Quebec Weekly Meal Plan: Feed Your Family for $195.84

Key Facts

• A full week of groceries for a family of four in Quebec can be purchased for $195.84 by shopping at five specific stores. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• This weekly grocery budget breaks down to just $6.99 per person, per day. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• Shopping for this basket at a single store (Super C) would cost $211.93, making the multi-store strategy $15.09 cheaper. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• The lowest-priced ingredients for this meal plan are found across IGA, Maxi, Metro, Super C, and Wholesale Club. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• Key deals include Lean Ground Beef for $10.00 at Maxi and Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast for $15.24 at Maxi. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• The featured Chicken Linguini recipe costs only $3.66 per serving to make. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• This meal plan leverages several large-format recipes, such as a Chicken Vegetable Soup that yields 13 servings for efficient meal prep. (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)

A Week of Family Meals in Quebec for Under $200

Managing a household grocery budget in Quebec can feel like a significant challenge, with food prices seeming to climb continually. However, with a strategic approach to meal planning and shopping, it is possible to provide nutritious, delicious meals for your family without overspending. This guide provides a concrete example of how to feed a family of four for an entire week for under $200, leveraging the power of real-time price data.

The total cost for this week's complete grocery basket is $195.84. For a family of four, this translates to an impressive $48.96 per person for the week, or just $6.99 per person, per day. This budget covers ingredients for breakfast, lunch, and a detailed dinner plan, proving that eating well on a budget is achievable. The key is not just what you buy, but where you buy it. 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. This article uses eezly's AI to identify the lowest price for each item on your list, assembling a shopping plan that maximizes your savings.

This plan is more than just a list of cheap recipes; it's a comprehensive strategy. It involves visiting a few different stores—in this case, IGA, Maxi, Metro, Super C, and Wholesale Club—to secure the best possible price on every item. While it may require a little more planning than a single-store trip, the data shows the savings are substantial. In the following sections, you'll find the complete 7-day dinner menu, the full itemized grocery list, a breakdown of where to shop, and tips to make meal prep efficient and simple.

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Your 7-Day Summer Dinner Meal Plan

A successful weekly grocery budget starts with a solid meal plan. By knowing exactly what you will cook each night, you eliminate impulse buys and food waste. This plan focuses on crowd-pleasing, easy-to-prepare dinners perfect for the summer season. For breakfasts and lunches, we recommend simple, low-cost options like oatmeal, eggs, yogurt, sandwiches, and, most importantly, leftovers from the generous dinner portions. Many of the recipes below, like the Chicken Linguini and Chicken Vegetable Soup, are designed to produce large quantities, making them perfect for next-day lunches.

The following dinner plan is designed for a family of four. The cost per serving is calculated based on the lowest available ingredient prices in Quebec, sourced from eezly's live pricing database. This table illustrates how affordable home-cooked meals can be when you shop strategically.

Table 1: Weekly Dinner Menu & Costing

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

Monday: Chicken Linguini
Start the week with a comforting and incredibly budget-friendly Chicken Linguini. At only $3.66 per serving, this creamy pasta dish is a family favorite. The recipe makes 12 servings, ensuring you have plenty of leftovers for lunches throughout the week, which further stretches your food budget. The key low-cost ingredients include breaded chicken breast found for $15.00 at Maxi and 2% cottage cheese for $4.29 at Metro.

Tuesday: Thai Salad with Chicken Strips
Light, refreshing, and packed with flavour, this Thai Salad is a perfect midweek meal. The cost comes in at $5.50 per serving. It combines crunchy Savoy cabbage, carrots, and breaded chicken strips with a delicious peanut-based dressing. You can find the key ingredients like Savoy Cabbage ($3.42) and breaded chicken cutlettes ($6.00) at their lowest prices at Maxi.

Wednesday: Bunless Burgers
Embrace the summer BBQ spirit with these satisfying Bunless Burgers. Served on a crisp bed of Boston lettuce with cheese and tomatoes, this meal costs $6.44 per serving. It's a healthier, low-carb take on a classic. The primary cost is the lean ground beef, which eezly's price tracking identifies at Maxi for $10.00.

Thursday: Chicken & Dressing
A comforting, classic meal, this Chicken & Dressing recipe costs $7.45 per serving. This dish feels like a Sunday dinner but is simple enough for a weeknight. The recipe relies on boneless skinless chicken breast, which is a staple in this meal plan. The best price this week is $15.24 at Maxi. Combined with inexpensive pantry items like stuffing mix and broth, it creates a hearty and affordable meal.

Friday: Asian Burgers
Put a twist on burger night with these flavourful Asian Burgers, costing just $5.92 per serving. These burgers use lean ground beef infused with shallots, Chinese five-spice, and hoisin sauce for a unique and delicious taste. The lean ground beef is on sale at Metro for $7.43, making this an opportune time to try this recipe.

Saturday: Tuna Burgers
For a change of pace from beef and chicken, these Tuna Burgers are a fantastic option, coming in at $8.19 per serving. Using high-quality white albacore tuna, these burgers are quick to assemble and cook. The best value for bulk tuna is often at warehouse clubs; this week, Ocean's Solid White Albacore Tuna is priced best at Costco Anjou for $20.42 for a multi-pack.

Sunday: Chicken Vegetable Soup
End the week with a massive, nutrient-packed batch of Chicken Vegetable Soup. At $5.61 per serving, this recipe yields 13 servings, making it the ultimate meal-prep powerhouse. Enjoy a bowl for Sunday dinner and pack the rest for easy lunches or freeze it for a future busy weeknight. This soup is a great way to use up any remaining vegetables and is loaded with low-cost, healthy ingredients like carrots, celery, turnips, and spinach, with most of the best prices found at Maxi and Metro.

The Complete Grocery List: Your $195.84 Shopping Cart

To achieve the total weekly cost of $195.84, you need a precise shopping list. The following table includes the core ingredients required for the 7-day dinner plan. The total basket cost of $195.84 also accounts for additional staples needed for breakfasts, lunches, and general pantry items (like oils, spices, etc.) that are not listed individually but are part of the 35-item basket tracked by eezly. This list represents the key items that drive the majority of the cost and savings. By purchasing these specific products at the identified stores, you build the foundation for your week of savings.

Table 2: Core Grocery List with Optimal Prices

Source: eezly real-time price tracking, as of June 2026. This is a partial list representing core dinner ingredients. The total $195.84 basket includes 35 items for a full week's meals.

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Where to Shop in Quebec for Maximum Savings

The single most impactful strategy for lowering your grocery bill is abandoning loyalty to a single store. While it might seem convenient to get everything in one place, you often pay a premium for that convenience. Real-time price data consistently shows that prices for identical items can vary dramatically between competing grocery banners, even those located on the same street.

For this specific weekly meal plan, the lowest possible total cost is $195.84. Achieving this price requires visiting five different banners: IGA, Maxi, Metro, Super C, and Wholesale Club. By cherry-picking the deals from each flyer and store, you save an additional $15.09 compared to buying the entire list at the most convenient single-store option.

Table 3: Shopping Strategy Cost Comparison

Source: eezly real-time price tracking, as of June 2026. Savings calculated vs. the single-store option.

As the data clearly demonstrates, each additional store you add to your shopping route unlocks further savings. The jump from a one-store shop ($211.93) to a two-store shop ($203.55) immediately saves you over $8. For many Quebec families, saving over $16 on a single week's groceries is well worth the extra time to make a few additional stops. This multi-store approach is the cornerstone of taking control of your grocery budget. You can use the eezly app to build your own optimized shopping list every week.

Meal Prep and Time-Saving Strategies for the Week

A detailed meal plan and an optimized shopping list are the first two steps. The third is efficient execution in the kitchen. Meal prepping, or "mise en place," can transform a hectic week of cooking into a smooth, manageable process. With the recipes in this plan, a few hours of prep on Sunday can save you significant time and stress later.

First, identify the tasks you can do in batches. When you get home from your grocery run, wash and chop vegetables. The carrots, celery, onions, and mushrooms for the Chicken Vegetable Soup can be prepped and stored in airtight containers. You can also chop the cabbage for the Thai Salad and the lettuce and tomatoes for the Bunless Burgers.

Next, focus on cooking components in advance. The Chicken Vegetable Soup recipe is designed to make a very large batch (13 servings). Cook this on Sunday. You'll have dinner for the night and multiple portions ready for quick lunches or another dinner later in the week. This "cook once, eat twice (or more)" method is a key principle of frugal living.

Similarly, the Chicken Linguini recipe yields 12 servings. You can prepare the entire dish on Monday and have it serve as a simple, reheatable lunch for several days. For the burger recipes (Bunless, Asian, and Tuna), you can form the patties in advance and store them in the refrigerator, separated by wax paper. This cuts the prep time on the day of cooking down to just a few minutes. By leveraging these strategies, you make the most of not only your money but also your time. Find more quick dinner ideas on our recipes page.

FAQ: Your Quebec Grocery Savings Questions Answered

Q: What is the cheapest grocery store in Quebec?
A: There is no single "cheapest" grocery store for everything. As this week's meal plan demonstrates, the lowest total price ($195.84) was achieved by shopping across five different banners: IGA, Maxi, Metro, Super C, and Wholesale Club. Discount banners like Maxi and Super C consistently offer low prices on many staples, but traditional supermarkets like IGA and Metro often have better sale prices on specific items like meat or produce. The best strategy is to use a price comparison tool like eezly to see which store has your specific items on sale each week.

Q: How much should a family of 4 spend on groceries in Quebec?
A: This varies widely based on diet, location, and shopping habits. However, this article proves it is possible for a family of four to eat a varied, healthy diet for under $200 per week ($195.84, to be exact) if they plan their meals and shop strategically across multiple stores. This equates to about $850 per month.

Q: How can AI help me save on groceries?
A: AI-powered platforms like eezly automate the process of price comparison. Instead of manually checking dozens of flyers, the AI scans 196,000+ products across 2,700 stores. It can then generate an optimized shopping list that tells you the single cheapest place to buy every item on your list, or create a full meal plan based on the lowest-priced ingredients available that week, just like the one in this article.

Q: Can I get this entire meal plan at just one store?
A: Yes, you can. However, you will pay more for the convenience. According to eezly's analysis, purchasing this exact basket of 35 items at a single Super C location would cost $211.93. By making strategic stops at four other stores for specific deals, you save $16.09. The choice between maximum convenience and maximum savings is a personal one.

Q: Are the prices in this article current?
A: The prices cited in this article are based on real-time grocery data collected by eezly for the week of June 27, 2026. Grocery prices are dynamic and change weekly based on sales, supply, and other market factors. To get the most current prices for your specific shopping list, it's always best to check a real-time price tracking platform before you shop.

Q: Where are the biggest savings found in this meal plan?
A: The most significant savings come from strategically purchasing protein. This plan secures Lean Ground Beef for as low as $7.43 at Metro and $10.00 at Maxi, Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast for $15.24 at Maxi, and a bulk pack of tuna from Costco Anjou. Since meat is often the most expensive part of a meal, getting the best possible price on it is crucial for keeping the total budget low.

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