Weekly Meal Plan #20: Easy Dinners for the First Week of November

I think early November is when dinner starts to feel like more work. It’s colder, the days are full, and nobody wants to stand over the stove for an hour.

This week’s plan is built around that. Monday’s soup goes in the slow cooker with about 10 minutes of prep. Tuesday and Wednesday are on the table in 30 to 40 minutes. Thursday and Friday take longer, but the oven does most of the work. You only spend 15 to 20 minutes on hands-on prep.

Meal Plan Week #20 graphic with southwest chicken and rice soup, smothered chicken, shipwreck casserole, chili cheese stuffed shells and a printable grocery shopping list.

A few of these dinners lean on pantry staples like canned tomato soup, cream of chicken soup, canned beans, and chili seasoning. Shortcuts are fine here. They’re how many of us make dinner.

Below, you’ll find five dinners, three bonus recipes, a few prep tips, easy swaps, and one grocery list for the week. If you prefer it on paper, there’s a printable at the end.

If you missed it, don’t forget to check out my Week #19 Meal Plan.

Weekly meal plan graphic showing five dinners labeled Monday through Friday: Slow Cooker Southwest Chicken & Rice Soup, Chili Cheese Stuffed Shells, Creamy Garlic Chicken with Noodles, Shipwreck Casserole, and Smothered Chicken.

The Daily Dinner Line-Up

Monday: Slow Cooker Southwest Chicken & Rice Soup

Chicken, onion, green pepper and jalapeno cook in the slow cooker with chili powder, cumin, chicken broth, diced tomatoes, frozen corn and a little lime juice. You cook the rice separately and stir it in at the end. It takes 10 minutes of prep and about 4 hours on high. Top it with avocado, tortilla chips, cilantro or sour cream.

GET THE RECIPE

Tuesday: Chili Cheese Stuffed Shells

Ground beef, peppers and onions simmer with black beans, chili beans, tomatoes with green chiles, tomato sauce and chili seasoning while the pasta boils. Spoon the chili into jumbo shells, top with cheddar, and bake for 20 minutes. It’s about 40 minutes start to finish, and it makes 8 servings.

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Creamy garlic chicken with noodles in a white bowl.

Wednesday: Creamy Garlic Chicken with Noodles

Chicken strips, mushrooms, onion and garlic cook in one pan. Heavy cream and white wine thicken with a little cornstarch in a second pot, then it all goes over egg noodles. It’s like beef stroganoff, but with chicken. It’s ready in about 30 minutes.

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The recipe in a pan and a wooden spoon serving a scoop of it.

Thursday: Shipwreck Casserole

Everything gets layered in a 9×13 dish: onion, potatoes, raw ground beef, rice, celery and carrots. A can of tomato soup mixed with a can of water goes over the top, and the dish is covered with foil. You don’t need to cook the beef first. It takes 15 minutes of prep and 1 hour 30 minutes in the oven, and it makes 8 servings.

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Friday: Smothered Chicken

Drumsticks get browned in a skillet, then baked in a 9×13 pan with green pepper, mushrooms and sweet onion. A creamy mix of cream of chicken soup, sour cream, garlic, rosemary and cumin goes over the top. It takes 20 minutes of prep and 1 hour in the oven. Serve it with mashed potatoes or rice.

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Bonus Recipe: Honey Dijon Baked Cauliflower

A creamy, tangy sauce with a breadcrumb and Parmesan topping, ready in about 22 minutes.

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Bonus Recipe: Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes

Pumpkin cupcakes with a pie crust layer, pumpkin pie filling inside and pumpkin spice buttercream.

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Bonus Recipe: Caramel Apple Dump Cake

An easy dump cake with caramel apples under a layer of cake mix.

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Meal Prep & Money-Saving Tips

Ground beef: Tuesday and Thursday each use 1 lb of lean ground beef, so one 2 lb pack covers both.
Rice last: Add the rice to Monday’s soup at the end. I tested it going in at the start, and after 4 hours it was too thick to be soup.
Chicken ahead: Monday’s soup uses cooked chicken. Cook it ahead, or use a rotisserie chicken.
One mushroom: Wednesday and Friday both allow other mushroom varieties, so you can buy one kind for both nights.
Foil on: Cover Thursday’s casserole tightly with foil. It traps the steam that cooks the rice and veggies.

Easy Swap Ideas

Monday chicken: Use leftover turkey or chicken thighs instead of breasts. Brown rice works too.
Monday spice: Skip the jalapeño if you don’t like it spicy.
Tuesday heat: Add pepper jack to the cheese mixture for a little heat.
Tuesday shells: Boil the shells in chicken broth for more flavor.
Wednesday wine: Skip the wine and use chicken broth.
Wednesday noodles: Any noodle works, like penne, spaghetti, or fettuccine.
Thursday protein: Use ground turkey instead of beef.
Thursday sauce: If you’re out of tomato soup, use canned diced tomatoes or marinara.
Friday chicken: Thighs or breasts work in place of drumsticks.
Friday cream: Heavy cream can replace the sour cream. You’ll lose a little tang.

Master Grocery List: Week 20 Dinners

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

Meat

7 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (3 for Monday, 4 for Wednesday)
2 lbs lean ground beef (1 lb for Tuesday, 1 lb for Thursday)
11 chicken drumsticks (for Friday)

Produce

3 yellow onions (for Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday)
1 sweet onion (for Friday)
2 green peppers (for Monday and Friday)
1 jalapeño pepper (for Monday)
8 garlic cloves (2 for Monday, 4 for Wednesday, 2 for Friday)
1 package of Cremini mushrooms (for Wednesday)
1 package of white button mushrooms (for Friday)
2 large potatoes (for Thursday)
1 bunch of celery (for Thursday)
1 to 2 carrots (for Thursday)
1 bunch of fresh rosemary (for Friday)
1 bunch of green onions (for Friday)
Optional toppings: avocado and cilantro (for Monday), jalapeño slices and scallions (for Tuesday), parsley (for Wednesday)

Dairy and Refrigerated

1 package of cheddar cheese (for Tuesday)
1 carton of heavy cream (for Wednesday)
1 container of sour cream (for Friday, plus extra if you want it on Monday’s soup)

Frozen

1 package of frozen corn (for Monday)
1 package of frozen peppers and onions (for Tuesday)

Pantry

2 cans of chicken broth, 14.5 oz each (for Monday)
1 can of diced tomatoes, 28 oz can (for Monday)
1 can of black beans, 15 oz can (for Tuesday)
1 can of chili beans, 15.5 oz can (for Tuesday)
1 can of tomatoes with green chiles, 10 oz can (for Tuesday)
1 can of tomato sauce, 15 oz can (for Tuesday)
1 can of tomato soup, 10.5 oz can (for Thursday)
1 can of cream of chicken soup (for Friday)
1 bottle of lime juice (for Monday)
1 bottle of white wine; alcohol-free is fine (for Wednesday)
1 container of cornstarch (for Wednesday)
1 bottle of extra virgin olive oil (for Wednesday)
1 bottle of vegetable oil (for Friday)
Tortilla chips, optional (for Monday)
1 box of jumbo pasta shells, 12 oz box (for Tuesday)
1 package of egg noodles, 12 oz package (for Wednesday)
1 box of converted long grain white rice (for Monday and Thursday)

Spices and Seasonings

Chili powder (for Monday)
Cumin (for Monday and Friday)
Chili seasoning (for Tuesday)
Salt and pepper
Dried parsley, optional (for Thursday)

Get the Printable Meal Plan

Want it? The printable includes Monday-Friday dinners and the bonus recipes on page one, plus the grocery list on page two. Print it, stick it on the fridge, and cross things off as you shop.

Which dinner are you making first?