Using a weekly meal plan is the best way to cook healthier for your family, save money, and time! This week’s menu includes our popular Tomato Basil Soup, Chicken and Rice Casserole, Black Bean Quesadillas, Chicken Fajita Pasta, and Sloppy Joes.
Did you know you can SAVE your favorite recipes and ANY of my meal plans? Simply create an account (it’s free)!
To save this meal plan to your recipe collection, click here. You can even swap out recipes with your favorites.
Print Shopping List
Monday: Chicken and Rice Casserole $10.75
Tuesday: Black Bean Quesadillas $6.98
Wednesday: Creamy Tomato Basil Soup $14.45
Thursday: Chicken Fajita Pasta $11.38
Friday: Sloppy Joes $9.35
We’ve been sharing 5 day weekly meal plans for many years now and we love the feedback we get from those of you who found our meal plans and who are using them regularly.
Each meal plan has 5 dinner recipes that will serve approximately 4 adults. We’ve tried to be thoughtful about including recipes that the whole family will love as well as varying the recipes to include a variety of different meals so that you’re not having chicken every night!
Why Meal Plan?
If you’re reading this, you probably already have your own ideas about why meal planning is a good idea for your family, but here’s what we think:
1. Save Money:
We’ve included the estimated cost per recipe and cost for the entire meal plan, making it even easier to budget and see exactly how much you’re saving when you cook from scratch and use a meal plan! You’ll also save money by dining out less often, avoiding impulse purchases, and wasting less food!
*note that recipe costs are an estimate based on ingredient prices at my local grocer. They will likely vary depending on where you live.
2. Eat Healthier:
Cooking from scratch is a great way to manage your health goals. Both take-out and pre-made meals from your local grocer are going to have more fat, sugar, and sodium than the same foods cooked at home.
3. Save time:
The hardest part of meal planning is finding the ideas and creating a shopping list, and we’ve done that for you! Our Shopping lists include categories like “pantry staples”, and “spices,” and hopefully those are items you already have on hand so you can cross them off of the list. Then you can use the categories to help you find what you need quickly and easily.
Don’t forget to search for appetizers, sides, or dessert recipes to add to your list. Often a post will offer suggestions for sides that might accompany the recipe, and if you would like to swap any meals for a different meal, visit our main dish recipes or search our recipe index.
If you love our recipes, please leave a 5 star comment at the bottom of the recipe and join our facebook group, “From Scratch Food Lovers.”
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Click the link below to print out your shopping list, and you’re ready to go!
**NOTE: You’ll notice the shopping list includes categories like “pantry staples”, and “spices”. Hopefully, those are items you already have on hand, and you can cross them off of the list.
Print Shopping List
Print Shopping List
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Each 5-day meal plan includes a printable grocery shopping list with budget information, to help save time and money!
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the chicken fajita pasta was so good if I could send you a video I would ill try to post it on social media and tag you. these free meal recipes are the best , I don’t know how to cook and I don’t have imagination and this really helps but I do struggle giving my kids because they are picky eaters like their father😒
I’m really enjoying these plans. They make my cooking and shopping so much easier. It’s nice to have such variety without having to search and find good food to make for my family.
Could you include more fish dishes? we try to have fish at least once and sometimes twice a week. Salmon, Halibut, shrimp, etc would be great.
Thanks,
Rick G.
Thanks for the feedback! I’ll pass this on to the team!
Cannot locate where to register for site to establish login and password
Hi Mickie! We’ve been working on this feature and are so happy you’re interested in it! You should see a blue box at the top of the main page that says Save Recipes and build meal plans! Click the “try it” button. Please let us know if you have any problems
I have a large family. Is there any way to change the quantity when printing the recipes?
Yes, when you click print recipe there is a box at the top that allows you to change the servings up or down and the ingredients will adjust.
I have just come across your website and I am impressed. This is exactly what I needed as a large family of 6 trying to cut costs and cook various meals. Thank you so much I can’t wait to get started on week one and work my way through. Bless you 🙂
Love this. I did this years ago when kids were young made shopping easy and never had to think about supper. Now that I’m in a rut I found your site and never gave to think about what’s for supper. Live alone and if there’s no plan I don’t eat or have popcorn for supper.
I wanted to run on auto pilot for a while since I always have to decide what to buy,shop and prepare the meals. Love how the ingredients, and cost are listed. We finished week 1. I am cooking for 8 so I had to double the list and spent $109 at Food Lion.
This is the order in which we liked week 1’s meals.
Tomato Basil Soup (served with crusty garlic bread)
Chicken Fajita pasta (topped with sour cream,cilantro and tortilla strips)
Black bean Quesadillas (served with Mexican rice)
Chicken and Rice (served with steamed broccoli)
Sloppy Joes (served with chips and steamed carrots)
On to week 2. Thank you for this lovely meal plan layout!
So glad you’re enjoying the meal plan!! Can’t wait to hear how week 2 is for you!
Do you have any breakfast meals plans because I love your shopping list for weeks and I need to include breakfast too
We don’t have breakfast meal plans currently but will talk it over as a team! Thanks for the suggestion!
Excited to try these! How many folks does it serve? I have a large family 6adults and 3kids
Most recipes make about 5 servings, so you’d probably want to double them!
Lauren,
I want to express my thankfulness to you for creating such wonderful lists, recipes, and helping out families eat and cook better. I want to tell you you have helped me cook better and I use your recipes every week. I am now printing off your weekly plans, which are truly a gift to all us fledgling cooks. I am with my kids in the summer, and I cook every night for our family. Your recipes have helped me become a better cook, and I am grateful. Such a wonderful site. I hope more people give you the the thanks you deserve. It’s a real gift you give people.
God bless you.
Super excited to try out these meal plans. Total cost was $98 and that doesn’t include anything from the Spices, Pantry Staples, or Other categories. Inflation? Living in Canada? I don’t know. Still relatively inexpensive though. 🙂
Just went to my local Food Lion and the total cost for all the ingredients was more around $60 than $45 but I live in VA so it could be different in other states 🙂 super excited to check these meals!!
Lauren,
These are amazing time savers! Thank you for making them available and for free!
I’m so glad I found you! I absolutely with an intense passion dislike cooking. The prepping and pre planning needed just make me want to scream. Your meal plans with shopping lists help take care of most of my complaints and irritation and the fact that most of the meals take 30 minutes to make is even better. Thank you thank you thank you sooooo much!
Thanks so much Danielle–I hope they will help you!
Thank you so so much for this!!!
Hi 👋🏼 I’m loving your meal plans. Yay to cooking more and spending less 🙂
Lauren, I just found your site tonight and I am SO excited because I have been looking for such a meal planning program. Thank you for creating this wonderful, wonderful program. I have always made my meals by scratch. However, I am now older and live alone and it is hard nowadays to even want to cook. So I shall try to adapt your meals to fit into a weekly plan for a single woman. Thank you, thank you! God bless you for all you do for so many people. What a beautiful, giving heart you have! Kitty
Thank you! I just retired and am cooking for my mom mom and I only now. It’s been hard to stay on budget! But your meal plan is a lifesaver! Making my list now for next week..
It makes me so happy to hear it’s been helpful for you! Thanks Cyndi!
Hi, how many do these meals feed? Are the portions fit to feed your large family?
Each meal will feed 4 adults (or a family with small children, like my husband and I and our 3 younger kids)
One of your meals calls for milk but it isn’t on the list. Just thought I’d let you know.
Thanks for the input. I updated the shopping list!
Do you have a template for the meal plan & grocery list?
I don’t have one I can share, sorry!
Is there any way to go back and get your previous meal plans and lists. I am loving this but just found this gold mine.
Hi Charlene,
I have more than 45 pre-set meal plans on my site. You can find them all HERE!
I’ve also recently added a new feature that allows you to pick your own meals from my website and “save” them to your meal plan! Then you will received a grocery shopping list with all the ingredients you need to make every meal you chose! It’s an awesome free feature! See more about it HERE.
Hey how do I find this feature you mentioned? That link isn’t taking me there. Thanks!
Hi Julie,
There is a link to “Print Meal Plan” that takes you to the shopping list and separate links for each featured recipe.
I am in LOVE with this idea! Unfortunately, It won’t direct me to the recipe when I click the link:(
Hi Hollie,
I checked the links and they seem to all be working. Could you help me understand which one you thought wasn’t working? Thanks!
I have also added a free feature to my site that lets you create your own shopping list with any meals you choose. Here is the link if that’s something you are interested in!
Great mass appeal recipe selection. I can’t believe I FINALLY found a recipe website with meals I’d actually want to eat. I’m so annoyed by all the high-brow or odd-ball ingredients recipes I find elsewhere. Thanks!
Thanks Matt! I’m glad you found us to. There are 45 pre-set meal plans (all free) and I have also just developed a new feature where you can save any recipe on my site to your own meal plan –which will then populate will all the ingredients that you will need to buy for every meal. It’s a great “free” feature as well. Enjoy!
I am thrilled to find this site and glean from your hard work and investment! Thanks for sharing your talent and looking forward to creating your delicious food!
I stumbled across this site when I was searching for meal plans and all I have to say is ‘WOW’. I am only on the second meal of Week 1 so far but both myself and my two picky little eaters are loving the recipes! I’ve been doubling them and using the leftovers for lunches the following day. The grocery list included is a huge life and time saver! Your website has been favourited in my browser and I hope you never stop posting these. You are amazing – Thank you!
There is no bigger compliment for me! I’m thrilled you found me and I hope you continue to love the recipes you try! I have some REALLY exciting updates to the meal plan coming in a few weeks, so stay tuned:-)!!
Hi Carrie,
I’ve just discovered your meal plans but I see they involve meat. Would you be able do meatless meal plans for us vegetarians out there?
Hi Khamani,
I am hoping to start doing a few vegetarian meal plans in the future! In the meantime, here are some of my favorite vegetarian meals:
https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/one-pan-veggie-burrito-bowl/
This does not need the chicken: https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/spinach-chicken-bowtie-pasta-salad/
https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/italian-grilled-cheese-sandwich/
Thanks for the feedback!
My family LOVED this!!! Thanks for a phenomenal recipe to put in my rotation!!!
I adore you!!!! I just love that you are inspiring me to limit the processed junk coming into my house! Going to start with week one and work my way through them all! Is there a way to print all 5 recipes at once? I love that I can print shopping list easily from my phone !
Hi Carrie, Thanks so much, I hope you love all them meals. Unfortunately I don’t have a way to print all the recipes at once. It’s something I will look into. thanks for your comment and input 🙂
Thank you so much for this idea! I LOVE your website and every single recipe I have made is so delicious. Now that you have a meal plan it is even BETTER! I just printed my shopping list and ready to get items needed for next week. Will you continue to do this?
Thanks again,
~T!na~
Thanks so much Tina!! I’m going to be doing a meal plan every week, so I hope it will be helpful for you! A new one will go live every Sunday morning 🙂
I love you. Thank you. Thank you. I was working on my weekly menu tonight, and coming up blank. Thought I’d head over here and see what’s new and you did my work for me!! Now I can binge watch Netflix. ?
Thank you! I’ve needed some new recipes,and a whole new menu and thanks to you I have one for this week! Looking forward to to making these this week and can’t wait for next weeks menu!
Blessings!
Cyndi
Thanks so much Cyndi! I’d love to hear how you like everything!