7 Dinner Recipes to Cook This Week 23.10.23

 

If you find yourself serving the same dishes every week on rotation, you’re in the right place. A bit of variety is the key to helping you stick to your goals, and that’s exactly what you’ll get with our roundup of reliable, slimming-friendly midweek winners.

Bear in mind, our 7 dinner recipe ideas to cook this week aren’t set in stone. It’s up to you if you want to cook them all, or just take one or two to help you mix things up a bit. 

From meat-free Monday through to Sunday dinner, no two dishes on this list are quite the same, meaning there’s bound to be something to tickle your taste buds along the way!

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Make meal planning easier than ever 

Alongside pages for drafting your weekly meal plan, our Family Meal Planner has space to track what you have in the freezer, and handy pull-out shopping lists to help make nipping to the shops delightfully stress free.

Psssst…there are 26 recipes inside that you won’t find anywhere else!

Meat-free Monday

Our Creamy Tomato Vodka Pasta is perfect for a low-fuss Monday evening meal. Traditional ‘Pasta alla Vodka’ is made with heavier, full-fat creams, but we’ve achieved the same level of creaminess for a fraction of the calories with Arla Tomato and Basil Quark. 

There’s no need to spend ages in the kitchen to create this boozy pasta – it’ll go from saucepan to plate in less than 15 minutes!

We’ve used fusilli spiral pasta, but any of the pasta varieties hidden away in your store cupboard would work a treat in our homemade sauce.

This one’s a great way to start the week because it’s freezer-friendly, so you can always stash leftovers for a rainy day.

For more batch-cook inspiration, take a look through our immense batch-cook archive (you might want to make some room in your fridge-freezer first!). 

Quick & Easy Tuesday

If you only make one thing from our list of 7 dinner recipes to cook this week, you might want to go with Maple Bacon Dijon Burgers. They’ve been going down a storm in our Facebook group and over on Instagram, and we only shared the recipe a couple of weeks ago!

Fans of the Philly Cheesesteak rolls from our first cookbook (pages 56-57) will recognise that we love to load up a ciabatta with oodles of flavour.

This time, we’ve taken inspiration from a certain fast food chain, piling our rolls high with juicy lean beef patties, light burger cheese, caramelised onions, bacon medallions and a punchy mustard-mayo sauce.

Our top tip for this recipe is to place a lid on the frying pan while your patties are sizzling away – it’ll make sure they’re even juicier!

One-pot Wednesday

A midweek meal plan doesn’t feel quite the same without Cheesy Fajita Orzotto making an appearance somewhere. One of the most-visited recipe pages on our website, you can also find the full recipe on pages 206-207 of Pinch of Nom: Comfort Food.

‘What makes this one so popular?’ you wonder. Well, it’s got all the best flavours from fajitas, swirled into an oh-so-cheesy, creamy, risotto-like dish. 

Everyone’s always shocked to learn there’s no cream cheese on our ingredients list; instead, we’ve cooked rice-shaped orzo pasta until silky smooth, to give our dish its velvety charm.

Plus, there’s no need to worry about piles of washing-up afterwards – our recipe involves cooking everything together in one easy pot!

Slow Cooker Thursday

It’s Thursday and the weekend is drawing near. You want something that’s jam-packed with flavour and low on effort, just like our Slow Cooker Lamb Pasanda. The aromatic takeaway-inspired flavours here are at a mild to medium spice level, making it perfect for a family-friendly, Indian-inspired midweek dinner.

Prep everything in the morning, and you’ll come home to lamb chunks simmered until fall-off-the-fork tender in our slimming-friendly homemade sauce.

We love the depth of flavour that a few hours in the slow cooker gives to this dish, but there’s nothing to stop you making it in the oven or in your Instant Pot, if you’re in a hurry.

Fakeaway Friday

If you’re in the mood for something totally fresh, try our brand-new Tikka Masala Style Meatballs. This inventive recipe makes the best of juicy, lean homemade meatballs, mixed into a thick and rich, mildly-spiced tikka sauce.

We’ve added a touch of garam masala to the meaty mixture; it perfectly complements the fragrant herbs and spices in the pot.

While this eye-catching dish might not look slimming friendly, we’ve used a number of nifty swaps to make our sauce indulgently thick for fewer calories, including coconut dairy-free milk alternative.

Once your meatballs are rolled, make sure to pop them in the fridge; they’ll take on a firmer, more satisfying texture while you’re busy preparing the sauce.

Special Occasion Saturday

Our Chilli Cheesy Nachos always spring to mind when we think of splurging the calories. With gooey cheese, crispy ‘nacho’ potato wedges and spicy chilli minced beef, you’ve got just about everything you could ever want from a shareable, comforting showstopper.

This recipe is picked from our Special Occasion category, so it’s a little higher in calories than the other dishes on our list at 522 per serving.

The great thing about the Chilli con Carne style mince in this recipe is that you can prepare a few extra portions, and they’ll freeze like a dream. Serve some over a bed of fluffy ‘nacho’ wedges, and hold the rest back to enjoy with basmati rice later in the week.

Once this one’s at the centre of the dining table, it won’t last very long. If you’re cooking for a larger get-together, a side of Cheesy Garlic Bread or Mexican-Style Rice would help each serving stretch that little bit further.

Sunday Dinner

While it’s tough to beat a traditional roast, our Honey and Mustard Chicken makes for a Sunday dinner that’s refreshingly different.

On the table in under an hour, throw everything together in a roasting pan and let the oven do the hard work for you.

To give our succulent chicken thighs their flavour, we’ve coated them in a tangy, honey-sweetened mustard glaze. It’ll mingle with the chicken juices while they bake, and you’ll want to add an extra drizzle on top right before serving, for maximum flavour!

It’s not a roast dinner without roast potatoes. A crispy side of Garlic and Parmesan Potatoes will finish off your plate perfectly.

What dinner recipes are you planning for next week?

We love it when you share your meal plan with us (as do the incredible PON community in our Facebook group). If you’re not already a member, it’s so quick and easy to join. The group is the place to be for sharing photos, recipe tips, ideas and more.

The inspiration doesn’t stop there! You’ll find another 7 dinner ideas on this list.

Don’t forget, there’s no shortage of hints, tips, quotes and photos in our PON Gallery. And, if you liked this article, you’ll love exploring our blog. Browse for recipe ideas, kitchen equipment recommendations, money-saving tips and LOADS more.