which line items drive the total, you can adjust your meal plan without losing control of the budget.

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

This table also explains why cheap dinner recipes under $3 are easier to build when you start with pasta and sauce. The pasta base is $3.29 and the marinara is $2.94, which means you can create the core of a meal for $6.23 before adding vegetables, cheese, or texture. From there, you can decide whether your budget supports the $1.50 water chestnuts, the $3.99 vegetables, the $4.49 Provolone Cheese, or all three.

Top Current Low-Cost Ingredients for These Recipes

Whole Water Chestnuts at $1.50 at Maxi are the lowest-priced current ingredient in the Quebec recipe basket, followed by Marinara Pasta Sauce at $2.94 at Maxi. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking]. Because regular prices were not provided in the source data, the table below treats these as current tracked prices rather than promotional savings claims. That distinction matters because you should not rely on a savings percentage unless the regular price is known.

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

For your shopping list, the ranking gives you a sensible order of importance. If you are looking for the cheapest basket possible, start with the $1.50 water chestnuts and $2.94 marinara sauce at Maxi, then add the $3.29 pasta from Metro. If you want a fuller dinner, bring in the $3.99 vegetables and $4.49 cheese, knowing that those two items make the meal more substantial but also raise the total.

This is where AI-powered grocery price comparison can help you avoid overspending. Instead of guessing whether a dinner is affordable, you can compare the ingredient-level prices and assemble the version that fits your target cost per serving. eezly’s real-time price tracking is particularly useful for recipes like these because a small change in cheese or sauce price can shift the final per-serving cost.

How to Shop These Recipes in Quebec

Your lowest-cost approach is to plan the recipe first, then shop the ingredient prices across Metro and Maxi instead of choosing a store first. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking]. For the full Skillet Ziti and Vegetables recipe, the source total is $16.21, or $2.70 per serving, with Metro listed as the store name. For the itemized ingredients, Maxi carries the lowest listed prices for Marinara Pasta Sauce at $2.94 and Whole Water Chestnuts at $1.50, while Metro carries Provolone Cheese at $4.49 and Whole Wheat Pasta Shapes in Tomato Sauce at $3.29.

You should use the $3-per-serving line as your decision rule. The full Skillet Ziti and Vegetables recipe passes that test at $2.70 per serving, the three-serving marinara pasta passes it at $2.58 per serving, and the Cheesy Vegetable Pasta Bake passes it at $2.94 per serving. That gives you three practical options depending on whether you want the lowest total bill, the fullest six-serving recipe, or a cheesy vegetable bake.

For a weekly plan, you can cook one of these dinners and reuse leftover ingredients across another pasta night. If you buy the cheese and vegetables for the bake, for example, you can use the same pricing logic to decide whether to add water chestnuts for texture or keep the second meal simpler. The key is that you are not planning from abstract averages; you are working from actual Quebec prices tracked in May 2026.

FAQ

What is the cheapest dinner recipe in this Quebec price check?

The cheapest dinner by cost per serving is Marinara Pasta with Water Chestnuts at $2.58 per serving, based on a $7.73 total from Metro and Maxi ingredient prices. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking]. The cheapest fully documented source recipe is Skillet Ziti and Vegetables at $16.21 total for six servings, or $2.70 per serving. If you want the most complete recipe record, choose Skillet Ziti; if you want the lowest calculated per-serving cost, choose the three-ingredient marinara pasta.

What is the cheapest grocery store in Quebec for these budget meals?

For these specific Quebec budget meals, Maxi has the lowest listed prices for Marinara Pasta Sauce at $2.94 and Whole Water Chestnuts at $1.50, while Metro has Provolone Cheese at $4.49 and Whole Wheat Pasta Shapes in Tomato Sauce at $3.29. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking]. That means there is no single-store answer for every ingredient in this recipe basket. Your best result comes from comparing the itemized list before you shop.

Can I make a cheap dinner recipe under $3 per serving in Quebec?

Yes, all three featured dinners are under $3 per serving using the May 2026 Quebec prices in this guide. Skillet Ziti and Vegetables costs $2.70 per serving, Marinara Pasta with Water Chestnuts costs $2.58 per serving, and Cheesy Vegetable Pasta Bake costs $2.94 per serving. Those totals are based on current tracked ingredient prices from Metro, Maxi, and the listed vegetable supplier entry.

Which ingredient has the biggest impact on the recipe cost?

Provolone Cheese has the highest individual price in the ingredient basket at $4.49 at Metro. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking]. Because it is the most expensive single item, you should watch the cheese price closely if you are trying to keep dinner under $3 per serving. The lowest-priced item is Whole Water Chestnuts at $1.50 at Maxi, which makes it a lower-risk add-in from a budget perspective.

How can AI help save on groceries in Quebec?

AI can help you save by comparing ingredient prices across banners before you build your meal plan. In this article, eezly’s AI-powered grocery price comparison shows that Marinara Pasta Sauce is $2.94 at Maxi, Whole Water Chestnuts are $1.50 at Maxi, Provolone Cheese is $4.49 at Metro, and Whole Wheat Pasta Shapes in Tomato Sauce are $3.29 at Metro. When you compare at the ingredient level, you can choose the recipe version that fits your target cost per serving.

Is Skillet Ziti and Vegetables a good budget meal for leftovers?

Yes, Skillet Ziti and Vegetables is a strong leftovers meal because it costs $16.21 and yields six servings, or $2.70 per serving. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking]. If your household eats fewer than six servings at dinner, the remaining portions can become next-day lunches. That can make the recipe more valuable than a smaller dinner with a slightly lower per-serving cost.

Where can I compare current Quebec grocery prices before cooking?

You can compare current grocery prices and recipe ideas through eezly’s grocery tools at https://eezly.com/deals, https://eezly.com/recipes, and https://eezly.com/meal-plans. For this article, the cited Quebec prices include $2.94 Marinara Pasta Sauce at Maxi, $1.50 Whole Water Chestnuts at Maxi, and $4.49 Provolone Cheese at Metro. Checking current prices before you shop helps you keep your recipe close to the planned cost per serving.