If getting dinner on the table seems like a huge chore then these easy weekly meal plan ideas will make your week a lot less stressful.
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission if you purchase through my link, at no extra cost to you.
These tips will help you save money, make the hustle of dinner time a whole lot easier, and will help you avoid the dreaded question, what’s for dinner.
To begin, I start by going through what I have in the house while I’m making my easy weekly meal planning grocery list. Then I plan out what I want to cook for dinner for 6 nights. We usually order or go out once a week because I need a break from cooking by then.
Once I have our dinners planned out, I then decide on a few meals for breakfast and lunch that can be repeated a couple times during the week.
This little bit of organization really goes a long way. Not only do I save money and food, but I also get to choose from my master list of what I’m going to cook for dinner each evening.
1. Start With Dinners
First, start by writing out your go-to dinners to create your dinner menu for the week. I always start with dinners because they seem to be the most difficult to come up with on the fly for me so planning is a must.
Don’t make this complicated by trying out a bunch of new recipes. Choose dinners you know how to make that are easy and quick. I have about 12 or so go-to dinners and I rotate them each week depending on what I feel like eating. Then if you want to add a new recipe every now and then, do so.
2. Decide On Simple Meals for Breakfast and Lunch
Breakfast and lunch are easy for me to plan out. I again rotate but I’m a creature of habit and tend to have the same thing for breakfast almost every day for a month or more before I switch to another go-to. Lunches are similar in that I find them easy to create. Lately, I’ve been loving a berry and yogurt bowl for breakfast and my Greek salad for lunch.
I also plan out what I know my son and husband will be having for breakfast and lunch this week too. Then I write down the groceries I will need to make these meals. Oftentimes, I make a batch of banana pancakes or banana muffins on Sunday that my son can eat during the week for breakfast.
3. Check Your Inventory
Check the fridge and pantry for ingredients that you may already have for the meals you created for the week. See what needs to be used up and think about if you can use it in place of an ingredient in one of your meals.
4. Schedule a Dinner Off
I usually feel a burnout coming on towards the end of the week but I push through because I also always plan a take-out or dining-out meal as part of my weekly menu. To be honest, I don’t always have the energy or time to cook every single night so I schedule a night off from cooking each week. This not only gives me and my family something to look forward to but it also helps us create less food waste because it’s on the menu for the week.
5. Be Flexible
I know some people like planning out what dinner they are making each day like Taco Tuesday or Soup on Thursday, but I like to create my 6 dinners for the week and then each day I decide what I feel like eating and cooking that night. I simply look at my meal plan for the week and choose.
It gives me flexibility and helps curb my cravings because I can choose from my menu based on what I’m in the mood for that evening.
6. Stick To Your List
Try your best to stick to the grocery list you made from meal planning. After all, it’s why we did the planning to begin with. I know if I start buying extra items that are not on my grocery list, I end up spending more money and buying things I don’t need which ends up creating food waste.
My grocery list also helps me save so much time shopping. I even try to write out my list in order of where the food is in the store to save me even more time. Not a must but a good idea if you know the ins and outs of your grocery store.
I hope these simple tips help make your cooking more enjoyable and your week less stressful. And if you have any tips of your own, please share them in the comments section.