Three dinners that share one grocery run and one skillet. Cook them in any order; the beans keep longest, so ours goes chicken → steak → beans across the week.
The menu
- One-pan lemon chicken and orzo, 45 minutes, ~$2.80/serving. The comfort night.
- Garlic butter steak bites with charred broccoli, 22 minutes, ~$4.20/serving. The fast one.
- Creamy white bean and spinach skillet, 25 minutes, ~$1.60/serving. The pantry-saver; it also freezes.
Every recipe serves four, so a two-person household gets six dinners from this list with lunches built in.
The grocery list
Proteins & dairy: 8 boneless skinless chicken thighs (2 lb), 1½ lb sirloin steak, butter, grated parmesan (⅓ cup).
Produce: 2 lemons, 1 yellow onion, 1 head garlic, 1 large head broccoli, 8 oz baby spinach (covers both skillets), fresh parsley, fresh thyme.
Pantry: orzo (1½ cups), 2 cans white beans, 1 can coconut milk (full fat), chicken broth (3½ cups), vegetable broth (½ cup), olive oil, neutral oil, smoked paprika, paprika, dried oregano, red pepper flakes, salt, black pepper, flaky salt.
Already have most of the pantry row? The basket comes to roughly $34 for the three dinners, about $2.85 a serving across the week.
How to run the week
Shop once. Cook the chicken orzo the first night and save two portions for lunches. Steak night needs nothing prepped ahead except cutting the broccoli while the pan heats. The bean skillet is the flex night, it takes 25 minutes from a dead-empty fridge, and if plans change it moves to next week without waste: the beans, coconut milk, and frozen spinach (swap it in) all keep.
Print this page and the list goes to the store with you.
