Two Hours On Sunday That Covers Every Dinner This Week

Set a timer for 2:00 and start the oven at 425°F before you do anything else. That's the whole trick. The oven preheating while you chop is the difference between a two-hour Sunday and a four-hour one that ends with you resenting your own good intentions.

This plan feeds four. It covers five weeknight dinners you can put on the table in about 15 minutes each, plus breakfasts, lunches and snacks that ride along on the same groceries. Saturday and Sunday are yours. Cook something fun, order a pizza, whatever.

Estimated cost for the week: around $190 to $200 for a family of four at a regular supermarket, less at a warehouse club, more on either coast. That's roughly $2.30 per person per meal.

What you actually make on Sunday

Five things. That's it.

Garlic-paprika chicken thighs. Eight bone-in, skin-on thighs on a sheet pan. Rub with olive oil, kosher salt, smoked paprika, garlic powder, black pepper. 425°F for 38 to 42 minutes until the skin crackles and a thermometer reads 175°F at the bone. Thighs are forgiving in a way breasts aren't, which matters when you're reheating them three days later.

Sunday chili base. Brown two pounds of ground beef with two diced onions in a Dutch oven. Add four cloves of garlic, three tablespoons of chili powder, a tablespoon of cumin, two 15-ounce cans of diced tomatoes, two cans of kidney beans drained, a cup of water. Simmer 35 minutes while you do everything else. Salt at the end, not the start.

Six cups of cooked rice. Rice cooker or pot, doesn't matter. Spread it on a sheet pan to cool fast, then fridge it within an hour in a flat container. Cold, dry, day-old rice is the only rice that fries properly on Friday.

One tray of roasted vegetables. Two bell peppers, one red onion, one head of broccoli, all in big pieces. Oil, salt, 425°F for 22 minutes on the rack below the chicken.

A jar of vinaigrette. Half a cup olive oil, three tablespoons red wine vinegar, a teaspoon Dijon, a crushed garlic clove, salt. Shake. It dresses salads all week and doubles as a marinade Saturday.

The two-hour clock

• 0:00 Oven to 425°F. Rice on. Fill the sink with hot soapy water.
• 0:05 Chicken rubbed and on the sheet pan. Into the oven the second it beeps.
• 0:15 Dice onions and peppers, chop broccoli. Onions into the Dutch oven with the beef.
• 0:30 Vegetable tray goes in on the lower rack. Chili gets its tomatoes and beans.
• 0:45 Chicken out. Vegetables out at 0:52. Wash the sheet pans now, not later.
• 0:55 Rice spread on a cool sheet pan. Vinaigrette shaken. Hard-boil eight eggs.
• 1:10 Brown a pound of ground turkey with taco seasoning for Wednesday. Ten minutes, one skillet.
• 1:25 Shred half a head of cabbage and two carrots for slaw. Store dry, dress on the night.
• 1:40 Everything into containers, labeled with masking tape and a Sharpie. Two portions of chili straight into the freezer.
• 1:55 Run the dishwasher. Wipe the counter. Done.

The annoying part nobody mentions: it's really 2:20 if you count dishes. Wash as you go or the last twenty minutes will feel like an hour.

Monday through Friday

Monday — chicken, vegetables, rice. Reheat two thighs per adult at 400°F for 10 minutes so the skin comes back. Microwaved skin is a sad thing. Rice and vegetables in the microwave. Squeeze lemon over everything.

Tuesday — chili night. Reheat the chili, serve over rice with shredded cheddar and sliced scallion. Or split baked potatoes if you've got 50 minutes of oven time and a book.

Wednesday — turkey taco bowls. Rice, warmed taco turkey, a can of black beans, slaw tossed with vinaigrette and a squeeze of lime, hot sauce. Twelve minutes, mostly waiting on the microwave.

Thursday — sausage and peppers. Slice a pound of Italian sausage into coins, brown in a skillet for six minutes, throw in the last of the roasted peppers and onions, toss with cooked pasta and a spoonful of the pasta water. This is the night the plan carries you.

Friday — chicken fried rice. Hot skillet, oil, two beaten eggs scrambled and set aside. Cold rice in, pressed flat, left alone for two minutes to crisp. Add frozen peas, chopped leftover chicken, soy sauce, the eggs back in. Nine minutes.

Trade-off worth knowing: the roasted vegetables are great Monday and merely fine Thursday. If you hate soft broccoli, roast half on Sunday and keep the other half raw in the crisper for a Wednesday side.

Breakfast, lunch, snacks

Breakfast rotates between three things. Overnight oats (half cup oats, half cup milk, spoonful of peanut butter, shaken in a jar the night before), two hard-boiled eggs with toast, or Greek yogurt with frozen berries thawed overnight.

Lunch is leftovers with one fresh thing added. Monday it's a chicken thigh over greens with vinaigrette. Tuesday, chili in a thermos. Wednesday, taco bowl repeat. Thursday, a rice-and-vegetable bowl with a fried egg. Friday, pasta from Thursday, cold, which is better than it sounds.

Snacks: apple with peanut butter, baby carrots and hummus, cottage cheese, a handful of almonds, popcorn. Keep a bowl of fruit where people walk past it.

Grocery list

Meat

• 8 bone-in chicken thighs (about 3.5 lbs)
• 2 lbs ground beef, 85/15
• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1 lb Italian sausage links

Produce

• 3 yellow onions, 1 red onion
• 4 bell peppers
• 1 head broccoli
• 1 small green cabbage
• 1 lb carrots
• 2 heads garlic
• 2 lemons, 2 limes
• 5 lbs russet potatoes
• 6 apples, 4 bananas
• 1 bag salad greens
• 1 bunch scallions

Dairy and eggs

• 18 eggs
• 1 gallon milk
• 32 oz plain Greek yogurt
• 16 oz cottage cheese
• 8 oz shredded cheddar
• Butter

Pantry

• 2 lbs long-grain rice
• 1 lb pasta
• 42 oz old-fashioned oats
• 2 cans diced tomatoes (15 oz)
• 2 cans kidney beans, 1 can black beans
• Peanut butter, hummus
• Olive oil, red wine vinegar, Dijon, soy sauce
• Chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, garlic powder, taco seasoning

Frozen

• 1 bag peas
• 1 bag mixed berries

Snacks

• Almonds, popcorn kernels

Rough split: meat $55, produce $42, dairy $30, pantry $38, frozen $12, snacks $18.

A few honest limits

Cooked rice and cooked chicken get four days in the fridge, not seven. That's why Friday is fried rice and not chicken night. Cool everything fast and store it shallow, not in one deep tub where the middle stays warm for three hours.

This is general cooking and eating guidance, not medical advice. If you're managing diabetes, heart or kidney disease, pregnancy, or recovering from an eating disorder, talk to your doctor or a registered dietitian before you build your week around any plan, including this one.

Swap freely. If your crew won't touch chili, sister site delicious.com has thousands of recipes you can drop into the same Sunday slot. The structure is what's doing the work here, not the specific beans.

Do it twice and the timer becomes unnecessary. You'll just know that the chicken goes in before you pick up a knife.