Grab your pen and grocery list, because next week’s meal plan is ready! We’ve found 5 great recipes that make smart use of your time in the kitchen. We have tips to stretch your cooking, so one session in the kitchen lasts for more than one recipe (whoo!). We also have some great vegetarian options and ideas to help with other dietary needs.
Happy eating, parents! Fingers crossed, your kids might even ask for seconds on these easy dinners.
At top: BBQ chicken sandwiches at Inquiring Chef, Spicy Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps at Cherry On My Sundae
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For #MeatlessMonday, we’re craving this vegetarian taco pasta at Peas & Crayons. Bonus: it cooks in the Instant Pot, too! Of course, you can add chicken or ground beef to it if you want. But we think it’s packed with so much flavor you won’t miss it.
At the beginning of the week, cook this Middle Eastern Whole Roast Chicken we found at My Modern Cookery, and serve it with rice pilaf and some veggies or a salad. But here’s the thing: cook two of them, if you have a big family. You’ll use the leftover chicken later in the week, and the Middle Eastern spices — warm, savory, and just a tad bit sweet — give it a more interesting flavor than plain old salt and pepper. We’ve found this combo is a hit with our kids.
These Spicy Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps at Cherry On My Sundae are something fun and different that my whole family would still enjoy eating. I might substitute chickpeas for the chicken for my vegan husband, and we’d still get the same meaty flavor and texture. The fun of trying to keep all their ingredients inside the lettuce wrap would keep my kids too distracted to realize how many new flavors they’re trying.
Related: 4 easy BBQ sauce recipes you can whip up at the last minute.
With your leftover pulled chicken, you can whip up these BBQ chicken sandwiches (or make them sliders, for the kids) at Inquiring Chef in no time. Just add chips and fruit on the side, and you have a delicious homemade dinner that you pulled together in just a few minutes. Which gives you more time for everything else in your life.
Leftovers don’t have to be boring! At the end of the week, make these fully loaded iceberg wedge salads we saw at The View From Great Island with any leftover lettuce from your Thai Chicken night. Then, serve up leftover chicken or pasta on the side. If you don’t have leftovers — we don’t blame you! — then grill up some steaks or shrimp on the side. It’s an easy and tasty dinner that doesn’t take much time at all.
These vegan brownies at America’s Test Kitchen are so, so, so good. Don’t worry about the vegan part, because other than an egg you probably don’t put too much dairy or meat in your brownies anyway, right? These are fudgy, not overly sweet, and perfect with a cup of coffee or wine. I know messing with an ATK recipe is basically forbidden, but I do make a little tweak: switch to a 9 x 9 pan (not 9 x 13) and cook more like 50 minutes. They are thicker, chewier, and so yummy.
