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!
MEAL PLAN #48
Recipe Links • Side Ideas • Helpful Tips
Instant Pot Wild Rice Soup
from Pinch of Yum
An earthy, creamy mushroom soup that’s incredibly delicious and comforting. It takes about an hour BUT! the steps are super simple and the recipe doesn’t require much effort overall.
FYI:
- 1 HOUR RECIPE
- SHORTCUT: Cut back on prep time and buy a container of mirepoix (diced onion, carrot, and celery mix) in your produce section or in the frozen veggies section.
- ADD-INS: Shredded or diced chicken works really in this soup.
SIDE IDEAS:
- Roasted Brussels sprouts, broccoli, or asparagus
- Of course – a good crusty bread!
- Side salad with a Balsamic Vinaigrette
French Onion French Dip Sandwiches
from Baker by Nature
Meet the love child of French onion soup and French dip sandwiches. Soft bread smothered with juicy tender beef, caramelized onions, and gooey cheese. What’s not to love?!
FYI:
- 1 HOUR RECIPE
- PREP AHEAD: You can make the caramelized onion au jus ahead of time so the day you’re ready to make these, you just assemble and heat.
SIDE IDEAS:
- Roasted squash
- Sauteed mushrooms and green beans
- French fries or chips
- Side salad with French dressing (playing on the French theme here, but also the tangy dressing cuts through the rich sandwich well.)
Swedish Meatballs and Mashed Potatoes
from Pinch of Yum
Light and tender meatballs in a creamy sauce with just a hint of sweetness, ladeled over buttery mashed potatoes.
FYI:
- 1.5 HOUR RECIPE not sure where they got the timing; maybe with making the lingonberries & cucumbers? But it usually takes me just under an hour to make the meatballs and potatoes (I skip the lingonberries and cucumbers.)
- SHORTCUT: Buy frozen or fresh-prepped meatballs to save time.
- PREP AHEAD: You can easily make your meatballs ahead of time. If serving that week, keep in the fridge. Otherwise, store meatballs in the freezer until ready to use.
- SUBSTITUTIONS: Ground Turkey can be subbed for either the Beef or the Pork (I’ve done both.)
Egg noodles instead of mashed potatoes (Spaetzle would be yummy too!)
SIDE IDEAS:
- Dill pickle spears – vinegary pickles pair well because they help cut through this rich dish and are quicker than making the cucumber salad.
- Pickled beets
- Side salad with an Apple cider or Lemon vinaigrette
One Pot Lemon Orzo Shrimp
from Damn Delicious
An easy, flavorful, one-pot meal that has your carbs, veggies, and protein all in one. Easy to eat on a busy night, on the go, or just curled up on the couch watching TV. Plus it’s a good one to customize and add/subtract ingredients!
FYI:
- 40 MINUTE RECIPE
- ADD-INS: If you have any smoked sausage or chicken in the fridge that needs to be used up, it can easily be added to this dish. Parsley or green onions would add great flavor. Asparagus, broccoli, or zucchini would work well here too.
SIDE IDEAS:
- The veggies mentioned could be served on the side instead – Asparagus, broccoli, zucchini
- Caesar Salad
Ginger Peanut Chicken with Coconut Rice
from Pinch of Yum
Simple ingredients with BIG FLAVOR!
FYI:
- 25 MINUTE RECIPE this does not include marinating time or if you’re a slow prepper
- REQUIRES MARINATING recommended at 20 minutes – 2 hours
- SUBSTITUTIONS: Chicken breast (or ground chicken- see below) instead of thighs; lemon instead of lime; basil instead of cilantro; cashews instead of peanuts; broccoli instead of spinach/bok choy.
- SHORTCUT: Instead of chicken thighs, consider ground chicken (or turkey). Skip the marinating step and simply add those ingredients mid-way through or after browning the meat.
Use one or two frozen ginger cubes or a spoon of ginger paste. - !!! I personally make my rice on the stovetop. I noticed in the comments several people saying their coconut rice in the IP resulted in a burn notice. Proceed with caution!
SIDE IDEAS:
- Roasted garlic broccoli
- Potstickers
- Thai coconut soup
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 💜
SAVE / PIN THIS POST
SAVE THIS POST TO REFER BACK TO THROUGHOUT THE WEEK
Copy & Paste the URL into your fave notes app:
https://momentsandmeals.com/weekly-dinner-plan-48/
-OR-
Click to Pin the image to your Pinterest board.
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.
