Weekly Meal Plan #6: Simple Summer Dinners

This week’s meal plan keeps things easy with a mix of cold pasta salad, grilled chicken, taco night, slow cooker pulled pork, and steak on the barbecue.

It is a good summer week for dinners that are filling yet flexible. You can prep a few things ahead of time, use the grill when the weather is nice, and let the slow cooker help you out on one of those busy days.

As always, move the meals around to fit your schedule. If one night is too hot to cook much, use the pasta salad. If you have a busy day, make the slow cooker dinner. If the weekend feels like the best time to grill, save the steak for then.

Don’t forget to check out my Week #5 meal plan if you missed it.

The Daily Dinner Line-Up

Meal Prep & Money-Saving Tips

• Chicken crossover: Monday’s pasta salad and Tuesday’s grilled chicken both use boneless skinless chicken breasts. Buy a larger pack if it is cheaper, then cook the chicken for Monday ahead of time and keep Tuesday’s chicken raw for grilling.
• Taco topping prep: Chop your lettuce, tomatoes, green onions, cilantro, and any other toppings in advance for Wednesday’s Walking Tacos. Store them in separate containers so dinner feels like assembly.
• Pulled pork stretch: Thursday’s pulled pork makes a generous amount. Use leftovers for sandwiches, nachos, baked potatoes, rice bowls, or quesadillas later in the week.
• Bun plan: You will need buns for the pulled pork, but check your freezer before buying more. Hamburger buns, slider buns, or Kaiser rolls can all work.
• Fresh herb refresh: Friday’s steak uses parsley and cilantro. Use any extra herbs on tacos, salads, or grilled chicken, or sprinkle them over leftover pulled pork.
• Pantry check: Before shopping, check for pasta, pesto, honey, Sriracha, soy sauce, taco seasoning, Fritos, root beer, BBQ sauce, red wine vinegar, olive oil, and basic spices. You may already have several of these on hand.
• Steak savings: If sirloin is pricey, watch for another steak on sale for grilling. The herb sauce will still make it feel fresh and flavorful.
• Steak serving ideas: Slice the steak thinly against the grain and serve it with the tangy herb sauce. Add a simple side like salad, corn on the cob, baked potatoes, rice, or grilled vegetables to make it a full dinner.

Easy Swap Ideas

• Pasta salad protein: Use rotisserie chicken or leftover grilled chicken in the Pesto Chicken Pasta Salad to save time.
• Pasta options: Use regular rotini, penne, bowties, or elbow macaroni instead of tri-color rotini.
• Vegetable swap: Use chopped spinach, peas, zucchini, or bell peppers in the pasta salad if you do not have broccoli or tomatoes.
• Pesto swap: Use basil pesto, sun-dried tomato pesto, or a homemade pesto if that is what you have.
• Milder chicken: Use less Sriracha in the Honey Sriracha Chicken if your family does not like much heat.
• No grill chicken: Cook the Honey Sriracha Chicken on a grill pan, in a skillet, or in the air fryer if you do not want to barbecue.
• Taco meat swap: Use ground turkey or ground chicken instead of ground beef for the Walking Tacos.
• Chip swap: Use Doritos, tortilla chips, or regular corn chips instead of Fritos for the Walking Tacos.
• Pulled pork serving ideas: Serve the pulled pork over baked potatoes, rice, nachos, or salad if you do not want sandwiches.
• Root beer swap: Use cola or cream soda instead of root beer for the pulled pork.
• Steak cut swap: Use regular sirloin, sirloin flap, flank steak, or another grilling steak that is on sale.
• No food processor: Finely chop the herbs and garlic for the steak sauce by hand, then stir everything together in a bowl.
• Less heat: Leave out the dried chili peppers or jalapeños in the herb sauce if you want it mild.
• Oregano seasoning paste: If you do not have oregano seasoning paste, use 1 tablespoon of fresh, chopped oregano or 1 teaspoon of dried oregano mixed with a little olive oil.

Master Grocery List: Week 6 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

• 6 boneless skinless chicken breasts (2 for Monday and 4 for Tuesday)
• 1 lb lean ground beef (for Wednesday)
• 4 lb boneless pork shoulder butt roast (for Thursday)
• 1 ½ to 2 lb sirloin flap steak or enough steak for your family (for Friday)

Produce

• 1 bunch of broccoli (for Monday)
• 1 pint of cherry tomatoes (for Monday)
• 1 bunch of fresh basil (for Monday)
• 1 bulb of garlic (for Tuesday)
• 1 head of iceberg lettuce, optional (for Wednesday)
• 2 to 3 tomatoes, optional (for Wednesday)
• 1 onion, optional (for Wednesday)
• 1 bunch of green onions, optional (for Wednesday)
• 1 bunch of cilantro (for Friday)
• 1 lime, optional (for Wednesday)
• 1 bunch of flat-leaf parsley (for Friday)
• 1 bag or container of coleslaw for topping pulled pork, optional (for Thursday)

Dairy and Refrigerated

• 1 block of cheddar cheese, optional (for Wednesday)
• 1 container of sour cream, optional (for Wednesday)

Bakery

• 8 to 12 buns for pulled pork (for Thursday)

Pantry

• 1 package of tri-color rotini pasta (for Monday)
• 1 jar of pesto (for Monday)
• 1 can of black olives (for Monday)
• 1 bottle of honey (for Tuesday)
• 1 bottle of Sriracha sauce (for Tuesday)
• 1 bottle of soy sauce (for Tuesday)
• 1 package of sesame seeds, optional (for Tuesday)
• 1 package of taco seasoning (for Wednesday)
• 1 jar of salsa, optional (for Wednesday)
• 1 jar of taco sauce, optional (for Wednesday)
• 1 jar of pickled jalapenos, optional (for Wednesday)
• 1 bottle of root beer (for Thursday)
• 1 bottle of BBQ sauce (for Thursday)
• 1 bottle of extra virgin olive oil (for Friday)
• 1 bottle of red wine vinegar (for Friday)
• 8 snack-size bags of Fritos (for Wednesday)

Spices and Seasonings

• Onion powder (for Thursday)
• Garlic salt (for Thursday)
• Cajun seasoning (for Thursday)
• Smoked paprika (for Thursday)
• Oregano seasoning paste (for Friday)
• Dried chili peppers or jalapeños (for Friday)
• Salt
• 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.

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