Quebec Cheap Dinner Recipes Under $7 Per Serving

Key Facts

• Asian Burgers cost $31.67 total, or $6.33 per serving for 5 (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• Lean Ground Beef is $9.49 at Metro (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• Hoisin Sauce is $9.00 at Maxi (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• Chinese Five Spice is $6.00 at Maxi (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• Shallots Onions are $4.39 at IGA (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)
• Crushed Red Pepper is $2.79 at Maxi (Source: eezly real-time price tracking, June 2026)

Introduction: The Cheapest Quebec Dinner Here Is $4.53 Per Serving

The cheapest recipe in this Quebec dinner costing is Spicy Five-Spice Beef Patties at $4.53 per serving. That price comes from a $22.67 ingredient basket using Lean Ground Beef at Metro for $9.49, Shallots Onions at IGA for $4.39, Chinese Five Spice at Maxi for $6.00 and Crushed Red Pepper at Maxi for $2.79. Source: eezly real-time price tracking.

For your weekly meal planning, the most useful takeaway is that the same Quebec grocery data can produce several budget meals Quebec households can build around one core protein. Asian Burgers are the most complete recipe in the provided data at $31.67 total and $6.33 per serving, while two simplified beef dinners come in lower by leaving out one higher-priced flavour component. If you are looking for cheap dinner recipes under $7 per serving, all three options in this article meet that threshold using the tracked prices available for June 2026.

The pricing also shows why you should not assume one banner is cheapest for the entire basket. Metro has the lowest tracked Lean Ground Beef price in this recipe data at $9.49, IGA has the tracked Shallots Onions price at $4.39, and Maxi carries the three flavour-building items: Chinese Five Spice at $6.00, Crushed Red Pepper at $2.79 and Hoisin Sauce at $9.00. For a Quebec grocery run, you may decide whether the extra stop is worth it, but the item-level comparison gives you a clear starting point.

These recipes are designed as costing examples rather than elaborate chef-driven menus. You get a practical view of how the ingredient prices add up, which store has each component, and how small substitutions inside the same ingredient list change your final cost per serving. For households comparing IGA, Maxi, Metro, Super C, Provigo, Walmart, Costco and Wholesale Club in Quebec, that item-level view is often more useful than a single average grocery bill.

Recipe 1: Asian Burgers — $6.33 Per Serving

Asian Burgers cost $31.67 total, or $6.33 per serving for five servings, using tracked Quebec ingredient prices from IGA, Maxi and Metro. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. This is the featured full recipe because it uses every priced ingredient in the data: Shallots Onions, Chinese Five Spice, Crushed Red Pepper, Lean Ground Beef and Hoisin Sauce. For you, the advantage is that the recipe has a defined total cost and a clear per-serving price under $7.

Asian Burgers work as a budget-conscious dinner because the flavour comes from concentrated pantry-style ingredients rather than a long list of fresh add-ons. Hoisin Sauce at $9.00 and Chinese Five Spice at $6.00 are the two largest flavour costs, but they also give the burgers their main character. Lean Ground Beef at $9.49 is the central protein cost, while Shallots Onions at $4.39 and Crushed Red Pepper at $2.79 round out the savoury and spicy profile.

From a personal finance perspective, your question is not only whether the meal is cheap, but whether the spending is efficient. At $6.33 per serving, this recipe sits comfortably in the “cheap dinner recipes under $7” category for Quebec, especially for a beef-based meal. If you are cooking for five, the total tracked basket is $31.67, which makes the serving math straightforward and easy to compare against takeout, prepared meals or higher-cost meat dinners.

Ingredients with Prices

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

The total is the exact sum of the listed ingredients: $4.39 plus $6.00 plus $2.79 plus $9.49 plus $9.00 equals $31.67. Divided across five servings, your cost is $6.33 per serving after rounding to the nearest cent. This is the strongest all-in recipe in the data because it uses every priced component and produces the clearest complete dinner costing.

Where to Buy Cheapest

For Asian Burgers, your cheapest tracked buying path is a mixed-store basket: Lean Ground Beef at Metro for $9.49, Shallots Onions at IGA for $4.39, and Chinese Five Spice, Crushed Red Pepper and Hoisin Sauce at Maxi for $6.00, $2.79 and $9.00 respectively. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. Maxi carries three of the five priced ingredients in this basket, but Metro is the store attached to the beef price, which is the single most important protein item.

If you are already shopping at Maxi, the spices and sauce are the logical items to check there first because they account for $17.79 of the $31.67 recipe basket. If you are closer to Metro, the Lean Ground Beef at $9.49 is the key price to protect because beef is the ingredient most likely to shape your final cost per serving. If your regular route includes IGA, the Shallots Onions price of $4.39 gives you the aromatic base without adding another unpriced substitution.

Recipe 2: Hoisin Five-Spice Beef Skillet — $5.78 Per Serving

Hoisin Five-Spice Beef Skillet costs $28.88 total, or $5.78 per serving for five servings, using Lean Ground Beef, Shallots Onions, Chinese Five Spice and Hoisin Sauce. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. This recipe is a lower-cost variation of the full Asian Burgers basket because it leaves out Crushed Red Pepper at $2.79 while keeping the sweet, savoury and spiced flavour structure.

For you, this is the better option if your household prefers a mild dinner or if you do not need extra heat. The cost math is simple: Lean Ground Beef at $9.49 from Metro, Shallots Onions at $4.39 from IGA, Chinese Five Spice at $6.00 from Maxi and Hoisin Sauce at $9.00 from Maxi add up to $28.88. Spread across five servings, the result is $5.78 per serving after rounding.

This recipe also illustrates how small ingredient choices affect budget meals Quebec families can repeat. Removing the $2.79 Crushed Red Pepper cuts the total basket from $31.67 to $28.88. On a per-serving basis, your price drops from $6.33 for Asian Burgers to $5.78 for the skillet variation, a difference of $0.55 per serving.

Ingredients with Prices

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

If you want to stretch this into a full plate, you can serve it with staples you already have at home, but the cost calculation above includes only the tracked ingredients from the June 2026 Quebec data. That discipline matters because recipe costing is only useful when each listed price can be verified. Based on the supplied prices, the skillet remains one of the cheapest recipes in this set while still keeping the higher-impact Hoisin Sauce and Chinese Five Spice.

Where to Buy Cheapest

Your cheapest tracked store mix for the Hoisin Five-Spice Beef Skillet is Metro for Lean Ground Beef at $9.49, IGA for Shallots Onions at $4.39, and Maxi for both Chinese Five Spice at $6.00 and Hoisin Sauce at $9.00. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. Maxi accounts for $15.00 of this $28.88 recipe basket, which means your sauce-and-spice spending is slightly higher than the beef price alone.

You should think of this recipe as a “two-flavour-anchor” meal. Hoisin Sauce supplies the sweet-savoury base, while Chinese Five Spice gives the beef a stronger dinner profile than plain ground beef and onions. If you are comparing the skillet against the full Asian Burgers recipe, the meaningful choice is whether the Crushed Red Pepper at $2.79 is worth the extra $0.55 per serving for your table.

Recipe 3: Spicy Five-Spice Beef Patties — $4.53 Per Serving

Spicy Five-Spice Beef Patties cost $22.67 total, or $4.53 per serving for five servings, making them the cheapest recipe in this Quebec comparison. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. This version uses Lean Ground Beef at $9.49, Shallots Onions at $4.39, Chinese Five Spice at $6.00 and Crushed Red Pepper at $2.79, while leaving out the $9.00 Hoisin Sauce.

This is the most cost-controlled dinner in the article because it keeps the beef, aromatics and spice while removing the most expensive single flavour item. Hoisin Sauce is useful in the full Asian Burgers recipe, but it is also tied with Lean Ground Beef as one of the largest budget drivers in the basket. By omitting it, your total falls from $31.67 for Asian Burgers to $22.67 for this patties recipe.

The per-serving difference is meaningful if you cook budget dinners several nights per week. Asian Burgers are $6.33 per serving, while Spicy Five-Spice Beef Patties are $4.53 per serving. That is $1.80 less per serving, based strictly on the tracked ingredient totals, and it shows why the cheapest recipes often come from reducing the number of premium flavour add-ons rather than removing the protein.

Ingredients with Prices

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

The arithmetic is direct: $9.49 plus $4.39 plus $6.00 plus $2.79 equals $22.67. Dividing $22.67 by five servings gives $4.534, which rounds to $4.53 per serving. If your goal is to keep dinner below $5 per person using the available Quebec data, this is the recipe that best fits that target.

Where to Buy Cheapest

Your cheapest tracked buying path for Spicy Five-Spice Beef Patties is Metro for Lean Ground Beef at $9.49, IGA for Shallots Onions at $4.39, and Maxi for Chinese Five Spice at $6.00 and Crushed Red Pepper at $2.79. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. Because this recipe does not use Hoisin Sauce, Maxi still matters for seasoning, but the overall basket becomes much lighter.

If you want the lowest dinner cost from the available data, you should prioritize the beef and seasoning prices rather than the sauce. Metro’s Lean Ground Beef price is the largest component at $9.49, and Maxi’s two seasonings together cost $8.79. IGA’s Shallots Onions at $4.39 complete the tracked basket and help the patties taste more like a planned dinner than plain seasoned beef.

Price Comparison Table: All Three Quebec Recipes Side by Side

Spicy Five-Spice Beef Patties are the lowest-cost recipe at $4.53 per serving, followed by Hoisin Five-Spice Beef Skillet at $5.78 and Asian Burgers at $6.33. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. If you are searching for cheap dinner recipes under $7 in Quebec, all three recipes qualify, but they serve different budget priorities.

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

The table shows that your cheapest recipe is not necessarily the one with the shortest ingredient list, but in this case, fewer high-cost flavour components do reduce the final price. Spicy Five-Spice Beef Patties use four tracked ingredients and stay under $5 per serving. Hoisin Five-Spice Beef Skillet also uses four tracked ingredients, but because it includes the $9.00 Hoisin Sauce instead of the $2.79 Crushed Red Pepper, it costs $6.21 more in total than the patties recipe.

Asian Burgers are still a strong budget dinner because they cost $6.33 per serving and include the full flavour set. If you are cooking for people who prefer a saucier, sweeter burger profile, the additional cost may be worth it. If your main goal is the lowest possible cost per serving, the patties recipe gives you the best answer from this data.

Quebec Recipe Basket Index: What Each Ingredient Costs

The full Asian Burgers basket costs $31.67 across the five tracked ingredients, with prices split among Metro, IGA and Maxi. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. This basket index helps you see which items drive the budget before you choose the recipe version that fits your household.

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

This is the practical grocery-planning table you should use before shopping. Lean Ground Beef and Hoisin Sauce are the two largest single costs in the full recipe basket, at $9.49 and $9.00 respectively. Chinese Five Spice follows at $6.00, while Shallots Onions and Crushed Red Pepper are lower-cost contributors at $4.39 and $2.79.

The store pattern also matters. Maxi is attached to three of the five tracked ingredients, while Metro is attached to the beef and IGA to the shallots. If you are making only the lowest-cost patties, you still need Metro, IGA and Maxi based on the tracked ingredient list, but you remove the $9.00 Hoisin Sauce from the purchase.

Best-Priced Components for Building Budget Meals in Quebec

The best-priced component in this Quebec recipe data is Crushed Red Pepper at $2.79 from Maxi, while the highest-priced component is Lean Ground Beef at $9.49 from Metro. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. For your grocery budget, the ranking helps you decide which flavour items are worth keeping when you simplify a recipe.

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

You can use this ranking to make a more disciplined decision at the store. If your cart total is getting too high, Hoisin Sauce is the easiest item to remove because it lowers the basket by $9.00 when you choose the patties recipe instead of Asian Burgers. If you remove the beef, however, you no longer have the main dinner protein, so the better budget move is to adjust the sauce and spice profile rather than the core of the meal.

This table also shows why cheap dinner recipes are not always about buying the cheapest single product. Crushed Red Pepper is only $2.79, but it cannot carry dinner on its own. Lean Ground Beef is the most expensive component at $9.49, yet it supports five servings, which is why the lowest-cost recipe can still land at $4.53 per serving.

How You Should Shop This Quebec Basket

For this Quebec basket, you should treat Metro as the beef stop, IGA as the shallot stop, and Maxi as the seasoning and sauce stop. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. That split gives you the tracked prices used in the $6.33 Asian Burgers, $5.78 Hoisin Five-Spice Beef Skillet and $4.53 Spicy Five-Spice Beef Patties.

Your first decision is whether you are shopping for the full recipe or the cheapest possible dinner. If you want Asian Burgers, buy all five tracked ingredients for a total of $31.67. If you want the cheapest recipe, buy Lean Ground Beef, Shallots Onions, Chinese Five Spice and Crushed Red Pepper for a total of $22.67, and skip the Hoisin Sauce.

Your second decision is whether multiple store stops make sense for your schedule. In Quebec, the active grocery banners in the provided data include Costco, IGA, Maxi, Metro, Metro Plus, Provigo, Super C, Walmart, Wholesale Club and Valu-mart, with 835 stores represented in the province-level store count. For this specific recipe costing, however, the actionable stores are IGA, Maxi and Metro because those are the stores tied to the ingredient prices.

If you want a simpler route, you can choose the recipe that best matches the store you already plan to visit. Maxi matters most for flavour components because Chinese Five Spice, Crushed Red Pepper and Hoisin Sauce are all priced there in the data. Metro matters most for protein because Lean Ground Beef is priced there at $9.49. IGA matters for the aromatic base because Shallots Onions are priced there at $4.39.

Why These Recipes Fit the “Cheap Dinner Recipes Under $7” Search

All three Quebec recipes in this article cost less than $7 per serving, with prices ranging from $4.53 to $6.33. Source: eezly real-time price tracking. That makes them relevant for your searches around “cheap dinner recipes under $7,” “budget meals Quebec” and “cheapest recipes” using real grocery prices rather than generic assumptions.

The most important budgeting lesson is that per-serving cost changes quickly when you remove a single higher-priced flavour item. Asian Burgers use all five priced ingredients and cost $6.33 per serving. Spicy Five-Spice Beef Patties remove Hoisin Sauce and fall to $4.53 per serving, while Hoisin Five-Spice Beef Skillet removes Crushed Red Pepper and lands in the middle at $5.78 per serving.

You should also notice that these are beef-based dinners, not just ultra-low-cost pantry meals. Beef dinners often become expensive when the recipe adds many sauces, toppings, buns, cheeses or side dishes. By costing only the available tracked ingredients, you get a clean view of how the core dinner behaves before extras enter the cart.

For ongoing comparison shopping, you can check current grocery deals at https://eezly.com/deals, explore recipe ideas at https://eezly.com/recipes, or compare planning options at https://eezly.com/meal-plans. Those pages are useful when you want to move from a single recipe costing to a broader weekly grocery strategy.