Here’s your weekly meal planner featuring a delightful mix of Indian-inspired dishes and a few global vegetarian options, complete with prep ideas and more! Dive in to see what’s on the menu this week.
Last week, I focused on South Indian-inspired dishes, and this week, I’m mixing things up. 😊 I’ve started sharing daily meal inspirations on my WhatsApp and Instagram channels, so be sure to join for fresh ideas every day. If you’re into journaling and need a meal planner, check out my VVK Meal Planner.
Leftovers for the win-
I’m a big fan of leftovers—they’re a lifesaver! While opinions vary, I believe homemade leftovers are far better than takeout or frozen meals. Our busy schedules make morning cooking tough, so I cook extra on work-from-home days to tide us over.
This week, I’m skipping batch cooking and focusing on quick lunches and dinners like pasta and noodle soup, alongside versatile dishes like kurma, which pairs beautifully with dosai and chapati. And just so you know, Monday’s lunch is Sunday’s leftovers—I didn’t whip up an elaborate meal on Monday morning!
You can also check out my meal planner with more options for soups and stews and variety rice and also one pot meal options.
VVK Meal Planning Tips
- As always, prep your veggies ahead of time and store them.
- For batch cooking, you can make idli dosa batter, kurma, and pesto sauce and cook pasta and noodles over the weekend—store everything in the fridge.
- If you prefer quick and convenient meals over batch cooking, consider roasting vegetables in the oven. It’s an effortless method that doesn’t require constant attention, and you can achieve a lovely crunchy texture with minimal oil. Veggies like okra, ivy gourd, cauliflower, and sweet potatoes roast beautifully.
- You can also knead dough in advance and refrigerate it for later use. If you have a stand mixer or food processor, make the dough in bulk and store it.
- And don’t forget about delayed cooking in your Instant Pot—it’s perfect for lentils and legumes. Just soak them, set the timer, and they’ll be ready when needed.
This week’s meal planner-
Here is this week’s visual meal planning chart. Most of the recipes are on the blog; find the links below. If it’s a new recipe, I will share it on Instagram first, so follow me there.
Monday-
- Overnight chocolate oats
- Rice with pitlai and paruppu usili
- Thai-style noodle soup
Tuesday-
- Avocado toast
- Hakka noodles with steamed broccoli or tofu broccoli stir-fry
- Dosai with tomato kurma
Wednesday-
Thursday-
- Idli with tiffin sambar
- Buckwheat khichdi with roasted cauliflower. (I am linking the recipe steel-cut oats khichdi; you can swap steel-cut oats for buckwheat)
- Peas sundal for a snack.
Friday-
- Rasam rice with potato curry
- Kuzhi paniyaram with leftover batter and leftover vegetables, and you can serve it with spicy onion-tomato chutney.
I hope this menu planner provides some inspiration for your meals. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below. I’ll share daily updates on my Instagram and Facebook groups, so stay connected!
Happy planning & cooking!
Vidhya
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