Weekly meal plan: 5 easy meals for the week ahead, including a citrus-y salmon and 5-minute meatballs

It’s Friday, which means we’re here to help you start planning your meals for next week! From scrumptious fish to a clever taco bar to meatballs that cook up in just minutes, we’ve got five dinners that will get you through the week ahead. So grab a pen, make your shopping list, and stock up on ingredients before the weekend’s over to make your weeknights that much easier.

And if it’s easier for you to do all that planning from your inbox, be sure to sign up for our weekly meal plan emails. You’ll love them, promise!

At top: Orange Butter Lemon Salmon at The Roasted Root | Turkey Chili at Hungry Hobby

Related: 5 simple ways to use farro as a healthy alternative to pasta and rice

This tangy, fresh Orange Butter Lemon Salmon at The Roasted Root is cooked in a cast iron skillet, giving it that great sear on the outside that makes salmon taste so good. And I love that Julia includes links to lots of delicious side dish recipes that go perfectly with the fish recipe.

My family loves taco night, but all the separate bowls for all the toppings can make cleanup a headache. So when Lisa from our team recommended this baked Taco Torte recipe from Smitten Kitchen as one of her family’s favorites, I knew I wanted to try it. Yay for a simple one-pot recipes that serves up Mexican food, family-style.

As the weather starts to turn a little bit cooler (well, maybe just a little bit), I start craving chili. This Turkey Chili recipe from Hungry Hobby offers directions for both slow cooker and Instant Pot prep, so it’s easy to pull together on busy weeknights, whether you’ve planned ahead or not.

It can be hard to get my kids to eat veggies, so I love serving up stir-fry bowls. This Pork Noodle Bowl recipe courtesy of The Whimsical Wife offers my kids several options for veggies and proteins to add to their own dish, so they have the freedom to build their own, just how they like it.  Just note: Melissa is Australian, so her recipe calls for 500g of pork. For us American, that’s about 1 pound.

These Pressure Cooker Italian Meatballs from Kitschen Cat are packed full of flavor, and so versatile — they can be used for spaghetti or meatball subs or just served alongside some veggies and rice. But the best thing about them may be that they cook in just 5 minutes. Yes, 5 minutes. Whoo!

Tags: beef, cooking for kids, dinner, easy recipes, family meals, healthy eating, instant pot, meal plans, Mexican food, pork, recipes, seafood, slow-cooker/crockpot, soup