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For this latest weekly meal plan we’re mixing up the cooking times that will hopefully be a handy fit in your midweek schedule.
As always, we’re keeping these family favourite recipes as simple, affordable and delicious as possible.
This weekly meal plan is jam-packed with variety – both in terms of flavours and ingredients, but also those all-important TIMINGS.
I am conscious that we can all have different amounts of time available to make dinner on different days of the week, so this meal plan offers a good selection of cooking times, for those time-poor, rushing-around evenings to the days when we have slightly more wiggle room.
Recipe timings here go right from 4-7 hours for a slow cooker meal (but with quick prep) to a 10-minute pasta dish, with 30 and 40 minute recipes in between.
I’ll be sharing this meal plan on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, so watch out for the videos so you can cook along.
For reference, I shopped for this Meal Plan in March 2023 at Asda and it cost £35.69.
Why use a meal plan?
⭐️ Knowing exactly what food to buy avoids food waste and saves you money.
⭐️ Having a plan for dinner avoids the mental load of “what’s for dinner?” question every night.
The printable shopping list can be found here.
You can find more Meal Plans here:
Meal Plan 18 – Hands-off meals
Meal Plan 17 – Budget friendly dinners
Dump Bag Meal Plan – Prepare-ahead slow cooker meals
Some tips:
➡️ Check for any items on the shopping list that you already have in your cupboard.
➡️ Maybe think about doubling up and freezing a recipe or two where the recipes are suitable, so save cooking another day or for the weekend.
➡️ Remove ingredients for any meals that you don’t want to cook.
➡️ The shopping list includes the cheapest version of each ingredient. Obviously if you want to buy lower fat mince or free range etc, that’s personal choice.
➡️ All of the recipes are to serve 4, so if you’re cooking for 2, simply halve the ingredients.
The recipes:
Dinner 1
⭐️ A brand new recipe for you to try!
⭐️ Serve with mash – we’ve added a bag of potatoes to the shopping list so you can share it between this meal (mashed potatoes maybe?) and Dinner 3 (homemade chips).
⭐️ We’ve used the frozen peas from the shopping list to serve with this, but you could change this for another vegetable side.
⭐️ This recipe serves 6 so you can reduce the quantity to serve 4, or have some leftovers. If you want to stick to 4 servings, you could just use pork mince if you can only find a 500g pack.
Swedish Meatballs {Easiest Ever Recipe!}
Dinner 2
⭐️ A nice alternative to regular pasta, this orzo recipe cooks evenly in the oven.
⭐️ It’s very budget-friendly and vegetarian, but you can add meat if you want to.
⭐️ Ready in 40 minutes.
⭐️ We’ve added grated mozzarella to the shopping list as the grated cheese option, but you can use whatever you like or have in.
Broccoli Orzo Bake
Dinner 3
⭐️ Serve this up with homemade chips from the potatoes in the shopping list.
⭐️ We’ve also added a bag of salad to the shopping list to serve as a side.
⭐️ Ready in 30 minutes.
⭐️ We’ve left out the mushrooms from the shopping list to save buying one pack to only use two mushrooms, but you can alter the toppings depending on your tastes!
⭐️ You can use the mozzarella on the shopping list for the topping to avoid buying two types of cheese.
Pizza Topped Chicken {30 Minute Meal}
Dinner 4
⭐️ So much flavour in such little time!
⭐️ The sauce is prepped in the time it takes to cook the pasta.
⭐️ Thrown together in 10 minutes and perfect for leftover lunch after.
Smoked Salmon Pasta {10 Minute Meal}
Dinner 5.
⭐️ A perfect ‘dump bag’ fakeaway recipe – throw it all in together.
⭐️ Quick prep and then leave between 4-7 hours, depending on your preferred setting.
⭐️ This recipe serves 6 but you can use the slider on the recipe post to reduce it down to 4 servings (we’ve done this for the purpose of the shopping list).
⭐️ Use whichever curry paste you have or prefer.
⭐️ We’ve added rice to the shopping list to serve this with, but you can choose your own sides if you prefer.
Slow Cooker Lamb Curry {Easiest EVER Recipe!}
Quick reminder, the printable shopping list can be found here.
If you’ve found this useful, let’s be friends on Instagram @tamingtwins
Absolutely amazing. I love seeing your lovely well presented recipes. I am going to try them. Does it tell you how many calories each meal is please.