• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Aimee Burmester
  • Recipes
  • Travel
  • Finances & Home
  • About
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Recipes
  • Travel
  • Finances & Home
  • About
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • Recipes
    • Travel
    • Finances & Home
    • About
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • ×

    Home » Recipes » Meal Prep and Planning

    One Week Meal Plan for Two People

    Published: Mar 11, 2023 by Aimee Burmester · This post may contain affiliate links · Leave a Comment

    Putting together a meal plan for a week can be a daunting task. If you’ve struggled to create a meal plan in the past, you’re not alone! Here’s your guide to a one-week meal plan for two people.

    Five more ways to save money on groceries

    There are so many reasons and benefits to planning out your meals every single week. In our house, we choose to meal prep to save us time and money during the week, as well as make sure we don’t reach for those highly-processed quick convenient foods. 

    Meal planning and prepping for an entire week can be challenging, however. Over time, we have honed our skills and developed some great weekly menus that keep us full and nourished. 

    Benefits of Meal Planning & Prepping

    If you’re a beginner at meal planning, you’re in for a treat as meal planning is a great way to minimize weekly stress and decision making (who has time to make a decision after working all day!?), maximize your grocery budget, and keep you feeling healthy, full and satisfied. 

    Disclosure: If you are meal prepping to save on budget or reduce decision fatigue, your meals will probably be repetitive or boring. We try to combat repetition by switching up our weekly plans so we eat different things each. If eating similar meals each week is not for you, then this may not be the plan for you and that’s okay!

    Once you’ve mastered how to meal plan for a week, which is not difficult and can be adapted for any schedule, budget and dietary needs, I’m positive you’ll find at least a little less stress in your life!

    Tips for Success for a Weekly Meal Plan

    Here’s exactly how we plan a week of meals in order to stay efficient with our time and frugal with our grocery budget. 

    Set a Plan Around Grocery Shopping

    One way to find success in meal planning is to develop behaviors and habits around your meal planning. One habit I’ve built for myself is my grocery shopping schedule. My husband and I spend every Sunday morning on the couch, enjoying our coffee, and planning out our week. 

    This time is quiet and peaceful and allows us to connect with one another as we slowly prepare for the week ahead. 

    After we plan our meal for the week, we write out our grocery list, then we immediately grocery shop. 

    Prep as Much as Possible on One Day of the Week

    Sunday is not only our grocery shopping day, but we’ve also built a habit around prepping and cooking our food Sundays as well. We try to get as much prepared as we can ahead of time to make our work week easier. 

    Make a Carbohydrate

    A staple of our Sunday meal prep is cooking a large batch of one carbohydrate that we can eat with our lunches all week. In my example below, we made quinoa. We make about three cups of a carb so that its easy to throw with a protein and veggies and have a complete meal.

    What is a carbohydrate? Carbohydrates or carbs for short, are one of three main nutrients found in our foods. Carbs are energy or sugar molecules that our bodies burn for fuel. 

    Prepare Fruits & Veggies

    We often will buy our fruits and veggies frozen because we are able to get them at a cheaper price, so sometimes the step of preparing our fruits and veggies for meal planning and prepping is just purchasing them from the store. 

    If I am making smoothies that week, I will peel and slice bananas and place them in the freezer so they are frozen for smoothie prep. Other prep we will do is baking a large batch of sweet potatoes or squash so it’s easy to pull out of the fridge and reheat during the week. 

    Make Your Favorite Meal Prep Snacks

    Are snacks your budget and diet breakers? I’m right there with you! We are more likely to stay on track when we prep everything we will be eating that week–even our snacks. A simple snack I love for meal prep is hard boiled eggs. I also love to pick up string cheese, or make my own granola. 

    If you’re looking for simple and delicious snack ideas, check out this post, 5 Meal Prep Snacks to Make this Week.

    Keep It Simple

    When preparing meals for the week, simplicity is key. We save our more complex and “fancy” meals for the weekend when we have more time to slow down and enjoy the cooking process. This ensures we waste little time on weeknights getting meals on the table. 

    This doesn’t mean our weekday meals are not delicious, it just means we stick to the basics; we choose to eat a protein, a carbohydrate, and a fat with every meal, but we cook them simpy. Or we just pull them from the refrigerator and reheat. 

    Weekly Meal Plan Example

    Looking for an example of a week of meal planning for two people? Here’s an actual week of meals that my husband and I prepped recently. 

    Monday

    Breakfast: Coffee, two eggs, toast with butter

    Lunch: Spinach salad with chicken, quinoa, cowboy caviar, shredded cheese & salad dressing

    Dinner: Barbeque Pulled Pork Quesadillas

    Snacks: String cheese, hard boiled eggs, Banana Muffins

    Tuesday

    Breakfast: Coffee, two eggs, toast with butter

    Lunch: Chicken, Quinoa, and frozen veggies

    Dinner: Spaghetti & Easy Ground Beef Bolognese Sauce

    Snacks: String cheese, hard boiled eggs, Banana Muffins

    Wednesday

    Breakfast: Coffee, two eggs, toast with butter

    Lunch: Leftover Spaghetti & Bolognese Sauce

    Dinner: Pulled Pork Taco Bowls (Cowboy Caviar, Cilantro Lime Rice, Pulled Pork)

    Snacks: String cheese, hard boiled eggs, Banana Muffins

    Thursday

    Breakfast: Coffee, two eggs, toast with butter

    Lunch: Leftover Pulled Pork Bowls

    Dinner: Chicken, Pea & Pesto Pasta

    Snacks: String cheese, hard boiled eggs, Banana Muffins

    Friday

    Breakfast: Strawberry Smoothie Bowl

    Lunch: Leftover Chicken, Pea & Pesto Pasta

    Dinner: Cast Iron Steak & Warm Potato Salad

    Snacks: String cheese, hard boiled eggs, Banana Muffins

    Saturday

    Breakfast: Coffee, two eggs, toast with butter

    Lunch: Spinach salad with chicken, quinoa, cowboy caviar, shredded cheese & salad dressing

    Dinner: Delivery or Frozen Pizza

    Snacks: String cheese, hard boiled eggs, Banana Muffins

    Sunday

    On Sundays, we clean out the fridge, we eat whatever is left, clean out our prep containers, and prepare for the week. This keeps us on budget, keeps our fridge clean, and keeps us from wasting any of the food we cook. 

    I hope you find this one-week meal plan for two people helpful! I’d love to hear your feedback on what you’re doing to meal prep and plan.

    More Meal Prep and Planning

    • Easy and Quick Strawberry Banana Smoothie Bowl Recipe
    • 5 Meal Prep Snack Recipes to Make This Week
    • How to create a meal planning schedule
    • Cucumber, Tomato, & Chickpea Greek Salad Recipe-No Cooking Required

    Reader Interactions

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    Aimee Burmester About Me Photo aimeeburmester.com

    Hi, I'm Aimee! I'm an elder millennial who wants to try everything! My goal is to help you enjoy the balanced elder millennial life full of good food & drink, travel, financial security, and a comfortable home. I hope you'll follow along!

    More about me →

    Recent Posts

    • The Best Things To Do And See In Sioux Falls, South Dakota
    • One Week Meal Plan for Two People
    • Six Cocktails to drink in the winter
    • Winter Margarita Recipe for the Holidays

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclaimer
    • Terms & Conditions
    • Accessibility Policy

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Contact

    • Contact
    • Services

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2023 Brunch Pro on the Brunch Pro Theme