Coming up with dinner every.single.day. can be such a struggle. Many people have a hard time coming up with dinner ideas for one night let alone a whole week.
Our weekly dinner plans are created to help you get one thing off your to-do list. Shop once for the week with our convenient grocery list and you’ll have the ingredients and meal choices ready to go for the week.
Visit our weekly dinner planner archive for more meal planning ideas.
👇🏻 SEE BELOW for Recipe Links and Additional Info 👇🏻
What’s a “Flexible Dinner Plan”?
Flexible dinner plans are a loose schedule of 3-5 dinners that you plan for based on your family’s schedule. You’re not wondering what to make each night, but have the flexibility to switch things around a bit when life interrupts your plans.
I started meal planning years ago because I had a stressful job and would constantly be working late. I did not have the time or headspace to think of dinner ideas for tonight, stop by the grocery store to pick up needed items, and then get home and cook.
Also, when I’m hungry I get even more indecisive than I already am. Either I want allll the food. Or literally nothing sounds good. There is no in between.
And then I get hangry and things go downhill real fast.
So flexible, easy dinner plans became my thing. I’d never stick to a rigid 5 or 6 day meal plan because, honestly, some days are just too hard to have to make dinner. And some days, I really just want some take-out food. I only plan for 3 or 4 meals per week. The other days are for leftovers, drive thrus, date nights … or just some boxed mac and cheese (because we’re not above that over here.)
So How Does it Work?
People are typically put off by commitment but if you give yourself a guideline with the flexibility and permission to make changes as needed, you’ll be more likely to stick to it. That’s why flexible meal plans work.
I give you 5 suggestions and you pick 3-5 meals for your week. Each week I scour through my collections of recipes from a variety of amazing food bloggers, recipe sites, cookbooks and personal recipes to thoughtfully create a weekly dinner plan that is easy and delicious. Pick 3-5 of them for your week based on what works for your schedule and include days for eating out, leftovers, etc.
Use the order of the meals as a guideline. You’ll notice dinners are not listed as Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc. and that’s on purpose. I don’t want you to feel too constricted. That sense of “I HAVE to do this” is what makes people stop meal planning. Keep things flexible and be realistic with your expectations and schedule.
Make mindful adjustments as needed. Sometimes, you need to consider foods (i.e. meats) that need to be used by certain days. For example, if you planned on making steak fajitas on Tuesday, but now it’s Tuesday and you can’t or don’t want to, think about your ingredients for a minute. Check your steak, if the date is good til tomorrow then just make sure you make that meal tomorrow. Otherwise, throw it in the freezer and plan to make it on Friday instead (just take it out the day before to thaw.)
Grocery shop for the week. Get all your groceries for the week so you have everything on hand. This will save you so much time and extra money spent on impulse purchases. If you’re subscribed to my emails, you’ll get a super convenient grocery list for that week’s dinners. (And it’s color coded because I’m just a nerd like that.) Subscribe below if you haven’t already:
What Can You Expect?
- Mostly quick dinners. If there’s a longer one in there it’s usually because you can make it on Sunday and have leftovers on a weekday.
- Realistic menu. I include basic, go-to dinners that don’t require a recipe, like tacos or spaghetti, to give you ideas without needing to follow recipes every night. We need basic to keep us sane 🙃
- Variety. I don’t want chicken three nights in a row and I assume you don’t either.
- Repurposing ingredients. Using remaining ingredients for another night this week or next week. Like when you only need 2 tbsp of parsley for a recipe but you have to buy a bunch, I’ll make another dinner this week or next week to use up more of that parsley.
- Suggestions and Tips. For add-ons, adjustments, or things to know. Read the notes under each night’s meal idea in the post below!
What These Meal Plans Are Not:
- Everything from scratch; I don’t have the time for that ish and I presume you don’t either.
- Clean, raw, unprocessed, etc; I like to eat healthy-ish but I also eat for convenience and availability. Like most things, there’s a balance.
- Vegan or vegetarian; though there will sometimes be a meatless meal, I wouldn’t be authentic and doing any justice to include things we don’t actually eat.
Weekly Dinner Plan #5
- Lemon Garlic Butter Steak with Zucchini Noodles
- One Pot Ground Beef Stroganoff
- Lemon Broccoli Tortellini
- BBQ Beef and Cheddar Quesadillas
- One Pot Bacon Ranch Chicken and Rice
SEE BELOW for Additional Info, Add-On Suggestions, and Pinnable images for linked recipes.
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Lemon Garlic Butter Steak with Zucchini Noodles from EatWell101
FYI:
- ***If you plan on making quesadillas later in the week, the grocery list includes about 3/4 lb extra flank steak. You’ll want to cook it all today and save about 1 cup for the quesadillas later in the week.***
- I make both zoodles and regular noodles and mix the two for this dish (and serve just noodles to the picky ones).
- You can typically buy spiralized zoodles in both the produce and frozen vegetable sections. It’s far cheaper to make your own but of course saves you time to buy it prepped.
SIDE SUGGESTIONS: (not included in shopping list)
- Breadsticks
- Caesar Salad
- Mozzarella Pearls and Cherry Tomatoes tossed in Balsamic Vinegar
One Pot Ground Beef Stroganoff from Hip Foodie Mom
FYI:
- This recipe calls for a garnish of Parsley. If you’re making the Lemon Garlic Butter Steak, the marinade uses parsley too so you’ll have it on hand. Otherwise, skip it.
SIDE SUGGESTIONS: (not included in shopping list)
- Broccoli or Green Beans are a good side dish here, but consider trying:
- Pickled Beets
- Dill or Half Sour Pickles
Lemon Broccoli Tortellini from Two Peas and Their Pod
FYI:
- You can easily skip the spinach in this dish if you want one less step and one less ingredient. (Of course extra veggies are always a plus, but only half my house will eat spinach so 😏)
BBQ Beef and Cheddar Quesadillas (basic meal, using leftover steak)
FYI:
- This is a basic meal using the extra steak from earlier in the week. If you didn’t make extra or opted for a different dinner, you can also get pre-made BBQ beef, chicken, or pork from the grocery or your favorite restaurant.
- If you don’t like cilantro, try green onions instead!
- I love this quesadilla with BBQ sour cream, but you can also use salsa or Spicy Ranch.
SIDE SUGGESTIONS: (not included in shopping list)
- Chips & salsa
- Baked beans
- Corn
- Side salad
Print
Ingredients
Leftover Steak, diced
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Diced red onion
Cilantro
Flour Tortilla Shells (burrito size)
BBQ Sauce, for steak and extra for drizzle
- Dipping Sauce
1/2 cup Sour Cream
1/4 cup BBQ sauce
Directions
- Toss diced steak with your favorite BBQ sauce
- Layer a large tortilla with cheddar cheese, steak, red onion, cilantro, and more cheese. Top with second tortilla shell. Heat a large pan on medium and spray with nonstick spray. Once hot, lay your quesadilla into the pan and cook for a few minutes until warmed through and cheese is melted. Flip and cook on the second side for another couple minutes. Slide onto a cutting board and let sit for a few minutes. Cut into triangles.
- Mix sour cream and BBQ sauce in a small bowl to dip your quesadillas into!
One Pot Bacon Ranch Chicken and Rice from The Salty Marshmallow
FYI:
- Bacon is easier to cut if it’s very cold. If you have the time, throw it in the freezer for about 30 minutes before dicing it.
And that’s that for Week 5! Hope this helps make dinner time less stressful for you this week! If you have questions or feedback let me know in the comments or email me, I’d love to hear from you 💜
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