Five UK weeknight family dinners: ingredient worksheet

Quick answer: Plan five dinners, not a complete week's food, for a family of four: chicken and vegetable noodles, sweetcorn omelettes with potato wedges, butterbean and spinach orzo, salmon with couscous and cucumber yoghurt, and build-your-own pitta pizzas. The worksheet below totals what these recipes use. Before shopping, check your cupboards and current pack sizes, drained weights and use-by dates to work out what to buy. Offer components separately where useful, but check each person's dietary needs and the food labels before cooking. No price, guaranteed portion size, tested cooking time or supermarket checkout feature is claimed.

This is a Monday–Friday school-week plan, distinct from the seven-dinner UK family plan, which uses lemon chicken traybake, lentil pasta, chickpea curry, white fish with potatoes, smoky-bean jackets, egg rice and lentil cottage pie. Here, none of those seven recipes is repeated. The ingredients still overlap where a weekly shop makes sense: cheddar is used twice, as are sweetcorn, chopped tomatoes and yoghurt. The worksheet covers the five recipes only; account for breakfasts, lunches, snacks, drinks and any household-specific extras when planning your shop.

AI-generated content. Always verify ingredients and allergen information yourself.

The five dinners#

The plan makes four planned portions per dinner. A quarter of a pan is an accounting unit, not a claim that every adult and child needs the same amount. Adjust the ingredients after checking the people eating and any suitable sides. There is no verified “20-minute” or “under 40-minute” promise: actual preparation and cooking times have not been established by kitchen tests with specified equipment and packs.

Ingredient-needs worksheet for five dinners#

The needed column adds up the amounts used in the five methods, measured before cooking unless stated. It is an ingredient-needs worksheet, not a ready-to-buy list or a pack-quantity guide. Before shopping, subtract what you already have, check use-by dates, then compare the remaining needs with current pack sizes and labels to decide what to buy. For beans, use the tin's drained weight, not its total net weight; no particular tin size or yield is assumed.

Water for cooking and optional pepper are not supermarket pack claims. Salt is not built into the base methods; anyone seasoning their own plate should consider the needs of the people eating. If you buy larger packs, record the amount bought, amount used and amount left separately. Any leftovers from the shop still need suitable storage; unused food is not a guaranteed extra meal or a realised saving.

Monday: chicken, broccoli and carrot noodles#

Measure: 700 g boneless chicken breast, 300 g dried noodles, 400 g broccoli, 200 g carrots, 30 ml soy sauce and 15 ml oil.

Cook the noodles according to their packet. Cut the chicken into similar-sized pieces and cook it in the oil in a pan large enough not to crowd it. Check the thickest pieces for thorough cooking with a clean food thermometer or the FSA's stated visual checks; never use colour of the outside or elapsed minutes alone. Cook the broccoli and carrot until tender, and add the soy sauce only after setting aside a suitable unseasoned portion if needed. Combine or put noodles, chicken, vegetables and sauce in separate bowls. Keep raw-chicken boards, utensils and juices away from ready-to-eat food.

Choice: A child can take plain noodles with chicken and soft vegetables alongside. Separate presentation is a preference option, not protection against an allergy or cross-contact.

Tuesday: sweetcorn omelettes and potato wedges#

Measure: 1,000 g potatoes, 8 hen eggs, 300 g frozen sweetcorn, 150 g grated cheddar and 15 ml oil.

Cut the potatoes into even wedges, coat with the oil and roast until tender and cooked through. Cook the frozen sweetcorn according to its packet; the FSA says frozen vegetables such as sweetcorn need thorough cooking. Beat the eggs and make omelettes in a suitable pan, adding the cooked sweetcorn and cheese. Cook the egg mixture until fully set for this family plan. Divide into four planned portions; if using several pans or batches, keep the cooked food safely hot rather than leaving it on the counter.

Choice: Put some cooked sweetcorn in a bowl and offer cheese separately before cooking a child's portion. A cheese-free plate is not automatically milk-allergy safe if the same pan or utensils were used.

Wednesday: butterbean and spinach orzo#

Measure: 350 g dried orzo, 480 g drained cooked tinned butter beans, 300 g frozen spinach, 400 g tinned chopped tomatoes including juice, 200 g onion, 15 ml oil and 2 g dried mixed herbs.

Cook the orzo according to its packet. Soften the chopped onion in the oil, then add the tomatoes, drained cooked beans and herbs. Cook the frozen spinach according to its pack's instructions, adding it to the sauce so the whole mixture is thoroughly hot. Combine with orzo or serve the sauce beside it. This uses cooked tinned beans: dry beans have different preparation and quantity requirements.

Choice: Keep plain orzo separate before mixing. For a younger child, check that the beans and other pieces have a suitable texture and shape; NHS preparation guidance specifically discusses softening or mashing legumes for very young children.

Thursday: salmon, couscous and cucumber yoghurt#

Measure: 600 g frozen boneless salmon fillets, 300 g dried couscous, 300 g cucumber, 250 g plain yoghurt, 1 lemon and 15 ml oil.

Keep the salmon frozen until it is time to follow its pack's cook-from-frozen or safe-defrosting method. If defrosting, do it in the fridge, catch any drips, and use it within the FSA's 24-hour window after full defrosting. Cook until the fish is properly done: the FSA's visual cues include opaque flesh that separates easily with a fork. Check for bones. Prepare couscous according to its packet, then stir in the measured 15 ml oil. Mix diced cucumber with yoghurt; serve lemon wedges rather than squeezing lemon into everyone's portion.

Choice: Keep fish, couscous and cucumber yoghurt apart. For a very young child, prepare cucumber in a suitable shape and texture under the NHS guidance. Do not infer that a fish-free plate made in the same kitchen is allergy-safe.

Friday: build-your-own pitta pizzas#

Measure: 8 pittas, 300 g mushrooms, 300 g peppers, 200 g frozen sweetcorn, 400 g tinned chopped tomatoes including juice, 200 g grated cheddar, 250 g plain yoghurt, 15 ml oil and 2 g dried mixed herbs.

Cook the frozen sweetcorn according to its packet before using it as a topping. Soften the sliced mushrooms and peppers in the oil. Reduce the tomatoes with the herbs until they are thick enough to spread; an unreduced watery sauce can make pittas soggy. Use a complete recipe when you need an exact sauce yield or cooking time. Lay out the pittas, tomato sauce, cooked vegetables, sweetcorn and cheese in separate bowls so each person can choose. Bake the assembled pittas until thoroughly hot and the cheese is melted; follow the actual pitta pack and a complete recipe for the oven setting, time and safe handling. Serve the measured yoghurt as a separate dip.

Choice: A child may prefer a plain tomato-and-cheese pitta or vegetables beside it. Keep topping utensils separate if someone has an allergy; individual selection from shared bowls is not an allergy control.

Children, allergens and safe storage#

For fussy eating, the NHS advises offering the same family food in small portions, not forcing a rejected food and trying it another time. The separate bowls above are a practical serving choice, not a proven way to make any particular child eat more. Children's appetites and ages vary. For babies and young children, supervise eating and adapt the size, shape and texture using the NHS safe-preparation guidance; this article is not a weaning plan.

This basket visibly includes egg, milk and fish, while conventional noodles, orzo, couscous and pittas commonly contain wheat; soy sauce can contain soy and wheat. That is not a complete product-specific allergen assessment. Check every current pack, including sauces and herbs, and follow the household's clinical advice. The NHS food-allergy guidance says to check labels carefully. Removing a topping after shared preparation does not remove cross-contact risk. These proposed meals have not received a product-specific independent allergy assessment.

Use the fresh chicken on Monday within its use-by date. Keep Thursday's fish frozen until its label says to prepare it. Follow pack storage rules for eggs, cheese and yoghurt. This plan does not depend on carrying cooked food from one dinner to another. If you intentionally make extra, the FSA advises cooling in small containers, chilling within one to two hours, using suitable refrigerated leftovers within 48 hours or freezing them, and following shorter pack instructions; Food Standards Scotland gives a two-day leftovers limit. Reheat only once until steaming hot throughout. These methods and storage steps have not been kitchen-tested; follow the actual packs and relevant food-safety guidance.

Is this a complete weekly food budget?#

No. The worksheet covers five dinners only. It excludes breakfasts, lunches, snacks, drinks and the cost of buying whole packs. No UK checkout or meal price has been calculated.

Are the five dinners kitchen-tested?#

No. Quantities have been reconciled on paper, but elapsed times, yields, equipment and actual pack sizes have not been tested. Follow each real product’s cooking instructions and revise the plan for the people eating.

Can I leave an allergen topping off a child’s plate?#

Removing a topping after shared preparation is not an allergy control. Check every ingredient label, utensils and cross-contact risk, and follow the child’s clinical advice.

Sources checked 24 September 2026: FSA cooking and chilling, Food Standards Scotland storage, NHS fussy eaters and NHS food allergy. They do not verify these untested recipes or pack yields.