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A week for a family of four that cooks once and eats twice.

Four people eating every night adds up. This week uses bigger pots so Sunday's dinner still feeds Monday, and nobody starts from scratch seven times.

The week

Sunday's stew is meant to cover Monday. The rest of the week is one dinner a night.

  1. SundayAlso covers Monday

    Feijoada (Portuguese bean and pork stew)

    • 150 min
    • 6 portions
    • 49 g protein / portion

    A slower cook for a day with more time. Six portions from one pot cover Sunday dinner and leave two for Monday.

    Ingredients & method
  2. Feijoada (Portuguese bean and pork stew)

    • 5 min
    • 2 portions
    • 49 g protein / portion

    The two portions Sunday's pot left. Reheat. No fresh cooking time.

    Ingredients & method
  3. Tuesday

    Lentil stew with vegetables

    • 35 min
    • 4 portions
    • 29 g protein / portion

    A meatless night from pantry staples: lentils, carrot, onion.

    Ingredients & method
  4. Wednesday

    Cottage pie

    • 50 min
    • 4 portions
    • 38 g protein / portion

    Beef and mashed potato in one pan, built to feed a family.

    Ingredients & method
  5. Thursday

    Caldo Verde (potato and kale soup)

    • 35 min
    • 4 portions
    • 12 g protein / portion

    Potato and kale soup. A Portuguese staple that fills a pot from very little.

    Ingredients & method
  6. Friday

    Spaghetti and meatballs

    • 40 min
    • 4 portions
    • 52 g protein / portion

    Mince goes further as meatballs in a full pot of sauce and pasta.

    Ingredients & method
  7. Saturday

    Canja de Galinha (traditional Portuguese chicken soup with small pasta)

    • 45 min
    • 4 portions
    • 22 g protein / portion

    Chicken and rice soup. One bird goes further this way than as a single roast.

    Ingredients & method

Cook times, portions and protein come from each recipe as written, and update with it. They are the author's figures, not lab measurements. A leftover night shows the reheat, not the original cook.

Photographs are AI illustrations of the dishes.

The idea

Four people eating every night adds up fast. The useful move is cooking fewer separate dinners, not hunting for a coupon. A pot that makes six portions covers dinner twice for a family of four, with two spare. A whole chicken becomes a roast one night and a soup later in the week.

PlanMyMeals scales portions to who is actually eating. A bigger Sunday batch shows up as Monday leftovers in the plan, not as a note you have to remember.

How PlanMyMeals works
Native iPhone meal rhythm settings, with batch cooking and planned leftovers

Limits

This page is about cooking fewer dinners, not about a grocery total. PlanMyMeals does not publish ingredient prices here.

Sunday's pot makes six portions. Four people eat four and keep two for Monday. If your household is a different size, the portion scaler changes the whole week, including what a batch leaves over.

Our editorial standards

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