Easy Weekly Meal Plan #4: Five Dinners and Sock it to Me Cake

This week, we’re making sausage tortellini soup, chicken drumsticks, walking taco casserole, pulled pork sliders, and a sausage and egg casserole for supper. There’s sock it to me cake for dessert, too!

I’ve planned five dinners for four people, with a night for leftovers or eating out and another night left open. Move them around however you need to. A few of these recipes make eight or ten servings, so there will be plenty for Night 3.

Click the dinner and side dish names for the full recipes. I’ve put the grocery list below, with the optional extras listed separately so you can decide what sounds good before you shop.

Jump to the grocery list

This week’s menu

Night	Dinner and sides
1	Sausage Tortellini Soup with Easy Italian White Bread
2	Chicken Drumsticks in the Oven with Air Fryer Baby Potatoes and Old Fashioned Pea Salad
3	Leftovers or eat out
4	Walking Taco Casserole with Corn Casserole
5	Pulled Pork Sliders with Dr. Pepper Baked Beans
6	Sausage and Egg Casserole with Orange Fluff Salad
7	Open night. Use what you have or make a family favorite.

 

Dessert: Sock it to Me Cake

Night 1: Sausage tortellini soup and Italian bread

One batch of Sausage Tortellini Soup makes eight servings, so there’s plenty left for Night 3. It’s Italian sausage, carrots, onion, and cheese tortellini in a creamy broth, with fresh spinach stirred in at the end.

For bread, my Easy Italian White Bread makes 16 slices. The dough needs about an hour and a half to rise, so start it in the afternoon or make it the day before.

Allow: About 55 minutes for the soup. The bread takes about two hours from start to finish, and most of that is rising time.

Make it easier: A loaf of Italian bread from the store works just as well on a busy night. The grocery list has it as an option so you can decide when you shop.

Night 2: Chicken drumsticks, air fryer potatoes, and pea salad

Make eight Chicken Drumsticks in the Oven, or two per person. The recipe is written for six, so I’ve put one and a half times the butter mixture on the grocery list. Each drumstick gets dipped in melted butter, Parmesan, and garlic powder before it bakes.

Serve them with one batch of Air Fryer Baby Potatoes, which makes six side servings, and half a batch of Old Fashioned Pea Salad, about six side servings. I’ve already halved the pea salad on the grocery list.

Allow: About 40 minutes. The drumsticks bake at 400°F for 30 minutes, and the potatoes take 15 minutes in the air fryer at 400°F. The pea salad takes about 15 minutes to put together.

Little tip: Make the pea salad earlier in the day so it can chill. Cook the bacon for it at the same time as the bacon for Night 5’s baked beans, and you’ll only dirty that pan once.

Night 3: Leftovers or eat out

Let’s see what’s in the fridge! There should be soup from Night 1, and maybe a drumstick or two with some potatoes. Warm everything up and let everyone pick.

If your family finished those dinners, make this your eat-out night or choose something you already have. The shopping list doesn’t include another meal for this night.

Night 4: Walking taco casserole and corn casserole

My Walking Taco Casserole makes ten servings. It’s seasoned ground beef with cream cheese, green chilis, and corn, baked under two kinds of cheese, then topped with Fritos, lettuce, tomato, and sour cream right before serving.

Serve it with The BEST Corn Casserole, which makes nine servings from a box of Jiffy mix, canned corn, sour cream, and butter.

Allow: About 50 minutes. The taco casserole bakes at 375°F for 15 minutes, and the corn casserole bakes at 350°F for 40 to 45 minutes.

Little tip: Put the corn casserole in first, then brown the beef while it bakes. The two dishes bake at different temperatures, so start the corn casserole at 350°F, then turn the oven up when it comes out. The Fritos go on top at the very end so they stay crunchy.

Night 5: Pulled pork sliders and Dr. Pepper baked beans

My Pulled Pork Sliders use four cups of already-cooked pulled pork, so a tub from the store makes this an easy night. The pork gets mixed with barbecue sauce, piled on Hawaiian rolls with provolone, and brushed with a buttery glaze before baking. One pan makes 12 sliders, or three each.

Serve them with Dr. Pepper Baked Beans, which makes six servings. It’s canned baked beans doctored up with bacon, brown sugar, and Dr. Pepper.

Allow: About an hour. The beans bake at 325°F for 45 minutes and the sliders bake at 350°F for 20 minutes.

Little tip: Start the beans first, then put the sliders together while they bake. The beans can sit covered for a few minutes while the sliders finish.

Night 6: Sausage and egg casserole for supper

One Sausage and Egg Casserole makes ten servings. Crescent dough goes in the bottom of a 9×13-inch pan, then breakfast sausage, tater tots, cheddar, and an egg mixture poured over the top.

Serve it with Orange Fluff Salad for something cool alongside, which makes eight servings from orange gelatin, vanilla pudding, whipped topping, mandarin oranges, and marshmallows.

Allow: About 1 hour 15 minutes for the casserole, most of it hands-off. The fluff salad takes about 5 minutes to mix and 35 minutes to chill.

Little tip: You can put the casserole together the night before, keep it covered in the refrigerator, and bake it when you get home. Make the fluff salad while it bakes.

Something sweet: Sock it to me cake

This Sock it to Me Cake is an old-fashioned sour cream cake with a cinnamon pecan ribbon running through the middle and a simple glaze poured over the top. One 9×13-inch pan makes 15 servings.

Allow: About 25 minutes to put together and 45 minutes to bake, plus about 40 minutes to cool before you glaze it.

The butter, eggs, and sour cream should be at room temperature before you start, so set them out about an hour ahead.

A little preparation before the week starts

• Check your pantry before shopping, especially flour, sugar, and spices. This week uses a lot of butter and sour cream, so count what you have.
• Cook the whole pound of bacon at once. Half goes in the pea salad on Night 2 and the rest goes in the baked beans on Night 5.
• Make the pea salad earlier in the day on Night 2, and the orange fluff salad while the casserole bakes on Night 6. Both are better cold.
• If you’re baking the Italian bread, start the dough about two hours before supper, or make it the day before.
• Set the butter, eggs, and sour cream out an hour before you make the cake.

Already using my Dinner Theme System? These dinners can fit right into the themes you’ve chosen.

Grocery list

Here’s what you’ll need for five dinners and their sides for four people, plus the 15-serving cake. I’ve included half a batch of pea salad and full batches of everything else. You’ll need to add your usual breakfasts, lunches, and anything extra for the two flexible nights.

Check what you have before you head to the store. I’ve listed the amounts you’ll use and suggested a package size where it helps. Take a look at the labels on the tortellini, baked beans, and canned corn so you bring home enough.

Produce

• ☐ 3 sweet onions: 1 large for the soup, 1 large for the taco casserole, and half for the baked beans.
• ☐ 1 small red onion: for ¼ cup finely chopped in the pea salad.
• ☐ 2 carrots: for the soup.
• ☐ 4 cloves garlic: for the soup.
• ☐ 2 cups fresh spinach: for the soup.
• ☐ 1½ pounds mini gold potatoes.
• ☐ 1 tomato: half goes in the taco casserole and half on top.
• ☐ 1 cup shredded lettuce: for topping the taco casserole.
• ☐ 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary: for the potatoes. A teaspoon of dried rosemary works instead.

Meat and poultry

• ☐ 16 ounces mild Italian sausage: for the soup.
• ☐ 8 chicken drumsticks.
• ☐ 1 pound ground beef.
• ☐ 4 cups cooked pulled pork: a tub from the deli or meat case is the easy way.
• ☐ 1 pound breakfast sausage: for the egg casserole.
• ☐ 1 pound thick-cut bacon: about 6 slices for the pea salad and 8 for the baked beans.

Bread, dairy, and eggs

• ☐ 15 eggs: 9 for the breakfast casserole and 6 for the cake. Buy 18 to be safe.
• ☐ 1½ cups heavy cream: for the soup.
• ☐ 1½ cups milk, plus 2 tablespoons: whole or 2% for the breakfast casserole, and a little for the cake glaze.
• ☐ 24 ounces sour cream: 1 cup for the corn casserole, 1 cup for the cake, ½ cup for topping the taco casserole, and 2 tablespoons for the pea salad.
• ☐ 4 ounces cream cheese: for the taco casserole.
• ☐ 2¼ cups grated Parmesan, plus 1 teaspoon: most of it is the coating for the drumsticks.
• ☐ 2½ cups shredded cheddar: 2 cups for the breakfast casserole and ½ cup cubed for the pea salad.
• ☐ 1 cup shredded Colby Jack and 1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese: for the taco casserole.
• ☐ 9 slices provolone cheese: for the sliders.
• ☐ 8 ounces whipped topping: thawed, for the fluff salad.
• ☐ 8 ounces crescent dough sheet: or crescent rolls with the seams pressed together.
• ☐ 12 Hawaiian slider buns.
• ☐ Salted butter: 3¼ sticks, or 1½ cups plus 1 tablespoon: 12 tablespoons for the drumsticks, ½ cup for the corn casserole, ¼ cup for the slider glaze, and 1 tablespoon for the beans.
• ☐ 2 sticks unsalted butter: for the cake.
• ☐ 1 loaf Italian bread, if you’re buying it instead of baking it.

Cans, jars, pasta, and rice

• ☐ 6 cups chicken broth: one 48-ounce carton.
• ☐ 16 ounces cheese tortellini: refrigerated or frozen.
• ☐ 1 packet taco seasoning.
• ☐ 1 (4.5-ounce) can green chilis.
• ☐ ½ cup southwest corn: frozen or canned.
• ☐ 1 (14.75-ounce) can cream-style corn.
• ☐ 2 (15-ounce) cans whole kernel corn.
• ☐ 1 (8.5-ounce) box Jiffy corn muffin mix.
• ☐ 2 (28-ounce) cans original baked beans.
• ☐ ¾ cup Dr. Pepper.
• ☐ 1 cup barbecue sauce.
• ☐ 1 (10-ounce) bag frozen peas.
• ☐ 2 cups mini tater tots.
• ☐ 4 cups Frito corn chips: about a 9-ounce bag.
• ☐ 30 ounces canned mandarin oranges: two 15-ounce cans, drained.
• ☐ 1 (3-ounce) box orange gelatin.
• ☐ 1 (3.4-ounce) box instant vanilla pudding mix.
• ☐ 2 cups miniature marshmallows.

Check your pantry: sauces, baking ingredients, and seasonings

• ☐ All-purpose flour: 3 cups plus 3 tablespoons and 1½ teaspoons total, plus more if you bake the bread (5½ cups).
• ☐ Granulated sugar: 2½ cups plus 1½ teaspoons total.
• ☐ Light brown sugar: ½ cup for the beans and ⅓ cup for the cake filling.
• ☐ Powdered sugar: 1 cup.
• ☐ ¾ cup chopped pecans: for the cake’s cinnamon ribbon.
• ☐ Olive oil: 3 tablespoons total.
• ☐ Mayonnaise: 2 tablespoons.
• ☐ Barbecue sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and Dijon mustard: 1 tablespoon Worcestershire and ½ teaspoon Dijon for the beans, 1 teaspoon each for the sliders.
• ☐ Apple cider vinegar: 1½ teaspoons.
• ☐ Vanilla extract: 3 teaspoons total.
• ☐ Ground cinnamon: 1½ teaspoons.
• ☐ Italian seasoning: 2 teaspoons.
• ☐ Garlic powder: 1½ tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons total.
• ☐ Baking soda: ½ teaspoon.
• ☐ Sesame seeds: 1 teaspoon.
• ☐ Cayenne pepper: a pinch.
• ☐ Salt, kosher salt, flaky sea salt, and black pepper.
• ☐ Cooking spray, parchment paper, and foil.
• ☐ Check your equipment: an air fryer, a large pot or Dutch oven, an oven-safe or cast-iron skillet, two 9×13-inch pans, and an 8×8-inch dish.

Optional extras

• ☐ 2 sliced jalapeños and extra sour cream: for topping the taco casserole.
• ☐ 1 cup small curd cottage cheese: stirred into the orange fluff salad if you like it that way.
• ☐ ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes: for the soup or the slider glaze.
• ☐ Fresh parsley: a garnish for the pea salad.
• ☐ Crushed pineapple or extra pecans: nice additions to the fluff salad.

Want another week of dinner ideas? Browse all of my easy weekly meal plans.