Coming up with dinner every.single.day. can be such a struggle. It can be hard coming up with dinner ideas for one night let alone a whole week.
These 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 the WEEKLY DINNER PLANNER archive for more meal planning ideas!
Table of Contents
👇🏻 SCROLL for Recipe Links, Tips & Additional Info 👇🏻
How To Use the Meal Plans
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 restricted. 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.) This will become second nature as you continue meal planning.
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:
Dinner Plan #10
Meal Prep Tips
These are some basic prep ideas you can do before the week starts to get ahead of the game! Do some, do them all, whatever works for you! I just barely make it to the grocery shopping part, so actual meal prep is a stretch for me personally …. but I hear it’s super-efficient 😬🤪
| Mongolian Beef Ramen | Cut broccoli into florets Peel and cut carrot Slice scallions |
| Antipasto Sandwiches | (nothing to be prepped) |
| Air Fryer Turkey Meatloaf & Mashed Potatoes | Prepare topping sauce Mix and shape meatloaf, wrap in plastic and keep in an airtight container up to 2 days (making sure it’s still within the “use by” date of the ground turkey) |
| Creamy Cilantro Lime Chicken & Rice | Juice 2 limes & slice one into wedges (if using for garnish) Chop roasted bell pepper & cilantro Chop basil and/or grate parmesan cheese (if using for garnish) |
| Spaghetti & Garlic Bread | If making a meat sauce, you can make that ahead of time. |
Recipe Links, Side Ideas & Helpful Tips
Mongolian Beef Ramen
from Delish
FYI:
- I love using a ginger paste to save on prep time.
- I also highly recommend buying pre-cut matchstick carrots because I think cutting them yourself is such a pain in the butt. There are peelers, I think they’re hard to use. You can use a box grater, but the carrots come out too thin and not quite the right consistency in this dish. But in the end, do what you want!
SIDE SUGGESTIONS: (not included in shopping list)
- Roasted garlic
- Edamame
- Basic salad with a ginger dressing would complement this really well too!
Antipasto Sandwiches
from Plain Chicken
FYI:
- Yes, this is an appetizer as a dinner because it is technically like a sandwhich, which is technically acceptable to have for dinner. Also, it is super quick to prep and then just pop in the oven while it bakes and you get other stuff done and it’s delicious. Don’t argue with me.
- Feel free to sub turkey pepperoni for a little less fat grams, and add sliced pepperoncinis for some heat!
SIDE SUGGESTIONS: (not included in shopping list)
- Soup or salad would go great with these sandwhiches
- Fried calamari (just a store bought that you can bake at the same time)
- Balsamic tomatoes (tomatoes, red onion, balsamic vinegar and a little olive oil. You can also throw in some basil if you have it.)
Air Fryer Turkey Meatloaf & Mashed Potatoes
from Simply Happy Foodie
FYI:
- You can use ground beef and ground turkey interchangeably in just about any recipe!
- Meatloaf can be mixed, shaped and stored in the frefrigerator for a day or two until you’re ready to bake it!
- If you want to try this in the Instant Pot, she’s got a recipe for that too! Check it out here.
- You can use water instead of milk.
- You can also use panko breadcrumbs, regular breadcrumbs, or stale bread. (If using stale bread, soak it in the milk or bread for about 10 minutes before adding it to the mix so that it gets mushy.)
One thing I wanted to point out about this recipe, I found the loaf to be very wet and loose when trying to shape it before cooking. It was a bit hard to get it into the air fryer, and I definitely couldn’t get the bacon to wrap underneath it so I just laid it across the top, folded it, and overlapped the other half. I’d consider next time laying the bacon strips down first, putting the loaf on top, and then wrapping the ends of the strips over the top.
I also only made about 1/3 of the glaze and it was definitely enough if you don’t care to have extra for dipping.
Also, the recipe card didn’t specify, but in the comments, the author mentioned cooking this on “Air Crisp” for those that have that setting on their air fryer; that’s what I used and it did turn out wonderfully. The whole family enjoyed the flavor, it was moist and delicious!
SIDE SUGGESTIONS: (not included in shopping list)
- So many veggies go great with meatloaf. Corn, green beans, squash, brussels sprouts, beets, broccoli, carrots, creamed spinach, the list goes on. Sauteed mushrooms would be delishhh!
Creamy Cilantro Lime Chicken & Rice
from With Peanut Butter on Top
FYI:
- Suggested servings are with pasta, cauliflower rice, or veggies, but I personally love this over white rice and that’s what I included in the grocery list.
SIDE SUGGESTIONS: (not included in shopping list)
- Black beans are another great side dish for this recipe!!
Spaghetti & Garlic Bread
(basic meal idea ~ make it how you like)
FYI:
- Just some easy peasy “pasghetti” tonight! Get as fancy or basic as you want. Make fresh pasta, add some grilled shrimp to a spicy tomato sauce, make a baked spaghetti.
- We just love a good ol’ meat sauce over here. I make it simple by just browning ground turkey with diced onion, minced garlic, salt, pepper, and italian seasoning and then mixing with a jarred tomato sauce.
SIDE SUGGESTIONS: (not included in shopping list)
- I’m going with garlic bread this week, and listed frozen in the grocery list for ease. However, if you want to make your own garlic bread, I have to agree with this taste test from The Kitchn that Guy Fieri’s recipe is perfection!!!
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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