One of the ways I became more consistent in my meal planning was by using dinner theme night ideas. That way I have a starting point when figuring out what food to serve.
I’m sure you have heard of Taco Tuesday or Meatless Monday. However, there are so many other themed meal ideas you can use to help you meal plan with ease!
By the way, the menu theme doesn’t have to start with the same letter as the day of the week. You could have Taco Saturday too!
I love using lists of dinner ideas as I meal plan. Otherwise it takes forever to think about what to serve each week.
I’m going to give you lots of dinner theme night ideas and then break it down by days of the week with example meals. If you have more food ideas, leave yours in the comments!
This is certainly not an exhaustive list of meal ideas, but it should give you a good start. Each menu theme has a lot of different meal options.
For example, You could choose breakfast for Thursday nights. Then you could pick different meals from that theme.
One week you could serve biscuits and gravy with berries on the side. Another night you could serve quiche with fruit parfaits and hash browns. And a third week you may serve french toast casserole with sausage patties and fruit salad.
So many options! But you have a consistent theme which makes meal planning easy.
How to Use a Weekly Dinner Theme
To make dinner theme nights work for you, pick 7 ideas from the list below. Then assign each theme to a different day of the week.
Here’s an example:
Sheet Pan Sunday
Mediterranean Monday
Kid’s Choice Tuesday
Wrap Wednesday
Grill Friday
Seafood Saturday
As far as side dishes go, you could keep them the same for each theme. For example, Mexican side dishes could be corn and beans. Italian side dishes could be salad and garlic bread.
Dinner Theme Night Ideas
1. Soup and Sandwich/Salad
- broccoli cheese soup and turkey sandwiches
- tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwich
- split pea soup and grilled chicken salad
- beef stew and side salad
2. Mexican
- Tacos
- Steak Fajitas
- Quesadillas
- Burritos
3. Italian
- lasagna
- chicken Alfredo
- spaghetti and meatballs
- chicken parmesan
4. Finger Food
- hot ham and cheese sliders
- charcuterie boards
- wraps
- sub sandwiches
5. Crockpot
- roast
- whole chicken
- meatballs
- chicken and rice
- chili
6. Pizza
- homemade pizza
- calzones
- pizza roll ups
- Stromboli
7. Grill
- hamburgers
- sausage dogs
- pork chops
- steaks
8. Breakfast
- pancakes or waffles
- hash brown casserole
- quiche
- biscuits and gravy
9. Asian
- sweet and sour chicken
- beef and broccoli
- chicken pad thai
- orange chicken
- beef lo mein
10. Meatless
- Black bean enchiladas
- garlic broccoli stir fry with chickpeas
- Mexican bean soup
- spinach and ricotta stuffed shells
11. Hot Sandwiches
- Philly steak
- meatball sub
- pulled pork
- BBQ chicken
- Italian sub sliders
12. Sheet Pan
- fajita chicken, pepper slices, onion slices
- baked salmon, potato wedges, asparagus spears
- teriyaki chicken and frozen stir fry veggies
- steak, potatoes, carrots, sweet potatoes
13. Pasta
- chicken Alfredo
- Spaghetti
- sausage rigatoni
- lasagna
- ravioli
14. Casserole
- chicken and dumpling
- mexican lasagna
- chicken vegetable cheesy rice casserole
- ham and potato casserole
15. Chicken
- chicken pot pie
- rotisserie chicken
- chicken tacos
- creamy garlic chicken
16. Beef
- beef pot roast
- burgers
- steak fajitas
- beef stroganoff
17. Pork
- pork chops
- pork tenderloin
- pulled pork sandwiches
- honey garlic pork bites and rice
18. Fast Food Copycat
- Chick-Fil-A chicken sandwich
- Chipotle Burrito with lime rice
- McDonald’s Big Mac
- Arby’s beef sandwich
- Taco Bell Mexican Pizza
19. Southern Food
- fried chicken
- Cajun Chicken
- Smoked BBQ pork
- sausage jambalaya
- Southern green beans
- cooked greens
- baked mac n cheese
20. Fondue
- bread cubes (rye, sourdough, French)
- salami, sausage, summer sausage
- raw vegetables: broccoli, cauliflower, peppers
- cooked potatoes wedges
- Chocolate fondue with marshmallows, cookies, berries, apple slices
21. Stir Fry
- teriyaki chicken and vegetable stir fry
- beef and broccoli
- ramen noodle and chicken
- sausage and pepper stir fry
22. Eggs
- spinach and ham Quiche
- egg sandwiches
- bacon egg casserole
- omeletes
23. Seafood
- baked salmon
- shrimp tacos
- crab cakes
- baked tilapia
24. Mediterranean/Greek
- chicken gyros
- Greek meatballs
- chicken skewers and tzatziki sauce
- Steak salad bowl
25. Freezer Food
- frozen pizza
- chicken tenders
- lasagna
- your own freezer meal
26. Air Fryer Night
- sausage and veggies
- popcorn chicken
- fried egg rolls
27. Chili
- white chicken chili
- beef chili
- chili dogs
- chili over baked potato
- taco chili
28. Comfort Food
- shepherds pie
- chicken pot pie
- chicken and dumplings
- pot roast
29. Salad
- Ceasar salad
- BLT avocado salad
- taco salad
- cranberry, walnut, and chicken salad
30. Kid’s Choice
- grilled cheese
- mac n’ cheese
- chicken tenders
- spaghetti
31. Appetizers
- slider sandwiches
- turkey and cheese pinwheels
- sausage balls
- pigs in a blanket
32. American Classics
- burgers
- hot dogs
- corn dogs
- Philly cheese steak
33. Hawaiian
- Hawaiian pulled pork sandwiches
- aloha pinneapple chicken
- Hawaiian meatballs
- Hawaiian haystacks
34. BBQ
- Pulled pork sandwich
- BBQ ribs
- BBQ nachos
35. Cold Sandwiches
- BLT
- Cobb
- Chicken Salad
- Tuna Salad
36. Wraps
- Chicken bacon ranch wrap
- Asian chicken lettuce wraps
- Cheeseburger wrap
- Greek hummus, feta, cucumber, and chicken
37. Crescent Rolls
- veggie pizza
- pizza stuffed crescent rolls
- hot dogs wrapped in crescent roll dough
- philly cheese steak crescent ring
38. Sliders
- chicken parm sliders
- French dip
- ham and cheese
- Cheeseburger
39. Cajun
- jambalya
- gumbo
- red beans and rice
- boudin balls
40. Something New
I don’t have any ideas for you on this one! You get to come up with a new to you recipe for this night.
Meal planning each week will help you eat at home more often and save so much money! As you can see from the examples above, it doesn’t have to be complicated.
You could even stick to the same 2 week meal plan and rotate it. I’ve found that as a busy homeschooling, work-from-home-mom, keeping our dinners simple is key!
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