Weekly meal plan for May 17-23 — Red Pepper Pasta, Maple Balsamic Grilled Chicken, BLT Salad, Asian Fusion Wraps, Fried Rice & Potstickers, and Cherry Dump Cake

Weekly Meal Plan — What We’re Eating at the Longstreth House May 17–23, 2026

ByStephanie Longstreth

This week’s weekly meal plan for a family of seven leans bright, warm, and a little bit takeout-y at the end of the week — Sunday creamy roasted red pepper pasta with a side salad and garlic bread plus a 3-ingredient cherry dump cake for dessert, Monday maple balsamic grilled chicken with roasted asparagus and baked potatoes, Tuesday BLT salad with a basil and bacon-grease dressing served with bread and hard-boiled eggs, Thursday Asian fusion wraps with shredded carrots, coleslaw mix, pickled onions, chopped peanuts, and sriracha mayo, and Friday fried rice with frozen potstickers for the takeout-night vibe. I plan every weekly meal plan for a family around what we’re really eating at the Longstreth house (seven of us, two cats, and a husband who appreciates a good meal). Below is the full plan, the complete grocery list organized by store section, and a per-meal breakdown if you only want one or two dinners from the week. Saturday we usually order in or go out — five dinners at home is our rhythm.

📥 Want a Printable Version of This Week’s Meal Plan?

I send the full PDF — meal plan AND grocery list — to my newsletter subscribers on Saturday morning BEFORE the meal plan begins on Sunday. Sign up here and I’ll save you a seat at the table. Plus, I’ll send you YOUR copy of the meal plan and grocery list.

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. I also participate in the King Arthur Baking affiliate program. If you purchase through my links, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting StephanieCooksForACrowd.com!

Stephanie’s

13 Essential Kitchen Ingredients

A Baker’s Dozen 🥖

When you follow my weekly meal plans and grocery lists, I’m assuming you already have these 13 basics on hand. They show up in almost everything I cook and bake — keep them stocked and you’ll always be ready to make whatever’s on the menu.

Why This Weekly Meal Plan for a Family Works

Here’s what’s different about this weekly meal plan for a family. Every meal you see below is a meal my family actually ate the week before I shared it. If something didn’t work, I fix it. If a recipe needs a note, I add one. What you’re getting is a tested, real-world weekly meal plan for a family — not a template I filled in from a spreadsheet.

  • Tested by a family of seven first. Five kids, two parents, two cats. If my crowd eats it, your crowd probably will too.
  • A real grocery list, organized by store section. Meat, Produce, Dairy, Pantry, Frozen, Canned, Bread — the way you actually walk through the store, not the way recipes list ingredients.
  • A per-meal breakdown for flexible weeks. Only want Tuesday’s dinner? Scroll to Tuesday’s card and grab just what you need. No math required.
  • Every recipe links to a tested post right here on this site. No dead links, no mystery techniques — the full recipe with step-by-step instructions is one click away.
  • A printable PDF for newsletter subscribers. I send the full plan plus the grocery list to my email list every Saturday morning so you can print it for the fridge or take it with you to the store.

This Week’s Weekly Meal Plan for a Family — May 17 to 23, 2026

Here’s what’s on the table at the Longstreth house this week. Tap any meal to get the full recipe, or jump down to that night’s shopping list if you’re only making one or two dinners.

Sunday — Roasted Red Pepper Pasta + Cherry Dump Cake

Sunday roasted red pepper pasta from this weekly meal plan for a family at the Longstreth house

Creamy roasted red pepper pasta with spinach and Parmesan — the jar does all the heavy lifting and the sauce comes out looking like you tried way harder than you did. Side salad and garlic bread to round out the plate. And for dessert? A 3-ingredient cherry dump cake that bakes while we’re at church and is ready when we walk through the door.

Red Pepper Pasta → Cherry Dump Cake → See What You’ll Need ↓

Monday — Maple Balsamic Grilled Chicken

Monday maple balsamic grilled chicken from this weekly meal plan for a family — served with roasted asparagus and a baked potato

Maple balsamic grilled chicken — Mediterranean-diet approved, ridiculously easy, and tastes fancy enough to look like you spent way more time than you did. Roasted asparagus and a baked potato (or sweet potato) on the side. The whole plate looks like a restaurant dinner with about 15 minutes of hands-on time.

Grilled Chicken → Potatoes & Asparagus → See What You’ll Need ↓

Tuesday — BLT Salad with Bacon-Grease Dressing

Tuesday BLT salad with basil and bacon-grease dressing from this weekly meal plan for a family at the Longstreth house

BLT salad with romaine, bacon, cherry tomatoes, and croutons — tossed with a basil-and-bacon-grease dressing that turns the whole bowl into the best part of dinner. Hard-boiled eggs make it a full meal, and a slice of crusty bread on the side soaks up everything that’s left on the plate.

BLT Salad → See What You’ll Need ↓

Wednesday — Leftovers Night 🙌

The best night of the week. Whatever’s in the fridge, that’s dinner. No cooking, no planning, no shopping list — just leftovers and a full house. I don’t make any apologies for it.

Thursday — Asian Fusion Wraps

Thursday Asian fusion wraps with pork or chicken, shredded carrots, coleslaw, pickled onions, chopped peanuts, and sriracha mayo from this weekly meal plan for a family

Asian fusion wraps with pork or chicken in a peach-and-apricot glaze, then loaded up with shredded carrots, coleslaw mix, pickled onions, chopped peanuts, and a drizzle of sriracha mayo. Wrapped in a big burrito-size tortilla and served with rice or chips. Every bite is a little sweet, a little tangy, and a lot crunchy.

Asian Fusion Wraps → See What You’ll Need ↓

Friday — Homemade Fried Rice + Potstickers

Friday fried rice with eggs, peas and carrots, and soy sauce served with frozen potstickers from this weekly meal plan for a family — fun takeout night vibe at the Longstreth house

Fried rice the way I make it on a busy Friday — use whatever protein you have on hand, or just go meatless and let the eggs do the work. Frozen potstickers (or egg rolls) on the side give the whole night a fun takeout vibe with about ten minutes of effort.

Homemade Fried Rice → See What You’ll Need ↓

Saturday we usually order in, go out, or let the kids make pizza — five dinners at home is our rhythm. If your week needs a sixth, swap in any of my crowd-friendly recipes or let Saturday be the night off.

🛒 Full Weekly Grocery List — May 17 to 23, 2026

This is the complete grocery list for this week’s weekly meal plan for a family — all five dinners in one shop, organized by store section so you can get in and get out. Basics like flour, oil, salt, eggs, and butter aren’t listed below — see Stephanie’s Baker’s Dozen above for the 13 essentials I’m assuming you already have on hand.

🥩 Meat & Proteins

🥦 Produce & Fresh

🧀 Dairy & Refrigerated

🥫 Pantry

❄️ Frozen

🍞 Bread

🍽️ Grocery List by Meal

Just making one or two meals this week? Here’s each night broken out so you only grab what you need.

Sunday — Roasted Red Pepper Pasta + Cherry Dump Cake

Pasta →   Dessert →

Meat (optional protein)

Produce

Dairy

Pantry

Bread

↑ Back to the Menu

Monday — Maple Balsamic Grilled Chicken + Sides

Chicken →   Sides →

Meat

Produce

Pantry

↑ Back to the Menu

Tuesday — BLT Salad

BLT Salad →

Meat

Produce

Dairy (optional)

Pantry

Bread

↑ Back to the Menu

Thursday — Asian Fusion Wraps

Asian Fusion Wraps →

Meat

Produce

Pantry

Side

↑ Back to the Menu

Friday — Homemade Fried Rice + Potstickers

Homemade Fried Rice →

Meat (optional — eggs work as protein too)

Produce

Pantry

Frozen

↑ Back to the Menu

Weekly Meal Plan for a Family FAQ — The Questions I Get Every Week

How do you plan this weekly meal plan for a family each week?

I plan each weekly meal plan for a family ahead based on what we’re genuinely craving, what’s on sale at Publix, what we already have in the pantry, and what will stretch into good leftovers for Wednesday. My family of seven eats these meals first. If something flops, I fix it before I share it with you. Every weekly meal plan you see here is tested before publication — never a list of recipes I haven’t made. For general guidance on building balanced meals around what your family already loves, the USDA’s MyPlate healthy eating for families guide is a helpful starting point.

Can I use this meal plan for a smaller family?

Absolutely. Every recipe post on this site includes a scalable recipe card — you can halve or quarter any recipe with one click in the servings field. For a family of four, I’d cut the quantities by about 40%. For two, halve everything. The grocery list amounts are for a crowd, so scale those to match your servings.

Where can I get a printable version of this weekly meal plan?

My newsletter subscribers get a printable PDF of the full weekly meal plan for a family plus the grocery list every Saturday morning — before the public blog post goes live. It’s formatted for the fridge and for your grocery run. Sign up for the newsletter here and I’ll send you this week’s PDF as a welcome.

Do you include breakfast and lunch in the meal plan?

No — this weekly meal plan for a family covers dinner only, because dinner is where most families need the most help. We do breakfast casually (pancakes, eggs, oatmeal, cereal) and lunches are a mix of leftovers and easy builds. If there’s demand for a breakfast or lunch plan later, I’ll build one.

Can I swap out meals I don’t like?

Of course. This is your plan — use whatever’s useful and ignore the rest. Every recipe on the menu links to a full post with ingredients, so you can grab just what you need. The per-meal grocery cards above make swapping especially easy — pick the three or four nights that sound good, and shop only those.

Want a little note from my table every Saturday? Join my weekly newsletter — meal plans, recipes, family moments, and whatever’s happening at the Longstreth house. Sign up here.

About Stephanie Longstreth

Stephanie Longstreth is the home cook, mom, and storyteller behind StephanieCooksForACrowd.com. She cooks for a family of seven in Florida — five kids, two cats, and one husband who appreciates a good meal. Four of her children came home through adoption, and family stories are woven into everything she makes and shares. Find her crowd-friendly recipes, weekly meal plans, and real family life on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest @stephaniecooksforacrowd.

Leave a Reply