Jenn Lueke’s Meal-Planning Mindset

Plus tips for saving money at the grocery store and her easy recipe for Buffalo Chickpea Stuffed Sweet Potatoes.

We all get overwhelmed, Jenn Lueke says, by “the 21 meals a week that you need to pick out, shop for, prepare, have ready, follow instructions for, whatever it is.”

And while there may not be a one-size-fits-all process that works perfectly for everyone, the writer of the extremely popular Eat Goood newsletter and the new book Don’t Think About Dinner really believes that it’s worth figuring out a way to plan ahead.

“I truly believe that the best form of self-care you could do is to pick out your meals for the week, make a plan, shop for them, and just be ready” Jenn says in this week’s podcast chat.

The rest of your life already serves up “so many decisions to make throughout the week.” Meal planning, she says, “is one thing that you can do.”

After a peek at the calendar to figure out what’s feasible, Jenn always does a Friday inventory session. What’s in the fridge and freezer? What’s in the pantry, really? People always say “Use what you have,” she says, “But have you taken the time before you went to the store to figure out what you have? Because if I’m in the canned beans aisle, I cannot remember how many cans of beans I have in my pantry.”

The ingredients you find might kick-start a dinner plan so you don’t need to pull ideas from thin air. It’s important, she emphasizes, to not wait until Sunday to do this inventory and planning—that’s your shopping and prep day, and you want to make it as low-lift as possible.

Sticking to a once-a-week grocery shop isn’t just about saving time and trips to the store, Jenn says: “If you can get what you need for the week and be set, you’re a lot more likely to stay on budget than if you’re having to go back to the store multiple times and you don’t really have a plan.” She devises her meal plans—the book includes 12 weeks of dinners—around incorporating unfinished ingredients more than once throughout the week, so you’re actually using everything you’ve paid for.

Listen to the full episode for Jenn’s shopping advice and her thoughts on paring down your kitchen tools. And scroll down for the recipe for Jenn’s Buffalo Chickpea Stuffed Sweet Potatoes—a one-pan meal that’s one of her favorites from the plant-based chapter of Don’t Think About Dinner.

Enter this week’s book—and newsletter!—giveaway

Regular readers know that we give away a different cookbook every week on The Dinner Plan, but today we’ve sweetened the deal. In addition to one copy of Jenn’s new book, Don’t Think About Dinner, we have 3 annual subscriptions to The Eat Goood Newsletter to share. So there will be 4 winners overall this week.

We’re mixing things up, so read carefully: there are two different ways you can enter to win these prizes.

🥇 OPTION ONE:

• Sign up as a paid subscriber to this newsletter by end of day Sunday, January 18, 2026. That’s all you need to do. Signing up as a paid subscriber also gives you full access to the 99+ Dinner Ideas list and this new winter inspiration list.

🥈 OPTION TWO (TWO STEPS!):

• Free subscribers can enter too! Just head over to wherever you listen to podcasts and leave a rating/review or comment that lets other folks know what you like about The Dinner Plan. (If you’ve already reviewed the show on one app, don’t double up—but feel free to listen and review on a different app this week!)

• Then leave a comment here ⬇️ at the bottom of the page to let me know where you added your review. Both steps must be completed by Sunday, January 18, 2026.

Giveaway winner will be alerted by Substack DM and email—be sure to check your messages. 18+, U.S. addresses only for book giveaway. Giveaway not sponsored or administered by Substack or any podcast streaming app; no purchase necessary to win. Ends Jan 18, 2026. This newsletter includes affiliate links, which means we may receive a small commission from your purchase.

Jenn mentioned:

• Baked Potato Soup

• Sausage, Pepper, and Onion Egg Bake; Sausage and Kale Egg Bake With Hash Browns; Veggie Egg Bake

• One-Pot Chicken Sausage, Spinach, and Rice

• Green Smoothie

• Sesame Ginger Pork Bowls

• Carla Lalli Music’s Gochujang Broiled Salmon Bowls

• Kylie Sakaida’s Roasted Butternut Squash & Brussels Sprouts Salad with Pomegranates

• Caroline Chambers’s Rainbow Chicken Chop

• Zoe Barrie Soderstrom on Instagram / Substack (here’s The Dinner Plan conversation with Zoe)

• Justine Doiron on Instagram / Substack (here’s The Dinner Plan’s conversation with Justine)

• Tom Walsh on Instagram

• Alex Snodgrass’s The Defined Dish cookbook (Bookshop here)

• Molly Baz’s Cook This Book (Bookshop here)

• Carly Bodrug’s Scrappy Cooking (Bookshop here)

• Cheesy Pork, Pepper, and Onion Breakfast Biscuits

Discount codes from the ad break:

• The Zero Proof: Use code DINNERPLAN20 for 20% off

• Find Row 7 vegetables at Whole Foods or visit Row7Seeds.com to find the closest store near you.

• Made In Cookware: Head to madein.cc/dinnerplan to unlock your discount offer.

• Early Bird Granola: Save 15% on your order with code DINNERPLAN15 for 15% off

• Rouxbe: Save 30% on any course over $50 with code DINNERPLAN30

Maggie mentioned:

Alex Snodgrass’s Salmon Fish Taco Bowls from The Comfortable Kitchen—video here

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A NOTE FROM OUR SPONSOR

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Stock up at Early Bird now—and use code DINNERPLAN15 for 15% off your order.

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Photo: Ashleigh Amoroso

Buffalo Chickpea Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

From the book Don’t Think About Dinner. Copyright © 2026 by Jenn Lueke. To be published on January 13, 2026 by William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Reprinted by permission.

Serves 4

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes

Gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian, vegan, and nut-free

When I’ve been running around all day, the last thing I want is a complicated dinner. Enter these stuffed sweet potatoes—a sheet pan miracle where chickpeas get crispy and sweet potatoes caramelize at the same time, and the whole thing comes together with a fiery Buffalo sauce drizzle. Kid-friendly? Swap Buffalo for barbecue sauce. More protein? Toss in some shredded rotisserie chicken.

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for sprinkling
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
Two 15-ounce cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
4 medium sweet potatoes, halved lengthwise
½ cup Buffalo hot sauce
¼ cup tahini
Chopped fresh parsley
1 lemon, quartered

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F.

2. In a small bowl, mix together 1 tablespoon of the oil, the chili powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, salt, and black pepper. Set aside.

3. Place the chickpeas on the prepared sheet pan and pat dry with a paper towel. Toss with the oil until fully coated. Push them to one side of the pan and place the sweet potatoes on the other. Coat the sweet potatoes with the remaining up to 1 tablespoon oil. Sprinkle with salt and turn them cut side down on the pan.

4. Bake until the sweet potatoes are fork-tender and the chickpeas are crispy, 28 to 30 minutes.

5. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together the Buffalo hot sauce and tahini until smooth. Set aside.

6. To serve, flip the sweet potatoes cut side up, and mash the insides with a fork. Evenly divide the crispy chickpeas among the potato halves. Place two halves on each plate and drizzle with the Buffalo/tahini sauce. Garnish with parsley and a squeeze of lemon.

GOOOD TO KNOW: I strongly prefer sweet potatoes for this recipe—I just think they pair best with Buffalo sauce—but you can swap them for russet potatoes.

STORE IT: Refrigerate the sweet potatoes, chickpeas, and sauce separately in sealed containers, up to 4 days for the sweet potatoes and chickpeas and up to 7 days for the sauce.

REHEAT IT: Assemble the stuffed sweet potatoes and microwave until warm, 1 to 2 minutes. Or transfer the chickpeas to a sheet pan and recrisp in a 425°F oven. Warm the sweet potatoes and sauce separately.