BETAFive easy family dinners, one simple plan
Start with five dinners you want to eat, choose portions for your household, and leave two nights flexible. Here’s how to turn The Family Five into a plan that fits your week.
Start with five dinners you want to eat
Give the week a little variety by changing the kind of dinner: pasta one night, quesadillas another, then salmon, noodles and burgers. The Family Five brings those ideas together so you can start with a complete collection instead of choosing every dish from scratch.
Open any recipe before you commit. Look at the ingredients, equipment and method, and decide whether it suits your household. Cooking times are estimates, so leave yourself more time when a recipe is new to you. If a dinner doesn’t fit, use its swap menu to choose another dish from the collection’s options.
- Creamy mushroom fettuccine
Golden mushrooms, silky cream and a generous finish of Parmesan. A cosy trattoria dinner without the reservation.
30 minutes · 2 servings - Black bean & pepper quesadillas
Crisp tortillas packed with black beans, sweet pepper and melted cheese, finished with lime.
20 minutes · 2 servings - Lemon & dill salmon
A simple salmon supper with roasted green beans, fresh dill and plenty of lemon. Light effort, full dinner.
30 minutes · 2 servings - Garlic mushroom chow mein
Browned shiitakes, plenty of garlic and wheat noodles in a light, glossy soy-sesame sauce.
25 minutes · 2 servings - The Standard cheeseburger
A thin seared beef patty, melted cheddar and crisp pickles, finished with our three-condiment burger sauce.
30 minutes · 2 servings
Choose portions for your household
Set “Servings per dinner” on the meal-week page before reviewing your list. The combined ingredient amounts update with your choice. For example, changing the Family Five preview from two servings to four doubles the recipe amounts; it doesn’t mean you need twice as many packages of everything.
Package sizes and recipe amounts serve different purposes. You might need only part of a bag of pasta, a few spoonfuls of oil or two garlic cloves. The shopping list keeps the recipe amounts visible beside the suggested products. Larger portions may also need more pan batches and cooking time.
Check the fridge before you shop
Read the combined grocery list with your fridge and cupboards in mind. Uncheck anything you already have enough of, including oil, salt, spices and packaged ingredients. Those items stay out of this preview’s Walmart list. Pantry selections on the meal-week page apply to that checklist; they aren’t saved as a permanent pantry inventory.
Keep the ingredient descriptions in view. Fresh and dried ingredients, different mushroom varieties, and raw and ready-cooked rice aren’t automatically interchangeable. Follow the ingredient and preparation notes in each recipe rather than buying a similar-looking product.
Leave room for real life
Choose the Monday that starts your week, then use “Use this week” to add the collection to your kitchen. Sign in first if you haven’t already. The collection fills empty days; it preserves meals already planned and the serving amounts of recipes you’ve already saved. Check the result to see which dishes were added or skipped.
The collection starts with Monday through Friday and leaves Saturday and Sunday open. In My kitchen, move a dish to a day that suits your schedule. Keep the other nights available for another favourite, a change of plans or suitable leftovers. Follow ingredient storage instructions when deciding what to cook first.
Review one shopping list, then make it yours
Once you’re happy with the dinners and portions, review the suggested products and quantities. Known pack sizes are calculated from the combined recipe amounts. Items marked “One package suggested” start at one editable package because their exact usable quantity hasn’t been confirmed. Adjust those counts against what you need, especially for a larger household or week.
You can change package counts or uncheck a product before opening Walmart. Ingredients without a matching product remain listed separately with the amounts to buy. At Walmart, check the final products, quantities and store availability before checking out. Opening the shopping link is a handoff, not a confirmed order.