Keep inspired in the kitchen this summer with this 7-day meal plan for nutrient dense dinners. Each meal is carefully crafted to ensure optimal nutrition, calories and balance for both adults and children.
What foods are nutrient dense?
Nutrient dense foods are foods that are high in vitamins and minerals. In addition, these foods are perfect for nourishing your body and providing you with a healthy metabolism. Our ancestors were incredibly intuitive when it came to nutrient density. They were able to find the foods that held the most nutrition per bite and they prioritized those foods. Today, we are all about restricting calories and fat in order to be “healthy”. But the true key to health is picking the foods that offer you the best bang for your buck, so to speak.
Nutrient dense foods are high in fat soluble vitamins A, D, and K. Some other important vitamins and minerals include your B and E vitamins, sodium, magnesium, calcium, zinc, selenium, copper, iodine and many others. But these few are critical to your daily health. So the most important thing to remember when planning your dinners is to try to incorporate not only your macronutrients (carbs, protein and fat) but to consider the micronutrients listed above, as well. This will help keep your plate well balanced.
Vitamins A, D and K are mostly present in animal foods (in the highest quantity). Foods such as raw dairy, egg yolks, organ meats, fish, lard and meat will provide you with the greatest amounts. The greats news is these foods also contain incredibly high quantities of the remaining micronutrients as well. Then throwing in many vegetables will provide you with extra micronutrients as well as phytochemicals to help increase your health. Other nutrient dense foods include fermented foods such as sauerkraut for vitamin K and probiotics, as well as seaweed for iodine. When we look at our food as not merely carbs, fat and protein, we begin to see how we can truly change our health with each bite. For more info on nutrient density, check out the Weston A. Price Foundation. I hope you enjoy these 7-day nutrient dense dinners!
Day 1:
Bison Burger with Cheddar Cheese, Peanut Butter and Candied Jalapeños
Yes you read that right! This burger is unbelievable, and yes it has peanut butter on top. Trust me, it’s not as weird as it sounds. Plus it’s paired with sweet potato fries cooked in grass-fed tallow and served on fresh garden cabbage in lieu of a bun. What a well balanced meal. The meat, tallow and raw cheddar cheese provide you with your fat soluble vitamins and the fresh veggies give you that extra boost. Plus it tastes amazing on a hot summer day.
Day 2
Homemade Mac and Cheese with Raw Dairy and Roasted Vegetables
Comfort food at it’s finest. I promised easy meals and it doesn’t get much easier than mac and cheese. You can use your noodles of choice. My favorite are einkorn noodles from Jovial Foods. I made my sauce using raw cheese, grass-fed butter and raw cream. I topped it with roasted tomatoes and a side of fresh roasted asparagus. This meal is definitely the ‘treat’ meal of the week due to the high quantity of carbs. But sometimes, you just need a little comfort food. And your kids with be especially grateful.
Day 3
Italian Venison Over Zoodles
This summer meal incorporates all of the fresh garden vegetables. Roasted carrots, tomatoes, brussel sprouts, broccoli and artichokes top this venison bolognese sauce. It is so easy to whip up last minute. Just toss all of the veggies onto a sheet plan and cover in tallow or coconut oil. Then cook your venison with some onion and garlic and add in your marinara. If you’d like you can sprinkle a bit of parmesan on top as well as some fresh Italian herbs and spices. This recipe is super versatile and you can really just use up whatever veggies and meat (chicken is a great option in this dish) you have on hand. I placed it all over zoodles and it was delicious.
Day 4
Kelp Noodle Salad
This is a unique meal that is served with raw veggies and a delicious sauce. Kelp noodles are so easy and do not require cooking, plus they are a great source of iodine. I topped mine with fresh garden kale, cabbage, carrots, green beans, cucumbers, red onion and soaked cashews. The sauce is a combination of 2 tbsp coconut aminos, 2 tbsp sesame oil, 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar, 3 tbsp olive oil and 1/4 tsp sea salt. You can serve this with shrimp or any other type of seafood and it is perfect.
Day 5
Mexican Sweet Potato Skillet with Beef and Liver
I try to incorporate organ meats into my dinners at least once per week. And this meal is perfect for hiding liver. I purchase ‘beef plus’ from my local pasture raised butcher shop. So this means it is ground beef plus liver and heart. And it is a wonderful way to get all of your fat soluble vitamins. I simply roast the sweet potato in the oven while cooking the beef on the stove top in a cast iron skillet with red onion, pepper, cabbage and tomatoes. Also adding in some cumin, cayenne pepper and sea salt. Then I top it all with homemade guacamole. I make mine using avocado, lime juice and garlic salt (sometimes I throw in a little greek yogurt). In addition to being delicious, this meal is so simple and quick.
Day 6
Greek Gyros on Einkorn Pitas
Greek food is probably my favorite summer dish. Because tzatziki sauce tastes so fresh and light in the summer. It is so simple, just greek yogurt, dill, cucumbers and garlic. I like to add in a little red onion for that extra kick. Then you grill up some steaks and top it with fresh bell pepper. You can find my homemade einkorn tortillas here to complete the meal. Or just use your favorite pita, flatbread or tortilla recipe.
Day 7
Keema Aloo with Potatoes and Coconut Milk
Keema aloo is a traditional Indian dish made with ground beef, potatoes and curry sauce. You cook up the beef and potatoes then add in whatever veggies you’d like including tomatoes, peas and corn. I then topped mine with a curry sauce made from coconut milk and curry spice. It was so simple and easy clean up too. I love meals that you can make in just one cast iron skillet.
Weekly Grocery List
Here is a simple grocery list (for 2 adults) to help you prepare the above meals for your 7-day nutrient dense dinners:
- Ground beef (2 lbs)
- Ground venison (1 lb)
- Grass-fed steaks (2)
- Ground bison (1 lb)
- Shrimp (or your favorite seafood)
- Raw cheese
- Raw cream
- Greek yogurt
- Grass-fed butter
- Tallow
- Coconut oil
- Olive oil
- Sesame oil
- Coconut milk (1 can)
- Raw cashews
- Einkorn flour (or pita/tortilla of choice)
- Einkorn pasta
- Zoodles (or fresh zucchini)
- Kelp noodles (1 package)
- Marinara sauce (1 jar)
- Sweet potatoes (6)
- Potatoes (3)
- Cabbage (1 head)
- Jalapeños
- Tomatoes
- Asparagus
- Broccoli
- Brussel sprouts
- Artichokes
- Red onion (3)
- Red pepper
- Cucumber
- Avocados (3)
- Peas
- Corn
- Kale
- Carrots
- Curry powder
- Dill weed
- Garlic salt
- Coconut aminos
- Cayenne pepper
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Final Thoughts
That wraps up our 7-day nutrient dense dinners. I hope you enjoyed and found some inspiration for your week. Healthy dinners don’t need to be extravagant or break the bank. Just stick to simple meals that you can whip up on a busy night and feel good that you’re serving your family the best of the best. These meals are actual meals I served my family in one week, nothing special and no tricks. Let me know what some of your favorite nutrient dense meals are in the comments below! Thank you.