Build Your First 1-Week Dinner Rotation

If the thought of planning 20–25 meals across a whole season feels like too much, start small. You don’t need the full system right away—you just need one solid week that you can rinse and repeat.

Here’s how to set up your first 1-week dinner rotation in less than an hour.

Step 1: Pick 5 Meals You Already Love

Forget about finding new recipes. Look at what you already make on autopilot. The goal here isn’t variety—it’s ease.

Examples:

  • Tacos with rice and beans

  • Sheet pan chicken + veggies

  • Spaghetti + salad

  • Burgers + roasted potatoes

  • Breakfast for dinner (pancakes, eggs, bacon)

Write down your top 5. That’s Week 1.

Step 2: Make a Mini Grocery List

Underneath your meals, list the ingredients you’ll need. Use my asterisk trick:

  • asterisk = check if you already have it at home

  • no asterisk = must buy this week

Example:

  • Ground beef*

  • Taco shells

  • Rice*

  • Canned beans*

  • Lettuce, tomato, onion

This way you’ll never double-buy what’s already in your pantry.

Step 3: Add Links or Notes for Recipes

Even if you’ve cooked it a million times, pretend your partner or teenager had to take over dinner. Would they know what to do?

  • If yes → no recipe needed.

  • If no → paste a recipe link or jot down quick instructions in your note.

Step 4: Put It in Your Shared Note

Drop your 5 meals, grocery list, and recipes into a shared note (we use the Notes app). Title it “Week 1.”

That’s it—you’ve got a ready-to-go dinner plan.

Step 5: Repeat or Expand

  • Repeat: Run this exact week for the whole month. Easy.

  • Expand: Once Week 1 feels smooth, brainstorm 5 new meals → call it Week 2. Eventually, you’ll build out Weeks 1–4 for a full seasonal rotation.

One week is all it takes to get out of the “what’s for dinner?” panic cycle. The best part? Once you set it up, dinner planning stops being a daily decision and starts being a system.

Start with five meals. Next month, add another five. Before you know it, you’ll have a whole season ready to go.

Read the first post in this series here.
Want to plan out an entire season’s worth of dinners? Read this post.