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 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.
Dinner Plan #21
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 😬🤪
| Philly Cheesesteak Sloppy Joes | Dice onion and pepper. Mince mushrooms (up to 1 day ahead) Cook meat mixture, leaving out the cheese. The day of, warm up the meat, add your cheese and serve on buns. |
| Thai Mango Chicken Red Curry with Rice | Prepare Coconut Mango sauce (up to 2 days ahead, give it a good shake before using.) Chop onion/shallow. Grate ginger. Cube chicken. |
| 5-Ingredient Spinach Parmesan Pasta | Grate parmesan cheese. |
| Homemade Shake and Bake Chicken with Mashed Potatoes | Prep breadcrumb mixture. (Step 2) |
| Pizza | Dough can be started the night before or frozen for later use. Check the “Notes” section at the bottom of the recipe card. |
Recipe Links, Side Ideas & Helpful Tips
Philly Cheesesteak Sloppy Joes
from Dinner Then Dessert
FYI:
- Since we did regular cheesesteaks the other week, I wanted you to try these sloppy joe-style cheesesteaks this week!
- They’re cheesy, quick, and delicious and can be customized if you have picky eaters!
- You can saute the mushrooms, peppers and onions in a separate small pan(s) in any combination. For example, I do peppers and mushrooms in a separate pan and cook only the onion with the meat. Then I top my sandwich with the pepper and mushroom mixture while Joey skips it.
- This is also a great recipe to double and freeze half for future use. You can freeze with or without the cheese added in!
SIDE SUGGESTIONS:
- French fries
- Chips
- Fruit
Thai Mango Chicken Red Curry with Rice
from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe
FYI:
- Full of luscious flavor, this mango curry is simple to put together but does take a little more time due to all the ingredients and components. But it’s worth it!
- If you don’t love coconut rice, or just don’t feel like making it, Jasmine or Basmati rice are perfect substitutes.
- This recipe is also a great one to add a bunch of veggies to. Peppers, snap peas, broccoli, onion, baby corn, pineapple, green beans.
SIDE SUGGESTIONS:
- Simple veggies like snap peas, broccoli or green beans; steamed or sauteed in butter and garlic.
5-Ingredient Spinach Parmesan Pasta
from Two Peas and Their Pod
FYI:
- This dinner is perfect for busy or lazy nights, coming together in only 15 minutes with minimal ingredients!
- Try it with a squeeze of lemon juice for an extra layer of yummy flavor!
SIDE SUGGESTIONS:
- Garlic bread
- Soup (pasta e fagioli or minestrone would be great)
- Fresh fruit
Homemade Shake and Bake Chicken with Mashed Potatoes
from The Modern Proper
FYI:
- I used to make Shake and Bake chicken all the time! It was so simple but so yummy! So when I came across this recipe I HAD to try it out and it’s awesome!!
- You can easily double or triple the breadcrumb mixture (leaving out the olive oil) for later use.
SIDE SUGGESTIONS:
- I love shake and bake chicken with mashed potatoes and corn! But you can also do:
- Buttered egg noodles
- Broccoli
- Green beans
Pizza
from Sally’s Baking Addiction
FYI:
- Pizza night! And tonight I’m sharing this recipe for Homemade Pizza Dough for Beginners. It’s a great recipe to start out with if you’ve never made pizza dough from scratch before and want to try it out.
- It does take some time to make so if you don’t have time the day before, read Sally’s notes about starting the dough the night before. You could also make this ahead and freeze it, she’s got directions for that as well!
SIDE SUGGESTIONS:
- Salad is always a good side for pizza!
- or some Garlicky, Buttery rolls!
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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