Weekly Meal Plan #11: Easy Back-to-Routine Dinners

This week’s meal plan is for that point in the season when the calendar starts filling up again, and dinner needs to be simple.

You’ll find a quick veggie-packed skillet dinner, crispy chicken tenders, a fun taco-inspired pie, a slow cooker beef dinner, and a one-pan chicken meal to finish the week. It is a nice mix of fast dinners, family-friendly meals, and one slow cooker recipe for the day you know will be busy.

As always, move the meals around to fit your schedule. If one night is extra rushed, use the slow cooker dinner. If you want something with the meat and veggies already combined, make the skillet or sheet-pan meal. If Friday feels like a fun dinner night, save the chicken tenders or taco pie for then.

Don’t forget to check out my Week #10 meal plan if you missed it.

The Daily Dinner Line-Up

Meal Prep & Money-Saving Tips

• Ground beef bundle: Monday’s skillet dinner and Wednesday’s taco pie both use ground beef. Buy a larger pack if it is cheaper, then brown both pounds at once. Use half for Monday and save the rest for Wednesday so taco pie night is faster.
• Chicken plan: Tuesday and Friday both use boneless skinless chicken breasts. Buy a family pack and divide it between the chicken tenders and the sheet pan dinner.
• Veggie use-up: Monday’s skillet uses green beans, zucchini, tomatoes, mushrooms, and onion. Friday’s sheet pan dinner uses potatoes, carrots, broccoli, and red pepper. Check your fridge before shopping so you can use what you already have.
• Slow-cooker shortcut: Thursday’s beef and noodles have very little prep, making them a good choice for the busiest day of the week. Set it up earlier in the day and add the noodles near the end.
• Taco topping prep: Chop your toppings for Wednesday in advance. Diced tomatoes, cilantro, avocado, and olives can all be set out quickly when dinner is ready.
• Pantry check: Before shopping, look for ranch seasoning, brown gravy mix, cream of mushroom soup, taco seasoning, refried beans, salsa, honey, hot sauce, soy sauce, vinegar, breadcrumbs, flour, and basic spices. You may already have several of these on hand.
• Leftover plan: Use leftover taco pie or beef and noodles for easy lunches. Leftover chicken tenders can go into wraps or salads the next day.

Easy Swap Ideas

• Skillet vegetables: Use whatever sturdy vegetables you have for the Garden Vegetable Beef Skillet. Bell peppers, corn, carrots, spinach, or yellow squash would all work.
• Ground beef swap: Use ground turkey or ground chicken in the skillet or taco pie to change things up.
• Taco pie crust: Use crescent roll dough instead of refrigerated pizza crust for the Taco Pie. Just pinch the seams together before adding the filling.
• Cheese swap: Use cheddar, Colby Jack, marble cheese, or pepper Jack instead of Monterey Jack on the taco pie.
• Milder chicken: Serve the hot honey sauce on the side for the chicken tenders so everyone can add as much or as little as they want.
• Breadcrumb swap: Use regular breadcrumbs or crushed crackers instead of Panko for the chicken tenders.
• Air fryer option: Cook the Hot Honey Chicken Tenders in the air fryer if you do not want to use the oven.
• Soup swap: Use cream of celery or cream of chicken soup instead of cream of mushroom soup in the Slow Cooker Beef and Noodles.
• Beef swap: Use another slow-cooker-friendly cut of beef for the beef and noodles if stew beef is not available.
• Chicken thigh option: Use boneless skinless chicken thighs instead of chicken breasts in the garlic butter chicken dinner, but adjust the cooking time as needed.

Master Grocery List: Week 11 Dinners

Note: This shopping list covers all 5 main dinners. If you plan to make the weekly bonus recipes, be sure to check the recipe links and add the ingredients to your list.

Meat

• 2 lb ground beef (1 lb for Monday and 1 lb for Wednesday)
• 8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (4 for Tuesday and 4 for Friday)
• 2 lb stew beef (for Thursday)

Produce

• 2 cups green beans (for Monday)
• 1 zucchini (for Monday)
• 3 tomatoes (2 for Monday and 1 for Wednesday)
• 1 package of white button mushrooms (for Monday)
• 1 yellow onion (for Monday)
• 1 head of garlic (for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday)
• 1 ½ lb baby yellow potatoes (for Friday)
• 1 package of baby carrots (for Friday)
• 1 head of broccoli (for Friday)
• 1 red pepper (for Friday)
• 1 avocado, optional (for Wednesday)
• 1 bunch of cilantro, optional (for Wednesday)

Dairy and Refrigerated

• 3 eggs (for Tuesday)
• 1 carton of milk (for Tuesday)
• 1 package of unsalted butter (for Tuesday and Friday)
• 1 package of refrigerated pizza crust (for Wednesday)
• 1 block of Monterey Jack cheese (for Wednesday)
• 1 container of sour cream, optional (for Wednesday)
• 1 bottle of lemon juice (for Friday)
• 1 bottle of grated Parmesan cheese, optional (for Friday)

Pantry

• 1 can of refried beans (for Wednesday)
• 1 box of panko breadcrumbs (for Tuesday)
• 1 jar of chunky salsa (for Wednesday)
• 1 packet of taco seasoning (for Wednesday)
• 1 packet of ranch seasoning (for Thursday)
• 1 envelope of brown gravy mix (for Thursday)
• 1 can of cream of mushroom soup (for Thursday)
• 1 bag of all-purpose flour (for Tuesday)
• 1 bottle of honey (for Tuesday)
• 1 bottle of hot sauce (for Tuesday)
• 1 bottle of soy sauce (for Tuesday)
• 1 bottle of apple cider vinegar (for Tuesday)
• 1 package of egg noodles (for Thursday)
• 1 bottle of extra virgin olive oil (for Friday)
• 1 jar of sliced olives, optional (for Wednesday)
• 1 jar of taco sauce, optional for Wednesday)

Spices and Seasonings

• Dried oregano (for Monday)
• Salt
• Black pepper
• Garlic powder (for Tuesday)
• Paprika (for Tuesday and Friday)
• Onion powder (for Tuesday)
• Ground ginger (for Tuesday)
• Italian seasoning (for Friday)
• Crushed red pepper flakes (for Friday)

Grab Your Free Printable Shopping List & Meal Plan

To make your week even easier, I’ve put together a printable PDF pack of this exact meal plan and the complete grocery list.

A little planning at the start of the week makes dinner feel so much easier when everyone is hungry and you need something simple.