Easy 7-day family meal plan

The plan has been designed for you to swap meals to suit your family commitments. We know that family life doesn’t always allow for leisurely cooking, so you’ll find these recipes easy to make. All recipes have a minimum amount of hands-on time (peeling and chopping), and you can reduce prep time even more by using frozen chopped veg. Most of the recipes can be frozen, too.

We’ve chosen not to add salt to these recipes unless the dish really needs it. You can season to taste, but remember that children have lower requirements. Be wary, however: the recommended daily salt intake for ages 1-3 is 2g, for 4-6 is 3g and 5g for 7-10 year olds.

To reduce waste and make shopping easier, we’ve used some ingredients more than once throughout this plan, and used up whole packets where possible.

Find out which supermarkets and types of food and drink have the fastest rising prices – see the free supermarket price tracker on Which.co.uk.

Our new meal plan hub has all our meal plans in one place.

Meal prep for the week

If you have time at the weekend, it’s well worth doing a little meal prep for the week ahead. Here are a few jobs you can do:

• Make breakfast cookies
• Make and freeze the falafels
• Make hummus
• Make and freeze the soup
• Assemble and freeze the pinwheels
• Make and freeze the fish pie mac ‘n’ cheese

Breakfast recipes

Feel free to mix and match our breakfast recipes on any day of the week. We've included a mix of healthy meals and speedy morning solutions.

Raspberry, almond & oat breakfast cookies

Get ahead of a busy work week and prep these cookies on the weekend. They're naturally sweet from mashed banana and raspberries. Grab a couple as you're running out the door to sustain you throughout the day.

Eggy cheese crumpets

Swap your regular morning toast for satisfying eggy cheese crumpets with cherry tomatoes and avocado. Submerge the crumpets in a beaten egg mixture, fry, then top with grated cheddar and grill until golden brown.

Blueberry & banana power smoothie

Add protein-packed tofu to this vegan blueberry & banana smoothie to make it really creamy and keep you full until lunchtime – great for a speedy breakfast on the go.

Carrot cake porridge

The most nutritious way to eat carrot cake for breakfast – use its ingredients (carrots, raisins, nutmeg and cinnamon) in a hearty bowl of porridge. You can make large batches and freeze it to save time on hectic mornings.

Sunday

Lunch
Smoky beans & baked eggs

This healthy recipe is packed full of nutrients with smoky beans and baked eggs. Serve with toast or flatbreads for a filling, veggie lunch – it also freezes well (before the eggs are added), so you could make extra for another day.

Dinner
Roast chicken & baby roasties with creamed spinach

Enjoy roast chicken with new potatoes and cheesy creamed spinach for a hearty dinner everyone will love. Roasting the chicken and potatoes in one tray means less washing-up to delegate afterwards.

Monday

Lunch
Sesame, edamame & chicken noodle salad

This makes a wonderful packed lunch, full of wholewheat noodles, chicken and greens, dressed with a marvellously moreish tahini and soy dressing. Prep ahead and enjoy cold, topped with toasted sesame seeds.

Dinner
Edamame falafel wraps

Falafels with a difference – these add edamame to the usual ingredients and are baked, not fried. Add to wraps with hummus, pickled red cabbage and any other veggies you'd like.

Tuesday

Lunch
Falafel lunchbox

Use up leftover falafel from last night's dinner for this bento-style lunchbox – full of grains, veg, salad and hummus. A super-satisfying way to eat your five-a-day.

Dinner
Meatball & garlic bread traybake

Make this comforting meatball & garlic bread traybake for a dinner the whole family will enjoy. The meatballs are made with turkey thigh mince, but you could buy a ready-made pack if you're short on time.

Wednesday

Lunch
Hummus rainbow wraps

Put some leftover hummus to good use with these colourful lunch wraps, packed with beetroot, carrot, spinach and feta. They only take 15 minutes to prepare, freeing up precious morning minutes.

Dinner
Creamy salmon, prawn & almond curry

If your family loves a korma, this creamy salmon, prawn and almond curry will be a big hit. Serve with poppadoms or naan bread and mango chutney.

Thursday

Lunch
Sweet potato, spinach & feta tortilla

Make this tortilla the night before for a quick and easy lunch. It only needs five ingredients, and microwaving the sweet potato means it can be ready in 25 minutes.

Dinner
Tomato soup with cheese, Marmite & spinach pinwheels

Pair classic tomato soup with our savoury Marmite and spinach pinwheels. Use a pack of sheet ready-rolled light puff pastry to make these satisfying savoury bites in no time.

Friday

Lunch
Tomato soup with cheese, Marmite & spinach pinwheels

Use leftovers from Thursday's dinner to craft a quick and easy lunch. The warming soup is rich and full of flavour. Paired with a pinwheel, it will go down a treat.

Dinner
Fish pie mac ’n’ cheese

Our highly-rated twist on fish pie combines two comfort foods into a fantastic Friday night supper. Who wouldn't love a golden, bubbling plate of creamy, cheesy fish pie mac 'n' cheese?

Saturday

Lunch
Puff pastry pizzas

Have fun preparing these puff pastry pizzas with the kids – chop up the veg and let everyone choose their own toppings. We used sweetcorn, olives, peppers, red onion, cherry tomatoes, spinach and basil on ours.

Dinner
Pulled pork tacos with pineapple salsa

These terrific tacos have five-star ratings for a reason. Pork shoulder is slow-cooked with a heady mix of spices, pineapple, citrus juice and garlic until meltingly soft. Eat it in tacos with a zesty salsa, shredded cabbage and avocado for a weekend fiesta.

Enjoyed these meals? See more inspiration...

Storecupboard essentials for families
Quick & budget family meals
Family winter traybake ideas
Budget meals for large families