Super Easy Meal Plan For Busy Beginners!

Here's a simple beginner's meal plan to help you save money on groceries. Meal planning doesn't have to be complex or time-consuming - you can easily cut costs and start eating healthy meals from tomorrow! Subscribe for more tips on grocery savings! ▶▶ Get the Grocery Dad newsletter FREE: https://bit.ly/3FaNECL ▶▶ My favorite food prep essentials for cooking & storage: https://amzn.to/3JWzHdG ▶▶ The Only 20 Groceries You Need Buy Each Week: https://youtu.be/5rXEZEcA3O0 0:00 - Intro 0:51 - What other channels ignore about meal planning 1:13 - Who this plan is aimed at 1:42 - Your motivation for meal planning 2:38 - Saving yourself time 3:26 - Barriers to meal planning 7:27 - Pre-planning tips 7:52 - Tip #1 Check your pantry, stock your pantry 9:13 - Twelve essential ingredients for meal planning 10:56 - Tip #2 Prep whenever you can 11:44 - Tip #3 Keep things simple 12:45 - The Meal Plan 13:14 - Sunday: Roast Dinner 14:15 - Prep: Bolognese 15:14 - Monday: Creamy Pasta 15:37 - Tuesday: Leftover Day 16:09 - Wednesday: Chicken Curry 17:16 - Thursday: Jazz Up Your Pizza 18:30 - Friday: Fish 19:17 - Saturday: Slow Cooked Beef Stew 20:08 - Your secret meal-planning weapon Twelve Essential Ingredients For Meal Planning Pasta Rice Canned tomatoes Selection of beans, e.g. butter or kidney (canned or dried but I recommend you start off with canned) Olive oil (or similar) Stock, e.g. chicken or vegetable (cubes will be fine for now but the progression is to make your own) Veggies, e.g. onions, carrots and celery Garlic Dried herbs and spices, e.g. oregano, cumin, thyme, rosemary Dairy products, e.g. eggs, cheese, butter Canned fish, e.g. tuna or salmon Frozen vegetables, e.g. peas or sweetcorn Your Simple, Beginners Meal Plan SUNDAY: Roast Chicken Dinner Ingredients: 1 whole chicken (1.5-2kg), 500g baby potatoes (halved), 3 carrots (chunked), 2 onions (quartered), 3 garlic cloves (crushed), 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 lemon (halved), 2 sprigs rosemary, salt, pepper. Instructions: Preheat oven to 200°C. Rub chicken with olive oil, salt, pepper, and stuff with lemon and rosemary. Place chicken on veggies (potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic) tossed with oil. Roast 1h 20 mins or until done. Let rest 10 mins. Prep: Bolognese Ingredients: 500g minced beef/pork, 1 onion (chopped), 2 carrots (diced), 2 celery sticks (diced), 2 garlic cloves (minced), 400g tomatoes, 200ml passata, 200ml stock, olive oil, salt, pepper. Instructions: Fry veggies until soft. Add garlic, cook 1 min. Brown meat. Add tomatoes, passata, and stock. Simmer 30-40 mins until thick. Season. MONDAY: Creamy Pasta Ingredients: 200g bacon (diced), 2 garlic cloves (minced), 200ml cream, 150g frozen peas, 2 eggs, olive oil, salt, pepper, Parmesan (optional). Instructions: Fry bacon until crispy. Add garlic, cook 1 min. Add peas. Whisk eggs with cream, salt, pepper. Combine with bacon, cook gently until sauce thickens. TUESDAY: Leftover Roast Chicken & Rice Ingredients: 2 cups shredded chicken, 1 leek/zucchini (sliced), 1 cup cooked rice, 2 garlic cloves (optional), 200ml stock, 2 eggs (beaten), olive oil, salt, pepper. Instructions: Fry veggies until soft. Add chicken, cook 2 mins. Add stock, simmer 5 mins. Stir in rice. Scramble eggs in the center of the pan, then mix. WEDNESDAY: Chicken Curry Ingredients: 500g diced chicken thighs, 2 garlic cloves (minced), 2 tbsp curry powder, 1 chilli (optional), 400g tomatoes, 200ml stock, 100ml cream, olive oil, salt, pepper. Instructions: Fry garlic and chilli. Brown chicken, add curry powder. Add tomatoes, stock. Simmer 15-20 mins until chicken is tender. Stir in cream. THURSDAY: Jazz Up Your Pizza Day Add your favorite toppings to a frozen cheese pizza. FRIDAY: Pan-Fried Salmon Steaks Ingredients: 2 salmon steaks, 2 tbsp butter, 1 lemon (juice), ½ tsp paprika, 300g baby potatoes, 150g frozen peas, 150g sweetcorn, olive oil, salt, pepper. Instructions: Season salmon. Fry in butter, 4-5 mins per side. Add lemon juice. Boil potatoes 12-15 mins. Boil peas and sweetcorn 4-5 mins. Serve salmon with veg, drizzle lemon-butter sauce. SATURDAY: Slow Cooked Beef Chuck Stew Ingredients: 800g beef chuck (chunks), 2 carrots (sliced), 2 celery sticks (chopped), 2 potatoes (diced), 1 onion (chopped), 3 garlic cloves (minced), 400g passata, 500ml beef stock, 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp thyme, salt, pepper. Instructions: Brown the beef: Heat oil, season beef with salt and pepper. Brown all sides (4-5 mins). Transfer to pot. Cook the veggies: In the same pan, cook onion, carrots, celery, garlic, potatoes for 5 mins. Transfer to the pot. Add passata and stock: Pour in passata, stock, thyme, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine. Slow cook: Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hrs (or high for 4-5 hrs), until beef is tender. Adjust seasoning: Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. This post contains affiliate links. If you click and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.