Trying to figure out what to make for dinner every single night is honestly half the battle. You finally decide what you’re making tonight, and somehow everyone expects to eat again tomorrow. 😂

So if you’re staring at your grocery list wondering what in the world you’re going to feed everyone this week, I’ve got you covered.

This week’s dinner plan has 7 easy, budget-friendly family dinners made with simple ingredients you can find at pretty much any grocery store. We’ve got cheesy casseroles, an easy sheet pan dinner, creamy chicken and rice, and a few of my favorite comfort-food dinners thrown in too.

As always, the goal isn’t to make the fanciest dinners on the internet. It’s to make food your family will actually eat without buying a million different ingredients or spending a fortune at the grocery store.

Let’s figure out dinner for the week!

1. Creamy Garlic Parmesan Chicken & Rice

We’re starting the week with some serious comfort food.

This Creamy Garlic Parmesan Chicken & Rice is made with bite-sized pieces of seasoned chicken, tender rice, garlic, cream, and Parmesan cheese. Everything comes together in one skillet, which means you’re also not ending the night with every pot and pan in your kitchen sitting in the sink.

The rice cooks right in the chicken broth, soaking up all that flavor before the cream and Parmesan go in at the end.

It’s creamy and cozy without needing a huge list of ingredients.

Serve it with broccoli, green beans, or whatever vegetable you already have hanging out in the fridge.

GET THE RECIPE: Creamy Garlic Parmesan Chicken & Rice

2. Honey Garlic Sausage & Veggie Sheet Pan

If there’s one thing I appreciate during a busy week, it’s a dinner that doesn’t create a mountain of dishes.

This Honey Garlic Sausage & Veggie Sheet Pan has smoked sausage, potatoes, broccoli, and bell peppers tossed in a homemade sweet and savory honey garlic sauce.

The potatoes get a little head start in the oven so everything actually finishes cooking at the same time. Then the sausage and veggies get added and roasted until the vegetables are tender and everything is coated in that sticky honey garlic glaze.

You really don’t even need a side with this one because you’ve already got your meat, potatoes, and vegetables all on one pan.

And if you have vegetables that need to be used up, this is a really easy dinner to customize.

GET THE RECIPE: Honey Garlic Sausage & Veggie Sheet Pan

3. Million Dollar Tortellini Bake

If you’ve made my Million Dollar Ravioli Bake before, you’re going to want to try this one.

This time we’re using cheese tortellini and turning it into a cheesy, creamy baked pasta casserole.

The tortellini gets layered with homemade meat sauce, a cream cheese and sour cream mixture, mozzarella, and Parmesan before everything goes into the oven until hot and bubbly.

Basically, we’re taking cheesy pasta and adding even more cheese. I don’t see the problem. 😂

Because the tortellini is cooked before assembling the casserole, this one doesn’t need nearly as long in the oven as the frozen ravioli version either.

Add garlic bread and a simple vegetable on the side and you’ve got a really easy family dinner.

GET THE RECIPE: Million Dollar Tortellini Bake

4. French Onion Meatball & Potato Bake

This might be the coziest dinner on this week’s list.

The French Onion Meatball & Potato Bake combines thinly sliced Yukon Gold potatoes and meatballs with a homemade French onion-style gravy.

The gravy starts with onions cooked in butter, then we add garlic, beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, and seasonings. Everything gets layered together and baked until the potatoes are tender before adding Swiss and mozzarella cheese on top.

And yes, frozen meatballs are absolutely allowed around here.

That’s what makes this dinner so easy.

The potatoes also help stretch one bag of meatballs into a filling dinner for the whole family without needing a bunch of sides.

Just make sure you slice those potatoes nice and thin so they cook all the way through!

GET THE RECIPE: French Onion Meatball & Potato Bake

5. Cheesy Chicken Broccoli Orzo Bake

Chicken, broccoli, pasta, and cheese all in the same dish?

I’m listening.

This Cheesy Chicken Broccoli Orzo Bake is made with diced chicken, broccoli, orzo, cheddar, and Parmesan. Everything cooks together in one baking dish until the orzo is tender and creamy.

I especially like this one because you don’t have to cook the orzo separately.

Throw everything into the baking dish, let the oven do its thing, stir in the cheese, and dinner is pretty much done.

Definitely let this one sit for about 10 minutes when it comes out of the oven. The orzo continues soaking up the creamy sauce as it rests, and that’s when everything really comes together.

GET THE RECIPE: Cheesy Chicken Broccoli Orzo Bake

6. Oven-Baked BBQ Chicken with Cheesy Potatoes

This is one of those recipes that deserves another spot in the dinner rotation.

My Oven-Baked BBQ Chicken with Cheesy Potatoes is exactly what it sounds like: simple BBQ chicken paired with cheesy potatoes for an easy, filling family dinner.

Nothing complicated. Nothing fancy.

Just one of those dinners that works when you want something everyone recognizes and you don’t want to spend forever figuring out what to make.

Add green beans, corn, or another inexpensive vegetable on the side and dinner is done.

GET THE RECIPE: Oven-Baked BBQ Chicken with Cheesy Potatoes

7. French Dip Sliders with Homemade Au Jus

We’re finishing the week with something fun.

These French Dip Sliders are made with roast beef and melty cheese on soft slider rolls, then served with homemade au jus for dipping.

They’re easy enough for a weeknight but also feel a little different from your usual casserole or skillet dinner.

And don’t let the homemade au jus scare you. It’s simple to make and means you don’t have to hunt down an au jus packet at the grocery store.

Serve the sliders with fries, roasted potatoes, veggies, or even just some fruit if it’s been one of those days.

Dinner doesn’t have to be complicated every night.

GET THE RECIPE: French Dip Sliders with Homemade Au Jus

How I Keep 7 Dinners Budget-Friendly

One of the biggest things I look at when planning dinners isn’t just the price of each individual recipe.

It’s ingredient overlap.

If I’m buying a bag of potatoes for one dinner, I want to know if I can use the rest somewhere else. The same goes for chicken, cheese, onions, garlic, broth, and vegetables.

This week is a great example.

We’re using ingredients like chicken, potatoes, onions, garlic, Parmesan, broth, and cheese across multiple meals instead of buying a completely different grocery list for every single dinner.

Before heading to the store, check your pantry, refrigerator, and freezer too.

You might already have the rice, seasonings, broth, sauces, or frozen vegetables you need. Those little pantry finds can make a pretty big difference in what you actually spend at checkout.

And remember: you don’t have to follow the week exactly as I wrote it.

Swap the nights around. Use a vegetable you already have instead of buying another one. Save one of the casseroles for next week if your plans change.

The goal is to make dinner easier and more affordable, not give you another schedule you have to perfectly follow.

7 Dinners, One Less Thing to Figure Out

If you’ve been staring into the fridge every night hoping dinner will somehow announce itself, hopefully this gives you a starting point for the week. 😂

This week’s dinners give you a little bit of everything: creamy chicken and rice, cheesy pasta, an easy sheet pan meal, a cozy meatball casserole, chicken and broccoli orzo, BBQ chicken, and French dip sliders.

Pick all seven or just grab the ones your family will actually eat.

That’s always the point around here: simple, budget-friendly dinners that make feeding your family a little easier.

Save this dinner plan for later, and don’t forget to check back next week for another round of budget-friendly family dinners!

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