Chicken All Week Meal Plan: Seven Ways for About $55
What do seven dinners for four cost on this plan?
$50.57 for the week, priced at the Bureau of Labor Statistics' national average retail prices for September 2026, against a target of $55. That is $7.22 a dinner, or about $1.81 a plate. The full shopping list is below, and every ingredient is priced from the same federal series.
The week at a glance
| Day | Dinner | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Whole Roast Chicken with Potatoes | $10.48 |
| Tuesday | Chicken Soup from the Carcass | $2.49 |
| Wednesday | Chicken Pasta with Fresh Tomatoes | $11.20 |
| Thursday | Chicken and Rice | $10.60 |
| Friday | Chicken Pot Pie with a Flour Crust | $2.67 |
| Saturday | Fried Rice with Egg and Last Chicken Bits | $2.50 |
| Sunday | Pan Seared Chicken Breast Night | $10.63 |
| Week total | $50.57 | |
Costs are the ingredients each dinner uses, at September 2026 BLS average prices. Where a dinner runs on leftovers (a roast chicken's second life, extra rice), only the new ingredients are costed that night; the original purchase is counted once, on the night it is cooked.
If your family will happily eat chicken every night as long as it does not feel like the same dinner, this is your plan. A roast on Monday, soup on Tuesday, pot pie on Friday: the bird changes costume all week, and the grocery bill stays low because whole chicken is one of the cheapest meats per pound.
The structure is two whole chickens plus some breast meat. The whole birds give you roast dinners, broth, pot pie filling and fried rice bits. The breasts are saved for the two nights where sliced, tender chicken is the whole meal. Buy both birds in one shop and freeze the second if your fridge space is tight.
What goes into each dinner
Monday: Whole Roast Chicken with Potatoes, $10.48
The first of two whole chickens this week, roasted with potatoes in the same pan. Carve it at the table tonight, then pick the carcass clean while the kitchen is still warm. Tomorrow's soup depends on doing that small job tonight. Costed ingredients: 4 lb whole chicken whole chicken ($8.26), 2 lb white potatoes ($1.98), 2 tbsp butter ($0.24).
Tuesday: Chicken Soup from the Carcass, $2.49
Monday's carcass simmered into broth, with the picked meat, rice, potato and corn stirred back in. No new chicken is costed here because you already bought it. This is the dinner that makes a whole chicken worth roasting. Costed ingredients: 3/4 lb long grain rice ($0.84), 1 lb white potatoes ($0.99), 1/2 lb canned corn ($0.66).
Wednesday: Chicken Pasta with Fresh Tomatoes, $11.20
A midweek change of pace: chicken breast cut into strips, cooked fast, and tossed with spaghetti, chopped fresh tomatoes and a little grated cheddar. It eats like a different cuisine from Monday's roast, which is the whole point of this plan. Costed ingredients: 1 1/2 lb chicken breast, boneless ($6.30), 1 lb spaghetti ($1.38), 1 lb fresh tomatoes ($1.99), 1/4 lb, grated cheddar cheese ($1.53).
Thursday: Chicken and Rice, $10.60
The second whole chicken, poached or roasted and served over a big pot of rice with corn. Cook more rice than you need tonight, because Friday's pot pie and Saturday's fried rice both start from what this dinner leaves behind. Costed ingredients: 4 lb whole chicken whole chicken ($8.26), 1 1/2 lb long grain rice ($1.68), 1/2 lb canned corn ($0.66).
Friday: Chicken Pot Pie with a Flour Crust, $2.67
Thursday's leftover chicken folded into a thick milk gravy with potato and corn, under a simple flour and butter crust you roll out yourself. No new chicken is costed here. A homemade crust sounds like a project, but it takes ten minutes and costs pennies. Costed ingredients: 1/2 lb (about 2 cups, for the crust) all purpose flour ($0.27), 4 tbsp (half a stick) butter ($0.49), 1 lb white potatoes ($0.99), 1 cup whole milk ($0.26), 1/2 lb canned corn ($0.66).
Saturday: Fried Rice with Egg and Last Chicken Bits, $2.50
Cold leftover rice fried with eggs and whatever small bits of chicken are left from Thursday's bird. Day old rice fries up crisp instead of gummy, so cook it Friday if you can. This is the clean out the fridge dinner, and it never tastes like one. Costed ingredients: 6 eggs eggs, grade a large ($1.14), 1 lb long grain rice ($1.12), 2 tbsp butter ($0.24).
Sunday: Pan Seared Chicken Breast Night, $10.63
The week's one straight breast night: thick chicken breasts seared in butter and served with potatoes. After a week of roast, soup, pasta and pie, plain and simple is a feature. Slice the breasts across the grain so every portion stays tender. Costed ingredients: 2 lb chicken breast, boneless ($8.41), 2 lb white potatoes ($1.98), 2 tbsp butter ($0.24).
Swaps that keep the budget
No time to make a crust Friday? Serve the pot pie filling over toast or leftover rice instead and skip the flour and butter. It becomes chicken stew night and nobody minds.
Swap Wednesday's chicken breast for thighs if your store prices them lower. The plan is costed on breast, so the swap only helps the total.
Add a second egg night in place of Sunday's breasts during a price spike. Six eggs and potatoes feed four for about three dollars.
Leftovers, handled on purpose
This plan runs on leftovers, so handle them like ingredients, not afterthoughts. Pick each carcass the night it is cooked, refrigerate the meat in its broth, and label which dinner it belongs to. Thursday's extra rice becomes Saturday's fried rice, and any pot pie filling that does not fit the dish freezes well for a future lunch.
The shopping list
| Item | Amount for the week | Price basis | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole chicken | 8 lb | $2.06 per lb (BLS APU0000706111) | $16.52 |
| Chicken breast, boneless | 3 1/2 lb | $4.20 per lb (BLS APU0000FF1101) | $14.71 |
| White potatoes | 6 lb | $0.99 per lb (BLS APU0000712112) | $5.94 |
| Long grain rice | 3 1/4 lb | $1.12 per lb (BLS APU0000701312) | $3.64 |
| Fresh tomatoes | 1 lb | $1.99 per lb (BLS APU0000712311) | $1.99 |
| Canned corn | 1 1/2 lb | $1.32 per lb (BLS APU0000714221) | $1.98 |
| Cheddar cheese | 1/4 lb | $6.13 per lb (BLS APU0000710212) | $1.53 |
| Spaghetti | 1 lb | $1.38 per lb (BLS APU0000701322) | $1.38 |
| Butter | 10 tbsp | $3.96 per lb (BLS APU0000FS1101) | $1.21 |
| Eggs, grade A large | 6 eggs | $2.27 per dozen (BLS APU0000708111) | $1.14 |
| All purpose flour | 1/2 lb | $0.55 per lb (BLS APU0000701111) | $0.27 |
| Whole milk | 1 cup | $4.11 per gallon (BLS APU0000709112) | $0.26 |
| Total | $50.57 | ||
This plan assumes you already have the basics at home: salt, pepper, cooking oil and dried spices such as garlic powder, paprika and thyme, plus an onion or two if you keep them around. Those staples are used in small amounts and are not in the total; if your pantry is bare, add a few dollars for oil and spices in week one only.
Frequently asked questions
How much chicken does this plan actually buy?
Two whole four pound chickens and three and a half pounds of breast, spread across seven dinners. The whole chickens do the heavy lifting on Monday and Thursday, and their leftovers carry Tuesday, Friday and Saturday. The breasts are reserved for Wednesday's pasta and Sunday, where their texture matters most.
Is it safe to stretch one chicken across three dinners?
Get Monday's carcass into soup or the freezer within two days, and use Thursday's leftover chicken by Saturday at the latest. Cooked chicken keeps three to four days in the fridge. If your week changes, freeze the picked meat in its broth and make the pot pie next week instead.
How do I keep the chicken breast nights from drying out?
Cook the breast gently for Wednesday's pasta and slice it thin, and pound Sunday's breasts to an even thickness before searing so they cook through without drying out. A ten minute rest before slicing makes a real difference. If breast prices jump, swap Sunday to a third whole chicken and shred it.
Keep exploring
More plans: all Mami's Budget meal plans · Stretch the same dollars further with the meal planning savings calculator and the grocery budget calculator
See what the ingredients cost right now: price trackers for eggs, milk, bread and diapers · one basket priced at Walmart, Kroger and Target
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Average Price Data, U.S. city average, September 2026, retrieved November 10, 2026 (series APU0000701111, APU0000701312, APU0000701322, APU0000706111, APU0000708111, APU0000709112, APU0000710212, APU0000712112, APU0000712311, APU0000714221, APU0000FF1101, APU0000FS1101). Amounts are the quantities each dinner uses for a family of four; your store's prices will differ, which is the point of the trackers above. Prices checked November 10, 2026.