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 the 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 #11
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 😬🤪
| One-Pot Chicken and Spinach Artichoke Pasta | Shred mozzarella and/or parmesan if using any block cheese. Chop artichokes. Cut lemon wedges, if using. Chop parsley, if using. (best stored wrapped in damp paper towel in airtight container or storage bag.) |
| Burgers & Potato Salad | If you are making your own potato salad, you can make it a few days ahead. |
| Sheet Pan Crispy Parmesan Chicken & Veggies | Juice lemon. Chop parsley. Grate parmesan cheese. Clean and trim green beans. (honestly no need to cut these into thirds.) |
| One-Pot Andouille Sausage Pasta Skillet | Dice onion. Slice sausage. Shred cheese if using a block cheese. |
| Shrimp Fried Rice | Peel & dice carrots. Dice white onion. Slice green onions. Cook rice. |
Recipe Links, Side Ideas & Helpful Tips
One-Pot Chicken and Spinach Artichoke Pasta
from Dinner at the Zoo
FYI:
- Frozen spinach will work just as well in this dish, just make sure to thaw and thoroughly squeeze it out before adding it in.
- Roasted red peppers would also be a tasty add-in.
Burgers & Potato Salad
(basic meal idea ~ make it how you like)
FYI:
- Want a yummy Turkey burger suggestion? Check out this recipe from Lauren’s Latest.
SIDE SUGGESTIONS: (not included in shopping list)
- If we’re making burgers for dinner, we usually have french fries or potato chips on the side. If we’re having a weekend BBQ, we often have potato salad – sometimes storebought but usually homemade. If you’re feeling up to making a potato salad try out my Loaded Potato Salad, it’s served warm and incredibly delicious!
Sheet Pan Crispy Parmesan Chicken & Veggies
from Cafe Delites
FYI:
- ***MARINATING TIME NEEDED*** It’s suggested to let the chicken marinate in the egg wash for 30 minutes, if possible. In this recipe, it does enhance the flavor of the chicken so I would agree and suggest to allow for that time if you can.
- Just my 2 cents – I don’t feel the need to cut the green beans into thirds. Yes, it makes them more bite-sized. No, it’s not necessary. If you don’t have the time, don’t worry about it.
One-Pot Andouille Sausage Pasta Skillet
from Damn Delicious
FYI:
- Substitute a smoked sausage and colby jack cheese if andoullie sausage or pepper jack cheese are not your jam.
SIDE SUGGESTIONS: (not included in shopping list)
- Roasted broccoli or asparagus
Shrimp Fried Rice
from Gimme Some Oven
FYI:
- The linked recipe is for the fried rice only. To make this a fuller meal, I’m suggesting you add Shrimp, but you can also do chicken, pork, or tofu. Scroll just above the recipe card to “Easy Fried Rice Variations” for some great ideas
- For the shrimp, I like to season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and a little ginger powder. Heat olive oil on medium-high and cook shrimp for 2-3 minutes on each side if using a medium/large size or 1-2 minutes on each side for a small size shrimp.
- I often use frozen cut veggies in my fried rice to save on prep time.
SIDE SUGGESTIONS: (not included in shopping list)
- Chinese Broccoli
- Potstickers
- Spring Rolls
- Crag Rangoon
- Edamame
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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