Weekly Meal Plan #8: No-Stress Summer Dinners

This week’s meal plan keeps dinner easy with a fresh salad, quick salmon, crispy air fryer chicken, slow cooker sloppy joes, and a simple pizza night to end the week.

It is a good mix for late summer when you still want easy meals, but you may also be starting to think about busier routines again. There is one no-cook dinner, one quick stovetop dinner, one air fryer meal, one slow cooker dinner, and one fun Friday night recipe.

As always, move the meals around to fit your schedule. If one night is extra busy, use the slow cooker meal. If you want something cold and fresh, make the salad. If Friday feels like pizza night, you are already covered.

Don’t forget to check out my Week #7 meal plan if you missed it.

The Daily Dinner Line-Up

Meal Prep & Money-Saving Tips

• Deli counter plan: Monday’s salad uses ham, salami, pepperoni, and provolone. Check the deli section for small packages or ask for only what you need so you don’t buy more than you will use.
• Chicken crossover: Wednesday’s chicken tenders and Friday’s pizza both use chicken. Buy a larger pack if it is cheaper, then use tenderloins for Wednesday and cook one or two extra chicken breasts for Friday’s pizza.
• Pepperoncini double duty: Monday’s salad and Thursday’s sloppy joes both use pepperoncini. Buy one jar and use the sliced peppers in the salad, then save the juice and extra peppers for the sloppy joes.
• Cheddar cheese stretch: Wednesday’s chicken tenders, Thursday’s sloppy joes if you want cheese on top, and Friday’s pizza can all use cheddar. Buying a block and shredding it yourself may be cheaper than buying multiple bags.
• Pizza night shortcut: Cook the chicken and bacon for Friday’s pizza earlier in the week. Then pizza night is mostly just assembly.
• Pantry check: Before shopping, look for olive oil, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, dried oregano, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, BBQ sauce, Cheez-It crackers, ranch mix, gravy mix, and basic spices. You may already have several of these on hand.
• Salad prep: Wash and chop the salad ingredients for Monday ahead of time, but keep the dressing separate until serving so the greens do not wilt.
• Sloppy joe leftovers: Save extra Mississippi sloppy joe filling for lunch the next day. It is good on buns, over rice, on baked potatoes, or tucked into quesadillas.

Easy Swap Ideas

• Salad shortcut: Use a bagged salad mix for the Italian Sub Salad if you want to save prep time.
• Deli meat swap: Use turkey, roast beef, mortadella, or whatever deli meat your family likes instead of ham or salami.
• Dressing shortcut: Use bottled Italian dressing instead of making the dressing from scratch.
• Alcohol-free salmon: Use chicken broth, seafood broth, or a splash of apple juice with broth instead of beer for the salmon.
• Fish swap: Use trout or another firm fish fillet instead of salmon, but adjust the cooking time as needed.
• Chicken nugget option: Cut chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces instead of using tenderloins for the Cheez-It chicken.
• Cracker swap: Use Goldfish crackers, Ritz crackers, or seasoned breadcrumbs instead of Cheez-It crackers.
• No air fryer: Bake the chicken tenders in the oven if you do not have an air fryer.
• Sloppy joe meat swap: Use ground turkey or ground chicken instead of ground beef.
• Less tangy sloppy joes: Use fewer pepperoncini peppers if your family prefers a milder flavor.
• Bun swap: Serve the sloppy joe filling on hamburger buns, brioche buns, slider buns, Texas toast, or over rice.
• Pizza crust swap: Use refrigerated pizza crust, homemade pizza dough, naan bread, flatbread, or French bread for the BBQ Chicken Pizza.
• Cheese swap: Use mozzarella, Monterey Jack, Colby Jack, or marble cheese instead of cheddar on the pizza.
• Pizza topping swap: Add red onion, jalapeños, pineapple, mushrooms, or extra peppers to the BBQ Chicken Pizza if you want to change it up.

Master Grocery List: Week 8 Dinners

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

Meat and Seafood

• 4 salmon fillets (for Tuesday)
• 1 ½ lb chicken tenderloins (for Wednesday)
• 1 cup cooked chicken breast or rotisserie chicken for pizza (for Friday)
• 2 lb lean ground beef (for Thursday)
• 1 small package of cooked ham (for Monday)
• 1 package of mini pepperoni (for Monday)
• 1 package of salami (for Monday)
• 1 package of bacon (for Friday)

Produce

• 6 cups salad greens (for Monday)
• 1 pint of cherry tomatoes (for Monday)
• 1 cucumber (for Monday)
• 1 red bell pepper (for Monday)
• 1 green bell pepper (for Friday)
• 2 red onions (1 for Monday and 1 for Tuesday)
• 1 sweet onion (for Friday)
• 1 head of garlic (for Monday)
• 1 bunch of fresh basil (for Monday)

Dairy and Refrigerated

• 1 package sliced provolone cheese (for Monday)
• 1 block of Parmesan cheese (for Monday)
• 1 block of cheddar cheese (for Wednesday and Friday)
• 1 package of salted butter (for Thursday)

Bakery

• 6 brioche buns or hamburger buns (for Thursday)
• 1 package of refrigerated pizza crust or pizza dough (for Friday)

Pantry

• 1 can of black olives (for Monday)
• 1 jar of pepperoncini peppers (for Monday and Thursday)
• 1 bottle of extra virgin olive oil (for Monday and Tuesday)
• 1 bottle of red wine vinegar (for Monday)
• 1 jar of mayonnaise (for Wednesday)
• 1 package of Cheez-It crackers (for Wednesday)
• 1 bottle of Dijon mustard (for Monday)
• 1 bottle of beer (for Tuesday)
• 1 packet of ranch dressing mix (for Thursday)
• 1 envelope of brown gravy mix (for Thursday)
• 1 package of quick oats (for Thursday)
• 1 bottle of ketchup (for Thursday)
• 1 bottle of Worcestershire sauce (for Thursday)
• 1 package of brown sugar (for Thursday)
• 1 bottle of BBQ sauce (for Friday)

Spices and Seasonings

• Dried oregano (for Monday)
• Garlic salt (for Tuesday)
• Chili powder (for Tuesday)
• Paprika (for Wednesday)
• Salt and 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.