5 Primal Meals in Just 35 Minutes
Preparing a healthy breakfast, lunch, and dinner seven days a week while living a busy life isn’t easy. Even when you know how to cook and what to eat (meat, fish, fowl, eggs, veggies, fruits, nuts and seeds) it’s still a challenge to come up with a variety of tasty meals. The best approach is to plan ahead at the start of each week so you can make one shopping trip for many meals. But who actually has time to plan ahead?
This week, it’s done for you. Below are five recipes that can be hammered out in a total of 35 minutes of focused cooking. All the planning is done for you; just shop and set aside some time in the kitchen. You’ll be rewarded five days straight when you open the fridge and a meal is waiting for you.
Now, imagine a world where a weekly guide to breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks simply appears in your inbox. Every week you’ll know what to buy in one shopping trip and exactly how to turn all the ingredients into easy Primal meals. That world can be yours with the new Primal Blueprint Meal Plan. Subscribers will receive weekly meal plans, shopping lists and recipes to take the guesswork out of eating Primal. The recipes are easy to prepare and often provide leftovers to save you time in the kitchen.
Whether or not you decide the Meal Plan is right for you, give the recipes below a try. Set the timer and challenge yourself to cook all five meals within 35 minutes. You’ll be glad you did. Now, if only we could help with kitchen clean-up too….
Notes:
- Each recipe serves two people. If you are serving more or fewer people adjust the shopping list and ingredient quantities accordingly.
- Provided below are cooking instructions for preparing all five recipes at once, and cooking instructions for preparing each of the five recipes individually.
Shopping List by Item
Meat:
1 1/2 pounds boneless beef (tenderloin, sirloin, flank steak, strip steak) (680 g)
4 salmon fillets (6 ounces and about 1 inch thick) skinned. To save time, ask the fish monger to do this for you. (170 g, 2.5 cm)
Produce:
4 bell peppers (red, yellow and/or orange)
1 head of broccoli
1 large cucumber or several small Persian cucumbers
3 limes
5 to 8 ounces of salad greens (enough for 4 individual salads) (142 to 227 g)
2 avocados
Frozen:
16 ounces frozen chopped spinach (455 g)
Refrigerated:
6 eggs
Nonperishable:
1 can coconut milk (13.5 ounces/400 ml)
olive oil
salt
black pepper
powdered cumin
chili powder
dried dill
coconut aminos or tamari
Shopping List by Recipe
Steak with Creamed Spinach
8 ounces boneless beef (tenderloin, sirloin, flank steak, strip steak) (227 g)
8 ounces frozen chopped spinach (227 g)
1 can coconut milk (13.5 ounces/400 ml)
1 bell pepper (red, yellow or orange)
1 lime
olive oil
salt
Steak Salad
8 ounces boneless beef (tenderloin, sirloin, flank steak, strip steak) (227 g)
1 bell pepper
4 to 6 ounces of salad greens (enough for 2 individual salads) (113 to 170 g)
powdered cumin
chili powder
1 lime
olive oil
salt
1 avocado
Steak Stir-Fry
8 ounces boneless beef (tenderloin, sirloin, flank steak, strip steak) (227 g)
1 bell pepper (red, yellow or orange)
1 head of broccoli
olive oil
salt
pepper
coconut aminos or tamari
Salmon Salad
2 salmon fillets (4 to 6 ounces and about 1 inch thick), skinned (113 to 170 g and 2.5 cm)
1 large cucumber or several small Persian cucumbers, sliced into rounds
4 to 6 ounces of salad greens (enough for 2 individual salads) (113 to 170 g)
1 lime
olive oil
salt
1 avocado
Salmon Frittata
2 salmon fillets (4 to 6 ounces and about 1 inch thick), skinned (113 to 170 g and 2.5 cm)
1 bell pepper
8 ounces frozen chopped spinach (227 g)
6 eggs
salt
pepper
dried dill
olive oil
Main Tools to Have Ready
3 rimmed baking pans
1 or two cutting boards
Sharp knives for cutting veggies and raw beef
12-inch or larger skillet (30 cm)
10-inch oven-proof skillet (to make a frittata) (25 cm)
8-inch or larger pot (20 cm)
Cooking Instructions for 5 Meals in 35 Minutes
Preheat oven to 450 ºF (232 ºC).
Take the frozen spinach out of the freezer and the meat and salmon out of the refrigerator.
Thinly slice bell peppers and place in a rimmed baking pan.
Cut broccoli into small florets and place in a rimmed baking pan.
Toss both the peppers and broccoli liberally with olive oil.
Put both pans in the oven.
Season the salmon lightly with salt and pepper. Place in a baking pan and put in the oven. Set a timer for 12 minutes; this is a reminder to take the salmon out. When you take the salmon out, leave the veggie in the oven.
Once the salmon is in the oven, slice the cucumber and set aside.
Juice the limes into a small bowl and set aside.
To make lime salad dressing, whisk together 3 tablespoons (45 ml) of lime juice, 1/2 cup (125 ml) of olive oil and 1/4 teaspoon (1 ml) of salt. Set aside. (Don’t discard remaining lime juice.)
Slice the beef very thinly into 1 to 2 inch long (25 to 50 cm) slices. Lightly season with salt and pepper.
Check the salmon – is it done?
Set a 12-inch skillet (30 cm) and an 8-inch pot (20 cm) over medium-high heat. Add about a tablespoon of olive oil to each. When the oil is hot, add 2/3 of the sliced meat to the 12-inch skillet and the rest to the 8-inch pot.
Cook the meat, stirring only once or twice, until it’s cooked through to medium-rare, about 3 minutes.
Turn the heat off under the 12-inch skillet.
To the 8-inch pot with meat, add half the frozen spinach and the can of coconut milk. Bring to a boil for five minutes then turn off the heat under the pot.
Take the broccoli and red peppers out of the oven. Turn the oven off and turn on the broiler.
Use a fork to flake two of the salmon fillets into small pieces.
Whisk the eggs together really well in a bowl. Add a pinch of salt, pepper and dried dill.
Warm a few tablespoons of olive oil in a 10-inch skillet (25 cm) over high heat.
Add the remaining frozen spinach and sauté for 3 to 5 minutes (there should be very little or no liquid in the pan).
Add the flaked salmon. Stir well then pour in the eggs and stir once to evenly spread the egg around.
While the eggs begin to set, place a few red pepper slices on top. Put the skillet in the oven. Cook the frittata under the broiler for 3 to 5 minutes until the egg sets and is firm.
Finishing Instructions:
Steak with Creamed Spinach: Roughly chop several slices of roasted red pepper. Add them to the pot of steak and coconut milk. Season with lime juice, salt and pepper.
Steak Salad: Place beef slices and 1/2 of red peppers over mixed greens. Lightly season the salad with a few pinches of cumin and chili powder. Right before eating add 1/2 of a sliced avocado to each salad and lime dressing.
Steak Stir-Fry: Toss remaining steak slices with broccoli and red peppers. Season lightly with coconut aminos or tamari.
Salmon Salad: Set each of the two remaining fillets over several handfuls of salad greens. Garnish with cucumber slices. Right before eating add 1/2 of a sliced avocado to each salad and lime dressing.
Salmon Frittata: Slice to eat, hot or cold. Serve over a bed of salad greens if desired.
Individual Recipes
Beef with Creamed Spinach
Serves: 2
Time in the Kitchen: 25 minutes
Ingredients:
- 8 ounces boneless beef (tenderloin, sirloin, flank steak, strip steak) (227 g)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil or coconut oil
- 8 ounces frozen chopped spinach (227 g)
- 1/2 a bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 can coconut milk (13.5 ounces/400 ml)
- 1 lime, juiced
- Pinch of salt
- Pinch of black pepper
Instructions:
Slice the beef very thinly into 1 to 2 inch (25 to 50 cm) long slices.
Lightly season with salt and pepper.
In a wide skillet or pot heat a tablespoon of oil.
When the oil is hot add the beef. Cook the meat, stirring only once or twice, just to brown the outside, about 1 to 2 minutes.
Add the spinach. Cook until soft then add the bell pepper and coconut milk.
Bring to a boil for five minutes then turn off the heat under the pot.
Season with lime juice, salt and pepper.
Steak Salad
Serves: 2
Time in the Kitchen: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
- 8 ounces boneless beef (tenderloin, sirloin, flank steak, strip steak) (227 g)
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) plus 1/2 cup olive oil (125 ml)
- 1 bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 4 to 6 ounces of salad greens (enough for 2 individual salads) (113 to 170 g)
- Pinch of powdered cumin
- Pinch of chili powder
- 3 tablespoons lime juice (45 ml)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt (1 ml)
- 1 avocado, sliced
Instructions:
Slice the beef very thinly into 1 to 2 inch (25 to 50 cm) long slices.
Lightly season with salt and pepper.
In a wide skillet heat a tablespoon of olive oil.
When the oil is hot add the beef. Cook the meat, stirring only once or twice, until it’s cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes. Set the meat aside in a large bowl.
Add the bell pepper to pan (with a little more oil if needed) and saute for just a few minutes. Toss the bell peppers with the meat, along with the salad greens. Season the salad lightly with cumin and chile powder.
To make lime salad dressing, whisk together the remaining 1/2 cup of olive oil with the lime juice and salt.
Dress the salad and add avocado.
Steak Stir-Fry
Serves: 2
Time in the Kitchen: 35 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 bell peppers, thinly sliced
- 1 head of broccoli, cut into small florets
- Several tablespoons of olive oil
- 8 ounces boneless beef (tenderloin, sirloin, flank steak, strip steak) (227 g)
- Salt
- Pepper
- Coconut aminos or tamari
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 450 ºF (232 ºC).
Place bell peppers and broccoli in a rimmed baking pans
Toss the vegetables liberally with olive oil and put the pans in the oven. Set the timer for 20 minutes.
Slice the beef very thinly into 1 to 2 inch (25 to 50 cm) long slices.
Lightly season with salt and pepper.
In a wide skillet heat about a tablespoon of olive oil.
When the oil is hot add the beef. Cook the meat, stirring only once or twice, until it’s cooked through to medium-rare, about 3 minutes. Put the meat in a large bowl.
Toss the meat with the bell peppers and broccoli. Season with coconut aminos or tamari.
Salmon Salad
Serves: 2
Time in the Kitchen: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 salmon fillets (4 to 6 ounces and about 1 inch thick) (113 to 170 g and 2.5 cm)
- black pepper, for seasoning salmon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt, plus more for seasoning salmon (1 ml)
- 3 tablespoons lime juice (45 ml)
- 1/2 cup olive oil (125 ml)
- 4 to 6 ounces of salad greens (enough for 2 individual salads) (113 to 170 g)
- 1 large cucumber or several small Persian cucumbers, sliced into rounds
- 1 avocado, sliced
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 450 ºF (232 ºC).
Lightly season the salmon with salt and pepper. Place in a rimmed baking pan and bake for 12 minutes, or until cooked through to your liking.
While the salmon cooks, make the salad dressing by whisking together the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt with the lime juice and olive oil.
Toss the salad greens and cucumber slices with salad dressing. Set the salmon on top of the greens. Garnish with avocado.
Salmon Frittata
Serves: 4
Time in the Kitchen: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 salmon fillets (4 to 6 ounces and about 1 inch thick), skinned (113 to 170 g and 2.5 cm)
- Pinch of salt
- Pinch of black pepper
- 6 eggs, whisked
- Dried dill
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 8 ounces frozen chopped spinach (227 g)
- 1/2 a bell pepper, thinly sliced
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 450 ºF (232 ºC).
Lightly season the salmon with salt and pepper. Place in a rimmed baking pan with the red pepper and bake for 12 minutes.
When the salmon comes out, turn the oven off and turn the broiler on.
Use a fork to flake two of the salmon fillets into small pieces.
To the eggs add a pinch of salt, pepper and dried dill.
Heat olive oil in a 10-inch skillet (25 cm) over high heat.
Add the frozen spinach and saute for 3 to 5 minutes (there should be very little or no liquid in the pan).
Add the flaked salmon. Stir well then pour in the eggs and stir once to evenly spread the egg around.
While the eggs begin to set, place the red pepper slices on top. Put the skillet in the oven. Cook the frittata under the broiler for 3 to 5 minutes until the egg sets and is firm.
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Posted By: Worker Bee
That steak salad and steak stir fry looks good!
Thanks for the recipes! That steak salad looks good indeed.
> 1 to 2 inch (25 to 50 cm) ?
I would make that “2.5 to 5 cm”. Fits better in the pan
Awesome blog today with some great ideas grok on!
I love this idea, but can you suggest a substitution for the bell peppers? I cannot tolerate them.
Onion, maybe? That’s what I would use if I couldn’t use bell pepper.
I always use onions and garlic to enhance virtually every recipe.
Maybe roasted beets.
mushrooms, leaks
Try zuchinni with onion together.
Tomatoes?
Looks nommy. Shame I can’t afford that much steak.
Never mind, scored a cheap shoulder of lamb today, and doing beef shin in a steak and kidney stew for tonight.
Incredible, cant wait to give this a try!
Now we are talking food!!!!!!!!!!
i’m all OVER that steak with creamed spinach! Today’s my birthday (58 yeah!) so guess what WE’RE having for dinner???
Very well thought out. The problem I have had with any “meal plans” I have tried in the past (various diet programs) was that there are always lots of ingredients left over from the shopping trip that didn’t get used during the week. Also, there were usually suggestions that I just didn’t like! I am thrilled to see that you have thought of this and are truely using everything on the shopping list. Also, everything looks really satisfying. I will definitely give this a try!
I have been “playing” with a Primal lifestyle on and off (mostly off) for a couple of years. I am solidly on the path now (since Jan 2, feeling amazing and down 20 pounds!). These quick, combined cooking, meals will definitely help.
Thanks for an amazing (as always) post.
I’m pretty sure that in my case, most of these would only serve one. Except for the Fritatta. Then again, I’m 6’8″.
Uh – yeah. My family of 4 (the kids are 7 and 3 so they don’t eat that much) eat that much food in a DAY – not a week! We often eat 2 lbs of meat at supper alone! My kids can easily eat 2 eggs each and I can eat 4…
the recipes do sound good though!
These recipes are very easy to multiply for additional servings!
Hmmm, I work full time, my husband works full time…then there are the kids, housework, bills to pay, etc. But this, this makes eating right doable. Thanks Mark.
Yum! Everything looks awesome! I love to have leftover frittata for my lunch break at work and will try this version.
And really… why do people take the time to cook grains?! Meals are so much simpler for me after eliminating grains!
That all looks ace. There’s a similar amount of food there to what I eat in a day
These recipes sound delicious. I make salmon salad all the time – it’s a great quick cook meal!
Great post! I’ve discovered over time that I can only eat primal when I do meal planning on the weekend. These are great meals to add to the rotation.
Thanks… meal plans and recipes are just what a busy working mom of busy/active kids need! I also follow the ideas of the book Well Fed… can’t remember author’s name right now, but that book definitely changed how I get meals ready for our busy lifestyle!
The author is Melissa Joulwan and her recipes rock! The chocolate chili is it die for!
Here’s her site: http://www.theclothesmakethegirl.com/
Click the recipes tab.
Great looking food here today Mark. Thanks for the cooking WOD – and props fr the roasted peppers idea! That’s brilliant!
Wow, thanks for the recipes and tips but surely that cant feed two and be enough. I’d eat that and still be hungry.
really helps visualize what quantity should look like because as a beginner we tend to “over” indulge….
why would you skin the salmon?? the skin is so tasty! and i imagine quite nutritious… but perhaps that is not the case….?
I second that! I flame-grill salmon and the skin is the best part!
If I remember right – somewhere in this blog – Mark called the salmon skin the “bacon of the sea”
Thanks for doing a sample of what the meal plan would be like. I am considering it, but was nervous about how do-able it actually was. My cooking style has always been too implusive to use similar ideas.
I’m going to try this this week, and see if it is worth it! Thank you!
If that is anything like what the meal plans will look like, I definitely want to give the whole thing a try, especially since I’m having problems with actually sticking to the rules.
It’s just a shame that there are no payment options beside credit cards – I’m not going to get one of those things.
These recipes look great!
I’d make bigger portions for myself though as I only eat 2 meals per day so my portions tend to be pretty big.
I’m going to send my mom the link to this article, she likes to cook in advance.
post the macronutrient profiles with the recipes.
Hey mark!
I just tired making this this afternoon. It was amazing. Took me about 50 minutes, but I dilly dallied a bit. I am so excited to have a week worth of food sitting in my fridge just waiting to be delicious.
Mark, regarding that frittata recipe – you indicate putting olive oil into skillet turned on high to saute peppers – thought olive oil didn’t tolerate high heats? Maybe coconut oil instead? Also, you never reduce that heat in your recipe when you add the eggs/salmon – I would think that would kill them. just curious
I was thinking the same thing. I’m sure most people will figure it out and conform once they try it, but it’s nice to have extremely thorough instructions.
Wow. I’m always highly skeptical of meal plans for the reasons others have mentioned – fussy ingredients, waste, complex recipes – but this is amazing. Absolutely amazing. Coming from a supremely badly organised mum of a four & two year old who is now eating crap after a brilliant Primal year, simply because I’m so burnt out in cooking…. I love this.
Mark, I would sign up right now, but although my (very unfussy) kids eat all of those ingredients happily, things like steak & salad aren’t really small-people friendly. Is there any plan to have a few options – say, a couple plan, a young family plan, an extra-active plan?
Again, I’m so impressed. A great product that’s actually been thought through seems rare as hen’s teeth these days! Cheers.
I have been buying my lunch everyday and thought they were quite primal and healthy. But, I took my lunch to work a couple of days last week and was surprised when I dropped 3 lbs quite easily. I dropped below 160 lbs for the first time since 2005! I’ve been trying to hit that for months now! Needless to say I’m definitely interested in giving this a try. Thanks Mark!
Will this food last a week in the fridge? Should some meals be frozen? I just see five fully prepared meals with no storage instructions. I like the idea of doing it all at once but I can’t imagine it staying fresh for a week or even five days.
Love the recipes though and am interested in perhaps subscribing to the meal plan.
I love the meal plan. I love that you can make all five meals at the same time. However, I don’t see any storage instructions. Will this food stay fresh for a week, or five days in the fridge? Do some need to be frozen? I’m just not sure everything will last.
Thank you,
Sue
Oops, sorry for the double post. My computer froze and I didn’t think it posted.
My question is storage-related too… am thinking the frittata will be that day’s meal with the rest to follow. Can’t see doing all the assembly first day but a great help in having everything in the fridge prepared!
Well done, nice variety from such a small list. Like some of the others, I have two “little ones” that would find these appetizers a lovely way to start their meal.
We do the same thing on a bit more of an industrial scale, we just cranked out five different dishes from 20lbs of pork shoulder… {love the deep freezer}