Super Simple Meal Plan + Grocery List (16 ingredients = 6 meals)

What makes life easier and saves you time and money? Meal planning!

It sure doesn’t sound exciting, but it’s a wonderful thing.

Over the last few months I’ve noticed that a lot of the meals we eat revolve around the same list of ingredients, so I thought I’d see how many different meals I could make out of a small grocery list.

Using the same ingredients for multiple meals means that there are fewer things to pick up at the store and you’re less likely to waste food (and money).

When I open a jar of spaghetti sauce and then only use part of it for a meal, the rest usually goes bad before I get around to using it. But if I plan multiple meals that use spaghetti sauce, it doesn’t go to waste. Makes sense, right?

Anyways, a lot of these ingredients you probably already have, like the mayo and ranch dressing. If you’re starting with a completely empty kitchen, the shopping list is only 16 items long and you’ll be able to make 6 different meals!

I’m not including how much to buy of each ingredient because it totally depends on how many people you’re cooking for. All of the “recipes” are hardly complicated enough to be called recipes and you just use how much you want of each ingredient.

Basically, if you’re making quesadillas and you want each person to have their own, you will need two tortillas per person. So you can figure things out that way.

I’ve also made the grocery list and meal plan into a printable for easier use. Enter your info below to get it:

Super Simple Meal Plan + Grocery List (16 ingredients = 6 meals)

Grocery List:

• Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
• Bacon Bits (the real ones, not the weird fake-o ones)
• Tortillas
• Bread
• Shredded Cheese (cheddar works well for everything, but you can mix it up)
• Deli Sliced Cheese (swiss or pepper jack are my favs)
• Taco Seasoning
• Salsa (buy a jar or add all of the ingredients for my fresh blender salsa)
• Refried Beans (we get cans of fat-free refried beans at Aldi)
• Sour Cream (I actually like light sour cream better than regular)
• Ranch Dressing
• Mayonnaise
• Pesto
• Lettuce and/or Spinach
• Tomatoes
• Green Pepper

Special Note: All but one of the meals call for the chicken to be already cooked. I usually either grill a huge batch of chicken or cook it all in the slow cooker so that I have cooked chicken ready to go. It’s a huge time saver.

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So here are all of the meal options I came up with for this list of groceries:

Chicken Taco Quesadillas

• Cooked Chicken, chopped small
• Tortillas
• Refried Beans
• Taco Seasoning
• Shredded Cheese
• Salsa and Sour Cream for topping

We ate these non-stop all summer long. They are so filling and delicious!

Spread a layer of refried beans on a tortilla. Sprinkle a small amount of taco seasoning on top of the bean layer. Next, place the pieces of cooked chicken evenly over the tortilla. Finish with a thin layer of shredded cheese and place the second tortilla on top.

Heat a pan or griddle to medium heat. If you want, melt a small amount of butter on the pan (it will help make the outside of the quesadilla crispier). Carefully transfer the quesadilla to the pan and heat until golden brown. Then flip it and cook until it’s golden brown on the other side and melt-y in the middle.

I use a pizza slicer to cut each quesadilla into four pieces. Serve with salsa and sour cream.

Chicken Bacon Ranch Wraps

• Cooked Chicken, chopped or shredded
• Tortillas
• Bacon Bits
• Ranch Dressing
• Shredded Cheese
• Lettuce
• Green Pepper
• Tomato

These are so quick and easy!

Start by spreading ranch dressing down the middle of a tortilla. Add the shredded cheese, bacon bits, and chicken. Slice the green pepper and tomato. Add those as well as lettuce and wrap it up!

Salad with Chicken & Veggies

• Spinach and/or Lettuce
• Cooked Chicken, chopped
• Green Pepper, chopped
• Tomato, chopped
• Bacon Bits
• Shredded Cheese
• Ranch Dressing (or whatever dressing you like)

We like our salads with mostly spinach, but use whatever lettuce combo you like best. Add all of the toppings and you’ve got yourself a great salad!

Chicken Pesto Panini

• Bread
• Cooked Chicken, sliced
• Deli Sliced Cheese
• Pesto
• Mayo
• Tomato, sliced

I prefer my sandwiches warm and cheesy 🙂

For each sandwich, spread the first slice of bread with mayo and pesto. Add a slice of cheese on top of the mayo and pesto so that it melts together and gets all creamy. Place the chicken and tomato on the cheese and top it with the second slice of bread.

Heat the sandwich on each side in a pan or griddle over medium heat. You can also butter the outside of each slice of bread like a grilled cheese before you cook it.

Chicken Tacos

• Raw Chicken
• Taco Seasoning
• Green Pepper, sliced
• Refried Beans
• Lettuce
• Tomato
• Shredded Cheese
• Sour Cream
• Salsa

Thinly slice the raw chicken breast. Cook it in a pan with a bit of oil until done. Add the green pepper to the pan. Sprinkle on the taco seasoning and add a small amount of water and let it simmer until the water is gone and the green peppers are cooked.

(Usually with tacos made with ground beef you use a whole packet of taco seasoning per pound of meat. I’ve found that you can use closer to half that per pound of chicken.)

Warm up the refried beans and put your tacos together with all of the toppings.

Chicken Sandwiches

• Bread
• Cooked Chicken, sliced or chopped
• Deli Sliced Cheese
• Ranch Dressing or Mayo
• Lettuce
• Tomato

Put these sandwiches together any way you like. Use ranch dressing or mayo or a bit of both. I like my chicken warmed up but Austin likes his cold.

Side Dish Ideas

• Fresh fruits or veggies
• Chips (we love the multigrain chips from Aldi that are like Sun Chips)
• Rice
• Pickles
• Applesauce
• Crackers with Cheese

FREE PRINTABLE:
If you’d like the printable version of the grocery list and meal plan, simply click here to view or download it (PDF).

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