Blog · 2026-11-13

7 dinners for a family of 4 for about $58: a budget weekly meal plan

If your grocery budget is about $100 a week for four people, dinners are where most of the money goes. Here is a full week of family dinners that comes to about $58 for four, leaving room for breakfasts, lunches and snacks.

Costs are estimates per serving at average US grocery prices, multiplied by four. Real prices change by store and region.

The week

Photos: Simple Spaghetti: photo, CC0 (Foodiesfeed) · Sloppy Joes: photo by Buck Blues, CC BY 2.0 · Omurice: photo by Kanesue, CC BY 2.0 · Sweet and sour pork with pineapple (gu lou yuk): photo by Walter Grassroot, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Grilled cheese sandwich: photo by Willis Lam, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Cream of broccoli soup: photo by Alpha from Melbourne, Australia, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Pumpkin risotto: photo, CC0 · Chicken Pot Pie: photo, CC0

Why this week works

• It mixes very cheap nights (spaghetti, grilled cheese) with a couple of richer ones (sweet and sour pork, pot pie), so nobody feels they are “on a budget”.
• Onions, ketchup, butter, eggs, rice, bell peppers and cheddar come back several times: you buy them once.
• Friday is soup and sandwiches, the easiest night of the week.
• The pot pie uses canned soup, canned chicken and frozen vegetables: no prep, and it keeps in the pantry until Sunday.

Make it fit your family

• Picky eaters: swap one dinner for another from the same price range, like corn dogs for omurice.
• Allergies: check every recipe and product label. In WePlate, allergies are hard rules, so a recipe that breaks one is never suggested.
• Bigger appetites: add rice, bread or a salad instead of a second main.

WePlate builds a week like this for your household automatically: tell it who eats at home, your weekly budget and any allergies, and it plans every meal and writes one grocery list sorted by aisle.