FREE Meal Plan #73 {With Printable Grocery List}

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.

Save yourself some time, money and stress by using this FREE Meal Plan that is full of amazing recipes. Each plan includes 5 dinner ideas, 2 side dishes, 1 dessert and a shopping list making meal planning easier than ever!!

A graphic showing multiple meal plans with printable grocery lists.

WEEKLY MEAL PLAN #73

Each week, I share with you a FREE meal plan that consists of 5 dinner ideas (Monday-Thursday plus one Weekend meal), 2 side dishes, and 1 dessert!

Included is a grocery list with EVERY ingredient you need for all the items on the meal plan.

This is meant to help simplify menu planning, shopping, and cooking so you can more easily enjoy meals with your family throughout the week!

TIP OF THE WEEK

Sourdough Bread might seem intimidating to make, but it really is so simple!

The trickiest part is getting the starter. You can either make it, buy it online or get it from a friend (which is probably the easiest choice. You might be surprised with who you know that has a starter).

Pro-tip: the longer the starter sits, the more sour it will be. Don’t love a strong sourdough? No problem! Don’t let it sit as long.

BENEFITS OF MEAL PLANNING

There’s nothing worse than the dread every time a family members asks, “What’s for dinner??” And your answer is “I have no clue.” Having a meal plan for the week eliminates that completely, which is the number one benefit in my book!

Besides having a game plan in place, there are several other benefits of meal planning, including:

Cost: When you have a plan set in place, and a specific list of groceries, you eliminate cost wasted on impulse items or produce that never gets used.
Decrease Waste: No wasted money, and no wasted food! Having a set grocery list will help to avoid both of those issues.
Variety: Our meal plans specifically include a lot of variety, with Mexican, Italian, Breakfast for Dinner, and so much more! You can expose your family’s palates to all kinds of meals.
No Indecision: Did you know there’s such thing as “indecision fatigue”? The idea is that when you can’t make a decision on something (like what to make for dinner) it actually makes you mentally fatigued. When dinners are already planned out, though, you avoid indecision completely!
Health: When you plan for/anticipate making well-rounded meals, you’re much more likely to actually make them rather than defaulting to convenient boxed meals, or unhealthy fast food!

As you can see, there are so many benefits to meal planning!

And if you want to create your own menu, be sure to check out all our recipes and visit our recipe pages, including: Main Dish, Side Dishes, Desserts, Appetizers and Breakfast!

Monday

Bean Burritos

Cheesy bean burritos are so easy to whip up for dinner! These are perfect for making ahead of time, or freezing for later.

If you’ve got time to take this recipe to the next level, try homemaking the ingredients using our recipes for Homemade Flour Tortillas, Easy Refried Beans and Taco Seasoning. The extra work will be worth it!

Tuesday

Chicken Penne Pasta

A delicious and simple Chicken Penne Pasta that is the perfect family dinner. The entire family loves it!

This pasta pairs well with Sourdough Bread, one of our featured sides this week, and Arugula Salad or Caesar salad with homemade Caesar Salad Dressing. All together, it will make a tasty and well-rounded Italian meal!

wednesday

Breakfast Pizza

This Bacon Breakfast Pizza is a cheesy breakfast recipe topped with eggs, bacon and your favorite breakfast ingredients! It’s simple, quick, and is easily customized based off of your favorite ingredients.

Because this breakfast pizza is so filling, we love to serve a light smoothie on the side. Some of our favorites are Best Green Smoothie, Strawberry Oatmeal Smoothie, and Peach Mango Smoothie.

Thursday

Instant Pot Beef Stew

Savory instant pot beef stew is filled with chunks of beef and veggies for a quick meal that tastes like it’s stewed for hours!!

We just can’t have stew without biscuits or rolls to go with it! We love to eat this stew with Easy Biscuits, Crescent Rolls or Homemade Dinner Rolls.

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out our complete collection of recipes for Dinner Rolls and Biscuits.

Weekend

Spinach Artichoke Stuffed Chicken

Cheesy Spinach Artichoke Stuffed Chicken is delicious and tender. It is stuffed and baked to perfection in under 30 minutes!

This chicken is so yummy and is an even better meal when served with Honey Glazed Carrots, one of our Sides of the Week.

Sometimes we love to also add a fresh salad like Strawberry Harvest Salad or Kale Salad for an even lighter meal.

Sides of the week

Our Top Two Choices

Easy and Delicious Honey Glazed Carrots that are the perfect side dish to any meal! They’re quick to make and are coated in a butter-y honey glaze that everyone loves.

A similar but different carrot recipe that we also love is Brown Sugar Glazed Carrots. With the little bit of added sweetness, your littles won’t mind eat their veggies!

This rustic Sourdough Bread is soft and chewy, and has a very mild tang. It’s delicious warm from the oven, and makes tasty sandwiches.

For our best bread-making tips and recipes, check out our collection of bread recipes. It includes some of our other favorites including French Bread, Homemade Naan Bread and our classic Homemade Bread.

Dessert of the WEek

Boston Cream Pie

Old-fashioned Boston Cream Pie is a best-loved classic cake, not pie, that is utterly decadent and delicious!

For more Yummy Cake Recipes, try:

Download the Meal Plan!

Click the link below to download this week’s FREE Meal Plan!

And remember – if you want to create your own menu, be sure to check out all our recipes and visit our recipe pages, including: Main Dish, Side Dishes, Desserts, Appetizers and Breakfast!