Delicious Enough Meal Plan 02

here's how it works

1. Pick your dinners. The plan is easiest to follow if you make every meal, but it works if you pick and choose too. Each recipe has its own color, and that color carries through the grocery list and prep plan.
2. Shop. The grocery list is sorted by aisle and color-coded by recipe, so it’s easy to skip the ingredients for any dinners you aren’t making
3. Prep. The prep plan gives you a checklist of everything you can do ahead to make dinner faster through the week. Do all of it, some of it, or none of it, depending on how much time you have.
4. Cook. When it’s time for dinner, follow the step-by-step recipe. If you did the prep, you’ll get to skip a few steps. If you didn’t, no problem. The recipes are pretty quick either way.

the recipes

To get an individual recipe with all the notes and substitutions, click the link below each recipe image. At the bottom, you can download the complete PDF with all four recipes, a color-coded grocery list, and the prep plan in one spot.

dinner 1: sheet pan bang bang chicken

A really easy one-pan dinner made with juicy chicken thighs, crispy rice, and creamy + slightly spicy bang bang sauce. It’s just as good packed up for lunch the next day.

• You want the rice to crisp up. To make that happen, make sure it’s cold before you add it to the sheet pan. Whether you’re making rice from scratch or using frozen rice, cook it first, then spread it out on a plate or sheet pan. Pop it in the fridge or freezer while you prep and cook the chicken.
• Pop the sheet pan into the oven while it’s preheating, and don’t clean it after cooking the chicken. We want all those browned bits to help flavor the rice.
• If you’re making this ahead, don’t pour the bang bang sauce directly onto the pan. Keep it separate and add it just before eating.
• Double the bang bang sauce. It’s that good.

dinner 2: honey-lime chicken sausage potato bowls

These honey-lime chicken sausage sweet potato bowls combine roasted sweet potatoes, white rice and golden chicken sausage with a quick, tangy honey-lime dressing.

• There are so many varieties of fully cooked chicken sausage. My favorite with this recipe is apple. Joe finds that too sweet, so I use a Cajun sausage for him. Use what you like, or even better … what you have on hand.
• I initially hoped to get all the food onto one sheet pan so there were fewer dishes, but it was too crowded. Using a second sheet pan is worth it here. The sweet potatoes need enough room that they caramelize instead of steaming.
• If you use a 12-ounce package of sausage, that will give you about one sausage link per person. If you have large appetites in your family, put that second sheet pan to use and add a second pack of sausage. Nothing else in the recipe needs to change.
• Basmati, jasmine, brown rice, leftover rice, microwave rice. Whatever you like. I usually make mine in the rice cooker. Two cups give you about ½ cup per bowl, but obviously that can change depending on who you’re feeding.

dinner 3: loaded mexican baked potatoes

Loaded Mexican baked potatoes are stuffed with taco meat, black beans, corn, salsa and LOTS of cheese. Added bonus, this one uses lots of store-bought shortcuts. 

• Trying to make this recipe with potatoes that aren’t fully cooked is not something you want to do. They should be REALLY soft when you remove them from the oven.
• Since we aren’t using parchment, the caramelized potatoes may stick a bit to the sheet pan. Slide a thin metal spatula under each potato to release it before you flip them over to scoop.
• Homemade salsa or even the store-bought version of “homemade salsa,” is delicious. Skip it here. You want the thick jarred kind so the filling doesn’t get watery.
• A pound of ground beef plus the beans, corn, salsa, and cheese is more than you’re going to fit back into the potatoes. I portion the extra into containers and eat it throughout the week.

dinner 4: bbq chicken focaccia pizza

Making the focaccia crust from scratch takes some planning, but it’s not hard. I promise it’s worth it. The thick, chewy focaccia makes a really good pizza crust. And telling everyone you made it from scratch is oddly satisfying.

• If you are making the dough, start it the day before. It needs at least 8 hours in the fridge, but most of that time you are doing absolutely nothing.
• If you didn’t plan ahead (or don’t want to), use store-bought pizza dough instead. Follow the package directions for prepping it, then continue with the toppings and baking instructions here. Just skip the yeast and flour on the grocery list.
• Weigh the flour if you can. This dough needs 540 grams. Too much flour makes a stiff dough that is much harder to stretch.
• If the dough keeps shrinking back when you stretch it, stop and let it rest for 10 minutes. Then try again. It stretches when it’s ready, not when you are.

the grocery list

Everything you need for this month’s dinners.

produce
6 large (about 4½ pounds) sweet potatoes
3 to 4 green onions, plus more if using on pizza
2 limes
¼ cup chopped, about 1 small bunch fresh cilantro

meat
1½ cups shredded, about half a chicken rotisserie chicken
1½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 pound ground beef
12 ounces, about 4 links fully cooked chicken sausage

dairy & eggs
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded mozzarella
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded pepper Jack
½ cup sour cream

frozen
1 cup frozen corn

pantry & dry goods
4½ cups all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons, 1 packet covers it instant or active dry yeast
5 cups cooked white or jasmine rice (about 1⅔ cups uncooked, or 3 frozen 10-ounce pouches)
about ⅔ cup BBQ sauce, plus more for drizzling
½ cup mayonnaise
¼ cup sweet chili sauce
1 to 2 tablespoons sriracha
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 (15-ounce) can black beans
1½ cups, a 16-ounce jar covers it thick jarred salsa
½ cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus a little for your hands
about ½ cup avocado oil (6 tablespoons for the dressing, the rest for the potatoes)

spices
1½ teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon paprika
2 tablespoons taco seasoning
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons salt, plus more for seasoning
¾ teaspoon black pepper, plus more for seasoning