Weekly Meal Plan #13: Easy September Dinners

This week’s meal plan is for those September nights when everyone is getting back into routines and dinner needs to be simple, filling, and not one more thing to stress over.

You’ll find a cozy skillet pasta, slow cooker pork chops with vegetables, a family-friendly casserole, slow cooker chicken lo mein, and crispy air fryer chicken to finish the week. It is a good mix of comfort food, easy prep, and hands-off dinners for busy nights.

As always, move the meals around to fit your schedule. If one night is extra busy, use a slow cooker dinner. If you want something cozy but meatless, make the stroganoff. If Friday needs to feel a little fun, save the Nashville hot chicken for then.

Don’t forget to check out my Week #12 meal plan if you missed it.

The Daily Dinner Line-Up

Meal Prep & Money-Saving Tips

• Mushroom shortcut: Monday’s stroganoff uses cremini mushrooms and white button mushrooms. Buying them pre-sliced saves prep time, especially on a Monday night when dinner already feels like one more thing.
• Slow cooker night plan: Tuesday and Thursday both use the slow cooker. Choose whichever night is busiest for the pork chops or chicken lo mein, then move the other meal to a day when you have a little more morning prep time.
• Ground beef prep: Brown the ground beef for Wednesday’s Doritos Casserole earlier in the day or the night before. Then casserole night is mostly mixing, layering, and baking.
• Onion and garlic prep: Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday all use onion or garlic. Chop what you need ahead of time and store it in the fridge so you don’t start from scratch each night.
• Doritos stretch: Wednesday’s casserole uses a family-size bag of Doritos. Use the broken pieces from the bottom of the bag for the casserole and save the bigger pieces for lunches or snacks.
• Lo mein leftovers: Thursday’s Slow Cooker Chicken Lo Mein makes a filling dinner, and leftovers are great for lunch. Reheat them gently in a skillet with a splash of water or a little extra soy sauce.
• Chicken marinade: Friday’s Nashville hot chicken can sit in the buttermilk and hot sauce mixture ahead of time. Start it earlier in the day, or even the night before, so the chicken is ready to coat and air fry.
• Pantry check: Before shopping, look for egg noodles, lo mein noodles, flour, taco seasoning, salsa, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, chicken broth, vegetable broth, and basic spices. You may already have several of these on hand.

Easy Swap Ideas

• Mushroom options: Use all white mushrooms, all cremini mushrooms, or whatever mushrooms are on sale for the Skillet Mushroom Stroganoff.
• Add protein: Stir in cooked ground beef, shredded chicken, or white beans to make the mushroom stroganoff more filling.
• Noodle swap: Use rotini, penne, fusilli, or another pasta shape instead of egg noodles.
• Sour cream swap: Use plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream in the stroganoff. Stir it in at the end to keep it smooth.
• Pork chop swap: Use chicken breasts or chicken thighs instead of pork chops in the Crockpot Italian Pork Chops, but adjust the cooking time as needed.
• Vegetable swap: Use regular potatoes, red potatoes, Yukon Gold potatoes, chopped carrots, green beans, or broccoli in the crockpot pork chops.
• Seasoning packet swap: Use ranch seasoning or onion soup mix instead of zesty Italian dressing mix for a different flavor.
• Casserole meat swap: Use ground turkey, ground chicken, or cooked shredded chicken instead of ground beef in the Doritos Casserole.
• Chip swap: Use tortilla chips, taco-flavored Doritos, or another Doritos flavor if you have it.
• Cheese swap: Use cheddar, Monterey Jack, marble cheese, pepper Jack, or mozzarella in the casserole.
• Lo mein noodle swap: Use spaghetti, linguine, or egg noodles instead of lo mein noodles if they are easier to find.
• Lo mein veggie swap: Use snow peas, green beans, broccoli, mushrooms, or water chestnuts instead of sugar snap peas.
• Chicken lo mein meat swap: Use boneless skinless chicken thighs or thinly sliced pork instead of chicken breasts.
• Nashville chicken cut: Use chicken tenders, chicken breasts cut into strips, or boneless thighs for the Nashville hot chicken.
• Less heat: Reduce the cayenne pepper and serve the Nashville sauce on the side if you want milder chicken.
• No air fryer: Bake the Nashville hot chicken in the oven if you do not want to use the air fryer.

Master Grocery List: Week 13 Dinners

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

Meat

• 4 boneless pork chops (for Tuesday)
• 1 lb lean ground beef (for Wednesday)
• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts (for Thursday)
• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs (for Friday)

Produce

• 1 sweet onion (for Monday)
• 1 large yellow onion (for Wednesday)
• 1 head of garlic (for Monday, Wednesday and Thursday)
• 1 package of sliced cremini mushrooms (for Monday)
• 1 package of sliced white button mushrooms (for Monday)
• 1 bunch of fresh parsley (for Monday)
• 1 lb of baby potatoes (for Tuesday)
• 1 lb of baby carrots (for Tuesday)
• 1 package of matchstick carrots (for Thursday)
• 1 red bell pepper (for Thursday)
• 8 oz of sugar snap peas (for Thursday)
• 1 bunch of green onions (for Thursday)

Dairy and Refrigerated

• 1 package of unsalted butter (for Monday)
• 1 package of salted butter (for Tuesday and Friday)
• 1 container of sour cream (for Monday and Wednesday)
• 1 block of Parmesan cheese (for Monday)
• 1 carton of buttermilk (for Friday)
• 1 carton of eggs (for Friday)
• 1 block of Monterey Jack cheese (for Wednesday)
• 1 block of cheddar cheese (for Wednesday)

Pantry

• 1 bottle of extra virgin olive oil (for Monday)
• 1 carton of vegetable broth (for Monday)
• 1 package of egg noodles (for Monday)
• 1 can of chicken broth (for Tuesday)
• 1 bottle of Worcestershire sauce (for Monday)
• 1 package of all-purpose flour (for Monday and Friday)
• 1 package of taco seasoning (for Wednesday)
• 1 can of Rotel diced tomatoes with green chilies (for Wednesday)
• 1 jar of salsa (for Wednesday)
• 1 can of diced green chilies (for Wednesday)
• 1 family-size bag of Nacho cheese Doritos (for Wednesday)
• 1 bottle of lite soy sauce (for Thursday)
• 1 bottle of hoisin sauce (for Thursday)
• 1 bottle of oyster sauce (for Thursday)
• 1 bottle of hot sauce (for Friday)
• 1 package of brown sugar (for Thursday and Friday)
• 1 packet of zesty Italian dressing mix (for Tuesday)
• 1 package of lo mein noodles (for Thursday)

Spices and Seasonings

• Smoked paprika (for Monday)
• Paprika (for Friday)
• Cayenne pepper (for Friday)
• Red chili flakes (for Thursday)
• Kosher salt (for Friday)
• Salt
• Black pepper
• Sesame seeds, optional (for Thursday)

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.