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: fresh and flavorful Niçoise Salad, Baja fish tacos with Mexican coleslaw, chicken broccoli mac and cheese with a side salad, Italian meatloaf with grilled asparagus and garlic knots, chicken katsu with ramen noodle salad, and a decadent chocolate cream pie!
To simplify your grocery shopping list:
- The best fish to use for the tacos is: cod, halibut, tilapia, mahi mahi, grouper, flounder, or rockfish.
- I substitute bitter Niçoise olives with my favorite Kalamata olives, which are a little sweeter and fruitier.
- Use pre-made, leftover, or rotisserie chicken and a creamy, mild cheese like fontina cheese, gouda, Havarti, or American cheddar cheese that all melt easily for the mac and cheese.
- I used ground beef and sweet Italian sausage for the meatloaf, but feel free to substitute one or both of the meats with a lighter choice like ground chicken or turkey. Swap the sweet Italian sausage with spicy Italian sausage if you’d like some heat.
- Maggi seasoning is optional for the chicken katsu and adds just a bit more salty umami flavor. You can also use tamari or soy sauce.
- I recommend using high-quality chocolate and cocoa powder (Dutch) in the cream pie for the best chocolate flavor.
- Buying a bag of coleslaw mix significantly reduces the hands on prep for coleslaw, but you can replace it with roughly 14 ounces of finely shredded green cabbage and carrots if desired.
- To save time, you can purchase some pre-made salad kits instead of making your own side salad.
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
Niçoise Salad: Oil-packed tuna lends more flavor to your salad. Skip the standard Starkist and choose a higher quality tinned fish that flakes in big chunks. Ortiz and Tonnino are my two favorite brands.
Baja Fish Tacos: Baja fish tacos are meant to be eaten in 3-5 bites so it’s best to keep the adornments on the smaller size. Street taco size corn tortillas are usually 4 ½ to 5 inches in diameter.
Chicken Broccoli Mac and Cheese: Store the cooked mac and cheese in an airtight container for up to 4-5 days in the refrigerator. Prep this mac and cheese ahead of time, store it in the refrigerator, then bake before serving. If cold, bake for 15-20 minutes additional time.
Italian Meatloaf: A hearty 2-pound meatloaf that’s perfect for planned leftovers for lunch or dinners over the weekend. Leftovers taste even better the next day, and you can serve the sliced meatloaf cold in a crusty roll for a meatloaf sandwich you won’t soon forget.
Chicken Katsu: You can use Italian breadcrumbs instead of panko for the chicken katsu. Regular or Italian-style breadcrumbs are finer in texture than panko and soak up more oil, resulting in a crust that has a more dense, but still delicious, crust.
Chocolate Cream Pie: You can use a frozen store-bought pie shell, or you can make one ahead of time.
Mexican Coleslaw: A 30-minute rest brings the flavors together. I always make this ahead of time so the veggies have time to tenderize and soak up the flavors of the tangy lime dressing.
Grilled Asparagus: While I love pencil-thin spears for roasting in the oven, when it comes to grilling I buy thick asparagus spears. Thick asparagus spears won’t overcook or char to a crisp, and you won’t have the challenge of losing them through the grill grates as they cook on the fire.
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