How to Cook Once, Eat 3 Times: Chicken Mini Meal Plan #17
When it comes to meal planning, sometimes the best trick is to cook once and eat multiple times. With this chicken mini meal plan, you’ll bake up a big batch of chicken breasts and then turn them into three totally different dinners.
The beauty is that you don’t have to make all the meals in one week (though you definitely can if you want!). Baked chicken freezes beautifully! All you have to do is just slice or dice it, portion into zipper bags, and then tuck it into the freezer.
When you’re ready to cook, it reheats perfectly: either defrost on 50% power in the microwave or toss it straight into the pan with your other hot ingredients. Dinner prep becomes quick, simple, and stress-free!
Grocery List Needed for the Mini Menu
If you want to see the full shopping list on Walmart in your area, all you have to do is click my Walmart Grocery list and change the zip code to your area. *This is an affiliate link, and I do make a small commission on any purchases, but at no additional cost to you!*
**** Please note, that every once in a while, an item that I pick turns out to be regional. This means that it may be a much higher price in some areas. Always double check the list and if you see an item that is much higher than normal, just adjust as needed.
Base Recipe for Oven Baked Chicken
Since this chicken will go on to be other dishes, I do recommend going light or mild on the seasoning. I typically stick to salt, pepper, and garlic powder but I have also done a basic no-salt seasoning as well!
Chicken Enchilada Rice Skillet
This is a super easy weeknight dinner that packs a punch and fills the bellies! My husband loves to eat this with flour tortillas, and I love to scoop it up with tortilla chips. You can also add some shredded lettuce, diced tomato, and sliced avocado if you want to up the vegetables!
Chicken Pesto Pasta
This is one of my favorite quick weeknight pasta dinners! If you find pesto can be a little strong, I recommend trying the Prego Creamy Pesto, or cutting the plain pesto with alfredo sauce.
Chicken Hashbrown Casserole
I love the hashbrown casserole from Cracker Barrell, but it’s always been a side dish. By adding in diced chicken, this dish just got elevated to a main dish. You can also add veggies to this casserole if you like! Try some frozen green beans, mixed veggies, or broccoli!
Possible Variations
We are basing our meal plan this week on boneless chicken breasts, but this can easily be made with bone-in or boneless chicken thighs, chicken tenders, or even a turkey breast.
If you go the bone-in option, I recommend removing all the meat from the bone before freezing or refrigerating for later.
You may also want to keep an eye on your sales flyers, because occasionally I see great deals on whole chickens or even Cornish game hens. This meal plan can easily be adapted to work with those options as well!
If you are truly going for quick and easy, these meals can all start with a Rotisserie chicken as well. It will probably take about 1 and 1/2 rotisserie chickens though unless you decide to lower the chicken amounts to accommodate what you have!
You are only limited by your imagination here, so please take this as an example to help you make your own progressive meals!
Free Printable Grocery List & Recipes
Here is a 1-page cheat sheet that includes the grocery list as well as all the recipes you need to make this budget mini menu work!
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