Coming up with dinner every.single.day. can be such a struggle. My weekly dinner plans are created to help you get one thing off your to-do list and have less stress at dinner time!
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 #25
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 😬🤪
| Salisbury Steak Meatballs and Noodles | Chop onions. Slice mushrooms. Prepare meatballs. Can be prepared raw and stored in the fridge up to 1 day ahead, or fully cooked and store 3-4 days. |
| Breakfast Paninis | – |
| Three Cheese Baked Gnocchi with Spinach | Mince onion. |
| Blackened Shrimp Caesar Salad | – |
| Tandoori Chicken Burgers | Slice cucumber. Slice red onion. (store in an airtight glass container to not stink up your fridge) |
Recipe Links, Side Ideas & Helpful Tips
Salisbury Steak Meatballs and Noodles
from Great Grub and Delicious Treats
Meatballs, gravy, and egg noodles = comfort food! Simple and easy to prepare. The meatballs are moist and tender, the gravy is rich and flavorful.. what more can you ask for?!
FYI:
- Fresh meatballs can easily be substituted for frozen. Heat them through in the pan so you still get some of those juices left behind for when you make your sauce.
SIDE SUGGESTIONS:
- Sweet buttered corn
- Pickled beets
- Grean beans
Breakfast Paninis
from Melissa’s Southern Kitchen
Who doesn’t love a good cheesy bacon-egg sandwich?! Breakfast sandwiches for dinner are quick to make, light yet filling, and so delicious!
SIDE SUGGESTIONS:
- Fresh fruit
- Breakfast potatoes or hashbrowns
- Spring mix salad with a light vinaigrette
Three Cheese Baked Gnocchi with Spinach
from Pinch of Yum
Fluffy pillowy gnocchi in a creamy cheesy tomato sauce, made IN ONE PAN for minimal effort in both cooking and clean up!
FYI:
- Can’t find Delallo Passata? Passata is simply Tomato Puree – get any brand you’d like.
- Can’t find Mascarpone cheese? Substitute for Cream Cheese or Ricotta Cheese. Cream cheese is most similar in texture but slightly tangier than mascarpone, while ricotta cheese will be grainier but more mild.
SIDE SUGGESTIONS:
- Side salad
- Broccolini
Blackened Shrimp Caesar Salad
from Cooks Well with Others
Flavorful grilled blackened shrimp over cool creamy Caesar salad. With shrimp that take mere minutes to make and bagged salad mix, this is another quick weeknight dinner WIN!
FYI:
- Don’t feel like grilling? Try making the shrimp in the Air Fryer! 400° for 4 minutes, flip, then cook 2 more minutes.
SIDE SUGGESTIONS:
- Corn chowder
- Mozzarella sticks
- Garlic bread/bread sticks
Tandoori Chicken Burgers
from Baked Bree
Another fresh take on your average burger! SUPER flavor, these Tandoori Chicken Burgers are served on soft naan bread with a fabulous mint yogurt sauce!
FYI:
- I HIGHLY RECOMMEND ginger paste as a shortcut for fresh ginger! It lasts in the fridge for a while so you can always have it on hand and it tastes great. I like the Garden Gourmet brand.
- Cumin is a strong flavor for me so I actually cut the amount in the yogurt sauce by half (1 tsp)
SIDE SUGGESTIONS:
- Pilau Rice
- French fries
- Roasted lemon potatoes
- or my fave, a creamy refreshing Mango Lassi
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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