Seven Days of Trader Joe’s Dinner: One Grocery Haul

I decided to do something a little different with my grocery shopping last week! Instead of walking into Trader Joe’s without a plan and tossing whatever looked good into my cart (which I’m very guilty of doing), I sat down, planned seven homemade dinners, and made a grocery list before heading to the store.

My goal was to make easy, delicious meals for my family without spending hours in the kitchen every evening. Most of these dinners took around 30 minutes to prepare, and I tried to use ingredients across multiple recipes to make grocery shopping a little easier.

I’m sharing everything I made, from honey glazed salmon bowls and homemade roasted tomato soup to Big Mac pasta bowls and one of my favorite marinated chicken recipes!

I’ll also share my Trader Joe’s grocery list so you can get some inspiration for your own weekly meal planning. Nothing fancy, just seven homemade dinners that made our busy week a little easier!

I loved doing this so much that I’m already halfway through our next week of seven homemade dinners from one Trader Joe’s grocery haul! It’s been so much fun trying new meals, getting creative in the kitchen, and having a plan for dinner every night. I can’t wait to share what we’re making next!

What do we do with all the leftovers?

Well, there honestly aren’t that many! But whenever we do have leftovers, we always eat them for lunch the next day. My husband packs his lunch for work, and the boys and I enjoy ours at home. It’s one of my favorite things about planning our dinners for the week because lunch is pretty much taken care of, too! Less food waste, fewer meals to think about, and less time spent in the kitchen!

MAKE SURE TO WATCH THE VIDEO TO SEE ALL THE TRADER JOE’S INGREDIENTS!

Honey Glazed Salmon Bowls with Rice, Cucumber & Avocado

First up are these delicious honey glazed salmon bowls! This is one of those meals that looks impressive but takes very little effort to throw together. I love the combination of sweet and savory salmon with fluffy basmati rice, fresh cucumber, and creamy avocado.

I started by placing my salmon on a foil-lined baking sheet to make cleanup easier. I seasoned it with Trader Joe’s soy sauce, black pepper, garlic powder, Everything But the Bagel seasoning, and a drizzle of honey.

I roasted the salmon at 350°F for about 12 minutes. Cooking time will depend on the thickness of your salmon and how you prefer it cooked. I personally like mine medium!

While the salmon was roasting, I prepared some organic basmati rice and chopped fresh cucumber and avocado.

To assemble the bowls, I added the rice, salmon, cucumber, and avocado, then finished everything with an extra sprinkle of Everything But the Bagel seasoning.

Such an easy, fresh, protein-packed dinner with hardly any cleanup! This was perfect before heading to soccer. We rinsed the salmon before giving it to our 9 month old.

Trader Joe’s Grocery List

• Fresh Atlantic salmon
• Organic basmati rice
• English cucumber
• Avocado
• Trader Joe’s soy sauce
• Everything But the Bagel Sesame Seasoning Blend
• Honey
• Garlic powder
• Black pepper

Homemade Big Mac Pasta Bowls

These Big Mac bowls are always a huge hit in our house and easily one of my favorite meals to make! My dad loves them so much that he’s constantly asking when I’m making Big Mac bowls again. They’re so easy to throw together, and the homemade Big Mac sauce is what makes them SO good!

I started by browning the ground beef with half a chopped sweet onion and a little salt and pepper. Once the beef was cooked, I mixed in my cooked pasta.

For the homemade Big Mac sauce, I combined:

• 1/3 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• Pinch of black pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped pickles

I tossed the pasta and beef with the homemade sauce, then added chopped tomatoes, shredded lettuce, and American cheese.

It’s basically everything you love about a Big Mac turned into a delicious pasta bowl!

Trader Joe’s Grocery List

• Ground beef
• Sweet onion
• Pasta (Trader Joe’s Organic Fusilli Corti Bucati Pasta)
• Ketchup
• Mayonnaise
• Yellow mustard
• Garlic powder
• Paprika
• Black pepper
• Pickles
• Cherry tomatoes
• Shredded lettuce
• American cheese
• Salt

Prosciutto & Pepper Jack Grilled Cheese with Homemade Roasted Tomato Soup

There is nothing better than a homemade grilled cheese sandwich with a big bowl of tomato soup! I decided to give our usual grilled cheese a little upgrade with prosciutto, pepper jack cheese, and sourdough bread. The combination is SO good, especially dipped into homemade roasted tomato soup!

For the sandwiches, I layered prosciutto and pepper jack cheese between two slices of buttered sourdough bread and grilled them until the bread was golden and crispy and the cheese was perfectly melted.

For the homemade roasted tomato soup:

I roasted fresh Roma tomatoes until they were soft and juicy, then blended them with garlic powder, paprika, black pepper, and sea salt until smooth and creamy.

The roasted tomatoes give the soup such a delicious, rich flavor without needing a bunch of extra ingredients. And dipping that crispy, cheesy sourdough sandwich into the warm tomato soup? SO good!

This is such an easy, comforting dinner, especially on a chilly evening!

Trader Joe’s Grocery List

• Sourdough bread
• Prosciutto
• Butter
• Pepper jack cheese
• Roma tomatoes
• Garlic powder
• Paprika
• Black pepper
• Sea salt

Dutch Oven Seared Steak Filets with Roasted Japanese Sweet Potatoes & Zucchini

Next up was our Halloween night dinner! I wanted to make something quick and easy before all the trick-or-treating chaos began, so I went with Dutch oven seared steak filets, roasted Japanese sweet potatoes, and zucchini. Nothing fancy, just a delicious homemade dinner that didn’t require spending hours in the kitchen!

I started by steaming the Japanese sweet potatoes in the microwave to soften them before roasting. I added the potatoes and chopped zucchini to a baking sheet, drizzled everything with olive oil, and seasoned with salt and pepper. I roasted the vegetables in the oven until they were golden and tender.

For the steak, I generously seasoned both sides of the filets with salt and pepper. I heated my Dutch oven over high heat with olive oil and butter, then seared the steaks until they developed a beautiful crust. I typically use avocado oil when cooking steak at high temperatures, but I was out, so olive oil it was!

Once the steaks were cooked to medium, I finished them with a little extra black pepper and garlic powder.

This was such a simple, satisfying dinner before heading out for a night of Halloween fun with the boys!

Trader Joe’s Grocery List

• Steak filets (top sirloin)
• Japanese sweet potatoes
• Zucchini
• Olive oil
• Butter
• Sea salt
• Black pepper
• Garlic powder

Easy Sausage, Egg & Potato Breakfast Hash

Breakfast for dinner! We make my homemade sausage, egg, and sweet potato hash recipe all the time, but this week I decided to make a much easier version using a bag of Trader Joe’s frozen potatoes with peppers and onions. I love a good shortcut when it comes to getting dinner on the table, especially when it tastes just as delicious!

I started by browning the pork sausage in my Dutch oven. Once the sausage was fully cooked, I removed it from the pot and added the frozen potatoes, peppers, and onions. I didn’t bother cleaning the Dutch oven because all those delicious bits left behind from the sausage add so much flavor!

Once the potatoes were browned and cooked through, I added the sausage back into the pot, followed by about three cups of scrambled eggs and a little black pepper. I stirred everything together until the eggs were fully cooked.

SOOOOO good! Such an easy, filling dinner that comes together in one pot with very little cleanup.

I also made some crispy bacon and a few pancakes for my son because I already knew he wasn’t going to touch the potato hash. Sometimes you just have to pick your battles!

Trader Joe’s Grocery List

• Ground pork breakfast sausage
• Frozen potatoes with peppers and onions
• Eggs
• Black pepper
• Bacon
• Pancake mix (for the kids!)

48-Hour Marinated Grilled Chicken with Rice & Roasted Vegetables

Yes, this chicken takes 48 hours to marinate, but the actual dinner only takes about 30 minutes to prepare! Especially when someone else is handling the grilling, which my husband always happily volunteers to do.

This is one of our favorite chicken marinades, and you can find my full recipe HERE! The best part is that you can grab all the marinade ingredients at Trader Joe’s, including mayonnaise, garlic powder, black pepper, soy sauce, and BBQ sauce. And, of course, the chicken!

I highly recommend letting the chicken marinate for one to two days. The longer it sits in that delicious marinade, the more flavorful it becomes!

We grilled our chicken on Saturday and served it with basmati rice and some leftover roasted carrots and potatoes. I also doubled the amount of chicken so we’d have plenty of leftovers for lunch the following day. I love when one dinner makes the next day’s lunch a little easier!

Both of my boys loved this meal, too! And as long as I have some Chick-fil-A sauce for my older one, we’re golden.

Trader Joe’s Grocery List

• Chicken
• Mayonnaise
• Garlic powder
• Black pepper
• Soy sauce
• BBQ sauce
• Basmati rice
• Carrots
• Potatoes
• Olive oil
• Salt

Cranberry Chicken with Roasted Carrots, Burrata & Pumpkin Sourdough Bread

On Sunday, I made one of my all-time favorite fall dinners, cranberry chicken with roasted carrots! I crave this meal every single fall, and it’s one of those recipes I never get tired of making. I always pair it with creamy burrata cheese, fresh arugula, and homemade pumpkin sourdough bread. The combination is SO good!

You can find my original cranberry chicken recipe HERE, but I change things up almost every time I make it, depending on what I have in the kitchen.

For this version, I kept things extra simple! I added the chicken to a roasting pan with cranberry sauce, steamed carrots, garlic, and butter. I roasted everything together until the chicken reached an internal temperature of 165°F and the carrots were tender and coated in that delicious cranberry sauce.

I served the chicken and carrots alongside fresh arugula, burrata cheese, and slices of pumpkin sourdough bread. I love how the sweet and savory cranberry chicken pairs with the creamy burrata and peppery arugula.

This is one of those meals that tastes like fall on a plate! It’s cozy, colorful, and surprisingly easy to throw together.

Trader Joe’s Grocery List

• Chicken
• Cranberry sauce
• Carrots
• Fresh garlic
• Butter
• Burrata cheese
• Fresh arugula
• Pumpkin sourdough bread (homemade or your favorite bread)

My Trader Joe’s Grocery List for 7 Days of Homemade Dinners

Here’s everything you’ll need to recreate the seven dinners I made this week! I organized the list by grocery store section to make shopping easier. A lot of these ingredients are used in multiple meals, which helps cut down on food waste and makes planning dinners for the week so much easier.

Meat & Seafood

• Fresh Atlantic salmon
• Ground beef
• Filet mignon steaks
• Chicken breasts (enough for two dinners and leftovers)
• Ground pork breakfast sausage
• Bacon
• Prosciutto

Fresh Produce

• Avocados
• English cucumbers
• Roma tomatoes
• Cherry tomatoes
• Shredded lettuce
• Fresh arugula
• Sweet onion
• Japanese sweet potatoes
• Zucchini
• Carrots
• Potatoes
• Fresh garlic

Dairy & Refrigerated

• Eggs
• Pepper jack cheese
• American cheese
• Burrata cheese
• Butter
• Mayonnaise

Frozen Foods

• Trader Joe’s Potatoes with Peppers & Onions
• Pancakes or pancake mix (for the kids!)

Bread, Rice & Pasta

• Organic basmati rice
• Rotini pasta
• Sourdough bread
• Pumpkin sourdough bread (homemade)
• Pancake mix (if making pancakes from scratch)

Sauces, Condiments & Pantry Staples

• Soy sauce
• Honey
• Ketchup
• Yellow mustard
• BBQ sauce
• Pickles (I use Grillo’s)
• Cranberry sauce
• Olive oil
• Avocado oil (optional)

Seasonings

• Everything But the Bagel Sesame Seasoning Blend
• Garlic powder
• Paprika
• Black pepper
• Sea salt

A Few Grocery Shopping Tips

Shop your pantry first! You probably already have many of the seasonings, sauces, and cooking oils needed for these meals.

Use ingredients more than once. I used rice for multiple dinners, carrots and potatoes as leftover sides, and chicken for two completely different meals.

Plan for leftovers! I doubled our grilled chicken so we could enjoy it for lunch the following day. It’s one of my favorite ways to make meal planning easier without having to cook something new for every meal.

Don’t be afraid to take shortcuts! Trader Joe’s frozen potatoes with peppers and onions made our breakfast hash so much easier. You can still make delicious homemade meals while using a few convenient ingredients!

And that’s a wrap on our first week of seven homemade dinners from one Trader Joe’s grocery haul! I hope this gave you some inspiration for your own weekly meal planning and a few new recipes to try with your family. I had so much fun putting this together, and it’s honestly made our evenings so much easier. There’s something so nice about knowing exactly what’s for dinner instead of staring into the refrigerator at 5 p.m. trying to figure something out!

I’m already halfway through our next week of meals, and I can’t wait to share another grocery list and everything we made! I’m hoping to make this a regular series here on the blog because I know how helpful it can be to have fresh dinner ideas, especially during busy weeks with little ones.

If you try any of these meals, I’d love to hear which one was your favorite! And please share some of your family’s go-to dinners in the comments. I’m always looking for new ideas to add to our weekly rotation!

Thanks so much for stopping by and following along with our week of homemade meals! Happy cooking!