Quebec Meal Plan: 5 Family Dinners for $87.34 This Week

Key Facts

• A 5-day dinner meal plan for a Quebec family of four can cost as low as $87.34. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• The most affordable meal in this plan is a hearty Lentil Stew, costing just $1.93 per serving at Metro. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• Lean Ground Beef prices vary significantly across Quebec banners, with Metro offering it at $7.43 while Maxi's price is $10.00 for a similar product. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• Strategic shopping for this meal plan involves visiting multiple stores, including Maxi, Metro, and IGA, to secure the lowest prices. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• A vegetarian Veggie Stir Fry with Tofu can be prepared for $5.34 per serving using ingredients sourced from IGA, Maxi, and Metro. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• The Bunless Burgers recipe, a summer BBQ favourite, costs $6.44 per serving, making it the most indulgent meal in this week's budget plan. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)

Managing your family's food budget in the face of fluctuating grocery prices can be a significant challenge. This guide is designed to provide a practical, actionable solution for Quebec households. We will walk you through a complete five-day dinner menu, provide a detailed and priced-out grocery list, and offer strategies for efficient shopping and meal preparation. By using price intelligence to guide your purchases, you can take control of your grocery spending and put satisfying meals on the table every night.

Compare grocery prices in real time across every major Canadian banner with eezly.

Try eezly — Free

Your $87 Quebec Weekly Dinner Plan

This five-day dinner plan is designed for a family of four, offering a mix of vegetarian meals, family classics, and lean protein options. The total cost for all five dinners is $87.34, which averages out to just $4.37 per person per meal. This budget is achieved by strategically selecting recipes with affordable ingredients and sourcing those ingredients from the stores offering the best current prices.

Each day's meal has been costed based on real-time price data from eezly, Canada's AI-powered grocery price intelligence platform. The plan demonstrates a balanced approach, starting the week with an exceptionally low-cost vegetarian stew and building towards a weekend-style burger meal, all while staying within a strict budget. This structure proves that eating well on a budget doesn't mean eating the same thing every day.

This Week’s Menu: A Day-by-Day Breakdown

Monday: Lentil Stew
Start your week with a nutritious and incredibly budget-friendly Lentil Stew. This vegetarian meal is packed with protein and fibre, making it both filling and healthy. At just $1.93 per serving, it's a powerful example of how pantry staples can form the foundation of a delicious and low-cost dinner. The primary ingredients, lentils and mushrooms, are sourced from Metro for the best value this week.

Tuesday: Burrito Bake
This hearty Burrito Bake is a guaranteed family pleaser. Combining lean ground beef, refried beans, and melted mozzarella cheese, it's a satisfying casserole-style dish that comes together with minimal effort. Serving eight, this recipe is perfect for providing leftovers for the next day's lunch, further stretching your food budget. The cost per serving is a reasonable $3.30, with key ingredients like ground beef found at a competitive price at Metro.

Wednesday: Veggie Stir Fry
Mid-week calls for a fresh and colourful Veggie Stir Fry. This recipe features soft tofu, crisp broccoli, and green bell peppers in a simple soy-based sauce served over rice. It's a quick, healthy, and adaptable meal that you can customize with any vegetables you have on hand. The cost comes in at $5.34 per serving, with ingredients sourced from a mix of IGA, Maxi, and Metro to optimize the price for each component.

Thursday: Meaty Turkey Burger
As you head towards the end of the week, these Meaty Turkey Burgers offer a lighter alternative to traditional beef burgers without sacrificing flavour. Using lean ground turkey from Maxi, this recipe is simple, quick, and satisfying. At $4.82 per serving, it's an affordable way to enjoy a classic meal. You can serve these on buns or alongside a fresh salad to keep it low-carb.

Friday: Bunless Burgers
Celebrate the end of the week with a summer BBQ classic, Bunless Burgers. This recipe focuses on high-quality toppings like marble cheddar cheese, Kumato tomatoes, and crisp romaine lettuce, served over a juicy beef patty. By skipping the bun, it becomes a great low-carb option. This is the most indulgent meal of the week at $6.44 per serving, showing that you can still fit celebratory meals into a tight budget by saving on other days.

Meal Plan Cost Summary

Note: Total cost is adjusted for a family of four, using prorated costs for recipes with more than four servings.
Source: eezly real-time price tracking, as of June 2026

Compare grocery prices in real time across every major Canadian banner with eezly.

Try eezly — Free

Your Complete Grocery List and Shopping Strategy

To execute this meal plan for $87.34, you need a precise shopping list and a clear strategy. The key to achieving these savings is not loyalty to a single store, but rather a willingness to purchase items where they are priced most competitively. This week, our analysis shows that the best prices are spread across Maxi, Metro, and IGA. While it may require visiting more than one store, the savings are substantial.

Below is the complete, consolidated grocery list for all five dinners. It is organized by department to make your shopping trips more efficient. For items available at different prices at different stores (like Lean Ground Beef), we've listed the specific price used for each recipe's costing to ensure transparency. Your goal is to match these prices by visiting the specified retailer for that item. Using a tool like the eezly app can help you build this multi-store shopping list automatically.

This list assumes you have basic pantry items like cooking oil, salt, and some spices. The priced ingredients are those specifically called for in the recipes and tracked by the eezly database.

Consolidated Shopping List for the Week

Source: eezly real-time price tracking, as of June 2026. Note: "Compliments" is a Sobeys private label, so that ingredient is priced at a Sobeys banner store.

Analysis: Where Your Grocery Dollar Goes

Analyzing the shopping list reveals a few key insights. Meat is the single largest expense category, accounting for $27.43 of the total budget. This highlights the importance of finding the best possible price for items like ground beef and turkey. This week, Maxi is the destination for turkey, while Metro has the better price on the ground beef needed for the Burrito Bake.

Produce is the next significant cost at $30.94. While items like bell peppers and Kumato tomatoes can be pricey, they add essential nutrients and flavour. The plan balances these with cheaper staples like onions. The dairy and cheese category totals $14.27, with shredded mozzarella being a significant portion of that cost. The savings are found in the pantry aisle, where items like lentils ($1.69), taco seasoning ($1.00), and barbecue sauce ($1.00) provide the building blocks for meals at a very low cost. This strategic mix of high and low-cost items is what makes the overall budget work.

Meal Prep Tips for a Smoother Week

A successful and stress-free week of home-cooked meals is often determined by the preparation you do ahead of time. Spending an hour on Sunday afternoon can save you significant time and effort on busy weeknights. This practice, often called "meal prep," ensures that when you are tired after a long day, a healthy dinner is only minutes away, reducing the temptation to order expensive takeout.

Your prep strategy should align with the week's menu. For this plan, you can get a head start on nearly every meal.

Your Sunday Prep Session

• Wash and Chop Vegetables: This is the most impactful time-saver. You can wash and chop the romaine lettuce for the burgers, dice the sweet onion for the Lentil Stew, slice the crimini mushrooms, and chop the broccoli and green bell peppers for the stir-fry. Store them in separate airtight containers in the refrigerator. When it's time to cook, your vegetables are ready to go.
• Prepare the Burger Patties: Both the Meaty Turkey Burgers and the Bunless Burgers can be prepared in advance. Mix the ground meat with the seasonings as directed in the recipes, form the patties, and stack them separated by small sheets of parchment paper. Store them in an airtight container in the fridge, and they will be ready to cook on Thursday and Friday. This turns a 20-minute task into a 2-minute one on a weeknight.
• Cook Grains: The Veggie Stir Fry is served with Mexican Rice. You can cook a batch of this rice on Sunday and simply reheat it on Wednesday night. Cooked grains store well in the refrigerator for up to four days. This same principle applies if you choose to serve any of the other meals with a side of rice or quinoa.
• Consolidate Ingredients: For each meal, group the non-perishable pantry ingredients together. For example, place the can of lentils, the box of mushrooms, and the onion for Monday's stew in one area of your pantry or on a dedicated shelf. This "meal kit" approach eliminates the need to search for ingredients when you're ready to start cooking.

Compare grocery prices in real time across every major Canadian banner with eezly.

Try eezly — Free