Food & shopping
Five family dinners: shop once, cook a different meal each day
Plan five dinners for a family of four. Shop from one combined list and follow the equipment and cooking steps for each meal.
The checklist
- Dried pasta · 300 g
- Dry long-grain rice · 300 g
- Boneless skinless chicken thighs · 500 g
+ 61 more explained items
Five dinners share one shopping list: tomato pasta, chicken and almond traybake, chickpea curry, bacon fried rice, and sausage casserole. Arrange them around work and ingredient use-by dates. The first four meals serve 4; the published casserole serves 4–6. This is a household menu, not a nutritional prescription.
The cooked recipes retain their published ingredients. Tomato sauce is doubled; fried rice is doubled; the other dishes keep their original formulas. Pasta, curry rice and measured serving herbs are menu allocations. The casserole keeps pork and cooking chorizo, wine and chicken stock. Its sausage count is preserved because the source’s parenthetical weight is ambiguous.
Shop once, then reserve each meal’s ingredients before cooking. The list includes the seasoning used in the steps, almonds and both dried and fresh thyme. Tap water is a kitchen supply. Keep ingredients for later dinners labelled so they stay available through the week.
Who this list is for
Two adults and two school-age children planning five dinners. The first four meals serve 4; the unchanged sausage casserole serves 4–6, so plan any surplus separately. Check appetites, allergies and refrigerator space.
Tips
Give each dinner its own ingredients
Before cooking the first meal, divide shared groceries between the dinners that need them. Keep the quicker meals for busy evenings and check which ingredients need using first. Mark the portions reserved for later dishes, so a generous serving today does not leave tomorrow's meal short.
Reserve ingredients before the first dinner
Allocate onions and garlic before chopping. Keep dry curry rice separate from the ready-cooked fried-rice purchase. Canned weights include liquid before draining beans and chickpeas. Larger packs do not increase the recipe automatically; keep remainders visible for other meals.
Keep the shorter meals for busy evenings
Choose pasta or fried rice when attention is limited. Ready-cooked rice avoids a separate cooking job, but check its storage and heating instructions. The chicken uses oven time while you clear the kitchen; the stew needs a longer simmer. These are editorial scheduling choices, not guaranteed preparation times. Read each cooking block before heating the pan.
Cool rice promptly
Follow ready-cooked rice storage and heating instructions. If using home-cooked rice instead, weigh 500 g cooked rice without inventing a dry-rice conversion, chill quickly, ideally within 1 hour, and refrigerate for no more than 24 hours before reheating. Reheat only once until steaming throughout. Curry rice is a separate fresh portion; do not leave a large cooked pot cooling on the counter.
Use a doneness check, not just the timer
Chicken and sausages need thorough cooking. A clean probe in the centre should show 75°C for 30 seconds, one of the Food Standards Agency combinations. Oven crowding, piece size and the pan change cooking time, so extend it when necessary. Clean the probe between uses. Keep raw meat and its utensils away from the yogurt, fresh herbs and other foods served without further cooking.
Adapt flavours with the shopping total in view
The chicken contains almonds and dairy. Check pasta, sausages, stock, soy sauce and spice labels with guests. Rice and measured serving herbs are menu allocations; recipe seasonings remain as published. The casserole keeps cooking chorizo and wine, so confirm that this menu suits the family. Any different recipe needs its own shopping calculation.
The checklist
64 items, grouped like in the Cartdock app.
Print this page to tick items off on paper: the printout keeps only the checklist, with a box before every item.
Buy
One combined grocery list
- Dried pasta · 300 g — For the tomato dinner.
- Dry long-grain rice · 300 g — For curry only; fried rice uses a separate cooked product.
- Boneless skinless chicken thighs · 500 g — For the traybake; check the use-by date.
- Pork sausages and cooking chorizo · 12: 6 pork + 6 chorizo — Keep the source count; its parenthetical weight is ambiguous, so no exact total weight is claimed.
- Eggs · 2 — For fried rice; beat before cooking.
- Small red potatoes · 500 g — Slice evenly for the chicken trays.
- Medium red onions · 6 — 3 chicken, 2 curry, 1 stew; an editorial shared variety.
- Red peppers · 4 — 2 chicken, 2 stew; remove seeds.
- Celery stalks · 2 — For the sausage stew; dice small.
- Garlic cloves · 10 — 2 pasta, 1 chicken, 2 curry, 2 rice, 3 stew.
- Lemon · 1 — Use zest and juice for chicken.
- Large fresh tomatoes · 2 — Quarter for the curry.
- Canned tomatoes · 2000 g — 5 × 400 g cans: 800 g chopped for pasta, 400 g plum for curry, 800 g cherry or chopped for stew.
- Canned white beans · 400 g — 1 × 400 g can before draining; for the stew.
- Canned chickpeas · 400 g — Can weight before draining; for curry.
- Coconut milk · 400 ml — For the curry sauce.
- 0% Greek yogurt · 170 g — Serve with the chicken.
- Frozen peas · 400 g — For fried rice; double the source quantity.
- Fresh basil · 10 g — Editorial measured portion for pasta.
- Fresh parsley · 10 g — Editorial measured portion for chicken.
- Fresh coriander · 10 g — Editorial measured portion for curry.
- Olive oil and frying oil · 8 tbsp olive oil + 4 tsp frying oil — Olive oil: 2 tbsp pasta + 3 tbsp chicken + 1 tbsp curry + 2 tbsp stew. Separate frying oil: 4 tsp for rice.
- Tomato purée · 2 tbsp — For the pasta sauce.
- Vegetable stock powder · 2 tsp — For tomato sauce only; the stew has its own chicken stock cube.
- Sugar · 4 tsp — 2 tsp pasta sauce + 2 tsp fried rice.
- Garam masala · 1 tsp — For the curry; check blend ingredients.
- Ground turmeric · 1 tsp — For the curry.
- Ground coriander · 1 tsp — For the curry; separate from fresh leaves.
- Ground cumin · 1.5 tsp — 1 tsp chicken; 0.5 tsp stew.
- Smoked paprika · 2.5 tsp — 1 tsp chicken; 1.5 tsp stew; choose sweet, not hot.
- Fennel seeds · 1 tsp — Crush lightly for the chicken marinade.
- Dried thyme · 1 tbsp — For the stew; fresh thyme is also listed separately.
- Dark soy sauce · 4 tsp — 4 tsp in fried rice; extra to serve as in the source.
- Ready-cooked plain basmati rice · 500 g — For fried rice; 2 × the original 250 g cooked portion. No dry-rice conversion is assumed.
- Bacon rashers · 4 — For fried rice; double the source quantity.
- Mushrooms · 350 g — Slice for fried rice; double the source quantity.
- Fresh ginger · 2 small knobs — Double the source description without an invented gram conversion.
- Whole blanched almonds · 50 g — Required in the published chicken traybake.
- White wine · 125 ml — For deglazing the sausage stew.
- Chicken stock cube · 1 — For the stew; no vegetable-powder substitution.
- Fresh thyme · 2 sprigs — From the stew method; remove stems before serving.
- Salt and black pepper — Season chicken and curry to taste; finish stew with black pepper as the sources direct.
Take along
Equipment to set out
- Kitchen scale and measuring spoons — Weigh dry rice before cooking; tbsp and tsp mean measuring spoons.
- Knife and separate boards — Keep raw meat preparation separate from ready-to-eat herbs.
- Pasta pot, colander and sauce pan — For pasta; reuse the colander for drained canned pulses.
- Two baking trays and mixing bowl — For chicken; leave room around the ingredients.
- Lidded rice pot, deep pan and wok — For curry, rice and stew; a wide frying pan can replace the wok.
- Clean food thermometer — Check chicken and sausages in the centre, cleaning between uses.
- Shallow lidded containers — For rapid cooling and dated portions; allow refrigerator space.
To do
On the chosen eveningDinner 1 — tomato pasta, 4 servings
- Measure the complete meal — Use 300 g dry pasta, 800 g canned tomatoes, 2 garlic cloves, 2 tbsp olive oil, 2 tsp stock powder, 2 tbsp tomato purée, 2 tsp sugar and 10 g basil. Equipment: pasta pot, colander and sauce pan. The source makes 350 ml sauce; double its sauce ingredients and add our pasta portion.
- Make the sauce — Gently cook chopped garlic in oil for 1 minute. Add tomatoes, stock powder, purée and sugar; simmer uncovered for 5 minutes, stirring. Tear in basil.
- Cook and combine — Boil pasta in water according to its packet. Drain and toss with sauce. Divide between the family; no cheese or extra side is included in this shopping total.
On the chosen eveningDinner 2 — chicken traybake, 4 servings
- Prepare chicken and vegetables — Use 500 g chicken, 500 g potatoes, 3 red onions, 2 peppers, 1 garlic clove, 1 tsp each cumin, paprika and fennel, 3 tbsp olive oil, 1 lemon, 50 g blanched almonds, 170 g 0% Greek yogurt, 10 g parsley and seasoning to taste. Source serves 4; the parsley is a serving allowance.
- Mix and spread — Heat to 200°C conventional or 180°C fan. Cut onions into thick wedges, potatoes and peppers into thick slices; finely chop garlic and roughly chop almonds. Season chicken and vegetables. Mix oil, garlic, spices, lemon zest and juice; coat and spread over two trays. Keep almonds for the final baking stage. Lightly crush fennel seeds and finely chop the serving parsley.
- Roast and check the centre — Roast about 40 minutes, turn after 20 minutes and add almonds for the final 8 minutes. Check tender potatoes and chicken at 75°C for 30 seconds; extend cooking if needed. Serve yogurt and parsley.
On the chosen eveningDinner 3 — chickpea curry with rice, 4 servings
- Measure curry and its rice — Use 1 tbsp olive oil, 2 onions, 2 garlic cloves, 1 tsp each garam masala, turmeric and coriander, 400 g canned plum tomatoes, 400 ml coconut milk, 1 × 400 g chickpea can, 2 fresh tomatoes and seasoning to taste. Add 10 g coriander leaves and 300 g dry rice as serving allocations; source curry serves 4.
- Build the curry sauce — Soften sliced onions in oil for 10 minutes. Stir in crushed garlic and spices for 1 minute. Add canned tomatoes, crush and simmer for 10 minutes. Add coconut milk and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring.
- Finish and serve with freshly cooked rice — Cook the 300 g rice in water following its packet. Drain and rinse chickpeas, quarter fresh tomatoes and add both to curry; simmer until hot and tomatoes soften. Scatter coriander and serve with rice.
On the chosen eveningDinner 4 — bacon and pea fried rice, 4 servings
- Measure the complete fried-rice meal — Double the published 2 servings: 500 g cooked basmati, 2 eggs, 4 bacon rashers, 350 g mushrooms, 400 g frozen peas, 2 garlic cloves, 2 small knobs ginger, 4 tsp oil, 4 tsp dark soy sauce plus extra to serve, and 2 tsp sugar. Follow rice storage instructions.
- Cook the egg, bacon and vegetables — Chop bacon, slice mushrooms, crush garlic and grate ginger. Set beaten egg in hot oil for 30–60 seconds; remove and slice. Fry bacon and mushrooms for 3 minutes; add frozen peas, garlic and ginger for 1 minute. Continue if bacon needs longer to cook thoroughly.
- Heat rice thoroughly and combine — Mix soy sauce and sugar. Add cooked rice and peas to the wok, break up clumps and stir until steaming throughout, following any packet heating directions. Mix in sauce and cooked egg. Serve immediately; do not save already reheated rice for another reheating.
On the chosen eveningDinner 5 — published sausage casserole, 4–6 servings
- Measure the published casserole — Use 6 pork sausages and 6 cooking chorizo, 1 × 400 g bean can, 800 g canned tomatoes, 1 onion, 2 celery stalks, 2 peppers, 3 garlic cloves, 2 tbsp olive oil, 1.5 tsp paprika, 0.5 tsp cumin, 1 tbsp dried thyme, 125 ml white wine, 1 chicken stock cube, 2 fresh thyme sprigs and black pepper. Source serves 4–6; optional chives are omitted.
- Brown and build the sauce — Finely chop onion and celery; chop peppers and garlic. Soften onion in oil for 5 minutes, add celery and peppers for 5 minutes, then sausages for 5 minutes. Add garlic and dried spices for 1–2 minutes. Deglaze with wine; add tomatoes, fresh thyme and stock cube.
- Simmer and add beans — Drain and rinse beans before adding them. Simmer for 40 minutes. Add drained beans for 5 minutes; remove thyme stems and season with black pepper. Check sausages reach 75°C for 30 seconds, extending cooking if necessary.
Questions and answers
Does this cover every meal for the week?
No. It covers five dinners only. Breakfasts, lunches, snacks, drinks and any additional vegetables or sides need their own planning. The stated portions suit the scenario as a starting point, not a dietary prescription. Look at what your family usually eats before shopping; a teenager, a guest or a very hungry adult may change the amount needed.
Can I use curry rice for the fried-rice dinner?
Only when it was cooled and stored safely and the fried-rice meal falls within 24 hours. The list purchases ready-cooked rice separately so leftovers are not required. If you use curry leftovers instead, weigh the cooked amount specified for frying and follow the cooling advice; the curry allocation may not leave enough. Rice left at room temperature is not rescued simply by reheating.
How do I scale the menu for more people?
Start from each published yield: the first four meals here serve 4, while the casserole serves 4–6. Multiply ingredients from that recipe, then recalculate shopping totals. Preserve units and use more trays or separate batches as needed. Cooking time is not multiplied with guest count; check doneness.
How are the dinner quantities organised?
The tomato sauce and fried rice use doubled ingredient amounts; the chicken, curry and casserole keep their listed batches. Pasta, rice with curry and serving herbs have separate meal allowances. Optional chives are left out. Check the individual cooking steps before dividing the shared shopping between dishes.
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