The best mid-week meal recipes – Easy and delicious recipes all week long

While life is always full, I find so much joy in creating quick dishes that nourish and bring happiness. It is one of the very reasons that I started this beautiful business more than fifteen years ago—to create delicious meals that don’t have to be complicated to be amazing—and I love sharing this with you.

I know many of you, like me, enjoy the ease of having go-to recipes ready for those weeknights when you want something satisfying but don’t want to spend hours in the kitchen. This selection of recipes is here to inspire you—whether you’re planning or whipping something up on the fly. I want to share some of the recipes that I think are The best mid-week meal recipes & ones that will keep you feeling at ease & inspired all week long.

Just like in my cookbook Relish Mama ‘Family’, these recipes are all about making everyday meals better, without making them harder. With some planning, you can enjoy the kind of food that brings everyone together, no matter how busy things get.

It is not always easy, and being inspired for mid-week dinners can be a chore. The planning and some cooking ahead is what keeps it inspiring and allows us, as a family, to always be enjoying great food, no matter what day of the week it is

I hope these recipes become a regular part of your cooking routine, helping you savour more time around the table with those you love. Thank you for your ongoing support—it truly means the world to me.

For me, these are some of the best mid-week meal recipes, Recipes that will keep you eating well & feeling inspired in the kitchen….all week long.

I hope this selection becomes immediately indispensable to you and the gift I hope it to be.

I’d love to inspire your dinner table every week! Our Relish Mama Cooking Club offers exclusive recipes, cookbooks, and classes that go beyond what I share here. If you’ve enjoyed these recipes, then you will love what’s waiting inside the club. Explore more here, or feel free to reach out with any questions.

Love Nellie

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• • P.S –

    Want to know more about our incredible food tours? We have upcoming tours to beautiful Italy and magnificent India in 2025. You can learn more by visiting our tours page here, or please don’t hesitate to contact me to discuss these gourmet tours. I’d love to help with any questions that you may have.

 

The strategy and the menu

 

On the weekend, or wherever you find you have a little stretch of time, I would strongly suggest you cook these to help you a great deal and to inspire you for the following weekly menu.

Poach a chicken – whole or breast fillets (can make mid-week meals and lunches that much more speedy. Not to mention adding to soups or fried rice and the likes)

Finely shred some cabbage & store in an airtight container (making salads and, slaw and sliders a breeze to throw together)

Caramelise some onions

Make a soup you love – works for Monday nights and nourishing lunches.

 

MONDAY

 

Monday’s are always meatless for us. It is a family pledge we took many years back. So……. we might be enjoying a bowl of soup such as this one or even this one here.

Some other Monday nights, if we weren’t organised & didn’t have that soup in the fridge, it may be a meal using good quality free-range eggs, toasts drizzled with Cobram estate extra virgin olive oil and a dash of harissa and dukkah. This is sometimes where it is at and I have no shame in that at all. This,is one of my favourite ‘quickie’ meals of all.

 

TUESDAY

 

Curry night is always a winner and I have found myself heading back to this old faithful quite a bit of late. A cracking midweek, no-hassle curry (thanks to my friend Michele Curtis) & it is aptly named ‘bloody good chicken curry’. I was thrilled to include this tasty curry in the new Relish Mama ‘Family’ cookbook. Thanks, Michele  🙂

Tonight it is a must – cook a little more rice than is needed to serve with your curry and store it in the fridge. Ideally, you will have 4 leftover cups of rice.

 

WEDNESDAY

 

 

Grab that leftover rice from last night and turn it into ‘our go to’ fried rice. This is a ten-minute dinner – truly.

Often we might add some poached chicken and some additional sautéed greens to make it more nutritious but that can only be your call.

Place a wok over medium heat. Add 30 ml oil and add 2 cloves of crushed garlic and a thumb sized piece of grated ginger and cook until crisp and brown. Transfer on to some absorbent paper towel. Reduce the heat to medium-low and add a further 30 ml oil. Cook 1 cup of finely sliced (washed) leeks for approx 8 minutes. Raise heat to medium and add leftover cooked rice. Cook, stirring often until heated through. Add 4 teaspoons soy sauce and season to taste. In a non-stick frying pan, fry one egg per person, sunny side up and cooked to your liking. To serve, place rice in serving bowls and top with a fried egg. Drizzle with a gentle splash of sesame oil and sprinkle with the crisped garlic and ginger. I also like to top with Spring onions.

 

THURSDAY

 

 

Some nights it’s about quick pasta dishes like this one or we might add some poached chicken for extra protein and a lovely new spin. Then zonk out on the couch, finally write back to text messages, emails and sorting what’s on for tomorrow.

 

FRIDAY

 

 

Remember those caramelised onions you made and neatly tucked in your fridge? Well, pop them to use in these easy but delicious canapés, along with your favourite tipple (it is Friday after all).

 

You could make an easy Friday meal of them in and allow them to find their way into these insanely good toasties. 

Alternatively, and if you feel up to a half hour in the kitchen, whip up a one pan chicken with pearl couscous.

If you get time, tonight, mix together a teaspoon each of ground fennel, ground coriander, smoked paprika and oregano. Add ½ teaspoon chilli powder as well as 3 teaspoons salt. Pop away in an airtight container.

 

SATURDAY

 

This morning you are setting off to buy a 1.5-kilo free-range pork shoulder as well as a 2-kilo leg of lamb (the lamb is for tomorrow). When you get home, place the lamb in the fridge and pop the pork on your bench. Whip those spices out that you mixed together last night & add also 80 ml extra virgin olive oil. Rub this paste all over the pork. The rest of the recipe takes 5-6 hours of cooking time. You are big enough to work out when to fire up the oven or when and if the pork needs to go back in the fridge, should you not be cooking soon.

Fire up the oven to 140oC. Place the marinated pork shoulder in a baking dish along with 150ml red or white wine vinegar, 75 ml apple cider vinegar, a head of garlic, halved and lastly, 1 tin of 400g chopped tomatoes. Go forth and do whatever you wish for the day, knowing that in 5-6 hours you will be enjoying pulled pork, shredded with ease using two forks.

I serve this with a slaw or a huge pile of shredded lettuce. Chipotle mayo always works a treat as does a lemon or harissa spiked yoghurt.

You will very likely have some leftover pork and this is intentional. You are now set for Taco Tuesday or pork slider night. The leftover pork will keep refrigerated for up to 3 days Life is good.

 

SUNDAY

 

 

Tonight is all about the Sunday roast. Follow this recipe here & allow 80 minutes for the lamb to cook in the oven as well as 20 minutes resting time.

This dish keeps on giving. Any leftover lamb can be used for shepherd’s pie or perfect for souvlaki’s.

You are only at Sunday and yet from your weekends cooking, you already have two weeknight dishes ready to go for the week ahead. You see……now you are getting the picture.

 

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