Use my weekly meal plans to take the stress out of dinnertime! These premade meal plans and grocery shopping lists are the best way to save time and money while feeding your family healthy and nutritious meals. With a daily main course and mix and match sides, dinner just got a whole lot easier!
This week’s meal plan includes: Italian meatloaf with creamy Parmesan risotto, shredded chicken tacos with refried beans, falafel sandwiches with Greek quinoa salad, pumpkin manicotti, Hungarian goulash with a side salad, and mascarpone pumpkin mousse cups.
To simplify your grocery shopping list:
- Swap the sweet Italian sausage with spicy Italian sausage in the meatloaf if you’d like some heat.
- Avoid lagers or any dark beers for the chicken tacos, which will overpower the meat and sauce. Pick a pale ale or similar for the best flavor.
- I prefer using chuck roast for my goulash, and I look for a piece that has a decent amount of marbling.
- The cream sauce is made with milk to prevent the manicotti from being too rich, but avoid low-fat or non-fat milk which tends to split when simmered.
- Using canned chickpeas isn’t recommended for the falafel because they require lots more flour to hold everything together.
- Choose a quality wine for the risotto that you’d happily drink. I suggest using a dry white wine or sherry rather than a buttery California chardonnay.
- Any variety of pears works for the salad, so long as they aren’t overripe and mushy.
- Choose any of your leafy favorites for the pear salad — butter, green leaf, baby red.
How to Print Shopping List
- Click on the shopping cart icon below.
- Select which meals you would like to include. You may also adjust serving sizes at this time.
- Click on the shopping cart logo again to generate your shopping list.
- Once your shopping list is generated, you can print it out by clicking on the printer icon.
Meal Prep & Leftover Tips
Italian Meatloaf: Skip the loaf pan for crispier edges. My grandma always shaped her meatloafs by hand, so that’s what I do too.
Shredded Chicken Tacos: Use frozen chicken breasts, and do not thaw! Trust me, the chicken comes out amazingly moist thanks to being braised in chicken stock and tenderizing beer.
Falafel Sandwiches: Serve with quinoa salad for a healthier dinner, or with my killer garlic fries if you want something a little more indulgent.
Pumpkin Manicotti: If you’re using homemade pumpkin puree you’ll want to drain off any excess moisture in a cheesecloth-lined mesh sieve.
Hungarian Goulash: I always wait to add the carrots, parsnip, and potatoes at the very end to prevent a mushy goulash. Once they go into the pot, the goulash will only need another 10ish minutes of simmering.
Risotto: Don’t rinse the rice or your risotto won’t be as creamy. Arborio rice contains a high amount of starch, and it is this starch that makes for a perfectly creamy risotto.
Refried Beans: Which bean variety you use for refried beans is totally up to you. Pinto beans and black beans are most often used for refried beans, and depending on my mood, I love them both.
Greek Quinoa Salad: The trick to cooking super fluffy quinoa is to boil it in more water than necessary, drain off the excess liquid once done, and then let it steam with the lid on to really fluff it up.
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