a really simple meal plan v.28

a merry little line up

Caroline Chambers, Molly from What To Cook, and Jillian from What to Cook

Dec 05, 2025

The holiday season is in full swing! So for this month’s meal plan, we’re blending the specialness of the season with the fact that it’s often filled to the absolute brim with events, to-dos, and travel. These recipes take minimal effort yet yield special, crowd-pleasing results. We have a cozy vegetarian soup, a skillet steak dinner, a set-it-and-forget-it winter feast, and upgraded-leftovers enchiladas in store. Plus, a fabulous prep-ahead salad that will keep you full (and full of nutrients!) all week.

Cook your way through this plan from start to finish, or pick a couple recipes to make this week — either way, we hope it helps you decide what’s for dinner!

As always, we’ve pulled together a grocery list organized by aisle. Each recipe now has its own color code, so if you want to skip or swap a dinner, you’ll know which ingredients to cross off — no brainpower required.

These recipes are written to feed between four and six people (each meal will note its specific yield), so scale up or down depending on your household. Halve a recipe if you’re cooking for one or two, or double it if you’re feeding a big crew. You can always copy and paste our grocery list into a new Google doc if you want to tweak it.

This meal plan is designed to flow in order, but, of course, shuffle meals around as you’d like!

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PREP-AHEAD SALAD: souvla-inspired chicken salad

A fresh, filling, nutrient-packed salad that requires zero cooking.

MAKE IT LAST: Swap the romaine for chopped cabbage or another head of kale — they will hold up better throughout the week.
INGREDIENT SWAP: Use parsley instead of chives in the dressing to keep your grocery list short.
HOW TO STORE IT: For the freshest tasting salad each day, store the prepped components separately: all your greens, fennel, and pea shoots in one airtight container; shredded chicken in another; and prepped fruit in a third. Keep your pickled onions, cheese, nuts, and dressing separate until serving, too. Assemble your individual serving and toss with a bit of dressing just before you eat — it’ll only take a minute since you’ve already prepped everything! If you’re packing a salad to take with you to work, go ahead and toss the greens, fruit, and pickled onion with the dressing, just keep the nuts and cheese off until lunchtime.
LOVE YOUR LEFTOVERS: Add leftover pickled red onions to soup bowls or enchiladas throughout the week.

OPTIONAL PREP WORK TO MAKE DINNERS EASIER THIS WEEK!

Since you’ve already dirtied your knife and cutting board and set aside time to prep this salad, let’s do some extra prep work to make dinners even easier throughout the week! Here’s what you can do ahead of time:

Dice 1 yellow onion and 2 red bell peppers (for Dinner #1)
Chop 2 baby bok choy (for Dinner #1 — more detailed prep instructions can be found in the recipe)
Cube 1 block of firm tofu (also for Dinner #1)
Mince 10 cloves of garlic and the tender stems and leaves of 1 parsley bunch (for Dinners #2 and #3)
Shred the dark meat from your rotisserie chicken, too, if you want to bulk up tonight’s vegetarian soup with it.
Season tomorrow night’s steaks generously with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

DINNER NIGHT #1: thai tofu curry noodle soup

A cozy, simple, veggie-forward dinner that tastes like take out.

YOU’VE PREPPED FOR THIS: Your onion, bell peppers, bok choy, and tofu are already chopped — the hardest work is done!
INGREDIENT SWAP: Use EVOO as your oil to keep your grocery list short.
BULK IT UP: If you’d like, stir in the shredded dark meat from your rotisserie chicken.
I WANT SOUP FOR LUNCHES/LOVE YOUR LEFTOVERS: If you want soup and salad for lunches this week, double this recipe. Leftovers keep beautifully for up to a week — a huge win during holiday season! (Note: We’ve only included ingredients for a single batch in the shopping list — this is an optional idea!)

DINNER NIGHT #2: steak, salad, and fries

We are keeping things short and sweet tonight. Skillet-seared steak with oven-baked fries and an arugula salad. A few special touches make this meal feel fancy!

YOU’VE PREPPED FOR THIS: Garlic (you need 4 cloves, so use a little less than half of the 10 cloves you minced!) and parsley are ready to go. Bonus points if you seasoned your steaks yesterday — this dry-brine step actually makes them more flavorful and frees you from touching raw meat on a busy night.
LOVE YOUR LEFTOVERS: If you have leftovers, steak and arugula sandwiches would be fab.

DINNER NIGHT #3: rosemary garlic pork shoulder with sweet potato puree

A set-it-and-forget-it winter feast!! The pork roasts low and slow with sweet potatoes that we’ll blend into a luxe, savory puree — practically no hands-on time required.

PLAN YOUR DAY: Pick a day when you’ll be home in the afternoon to cook this dinner. The active cook time is just 20 minutes, but the pork roasts for about 50 minutes per pound, aka for a few hours (check your pork weight and do a quick multiply to land your exact timing!).
COOK ONCE, EAT TWICE: This makes a ton of pork — we’re going to use the leftovers for our enchiladas tomorrow night.
LOVE YOUR LEFTOVERS: Have leftover sweet potato puree? Blend it with your leftover stock for a super-fast, cozy soup lunch. Freeze it if you still have salad and/or Thai tofu noodle soup left!

DINNER NIGHT #4: al pastor enchilada remix using leftover pork

Leftover pork becomes cheesy salsa verde enchiladas — ⁣an upgraded-leftovers dinner you’ll be looking forward to!

YOU’VE PREPPED FOR THIS: Your pork is cooked! Just chop it up really small.
KEEP IT SIMPLE: Here’s a simplified version of my al pastor enchiladas: Add a few cups (2 or 3) of chopped pork to a bowl with 1/4 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt, 1/2 cup crushed pineapple, and 1/4 cup salsa verde. Stir to combine. Roll that mixture up into 10-inch flour tortillas and place them in a baking dish, seam-side down. Top with the rest of the jar of salsa verde and 8 ounces shredded Cheddar, Mexican, or pepper Jack cheese. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes at 375°F until the cheese is totally melted.
BULK IT UP: Option to add some finely minced kale if you have some leftover in the fridge.