5 exceptional dinner recipes for this week's meal plan

It’s time to start thinking about your meal plan for next week. From a new way to enjoy hummus to the perfect pantry meal, we’ve got five weeknight dinners that will get you through the week ahead. So grab a pen, make your shopping list, and stock up before the weekend’s over. And if it’s easier for you to do that from your inbox, be sure to sign up for our weekly meal plan emails.

Top: Fattet Hummus from the Palestine on a Plate cookbook | Photo by Ria Osbourne on Nigella.com and Chicken Tinga at Muy Bueno

Photo by Ria Osbourne

One of my favorite recent cookbooks is Palestine on Plate: Memories From My Mother’s Kitchen (affiliate), so I’m so thankful to have found this Fattet Hummus on Nigella.com so that I can share one of the recipes from the book with you. If you’re not as familiar with Middle Eastern food, you may be surprised to know that hummus serves as much more than just a dip in many Middle Eastern cuisines. This dish layers toasted pita, hummus and yogurt that, in my house, makes a #MeatlessMonday meal paired with nothing more than a chopped cucumber and tomato salad. If you want to give it a try, but think that your family needs more, make this and the salad from scratch and pick up a rotisserie chicken to go with them.

$Cool Mom Eats weekly meal plan: Tex Mex Sloppy Joe Sandwiches at Homesick Texan$

These Tex-Mex Sloppy Joe Sandwiches at Homesick Texan are a fun twist on #TacoTuesday. Because we don’t have to be super healthy all the time, and it’s a fun twist on #TacoTuesday. Of course, you will want to top these with some homemade guacamole, and we just happen to know where you can find the very best classic guacamole recipe.

I may go rogue on Tuesday, but I’m going to serve more traditional Mexican food on Wednesday with this recipe for Chicken Tinga at Muy Bueno. Don’t skip the chipotles — their smoky flavor is essential for Chicken Tinga — but you can use the adobo sauce and fewer actual peppers if you’re worried about this being too spicy.

I not only love this recipe for 20 Minute Honey Garlic Shrimp from Sally’s Baking Addiction, but I also love how it came about — from one of those there’s nothing in the fridge moments. If you always keep frozen shrimp on hand the way that I do, then you can always make this perfect pantry dinner. It’s healthy, has big flavor, and comes together super fast. Bookmark this stat.

Well, if your house is anything like mine, you’re also several weeks into trading various sicknesses, which means that Friday night is all about this big pot of homemade chicken soup. It doesn’t get better than this super easy recipe, which you can dress up or down. In fact, you can dress each bowl up or down in different ways. My bowl will have a whole bunch of Sriracha and cilantro for big flavor to cut through my stuffed up nose. Ugh.