Quebec Cheap Dinner Recipes: $3.04 to $8.35

Key Facts

• Chicken Rice Pasta and Vegetables costs $50.10 for 6 servings, or $8.35 per serving. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• Chicken Breast Boneless Skinless is priced at $22.19 at Canada inc. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• Broccoli Shoots are priced at $1.99 at Metro in Quebec. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• Snow Peas are priced at $3.99 at maxi 1 in Quebec. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• Sweet Green Peppers are priced at $1.88 at Maxi in Quebec. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• Blue Dragon Rice Noodles 300 g are priced at $3.99 at Canada inc. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)

Introduction: The Cheapest Recipe Is $3.04 Per Serving

The cheapest recipe in this Quebec budget-meal comparison is the Vegetable Rice Noodle Bowl at $3.04 per serving. It uses Blue Dragon Rice Noodles at $3.99 from Canada inc., Broccoli Shoots at $1.99 from Metro, Snow Peas at $3.99 from maxi 1, Sweet Green Peppers at $1.88 from Maxi, and Shallots Onions at $4.39 from IGA. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking.]

For you, the practical takeaway is that a meatless noodle-based dinner can come in far below a chicken dinner when you build the basket around lower-priced vegetables and a shelf-stable noodle base. The full Chicken Rice Pasta and Vegetables recipe costs $50.10 for six servings, or $8.35 per serving, mainly because Chicken Breast Boneless Skinless accounts for $22.19 of the basket. If you are searching for cheap dinner recipes under $9 in Quebec, that full chicken dinner still qualifies, but the vegetable-only version gives you a much lower per-serving cost.

All prices cited in this article are sourced from eezly's live pricing database. 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. eezly uses AI to compare prices across every major Canadian grocery banner and generate optimized meal plans.

Recipe 1: Vegetable Rice Noodle Bowl — $3.04 per serving

The Vegetable Rice Noodle Bowl is the cheapest recipe in this Quebec comparison at $18.24 total, or $3.04 per serving for six servings. The recipe removes the highest-cost protein and cream items from the full chicken basket, leaving a noodle-and-vegetable dinner built from real Quebec prices at Metro, Maxi, maxi 1, IGA and Canada inc. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking.]

This is the option you choose when your goal is to keep dinner light, flexible and inexpensive. You still get a complete hot meal structure: noodles as the base, peppers and snow peas for sweetness and crunch, broccoli shoots for a green vegetable component, and shallots for flavour. Because the basket relies on items priced between $1.88 and $4.39, your spending is spread across several lower-cost ingredients rather than concentrated in one expensive protein.

Ingredients with Prices

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

The table shows why this is one of the cheapest recipes in the dataset. Metro offers Broccoli Shoots at $1.99 and Canned Fava at $1.69, while Maxi offers Sweet Green Peppers at $1.88. If you are willing to shop across more than one banner, you can keep the basket tightly controlled without relying on a single promotion.

Your per-serving estimate is based on using the full basket across six servings. At $18.92 total, the ingredient cost works out to $3.15 per serving when celery and canned fava are included. If you omit celery, the core bowl falls to $13.93, or $2.32 per serving, but the fuller version is more satisfying and closer to a complete dinner.

Where to Buy Cheapest

Metro is the best stop for the lowest-priced plant-based add-ins in this recipe, with Broccoli Shoots at $1.99 and Canned Fava at $1.69. Maxi offers Sweet Green Peppers at $1.88, while maxi 1 has Snow Peas at $3.99. IGA is the lowest-listed source for Shallots Onions at $4.39, and Canada inc. has Blue Dragon Rice Noodles 300 g at $3.99. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking.]

For your shopping route, the biggest decision is whether the extra stop is worth the price precision. If you already shop at Metro, you can pick up the broccoli shoots, celery and canned fava in one place. If you are near Maxi, the $1.88 sweet green peppers are the lowest single produce price in this recipe, making Maxi a useful stop for the vegetable portion of your basket.

Recipe 2: Creamy Chicken Rice Noodles — $6.13 per serving

Creamy Chicken Rice Noodles costs $36.78 total, or $6.13 per serving for six servings, using chicken breast, cooking cream, rice noodles and shallots. This version keeps the main comfort-food structure of the full recipe but removes several vegetables to lower the basket cost from $50.10 to $36.78. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking.]

This recipe is useful when you want a chicken dinner but need to stay below the full $8.35-per-serving version. Chicken Breast Boneless Skinless at $22.19 remains the biggest cost driver, but the rest of the basket is made up of three items: 15% Thick Cooking Cream at $4.99 from Canada inc., Blue Dragon Rice Noodles 300 g at $3.99 from Canada inc., and Shallots Onions at $4.39 from IGA. You get a creamy noodle dinner with a clear protein focus, while keeping the ingredient list short.

Ingredients with Prices

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

The lower-cost version without celery is $35.56, or $5.93 per serving for six servings. If you include celery at $4.99 from Metro, the basket rises to $40.55, or $6.76 per serving. That means celery adds $0.83 per serving when spread across six plates, which may be worthwhile if you want more texture and volume.

You can treat this as a flexible cheap dinner recipe under $7 if you keep the basket lean. The chicken provides most of the cost and most of the meal’s substance, while the noodles and cream make the dinner feel complete. If your family prefers saucy noodle dishes, this version gives you the comfort-food profile of the full recipe without buying every vegetable in the original ingredient list.

Where to Buy Cheapest

Canada inc. is the most important store for this recipe because it carries three of the central items in the priced basket: Chicken Breast Boneless Skinless at $22.19, 15% Thick Cooking Cream at $4.99, and Blue Dragon Rice Noodles 300 g at $3.99. IGA supplies Shallots Onions at $4.39, while Metro supplies Celery at $4.99 if you choose to add it. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking.]

For your budget, the main comparison is not between chicken stores but between chicken-based and vegetable-based dinners. The chicken item alone costs more than the entire vegetable rice noodle bowl’s core basket. If you are trying to manage a weekly grocery plan in Quebec, you may want to reserve this recipe for a night when chicken is central to the meal and use the vegetable noodle bowl on another night to balance the total week.

Recipe 3: Chicken Rice Pasta and Vegetables — $8.35 per serving

Chicken Rice Pasta and Vegetables costs $50.10 for six servings, or $8.35 per serving, making it the highest-cost but most complete dinner in this Quebec recipe costing guide. The basket includes chicken breast, rice noodles, cooking cream, multiple vegetables, canned fava and shallots. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking.]

This is the recipe you choose when you want a fuller dinner with protein, vegetables, sauce and noodles in one pan or pot. It is still within the “cheap dinner recipes under $9” range on a per-serving basis, but it is less frugal than the vegetable-only bowl because the chicken breast adds $22.19. The strength of this recipe is balance: you get a protein-heavy meal with several vegetables rather than a stripped-down budget plate.

Ingredients with Prices

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

The arithmetic confirms the listed recipe total: $22.19 + $1.99 + $4.99 + $3.99 + $1.88 + $4.99 + $1.69 + $3.99 + $4.39 = $50.10. Divided by six servings, the cost is $8.35 per serving. For a household dinner, this gives you a realistic view of what a chicken-and-vegetable noodle meal costs in Quebec when you use the lowest listed source for each ingredient.

From a budgeting perspective, the biggest lever is the chicken. Chicken Breast Boneless Skinless represents 44.3% of the full $50.10 recipe cost. If you are trying to reduce your dinner cost, switching one night from the full chicken version to the vegetable rice noodle bowl lowers the per-serving cost from $8.35 to about $3.15 using the fuller vegetable basket shown above.

Basket Index: Quebec Ingredient Prices Across Stores

The Quebec basket index shows that the lowest individual prices in this recipe set are Canned Fava at $1.69 from Metro, Sweet Green Peppers at $1.88 from Maxi, and Broccoli Shoots at $1.99 from Metro. These lower-cost items are the best building blocks when you want budget meals in Quebec that still include vegetables and pantry-friendly ingredients. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking.]

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

For you, this table is more useful than a single recipe card because it shows which ingredients are doing the budget work. The vegetable and pantry items mostly sit below $5, while chicken breast is the outlier at $22.19. If you build two dinners from this list, you can use the lower-cost items for one meal and reserve the chicken for the other.

Metro is especially relevant for this ingredient set because it has three of the nine priced items: Broccoli Shoots at $1.99, Celery at $4.99 and Canned Fava at $1.69. Maxi is important for Sweet Green Peppers at $1.88, while Canada inc. is the key store for the chicken, cream and rice noodles. If your normal route includes Metro and Maxi, you can cover a large share of the lower-cost ingredients without making the basket dependent on one banner.

Top Deals Table: Best Quebec Ingredient Prices for Budget Dinners

The strongest budget-dinner prices in this Quebec dataset are concentrated in vegetables and pantry items, led by Canned Fava at $1.69 from Metro and Sweet Green Peppers at $1.88 from Maxi. Regular prices and percentage savings are not included in the provided June 2026 data, so the table ranks the best current prices rather than promotional discounts. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking.]

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

This ranking helps you decide where to trim first. If your basket is getting expensive, you should protect the lowest-cost items that add bulk and nutrition, such as canned fava, peppers and broccoli shoots. You should then decide whether the creamy sauce and chicken are essential for that night’s meal or whether a simpler noodle bowl meets your budget goal.

For comparison framing, Metro offers Canned Fava at $1.69, while Canada inc. charges $22.19 for Chicken Breast Boneless Skinless — a difference of $20.50 between the lowest-priced pantry protein item and the main chicken protein in this recipe set. That does not make the chicken a poor choice, but it does show why meatless dinners are often the cheapest recipes when you are planning around a fixed grocery budget.

Price Comparison Table: All Recipes Side by Side

The three budget meals in this Quebec guide range from $3.15 to $8.35 per serving when costed from the available June 2026 ingredient prices. The Vegetable Rice Noodle Bowl is the lowest-cost option, while Chicken Rice Pasta and Vegetables is the fullest recipe and the highest-cost option. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking.]

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

If you are planning several budget meals in Quebec, the side-by-side comparison gives you a simple rule. Use the Vegetable Rice Noodle Bowl when your priority is the lowest dinner cost. Use Creamy Chicken Rice Noodles when you want chicken but can skip several vegetables. Use the full Chicken Rice Pasta and Vegetables recipe when you want the most complete dinner and can spend $8.35 per serving.

The cost spread is meaningful. The full chicken-and-vegetable recipe costs $5.20 more per serving than the vegetable bowl, based on $8.35 versus $3.15. Across six servings, that difference is $31.18, which is enough to cover another vegetable noodle basket using the priced ingredients above.

How to Shop These Quebec Recipes More Strategically

The most effective way to lower your dinner cost is to separate your recipe into “must-have” and “flexible” ingredients before you shop. In this dataset, chicken breast, rice noodles and cooking cream define the creamy chicken recipe, while peppers, broccoli shoots, snow peas and canned fava define the lower-cost vegetable version. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking.]

You should start with the ingredient that drives the cost. For the full recipe, Chicken Breast Boneless Skinless at $22.19 from Canada inc. is the largest line item by far. Once you decide whether chicken is essential, the rest of your basket becomes easier to manage because most remaining ingredients cost less than $5 each.

You can also use store grouping to reduce decision fatigue. Metro is the strongest stop for the lowest-priced supporting ingredients in this list, with Canned Fava at $1.69, Broccoli Shoots at $1.99 and Celery at $4.99. Maxi gives you Sweet Green Peppers at $1.88, and IGA gives you Shallots Onions at $4.39. Canada inc. is the source for the chicken, cream and rice noodles, so your route depends on whether you are cooking the meat-based or meatless version.

Why These Recipes Fit Quebec Budget Meal Planning

These recipes fit Quebec budget meal planning because each one uses real prices from active grocery banners and store names in the province, including Metro, Maxi, IGA, maxi 1 and Canada inc. The three recipes also give you a useful price ladder: about $3.15 per serving for a vegetable noodle bowl, $5.93 per serving for a simplified chicken noodle dinner, and $8.35 per serving for the full chicken-and-vegetable recipe. [Source: eezly real-time price tracking.]

For your weekly plan, that ladder matters more than any single recipe. You can choose one lower-cost dinner, one mid-cost chicken dinner and one fuller chicken-and-vegetable dinner depending on your schedule and appetite. This approach prevents every meal from being built around the highest-cost ingredient, while still leaving room for a complete chicken dinner when you want it.

The recipes also work well for batch cooking. Six servings gives you enough volume for a family dinner or for leftovers the next day. If you cook for one or two people, you can portion the rice noodle dishes into lunches, which helps you stretch the value of the original basket.