The school week is busy enough without someone asking “What’s for dinner?” at 5pm when you haven’t given it a second thought.
So, as part of our Sunday Reset, we’re taking one job off your list. Every week, we’ll bring you five easy family dinner ideas to see you from Monday to Friday, with simple ingredients, realistic prep and a few clever shortcuts along the way.
This week, we’re making Monday’s chicken work twice, turning Wednesday’s bolognese into Thursday’s dinner and finishing the week with an easy Friday-night fakeaway.
MONDAY: Creamy Chicken & Bacon Pasta
Start the week with a proper crowd-pleaser. Chicken, crispy bacon and pasta in a creamy sauce, with peas thrown in for good measure.
Cook a little more chicken than you need and put it aside before adding the sauce. Tomorrow night’s dinner is already halfway there.
You’ll need: pasta, chicken breast, bacon, frozen peas, crème fraîche or cream cheese, garlic and a little grated Parmesan or cheddar.
Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions. Fry the chicken and bacon until cooked through, add the garlic and peas, then stir through the crème fraîche with a splash of pasta water. Toss everything together with the pasta and finish with grated cheese.
TUESDAY: Build-Your-Own Chicken Wraps
Tonight, the kids can do some of the work.
Put yesterday’s leftover chicken on the table with wraps, grated cheese, lettuce, cucumber, sweetcorn and whatever sauces your family likes, then let everyone build their own.
Warm the chicken thoroughly before serving and add some oven chips or wedges if you want to bulk things out.
Shortcut: Chop the salad while Monday’s pasta is cooking and keep it covered in the fridge.
WEDNESDAY: Hidden Veg Bolognese
A midweek staple and a handy opportunity to use up some of the vegetables hanging around in the fridge.
Brown your mince with onion and garlic, then add grated carrot and courgette before stirring through passata or chopped tomatoes. Simmer until rich and thick, then serve with spaghetti and plenty of grated cheese.
Make extra. Tomorrow night’s dinner depends on it.
THURSDAY: Loaded Baked Potatoes
Thursday is deliberately easy.
Bake potatoes until they’re crisp outside and fluffy in the middle, then put a selection of toppings on the table and let everyone choose their own.
Use last night’s bolognese with grated cheese, or try beans and cheese, tuna mayo and sweetcorn, leftover chicken or whatever needs used up before the end of the week.
FRIDAY: Make-Your-Own Pizza Night
We made it to Friday.
Before automatically ordering a takeaway, raid the fridge one last time. Pizza bases, pittas, naan breads or even wraps can become quick homemade pizzas.
Spread with tomato pizza sauce or passata, cover with mozzarella or grated cheese and let everyone choose their toppings.
Ham, peppers, sweetcorn, chicken, mushrooms, pepperoni, pineapple…
Bake until the cheese is bubbling and the edges are crisp.
DINNER HACK
Shop your kitchen before you shop the supermarket.
Before writing this week’s shopping list, check the fridge, freezer and cupboards against the five meals above. That half bag of frozen peas, forgotten packet of wraps and lonely tin of sweetcorn might mean you’ve already got a surprising amount of the week’s dinners covered.
And when you’re cooking something that can easily stretch to another meal, cook once and use it twice. Monday’s chicken becomes Tuesday’s wraps; Wednesday’s bolognese becomes Thursday’s baked potato topping.
That’s less food waste and less cooking!
