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Using a weekly Meal Plan takes the drama out of midweek dinners. Stay balanced, save money and save your sanity!

Meal Plan 8

This is the 8th weekly meal plan I will be sharing on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, and so many of you asked for all of the info in one place, so here it is. Watch out for the videos of each recipe coming each night this week, so you can cook along.

For reference, I shopped for this Meal Plan in June 2022 at Aldi and it cost £29.71.

Why use a weekly food planner?

⭐️ Knowing exactly what food to buy for avoids food waste, saving 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 of my Family Meal Plans here:

Meal Plan 7 – £30 from Aldi
Meal Plan 6 – £35 from Aldi
Meal Plan 5 – £35 from Aldi


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.


Weekly Meal Ideas: The Recipes

Dinner 1

⭐️ Served sprinkled with your Grana Pandano (this is very similar to Parmesan but cheaper).

⭐️ This recipe uses 200g of cherry tomatoes but you will have extra left, as you have 660g total for the week and only need 200g for this and 300g from the Chicken Pesto. Add more to this if you’d like to up the veg quota!

A big pan filled with cooked spaghetti and tomatoes, topped with parmesan and basil, for the recipe Tomato Pasta.
5 from 42 votes

Tomato Pasta {Easiest Ever One Pan Spaghetti}

This delicious one pan Tomato Pasta recipe is perfect for a quick midweek family meal. Throw it all in together and that's it!
View Recipe

Dinner 2

⭐️ Serve with boiled rice.

⭐️ In the shopping list I’ve put a cheaper mince option (10% fat). I prefer to use a lower fat mince like 5% but it is up to you and what your budget will allow.

⭐️ I planned to add peas to this! If you have any, feel free to add 200g to the mince as it cooks.

Sticky Mince Beef Stir Fry with green beans in a bowl with rice.
5 from 234 votes

Sticky Beef Mince Stir Fry

With low cost ingredients, a delicious sticky sauce and a cooking time of 15 minutes, this is an ideal midweek beef mince recipe.
View Recipe

Dinner 3

⭐️ I used Aldi chicken ‘sizzler’ fillets here as they were in a 500g pack. You could obviously use more or less chicken according to your appetites and budget.

⭐️ I used fresh green beans for these two recipes. You could replace with frozen which are cheaper, but I find they don’t cook very well in the oven when from frozen.

Pesto chicken bake in a dish with green beans, tomatoes and potatoes.
4.69 from 51 votes

Pesto Chicken {One Pan Bake}

This pesto chicken bake is an easy, one-pan, oven-baked family dinner. It's also packed with two portions of colourful vegetables. 
View Recipe

Dinner 4

⭐️ I garnished with the tops of the spring onions – the rest are used in the Salmon Bake recipe (if you don’t have peanuts).

Overhead photo of pork stir fry recipe with noodles, pork, red peppers and mange tout and peanuts.
4.68 from 31 votes

Pork Stir Fry Noodles {with Sticky Sauce}

This easy to make Pork Stir Fry Noodle recipe is so quick and simple. Using lean pork medallions to keep it healthy, added peppers, mangetout and a delicious sticky sauce.
View Recipe

Dinner 5

⭐️ The recipe uses 165g of cream cheese but the Aldi pots come in 200g so I used the whole pot. Up to you if you use it all or save some for another day.

⭐️ I like to serve this with a little lemon sauce, made by mixing 75g of mayonnaise with 75g Greek yoghurt, the zest and juice of one of the lemons and 1tsp honey.

⭐️ Leftovers of this make a great lunch dish.

Sliced salmon bake with potatoes and broccoli, ready to serve.
4.58 from 52 votes

Creamy Salmon Bake

A delicious family salmon recipe, all baked in one dish with only 15 minutes of prep.
View Recipe

Quick reminder, the printable shopping list can be found here.

If you’ve found this useful, let’s be friends on Instagram @tamingtwins

new cookbook!

Featuring 100 delicious recipes that can be cooked in one pot, you can open any page in this book and find something that will give you not only a meal that the whole family will eat and enjoy, but also one that makes your life a little simpler in the process.

More Recipes

Sarah Rossi founder of TamingTwins.com and author of 'What's for Dinner?' books.

Welcome!

Hi, I'm Sarah. I help busy people decide 'What's for Dinner?' Find hundreds of recipes here, and also in my bestselling recipe book. Hope my recipes make your life easier ❤️

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4 Comments

  1. Cooked all five dishes from meal plan 8.
    All delicious!! My 10 year old fussy eater loved the noodles and my partner, who isn’t keen on salmon, asked for a second helping of the salmon bake!
    Everything was super quick and easy to put together, with minimal washing up. Brilliant!!!
    I’m trying meal plan 1 next!

  2. Firstly, THANK YOU SO MUCH ! I’m a buy working Mum with weight issue ! i’m exhausted (dramatic I know ) from trying to juggle healthy eating with two teenagers, a husband that works shifts and 2 elderly parents that need help with shopping etc. We are struggling with finances, struggling with time and struggling to eat healthy. You have just ticked those three boxes. I tried meal plan 8 and it was a hit all round. Ive just printed the shopping list for all 8 meal plans, I can’t wait to try them all !!!