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. 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 #26
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 😬🤪
| BBQ Bacon Cheddar Burgers | – |
| Salmon Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomato Cream Sauce | Cook salmon and store in fridge until later in the week. Flake and warm through when finishing the pasta. |
| Steak Fajitas | Juice & slice limes. Slice onions and peppers. |
| Cajun Chicken Bowls | Chop chicken. Chop peppers and pineapple. Prepare spice mix. Prepare citrus mix. Chop and microwave sweet potatoes. |
| Spaghetti with Chickpeas and Kale | Prep and chop kale. Shred parmesan cheese. Juice lemon. |
Recipe Links, Side Ideas & Helpful Tips
BBQ Bacon Cheddar Burgers
Sweet and salty, hearty and juicy, BBQ bacon goodness! This is just a basic meal idea, so make these burgers however you normally would!
FYI:
- I use 90/10 ground beef burger patties, seasoned with Montreal seasoning, that are about 1/2″thick (1/2 lb each) and I grill them for about 4 minutes on each side to get a nice juicy, medium burger. Once I flip the burgers, I brush my fave BBQ sauce on top. 1 minute before they’re done, I flip them back over, add BBQ sauce and a slice of cheddar cheese.
- You can air fry bacon at 350°F for 5-7 minutes (6 minutes in my Ninja Foodi) and it’s perfect!
- I love these on Kaiser rolls with mayo, lettuce, tomato, and extra BBQ sauce.
- Instead of putting slices of bacon and cheese on top, try adding diced raw bacon and shredded cheddar to your ground beef, then form and shape your patties and grill as normal.
SIDE IDEAS:
- Fruit salad
- Mac & cheese
- Sweet potato tots or fries
- “Baked” sweet potato with brown sugar, cinnamon, butter, and marshmallows.
Salmon Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomato Cream Sauce
from Julia’s Album
A quick 30-minute meal with delicious pan-seared salmon that’s flaked and tossed into luscious, creamy pasta.
FYI:
- You can cook your salmon the day you buy it. When ready to make this meal later in the week, just flake the salmon and add it to your almost-done pasta dish until it’s warmed through (step #4 in the recipe card.)
- I suggest adding a squeeze of lemon juice, the acidity helps balance the cream and makes the flavors stand out even more!
- Roasted red peppers would be a delicious substitute for sun-dried tomatoes in this recipe.
SIDE IDEAS:
- Roasted Brussels sprouts
- Buttered broccoli
Steak Fajitas
This is a basic meal idea, make it how you like! But if you’re looking for a good recipe, this one from Kay’s Clean Eats is really good!
FYI:
- This is a good meal to make extras and have leftover fajita rice or salad bowls for lunch or dinner the next day.
- I don’t usually do sides for fajitas because you’ve got most of your food groups and they’re filling. But if I need to stretch the meal, my go-to sides are:
SIDE IDEAS:
- Chips & salsa
- Refried beans & yellow rice
Cajun Chicken Bowls
from Carlsbad Cravings
Not only are these bowls packed with layers of flavors, but they’re also healthy and hearty!
FYI:
- Though listed as a 30-minute meal, I find it takes me closer to 45 so if you can prep anything ahead it definitely saves time!
- I love this recipe because she gives you the ingredients to make your own Cajun spice mix, leaving the heat level totally in your control!
- This one-bowl meal hits all your food groups, however, you can serve this over rice to stretch the meal!
Spaghetti with Chickpeas and Kale
from Two Peas and Their Pod
This spaghetti dish with glorious fried garlic slices is light but filling in the best way!
FYI:
- Garlic goes from yummy to burnt real quick so keep an eye on it! And if you’re hesitant, it’s better to take it out a few seconds early than too late.
SIDE IDEAS:
- Garlic bread
- Caprese salad
- Balsamic tomatoes
- Italian side salad
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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