April Meal Plan Week 4

Week Four of the April Meal Plan comes with seven dinner recipe ideas. Included you will also find a list of grocery ingredients for each entrée and side dish ideas you can use.

Scroll all the way down for a list of dessert recipe ideas to cook for your family. Also visit our Meal Plans page for more ideas. Meal Planning is one great way to save on the grocery budget.

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More Meal Plans

• April Meal Plan Week 3
• April Meal Plan Week 2
• April Meal Plan Week 1
• March Meal Plan Week 4

About the meal plan

• This meal plan will serve 4. Some recipes will serve more than four depending on your portion sizes.
• It’s a meal plan for one week of dinner ideas.
• Some recipes are intended to create premeditated leftovers, like casseroles or large pots of soup. This saves on the budget.
• It is understood that you have common ingredients in your pantry such as salt and pepper so those are not included in the ingredient lists.
• Some recipes will call for ingredients that can be used in multiple recipes for the week. Such as a head of lettuce can be used to make side salads with a small amount also portioned for tacos. A bag of carrots can be used for multiple dishes in one week to avoid waste.
• There are 7 dinner ideas each week, in no particular order.
• Scroll down for the recipe links.
• Subscribe to my Newsletter to have these meal plans delivered to your inbox.
• Follow my Facebook page for lots of recipes shared daily.

April Meal Plan Week 4

All recipes are linked at the bottom of this article. Side dish suggestions are not required, cook your favorite family sides. The grocery list for each entrée includes the ingredients required for that entrée.

1. BBQ Chicken Leg Quarters Recipe

Buy a bag of chicken leg quarters in the meat department at the grocery store to have on hand for recipes like this. This recipe for Baked BBQ Leg Quarters is a little extra trouble for basting on the BBQ sauce at the end but totally worth it.

Side Dishes

Mashed potatoes or French fries with your green beans, Italian beans or English peas. Rolls would be nice too.

Grocery List for entree

• 4 Chicken Leg Quarters
• 1 tsp. Salt
• 1/2 tsp. Pepper
• 1 Tbsp. Smoked Paprika
• 1 Cup BBQ Sauce (I use Sweet Baby Ray’s)

2. Crockpot Taco Soup (Dump soup)

This Crockpot Taco Soup recipe is perfect for Taco Tuesday. This dump soup recipe is loaded with flavor and simmers in the Slow Cooker making it an easy weeknight dinner idea.

Side Dish

All you need to go with this soup is Tortilla chips. You can serve a small green salad if you like.

Grocery List

• 1 15 oz. can Black Beans
• 1 15 oz. can Whole Kernel Sweet Corn 
• 1 10.3 oz. can Tomato Soup
• 1 14-15 oz. can Diced Tomatoes
• 1 lb. Ground turkey (Ground beef would be fine also)
• 1 pkg. Taco Seasoning
• 1 Cup Hot Water

3. Bundt Pan Roast Chicken and Vegetables

A savory roast chicken recipe one-pan dinner made easy with a simple kitchen hack. Seasoned chicken juice flavors the vegetables underneath while the chicken is roasting.

Side Dish

All you need is bread; rolls, biscuits or cornbread. Potatoes, carrots, and onions are part of this one-pan meal.

Grocery List

• 1 3-4 lb. whole chicken
• 1.5 lb. small yellow potatoes (like Yukon gold)
• 1 sweet onion
• 1 lb. baby carrots
• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 1/2 tsp. paprika
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. onion powder
• 1/2 tsp. dried oregano

4. Tomato and Red Onion Jelly Burger

Make this recipe for Red Onion Jelly and use it to top homemade burgers. Such a delicious way to enjoy hamburgers at home.

Side Dishes

There are many favorite side dishes to go with burgers at home. Take your pick; Baked Homestyle Fries, Creamy Cole Slaw, Best Ever Baked Beans, or Chili Cheese Tater Tots.

Grocery List

• 1 28 oz.. can Tuttorosso® Peeled Plum tomatoes No Salt Added
• 1 28 oz. Can Tuttorosso® Crushed tomatoes with basil
• 2 medium red onions
• 1 medium Honeycrisp apple
• ½ stick butter
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. thyme
• 1 tsp. basil
• ½ cup brown sugar
• ½ cup granulated white sugar
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp. Balsamic vinegar
• 2 Tbsp. Cider vinegar

5. Oven Baked Smothered Cube Steak

This comfort food weeknight meal is made from scratch and is worth the effort. The meat is browned. Then the gravy is made in the pan drippings and poured over the meat to be slowly baked for a tender and yummy entree.

Side Dishes

Rice or Homemade mashed potatoes go perfectly with the homemade gravy. Serve peas and carrots or your favorite green vegetable on the side. These Italian beans are a family favorite.

Ingredients

• 4 cube steaks
• 1 small onion (optional)
• Salt & Pepper
• 1 cup prepared black coffee (Instant will work)
• 1 Cup sifted flour for the cube steak
• 2 Tbsp. sifted flour for the gravy
• 2-4 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 1/2 Cups Hot water (amount may vary)

6. Zucchini, Red Potatoes & Drumsticks Foil Pack Meal

This foil packet dinner recipe is a delicious one pot dinner with meat and vegetables cooked together. The best part is that you can cook a foil packet meal (Hobo dinner) on the grill or in the oven and it’s always easy clean up.

Side Dish

The vegetables are cooked with the meat so no need for anything else unless you would like some dinner rolls or biscuits.

Grocery List

• 2 Fresh Zucchini
• 1 container of Cherry Tomatoes
• 2 Fresh Squash
• 3 Ears of Fresh Corn
• 3 or 4 small Red Potatoes
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 9 chicken drumsticks
• 1 packet of vegetable seasoning mix

7. Copycat Olive Garden Salad

Here is a salad recipe you can make into a whole meal. This copycat recipe is easy to throw together and makes a light dinner.

Side Dish

Serve Garlic breadsticks to go with your salad. I am not even going to lie, I will cook frozen bread sticks or stop by and pick up an order of breadsticks from a nearby Italian restaurant.

Grocery List

Salad Ingredients

• 4 to 6 cups chopped iceberg or romaine lettuce
• 1 small red onion, sliced thin
• 2 to 3 Roma tomatoes, sliced
• 8 whole pepperoncini, drained
• ⅓  cup pitted black olives
• ½ cup croutons
• Parmesan cheese, for garnish

Copycat Olive Garden Salad Dressing Ingredients

• ½ cup mayonnaise
• ⅓ cup red wine vinegar
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 ½ teaspoons Italian seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

Scroll down for all of this week’s menu plan recipe links.

April Meal Plan Recipes Week 4

1. Baked BBQ Leg Quarters recipe
2. Crockpot Taco Soup recipe
3. Bundt Pan Roast Chicken and Vegetables recipe
4. Tomato and Red Onion Jelly Burgers
5. Baked Cube Steak and Gravy recipe
6. Zucchini, Drumsticks and Red Potatoes Foil Pack recipe
7. Copycat Olive Garden Salad recipe

Your thoughts?

Got tips others can use? Questions? I love hearing from you. Please scroll down and leave a comment.

Desserts To Make At Home

• Classic Strawberry Shortcake Recipe
• No Bake Triple Berry Cheesecake Parfait
• Sugar Plum Cupcakes Recipe
• Creamy Chocolate Mousse Easy Recipe
• Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars Recipe
• Citrus Cake with Citrus Cream Cheese Frosting Easy Recipe

Thank you for sharing!