a really simple meal plan v.29
including a recipe for high-protein cheesy pork, pepper, and onion breakfast biscuits
January calls for food that feels fresh, nourishing, and doable. This month’s really simple meal plan is built around smart efficiencies like a cook-once, eat-all-week breakfast, a nutrient-rich good-all-week salad for lunches, and overlapping veggies and aromatics throughout the week so you can prep once and coast.
As a reminder, these meal plans use recipes from the What To Cook archives (check each individual post for all the usual notes, subs, and swap ideas!). This month’s meal plan has a bonus element, too: a recipe for high-protein cheesy pork, pepper, and onion breakfast biscuits from our friend Jenn Lueke’s new cookbook, Don’t Think About Dinner! We got our first sneak peek at DTAD last Saturday with her caramelized onion, steak, and cheese skillet (which is included in this meal plan!), and today, the meal-prep queen is sharing another recipe with us. People are always asking for breakfast ideas, so when Jenn offered to share this breakfast biscuit recipe with the WTC crew, we knew we had to add it to this month’s really simple meal plan. Enjoy!
On Wednesday, January 7, at 2 p.m. PT/5 p.m. ET, Jenn and I will be on Substack Live cooking the breakfast biscuit recipe she’s sharing with us today. Come join us!
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, swap, or modify a meal, you’ll know which ingredients to change/cross off — no brainpower required.
These recipes are written to feed between two 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!
link to printer version
GOOD-ALL-WEEK BREAKFAST: High-protein cheesy pork, pepper, and onion breakfast biscuits
By Jenn Lueke from Don’t Think About Dinner
Makes 12 biscuits
Cook time: 50 minutes (20 minutes active, 30 minutes inactive)
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil (or you can use avocado oil since you’re using it for other recipes this week)
1 large yellow onion, small-diced (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and small-diced (about 1 cup)
1 pound 90% lean ground pork
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground sage
6 large eggs
8 ounces Cheddar, shredded (1 1/2 cups), divided
1 1/2 cups blanched almond flour
1/3 cup coconut flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a large sheet pan with parchment paper and set aside.
In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add 1 large yellow onion (small diced) and 1 red bell pepper (cored, seeded, and small-diced) and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 6 to 8 minutes.
Push the onion and pepper to the sides of the skillet to make a hole in the center. Add 1 pound 90% lean ground pork in the center and cook, breaking up any large chunks with a wooden spoon, until the pork is browned and the onion is translucent, about 8 minutes.
Remove from the heat, season with 2 teaspoons kosher salt, 1 teaspoon ground black pepper, and 1 teaspoon ground sage and mix well. Carefully pour off any excess oil and set the mixture aside to cool in the pan for 10 minutes.
In a large bowl, whisk 6 large eggs until no streaks remain. Add the pork mixture and 1 cup of shredded Cheddar and mix well. Add 1 1/2 cups blanched almond flour, 1/3 cup coconut flour, and 2 teaspoons baking powder and mix until just combined. Do not overmix.
Using a lightly oiled large cookie scoop, a spoon, or your clean hands, scoop about 12 balls of dough onto the sheet pan, spacing them 1 to 2 inches apart. Press down gently on the top of each ball to form a biscuit. Evenly sprinkle the top of the biscuits with the remaining 1/2 cup Cheddar.
Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the biscuits are baked through and lightly browned all over.
STORE IT: Refrigerate in a sealed container for up to 4 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
REHEAT IT: To reheat from the refrigerator, bake or air-fry at 325°F until warm, 5 to 7 minutes. Alternatively, microwave until warm,1 to 2 minutes. To reheat from the freezer, either thaw in the refrigerator overnight in the fridge, then bake or air-fry at 325°F for 5 to 7 minutes or, if wholly frozen, bake or air-fry at 325°F for 10 to 12 minutes. From the freezer, microwave until warm, 2 to 3 minutes.
GOOOD TO KNOW/DO YOUR THING/MAKE IT VEGETARIAN/MAKE IT NUT-FREE: These biscuits are wonderfully forgiving and easy to customize.
Prefer all almond flour? Use 2 1/2 cups blanched almond flour and skip the coconut flour. You can also swap both for 2 3/4 cups gluten-free or regular all-purpose flour (you’ll lose some protein though).
The ground meat is flexible — try ground chicken, turkey, sausage, or a block of pressed then shredded tofu for a vegetarian spin.
You can swap the red bell pepper out for green, orange, or yellow bell pepper, poblano pepper (more heat), a drained 12-ounce jar of pickled jalapeños (more heat), or 1 cup grated sweet potato (liquid squeezed out with a kitchen towel). Swap the yellow onion for red onion, thinly sliced green onions, leeks, or an additional bell pepper + 1 teaspoon onion powder in the spice mix.
Feel free to use another shredded cheese of choice like mozzarella or Monterey Jack, or even crumbled goat cheese!
DAIRY-FREE: Use dairy-free cheese. You could omit the cheese altogether but, if doing so, use 1 to 2 additional eggs for binding and cook for at least 2 additional minutes.
GLUTEN-FREE: Already is!
EGG SWAP: Use an egg substitute like Just Egg or egg whites (about 10 total), if you need or want.
GOOD-ALL-WEEK LUNCH: lemon-parm chicken, quinoa & kale salad
A fresh, filling, nutrient-packed salad that truly gets better as it sits.
HOW TO STORE IT: Store the fully assembled salad in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days, but keep the nuts separate and add them just before eating so they stay crunchy.
COOK ONCE, EAT TWICE: Double the quinoa. Use 2 cups for the salad and let the extra cool completely, then refrigerate it in an airtight container with a damp paper towel on top so it doesn’t dry out. You’ll use it for dinner on night #1. You can also shred and store the dark meat from the rotisserie chicken in an airtight container and add it to the soup on night #3.
OPTIONAL PREP WORK: If you’re in the mood to chop some produce ahead of time to make dinner even easier days from now, here’s what you can do:
De-rib, thinly slice, wash, and spin dry 1 small bunch of kale. Store it in an airtight container for dinners #3 and #4.
Chop 1 bunch parsley (you’ll use some for this meal!) and 1 bunch cilantro, and grate 10 cloves of garlic (store each vegetable separately in airtight containers) — they will be used across multiple meals later this week.
DINNER NIGHT #1: 30-minute sheet-pan chimichurri fish
Light, bright, and freshest cooked early in the week.
YOU’VE PREPPED FOR THIS: Your parsley and garlic are already prepped, and your quinoa is cooked — dinner will come together quickly!
MAKE IT LAST: Chimichurri keeps beautifully in the fridge for up to 5 days. Use any extra to garnish roasted vegetables, spoon over eggs (you could add some to shakshuka later this week!), or swirl into soup.
DINNER NIGHT #2: caramelized onion, steak, & cheese skillet by Jenn Lueke
A cozy, satisfying skillet dinner from Jenn Lueke’s new cookbook, Don’t Think About Dinner.
PLAN AHEAD: Since you’re already slicing onions and bell peppers for tonight, prep a little extra while you’re at it: Dice 1 onion and chop 2 red bell peppers and store them together in an airtight container in the fridge — they’ll be ready to go for dinner on night #4.
LOVE YOUR LEFTOVERS: Leftovers are great reheated straight from the fridge or tucked into sandwiches or wraps for lunch the next day.
CLEAN OUT THE FRIDGE: Garnish with parsley if you have some left over.
DINNER NIGHT #3: coconut curry lentil veggie stew
Cozy and nourishing! This is our heaviest chopping night, but it’s worth it, promise.
LOVE YOUR LEFTOVERS: This stew reheats beautifully and keeps well in the fridge, making it a great option if you’re running low on the good-all-week salad! You could also freeze any leftovers.
ADD SOME GREENS: Stir in half the bunch of kale you prepped earlier this week for some extra nutrients.
CLEAN OUT THE FRIDGE: If you have any leftover quinoa, add it here! You could also add leftover meat from the rotisserie chicken you used for the salad, unless you want to keep it vegetarian.
DINNER NIGHT #4: shortcut shakshuka with feta
Low effort, high reward — the perfect end to the week.
YOU’VE PREPPED FOR THIS: Your onion, bell peppers, garlic, and kale are already chopped, making this a chop-free dinner.
MAKE AHEAD: The sauce can be made earlier in the day (or even the day before) and stored right in the skillet, covered, in the fridge until you’re ready to cook dinner. Reheat the sauce gently, then, once warmed through, crack in the eggs and continue with the recipe.
CLEAN OUT THE FRIDGE: If you have any quinoa lingering in the fridge, it’d be great here: spoon warmed quinoa into bowls and top with shakshuka.
Which meal are you most excited to cook this week? If you make any swaps or shortcuts, tell us about it! We love seeing how these plans work in your real life!
a really simple meal plan, v.27
a really simple meal plan, v.28
Breakfast biscuit photo by Ashleigh Amoroso
TY for the breakfast recipe 🙌🏽
it does feel like the perfect week for having breakfast biscuits in the freezer 🫶 thanks so much for sharing my fave recipe!!!