A Full Weekly Meal Plan + Grocery List (Free Download Included!)
This weekly meal plan is built around a simple approach: cook once, reuse ingredients, and keep dinners easy throughout the week. Many of the meals use overlapping ingredients like shredded beef, rice, and fresh vegetables so your grocery list stays manageable and your week feels lighter.
Weekly Meal Plan (Recipes Included)
- Monday: Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Tuesday: Crispy Beef Burger Bowls with Special Sauce
- Wednesday: Stir Fry with Leftover Shredded Beef
- Thursday: Leftovers
- Friday: Spring Pesto Pasta
👇🏻 Grab the Free Printable Meal Plan + Grocery List
If you want to make this even easier, I put together a free downloadable version of this meal plan and grocery list for you. It’s formatted so you can print it out or keep it on your phone while you shop, which makes the whole process feel a lot more organized.
You’ll have everything in one place, from the weekly plan to the full grocery list, so you can go into your week feeling prepared without having to piece it all together yourself.
✅ Pantry Staples Checklist
| Olive oil | Avocado oil |
| Soy sauce or coconut aminos | Oyster sauce |
| Rice vinegar | Apple cider vinegar |
| Tomato paste | Canned diced tomatoes |
| Chicken stock or broth – or homemade | Salt |
| Black pepper | Smoked paprika |
| Cumin | Chili powder |
| Turmeric | Onion powder |
| Garlic powder | Mayo – or homemade |
✅ Grocery List
| Proteins | Chuck roast, ground beef, whole chicken, eggs |
| Produce | Oranges, fresh ginger, garlic, onion, carrots, celery, red bell pepper, cauliflower, cilantro, avocado, lettuce, russet potatoes, green onions, asparagus, arugula, lemon, tomato, orange juice |
| Dairy | Shredded cheese, sour cream, parmesan cheese. |
| Grains and Dry Goods | Rice, spaghetti pasta, tortilla chips (optional) |
| Frozen | Frozen broccoli, frozen peas |
| Nuts and Extras | Pistachios, pickles |
Prep Strategy
Start your week by making a batch of shredded beef and cooking a pot of rice. Taking a little time up front like this makes the rest of the week feel so much easier because you already have the foundation for multiple meals ready to go.
The shredded beef gets used in a few different ways, from simple rice bowls to a quick fried rice later in the week, so it never feels repetitive. The rice also carries through multiple meals, which saves time and keeps you from having to cook from scratch every night. If you go one step further and cook a whole chicken at the beginning of the week, you can use the shredded meat for the tortilla soup and turn the bones into a simple homemade broth, which adds even more flavor and stretches your ingredients further.
This kind of overlapping prep is what really keeps things manageable. You are not starting from zero each night, and you are making the most of what you already cooked. It helps cut down on food waste, shortens your grocery list, and makes dinner feel much more doable, even on the busiest nights.
I would also double the shredded beef and freeze half for another week. It reheats really well and makes future meals even faster.
👇🏻 Want to see how all of these meals come together in real life? You can watch the full week of dinners in my YouTube video below.
Ginger, Orange & Turmeric Shredded Beef
This ginger orange and turmeric shredded beef is a freezer friendly braised beef recipe made with chuck roast, fresh ginger, orange, and warming spices. Tender, flavorful, and perfect for meal prep.
Ingredients
Notes
- Keep covered for at least the first 2 hours, then uncover toward the end if you want the sauce to reduce.
- Freeze with some of the sauce to keep the meat moist when reheating.
- Coconut aminos can be swapped for soy sauce, but keep in mind that soy sauce is saltier.
Method
- Pat the chuck roast dry and season both sides with kosher salt
- Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium high heat and sear the beef on all sides until deeply browned, then remove and set aside
- In the same pot, cook the diced onion for about 5 minutes until softened
- Add garlic and cook for 1 minute
- Stir in tomato paste, cumin, smoked paprika, and turmeric and cook for another minute
- Stir in grated ginger, orange zest, orange juice, apple cider vinegar, and coconut aminos.
- Pour in broth and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom
- Return the beef to the pot, making sure the liquid comes about ⅔ up the sides
- Cover and bake at 325°F (163°C) for 3½–4 hours until fork tender
- (Keep covered for the first 2 hours, then uncover slightly if you want the sauce to reduce)
- Let cool slightly, then shred the beef and stir it back into the sauce
- Serve over rice with broccoli and a drizzle of coconut aminos.
Freezing & Reheating Instructions
- Allow this meat to cool down. Then shred it and place all the meat and juices in a bag for freezing. To Reheat: Take the bag out of the freezer a few hours before you plan to cook. It may not be completely thawed, break it up and place it on a parchment lined sheet pan. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes until the meat is warmed through and some pieces have a little crisp and caramelization. Give it a stir while cooking to move this along. You could also thaw the meat completely overnight in the fridge, take it out of the fridge a couple hours before dinner, and then bake at 400 for about 15 minutes until it's warmed through and crispy.
Video
Nourishing Chicken Tortilla Soup
A warming and comforting mexican soup with chicken and a vegetable base made in the Vitamix or another strong blender.
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Combine the blender ingredients and blend until smooth.
- Dice remaining onion, 1 whole carrot, 1 stick celery, red bell pepper and sauté in pot with the oil. Add in shredded chicken, broth, and blender soup base. Add in another can of diced tomatoes.
- Simmer for 20 minutes and adjust seasonings to taste. It should thicken up as it simmers, which I like, But if it's too thick, add more broth.
- Serve over rice, and top with sour cream, cheese, avocado, cilantro, and chips! Delicious!
Crispy Beef Burger Bowls with Special Sauce
All the flavors of a classic burger and fries, savory crispy beef, fresh veggies, golden air fryer fries, and creamy special sauce, piled into one easy, satisfying bowl.
Ingredients
Notes
- Swap beef for ground turkey or ground chicken if preferred.
- Frozen fries or oven roasted potatoes work too.
- Store components separately for easy meal prep and reheating.
- Based on the full recipe divided into 6 servings, each bowl is approximately 600 calories, 34 grams of protein, and about 5 grams of fiber.
Method
- Prep the potatoes by rinsing and scrubbing the potatoes, then peel if desired. Slice into thin fries, about ¼ inch thick, and pat dry with a towel so they crisp better.
- Toss the cut potatoes with avocado oil and salt. For extra crispiness, sprinkle with tapioca starch and toss again to coat evenly.
- Spread the fries in a single layer in the air fryer basket and cook at 385°F for 15 to 20 minutes, shaking halfway through, until golden and crispy. Work in batches if needed.
- Make the special sauce by finely chopping the pickles, then stir together mayonnaise, ketchup, pickles, pickle brine, salt, and pepper until smooth. Refrigerate while everything else cooks.
- Mix onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, pepper, salt, and brown sugar in a small bowl. Sprinkle evenly over the ground beef.
- Heat a cast iron skillet over high heat. Add the beef and break it up as it cooks. Let some big pieces sit undisturbed so they develop chunky crispy, caramelized edges. Cook until fully browned with some crispy bits.
- While the beef cooks, shred the lettuce and chop or slice the tomatoes so everything is ready to assemble.
- Assemble the bowls. Add a layer of lettuce to each bowl, top with tomatoes, crispy beef, and hot fries, then drizzle generously with special sauce and add pickles if using. Serve immediately.
Video
Leftover Beef Fried Rice Stir Fry
This leftover beef fried rice stir fry is a quick and easy dinner made with cooked rice, shredded beef, veggies, and simple pantry sauces. Ready in about 20 minutes and perfect for using up leftovers.
Ingredients
Notes
- Use day old rice if possible for the best texture.
- This recipe is very flexible, so feel free to swap in any cooked meat or vegetables you have on hand.
- Oyster sauce adds depth, but can be skipped if you don’t have it.
- Approximate nutrition for 1 serving: 450–500 calories, 25–30g protein, 4–6g fiber.
Method
- Cook a batch of orange shredded beef if needed and set aside. If you don’t have leftover rice, cook a batch and let it cool slightly.
- Shred the carrots and prep all remaining ingredients so everything is ready before cooking.
- Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the shredded beef and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, letting it crisp slightly.
- Add the shredded carrots and peas and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until the vegetables begin to soften. Stir in 1 tablespoon soy sauce, rice vinegar, and ½ tablespoon oyster sauce.
- Push everything to one side of the pan. Crack in the eggs and scramble for 1 to 2 minutes until just cooked, then fold into the mixture.
- Add the cooked rice and toss everything together for 2 to 3 minutes until heated through.
- Stir in the remaining oyster sauce, additional soy sauce to taste, and toasted sesame oil. Add green onions, toss, and adjust seasoning as needed and enjoy!
Video
Spring Pesto Pasta with Arugula, Pistachios & Asparagus
A bright spring pasta tossed with a green pesto sauce made from arugula, pistachios, garlic, and lemon, finished with tender asparagus and Parmesan.
Ingredients
Notes
- Reserve pasta water before draining. It helps loosen the sauce and coat the noodles evenly.
- This pasta works well as a meatless dinner, but you can serve it with a simple seared chicken breast if you want to add more protein.
- Each serving contains about 650 calories, 18g protein, and 5g fiber.
Method
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the kosher salt.
- While the water heats, make the green sauce. Add pesto, garlic, arugula, pistachios, salt, olive oil, and lemon juice to a food processor. Blend until mostly smooth but still slightly textured.
- Cook the spaghetti according to package instructions.
- During the last 4–5 minutes of cooking, add the chopped asparagus directly to the pasta water.
- Before draining the pasta, reserve about 1 cup of pasta water.
- Drain the pasta and asparagus together and return them to the pot.
- Add the green sauce and toss to coat. Add a few splashes of the reserved pasta water until the sauce loosens and coats the noodles.
- Serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
