Weekly Meal Plan #15: Easy Dinners for the First Week of Fall

Fall is officially settling in, and I am definitely ready for dinners that feel a little cozier without making weeknights more complicated.

This week has a little bit of everything: a quick one-pan pasta, an easy salmon dinner, a comforting chicken and biscuit casserole, a big pot of soup, and a budget-friendly pierogi casserole to finish the week.

Meal Plan Week #15 graphic with chicken broccoli biscuit bake, honey garlic salmon, cheeseburger pasta skillet, pierogi casserole, and a printable grocery shopping list.

As always, move the meals around to fit your schedule. Make the quickest dinner on your busiest night, prep a few ingredients ahead of time, and use the swaps if you already have something similar in the fridge or pantry.

Don’t forget to check out my Week #14 meal plan if you missed it.

Weekly meal plan graphic showing five dinners labeled Monday through Friday: cheeseburger pasta skillet, honey garlic salmon, chicken broccoli biscuit bake, sausage and cabbage soup, and pierogi casserole.

The Daily Dinner Line-Up

The recipe in a dark pan with a wooden spoon.

Monday: Cheeseburger Pasta Skillet

Start the week with something easy and cozy. This Cheeseburger Pasta Skillet has ground beef, rotini, cheddar cheese, ketchup, mustard, and dill pickles all cooked together in one pan.

It has all those familiar cheeseburger flavors in a warm, cheesy pasta dinner, and it is ready in about 30 minutes. Exactly the kind of Monday dinner I like.

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Tuesday: Honey Garlic Baked Salmon

Tuesday’s dinner is a little lighter but still packed with flavor. The salmon marinates in a simple mixture of honey, soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, and vegetable oil before baking.

Serve it with rice and broccoli, green beans, roasted vegetables, or a simple salad. You can mix up the marinade earlier in the day so dinner is even easier when you are ready to cook.

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Chicken Broccoli Biscuit Bake - The ultimate comfort food! Country biscuits baked in a creamy Alfredo sauce and topped with broccoli, garlic onions and melted cheese. SO GOOD!

Wednesday: Chicken Broccoli Biscuit Bake

By Wednesday, comfort food sounds pretty good. This casserole has chicken, broccoli, garlic, onion, a creamy Parmesan sauce, cheddar cheese, and refrigerated biscuits all baked together.

It is hearty enough that you really do not need much on the side. A simple salad would be more than enough if you want to add something fresh.

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Thursday: Sausage & Cabbage Soup

Soup night is officially back! This Sausage & Cabbage Soup is a cozy one-pot dinner with Italian sausage, cabbage, tomatoes, onion, garlic, and herbs.

It is ready in about 40 minutes and makes a big batch, so there should be enough left for lunch the next day. Serve it with crusty bread or rolls for an easy September dinner.

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Friday: Pierogi Casserole

End the week with an easy comfort food dinner that is also budget-friendly. Frozen pierogies are baked with mushrooms, onions, pasta sauce, and Parmesan cheese.

I like this one for Friday because you get a hearty dinner without needing a long ingredient list. Use whatever flavor of frozen pierogies your family likes best.

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Bonus Recipe: Cheesy Brussels Sprouts

September is a great time to start bringing those cozier vegetable sides back to the table. These Brussels sprouts are roasted and covered in a creamy cheese sauce with a little Dijon mustard.

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A pan of the recipe with a piece missing.

Bonus Recipe: Pumpkin Cream Cheese Danish Bake

Pumpkin season has arrived! This sweet breakfast bake has layers of crescent dough and creamy pumpkin cheesecake filling with a spiced pecan glaze on top. You can even prep it the night before.

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Bowl of Maple Syrup Dump Cake with pecans topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Bonus Recipe: Maple Syrup Dump Cake

This is such a good dessert for the first week of fall. It has a gooey maple filling underneath a buttery cake topping with pecans, and it is especially good served warm with vanilla ice cream.

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Meal Prep & Money-Saving Tips

Onion prep: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday all use onion. Chop or slice what you need at the start of the week and store it in the fridge to save prep time each night.
Salmon marinade: Mix Tuesday’s salmon marinade earlier in the day and let the salmon soak up that honey-garlic flavor.
Broccoli prep: Cut Wednesday’s broccoli into florets when you bring it home. It is one less thing to chop when you are trying to get dinner on the table.
Soup for lunch: Thursday’s Sausage & Cabbage Soup makes a big batch. Pack leftovers into individual containers so lunch is already handled for the next day.
Pierogi savings: Frozen pierogies are usually inexpensive and often go on sale. Keep an extra box in the freezer for another night when you need an easy dinner.
Pantry check: Before shopping, look for pasta, beef broth, ketchup, mustard, honey, soy sauce, pasta sauce, canned tomatoes, flour, breadcrumbs, olive oil, and dried herbs. You may already have much of this week’s list.

Easy Swap Ideas

Ground beef swap: Use ground turkey or ground chicken instead of beef in the Cheeseburger Pasta Skillet.
Pasta swap: Use shells, penne, or elbow macaroni instead of rotini in Monday’s skillet.
Cheese swap: Try Colby Jack, marble cheese, or Monterey Jack instead of cheddar in the cheeseburger pasta.
Salmon swap: Use another firm fish fillet for Tuesday, adjusting the cooking time as needed.
Sauce shortcut: Use a jar of Alfredo sauce in Wednesday’s casserole instead of making the creamy Parmesan sauce from scratch if you are really short on time.
Sausage swap: Use spicy Italian sausage, turkey sausage, or smoked sausage instead of mild Italian sausage in Thursday’s soup.
Cabbage swap: Kale, spinach, or Swiss chard can replace some of the cabbage in the soup.
Richer soup: Use chicken or beef broth instead of water in the Sausage & Cabbage Soup.
Mushroom swap: Leave the mushrooms out of the Pierogi Casserole if your family does not like them, or add extra onion instead.
Sauce swap: Use marinara, homemade spaghetti sauce, or another favorite tomato pasta sauce with the pierogies.

Master Grocery List: Week 15 Dinners

This grocery list covers the five Monday-to-Friday dinners only. Add the ingredients for the bonus recipes separately if you plan to make them.

Meat and Seafood

1 lb lean ground beef (for Monday)
4 boneless salmon fillets (for Tuesday)
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (for Wednesday)
1 lb mild Italian sausage (for Thursday)

Produce

1 sweet onion (for Monday)
3 yellow onions (1 for Wednesday, 1 for Thursday, and 1 for Friday)
1 head of garlic (for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday)
1 head of broccoli (for Wednesday)
1 head of cabbage (for Thursday)
1 package of white button mushrooms (for Friday)

Dairy and Refrigerated

1 carton of milk (for Monday and Wednesday)
1 package of cheddar cheese (for Monday and Wednesday)
1 can of refrigerated biscuits (for Wednesday)
1 package of Parmesan cheese (for Wednesday and Friday)
1 package of salted butter (for Wednesday)

Frozen

2 lb frozen pierogies (for Friday)

Pantry

1 carton of beef broth (for Monday)
1 package of rotini pasta (for Monday)
1 bottle of ketchup (for Monday)
1 bottle of yellow mustard (for Monday)
1 jar of dill pickles (for Monday)
1 bottle of vegetable oil (for Tuesday)
1 bottle of sesame oil (for Tuesday)
1 bottle of soy sauce (for Tuesday)
1 bottle of honey (for Tuesday)
1 package of all-purpose flour (for Wednesday)
1 bottle of extra virgin olive oil (for Wednesday and Friday)
1 package of breadcrumbs (for Wednesday)
3 cans of diced tomatoes, 28 oz each (for Thursday)
1 jar of pasta sauce (for Friday)
1 package of brown sugar (for Thursday)

Spices and Seasonings

Dried basil (for Thursday)
Dried oregano (for Thursday)
Dried rosemary (for Thursday)
Bay leaf (for Thursday)
Salt
Black pepper

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.

The first week of fall always makes me want dinners that are a little warmer and cozier, but I still need them to be realistic for a busy week. Hopefully this plan gives you a few dinners to look forward to without making grocery shopping or cooking feel like another big project.