Weekly Meal Plan: Garlicky Chicken, a Super-Sized Batch of Rice, and Instant Pot Shrimp

Brace yourselves: This week’s shopping list calls for a whopping nine heads of garlic, most of which will be thrown into a pan with chicken legs and roasted until they're sweet and mellow. That chicken and garlic, as well as a huge batch of rice (check out our no-fail way to make it), will nextover into a notably easy, delicious week featuring almost-instant chicken curry, simple shrimp scampi, and a kid-friendly batch of fritters.

All the details are below. But first, the grocery list:

Pantry

• Kosher salt
• Black pepper
• Bay leaves
• Mild curry powder
• Yellow or black mustard seeds (optional)
• Whole nutmeg
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• Virgin coconut or vegetable oil
• Distilled white vinegar or rice vinegar
• 2 lbs. rice
• 1 (14-oz.) can coconut milk (preferably full-fat)
• 1/4 cup raw cashews (optional)
• All-purpose flour
• 1/2 lb. fusilli
• Quick-cooking or instant rolled oats
• Coarse-grained Dijon mustard

Produce

• 9 heads of garlic
• 1 medium onion
• 1 (2 1/2”) piece ginger
• 2 red chiles (such as Fresno)
• 1 small head of cauliflower (about 1 1/2 lbs.)
• 1 bunch parsley
• 1 bunch cilantro
• 1 bunch sage
• 1 lb. green beans
• 5 oz. baby spinach
• 1 large butternut squash (about 2 lbs.)
• 1 bag broccoli slaw mix
• 3 lemons

Dairy

• Unsalted butter
• 1 quart whole milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 1/2 cups finely grated Parmesan
• 8 oz. cheddar
• Eggs
• 8 oz. plain Greek yogurt

Butcher’s Counter

• 8 chicken legs (thigh and drumstick; about 5 lbs. total)
• 12 oz. Italian sausage (about 3 links)

Seafood

• 1 1/2 lbs. jumbo shrimp

Bakery

• Country-style bread

Liquor Store

• Dry white wine

Photo by Alex Lau, Food Styling by Susie Theodorou

SUNDAY: Roast Some Chicken Legs

A double-batch of garlicky, slow-roasted chicken will give you two meals this week. Remove the meat from half the legs and roughly chop for Wednesday's coconut curry. Set aside a few cloves of roasted garlic—you'll be using those on Tuesday night—before refrigerating. Hold off on toasting the bread—that’s for tomorrow.

Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Judy Mancini

MONDAY: Roast Chicken Legs with Lots of Garlic and Creamy Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes

Reheat the whole legs from yesterday. While that’s going, make a batch of potato-free mashed potatoes (spoiler: it’s really cauliflower), to serve with the chicken. Mash in a few cloves of the roasted garlic, too. And don’t forget to toast some bread to spread with still more of that garlic.

Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Beatrice Chastka, Food Styling by Olivia Mack Anderson

TUESDAY: Instant Pot Shrimp Scampi with Rice and Steamed Garlic Green Beans

Everybody’s favorite kitchen gadget gets dinner on the table in just 15 minutes—which is less time than it takes to cook our Big-Batch Rice, so don’t turn on the Instant Pot until the rice hits the water. Once the rice and shrimp are going, steam the green beans and toss with a chopped clove or two of reserved roasted garlic and a bit of lemon zest. Serve 1/3 of the rice tonight, and refrigerate the rest for tomorrow and Friday.

Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Rhoda Boone

WEDNESDAY: Coconut Chicken in a Hurry

Using the chopped, cooked chicken makes this curry even faster than usual. Skip the first step of the recipe and add the seasoning to the coconut milk mixture before you blend it. Simmer the sauce with the onion until it thickens, then stir in the chicken and proceed with the recipe. Tonight you’ll use just half an onion—wrap the other half tightly and refrigerate to use on Friday. Reheat another 1/3 of the rice to sop up that creamy curry sauce.

Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Laura Rege

THURSDAY: Creamy One-Pot Pasta with Sausage and Squash

Cooking the pasta in the same pot as the sauce ups the creaminess factor substantially—and at the end of the night, there’s only one pan to wash. (If you’ve still got some roasted garlic, use it here in place of the recipe’s raw clove.) Wrap the spare half of the butternut squash and refrigerate for tomorrow.

Photo by Chelsea Kyle, food styling by Anna Stockwell

FRIDAY: Butternut-Cheddar Rice Fritters with Creamy Broccoli Slaw

Tonight you’re nextovering bits from multiple meals into something no kid can resist: Cheesy, crispy fried pancakes. Follow the instructions here, using the last of the rice as your base. Shred both the butternut squash and the onion you saved, and mix it in along with shredded cheddar, a grating of nutmeg, and a bit of chopped sage. To make it into a full meal, stir some lemon juice and zest plus a pinch of salt into about half the Greek yogurt for a dipping sauce, and use the rest of the yogurt in place of mayo in this quick slaw.