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Even if you love to cook, with after-school activities and other events taking up precious evening hours, making a healthy dinner some nights can feel like a chore. In this week’s meal plan, we’ve chosen seven healthy dinners that are perfect for prepping ahead, so you can get most of the meal prep done and out of the way in about an hour on Sunday. With some light prep during the week, dinner will be on the table in a flash. This easy-to-follow plan will save you time and energy when weeknights get busy.
Sunday Meal-Prep Steps = 1 hour
Make theSlow-Cooker French Onion Souprecipe (steps 1-2) and freeze. Start this recipe early in the day, as it needs 8 hours in the slow-cooker.
Make the marinade for theChile-Marinated Skirt Steakand refrigerate.
Make the socca batter for theTomato-Pesto Soccaand refrigerate.
Prepare salad greens and refrigerate.
Make the
Roasted Chickensfor tonight’s dinner. Carve the second chicken and reserve the meat for theCreamy Buffalo Chicken Saladrecipe.
- Make a double batch ofEasy Brown Rice. Refrigerate enough to have with theSlow-Cooker Dal Makhaniand freeze the rest, to use later in the week for theThai Fried Ricerecipe.
Sunday: Roasted Chickens
Prep:20 minutes
Cook time:2 hours
Monday: Tomato-Pesto Socca
Remaining prep:5 minutes
Cook time:20 minutes
Tuesday: Slow-Cooker Dal Makhani
Slow-Cooker Dal Makhani:Using a slow cooker for this dal curry recipe is brilliant-the lentils cook until they’re perfectly tender. For the creamiest results, use whole urad dal (versus split), which you can get online or at Indian markets. This particular bean breaks down beautifully, giving the dish its rich, creamy texture. Serve the dal overEasy Brown Rice(which you made on Sunday) with Indian-style green chutney and a side of plain yogurt.
Wednesday: Creamy Buffalo Chicken Salad
Remaining prep:20 minutes, if you didn’t already make it on Sunday
Creamy Buffalo Chicken Salad:In this Buffalo wings-inspired chicken salad, Greek yogurt replaces more than half of the mayonnaise. We like the flavor of Frank’s RedHot hot sauce, but Sriracha and Tabasco are delicious options too. This dish will be ready in a flash since, especially when using the cooked chicken from Sunday. Serve this healthy chicken salad as an open-face sandwich or scoop it on top of fresh salad greens.
Wednesday Night Meal Prep:Take the extra brown rice out of the freezer and defrost in the fridge for dinner on Thursday.
Thursday: Thai Fried Rice
Remaining prep:10 minutes
Cook time:7 minutes
Thai Fried Rice:This Thai fried rice recipe is flavored with garlic, mushrooms and pork but feel free to use any vegetable, protein or rice you have on hand. You already have your riced cooked, so you can skip step one. Or for a vegetarian fried rice recipe, omit the pork and add more vegetables or tofu.
Thursday Night Meal Prep:Begin marinating the steak for tomorrow’sChile-Marinated Skirt Steakdinner. The recommended time to marinate the steak is anywhere between 2 hours and 1 day. If you already made and froze theSlow-Cooker French Onion Soup, start defrosting it in the refrigerator tonight so it’s ready to go for Saturday.
Friday: Chile-Marinated Skirt Steak
Cook time:17 minutes
Chile-Marinated Skirt Steak (Carne Asada en Adobo de Guajillo):In this Mexican-inspired steak recipe, dried chiles are toasted, soaked and pureed to make a flavorful marinade. Toasting the chiles in a heavy, dry skillet is the key to unlocking their flavor (not just their heat). You can find dried chiles in the produce section of many markets. Because you already made the marinade, all that is left to do is let the steak soak up the flavors for anywhere between 2- to 24-hours and then grill it to perfection. Serve the steak with black beans and a leafy-green salad.
Saturday: Slow-Cooker French Onion Soup
Remaining prep:3 minutes
Cook time:10 minutes
Slow-Cooker French Onion Soup:In this genius slow-cooker soup recipe, two types of onions are caramelized for hours before adding a sherry-spiked broth. Since you already made the soup earlier in the week, all you have to do for dinner to be done is make the cheesy bread. For a bistro-worthy presentation, you could ladle the soup into ovenproof crocks, top with the bread and cheese and broil.
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