Sticking to a 7-day healthy meal plan while you’re on a budget doesn’t have to be difficult, especially when there are so many delicious recipe options to choose from. Whether you stick to the plan as written or decide to go with any of the many alternative options we’ve listed, this is one budget-friendly meal plan your whole family will enjoy all week long.
Prep for the beginning of the week:
We recommend prepping these recipes on Sunday (or whatever day is before the kick-off to your week), so that lunches and dinners are ready-to-go for the first part of the week. If you’re serving more than two people, double the amount of poached chicken called for in the recipe.
Easy and perfect poached chicken
Super-Easy Slow Cooker Three-Bean Chili
Prep for the middle of the week:
Our recipes for vegetable chickpea curry and a broccoli and cheddar frittata are easily adapted to suit the contents of your crisper drawer. We suggest doubling the curry recipe so that it will last for the rest of the work week — it’s also delicious served over cauliflower rice or with a side of homemade naan.
Budget-Friendly Snacks and Add-Ons:
Monday
The key to eating leftovers throughout the week? Mixing up the toppings! Since the cost of avocados tends to fall on the pricier side, we suggest whipping up a batch of our pea guacamole, which makes use of frozen peas to round out the bulk of the dip (with the same rich, creamy consistency you’d find with traditional guac.) Other topping ideas include plain nonfat yogurt, pico de gallo (or your favourite store bought salsa), pickled onions, and shredded low fat cheese.
Lunch: Hummus and shredded chicken vegetable wraps
Dinner: Super-Easy Slow Cooker Three-Bean Chili
Tuesday
Thanks to the poached chicken you prepped at the beginning of the week, there are plenty of options for making chicken salad recipes which can be made into wraps using tortillas or crispy lettuce. For more chicken salad ideas, check out our chicken and grape version as well as our version that contains curry and lime juice. Keep leftovers-for-dinner interesting by serving the chili over slow-roasted regular or sweet potatoes.
Lunch: Easy pesto chicken salad
Dinner: Super-Easy Slow Cooker Three-Bean Chili
Wednesday
Treat yourself to our zesty chicken taco salad as a workday meal by packing the salad components separately — simply assemble the ingredients and add the dressing before eating. The chickpea curry is delicious served as-is, or it can be topped with fresh cilantro, plain nonfat yogurt, and/or a dollop of homemade or store-bought chutney
Lunch: Chicken Taco Salad
Dinner: Vegetable Chickpea Curry
Thursday
When you’re looking for budget-friendly family meals, there’s nothing better than a basic frittata recipe. The version we’ve chosen features broccoli and cheddar, but you can find recipes for frittata that contain mushrooms and peppers, feta and dill, as well as Canadian bacon and ricotta cheese (to name only a few options in our recipe database.)
Lunch: Vegetable Chickpea Curry
Dinner: Broccoli and Cheddar Frittata
Friday
Ordering pizza for the whole family can be costly, which is why we suggest making your own healthy pizza at home using one of our many pizza recipes. Get the whole family in on the pizza-making fun by making customizable personal pizzas instead of a single large pizza, the sky’s the limit when it comes to topping ideas!
Lunch: Broccoli and Cheddar Frittata
Dinner: Pepperoni Pizza Bubble Up
Saturday
Always a crowd-pleaser, grilled cheese sandwiches come together quickly and are an ideal addition to any budget-friendly meal plan. For dinner, we’ve suggested a zippy recipe for pasta with turkey sausage and peppers, but you could also make any of our other classic pasta recipes, including stuffed pasta shells, creamy pumpkin pasta, or pasta with rosemary-roasted vegetables and feta.
Lunch: Grilled Cheddar Cheese Sandwiches with Pickles
Dinner: Italian Turkey Sausage and Pepper Pasta
Sunday
An “everything but the kitchen sink”-style vegetable soup is a great way to empty the fridge of any odds and ends leftover from the previous week while also freeing up space for new groceries. Feel free to add lean protein to the soup, such as shredded chicken or pork, cubed tofu, or chopped hard boiled eggs.
Lunch: Mexican Skillet Eggs
Dinner: Garden Vegetable Soup, Garlic Bread