63 Weekly Meal Theme Night Ideas

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Searching for a simple way to always think of something amazing to make for dinner? Well, you have found it!

In this post, I’d like to discuss my secret weapon when it comes to weekly meal planning.

It’s surprisingly simple, actually.

I don’t know about you, but most of my problems when it comes to meal planning stem from:

A) not feeling creative enough to think of something to make and

B) not wanting to make what I have on hand

I find that whenever I take time to come up with a themed meal plan, I’m almost 100% likely to stick with making dinner every night instead of eating out.

Whenever I try to wing it daily, things go south real quick, especially when life gets busy or stressful.

So I’m basically working on never having to guess when it comes to dinner.

Themed Weekly Meal Planning to the Rescue!

I don’t want to continue to make it to 2PM and then all of a sudden think “oh crap! what are we having for dinner?” and then coming up with a plan on the fly.

Good grief – it’s so hard!

I get on streaks where I’m doing good, but I end up falling off the meal planning wagon when things get stressful (hello Coronavirus!).

But I love being good with weekly meals because doing so directly affects how much money we’re able to save.

I came up with a simple way to NEVER RUN OUT OF IDEAS for our family dinners.

Weekly Meal Theme Night Idea Suggestions {Dinner Edition}

I made a handy cheat sheet of 63 weekly meal theme ideas that I can simply reference to jog my memory or think of something unique.

It’s a cool list because it’s not specific – meaning, it’s just meant to help me think of things to make.

Then once I come up with the direction I want to go that’s when I go look up a few recipes or just add some our family favorites to that week’s meal plan lineup.

I like to use the meal plan worksheets in the Home Management Success Kit but really you can use any kind of weekly meal planner notepad that you have on hand.

This cheat sheet makes meal planning SO MUCH EASIER.

I can’t even explain how less stressful meal planning is now that I have this.

I’d love for you to have a copy of it so you can print it out and reference any time you’d like!

CLICK HERE TO GET THE THEME NIGHT IDEAS TO PRINT OUT

Here are some sample weekly menus we did recently – I like to plan out no more than one or two weeks ahead since my husband travels, and I never really know our schedule that far in advance.

(Sometimes when it’s just me and the kids we keep it way more simple).

I have tried MONTHLY planning before and I just never stuck to the schedule, so I gave up on it in favor of a one- or two-week option.

Sample Two Week Rotating Meal Plan Based on Themes

So here’s a 2-week meal plan I did recently using the theme night worksheet as a guide.

Honestly I could just keep this in constant rotation, and the kids would be really happy, but I like to switch it up a bit.

I think if we ate the same exact dinner menu every single week, month after month, I’d go insane. I like having options and switching things up based on seasonal produce or our family’s weeknight schedule.

Feel free to use this list as a suggestion or come up with your own unique blend of menu options. That’s the beauty of meal planning this way – the potential combinations are endless!

Sometimes all you need is a brainstorming kickoff point like the worksheet above, then planning your food for the days of the week become that much simpler.

I’m telling you – my biggest problem is lack of creativity when I’m stressed!

Here’s our two-week menu:

Week One Meal Theme Ideas

Monday – Lasagna
Tuesday – Chicken Tacos
Wednesday – Breakfast for Dinner (eggs, bacon, potatoes, fruit)
Thursday – Leftovers Night!
Friday – Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas (the kids voted this their current favorite)
Saturday – Grilled Chicken with Veggies
Sunday – Baked Potatoes with Chili

Week Two Meal Theme Ideas

Monday – Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas (probably the easiest thing ever)
Tuesday – Turkey Sandwiches (We needed something simple because we had a busy schedule this day.)
Wednesday – Breakfast for Dinner (french toast)
Thursday – Chicken + Broccoli Rice Bowls (super simple!)
Friday – Homemade Pizza
Saturday – Leftovers Night (nothing to prepare – yay!)
Sunday – Charcuterie Tray with Crackers (it’s my husband’s favorite thing in the world, so we do this every so often)

You may notice that I always include a Leftovers Night in the weekly schedule.

That’s because our family loves leftovers and I also like using up food rather than letting it go to waste.

Plus, it makes one less dinner I have to worry about.

Sometimes I make a larger batch of something for dinner one night and then we end up having two leftover nights.

We are also huge fans of Mexican food so we always tend to go heavy on tacos, enchiladas themes, etc. 🙂

I would like to point out that this type of weekly menu planning doesn’t require “big batch meal prep” of any kind where you do all the cooking and cutting on one day, then store everything in the fridge to use throughout the week.

I feel like that adds an extra level of stress to my days and requires a level of planning I’m not prepared for. LOL

If that’s more your style, then by all means go for it.

I hope this sample two-week menu is helpful! Let me know if you’re able to use this method of meal planning in your own home!

~ Lena

p.s. Someone just told me that they do a “Disney dinner” in their house, and everyone dresses up as their favorite character! HA

I never thought of doing dress up to go with dinner before. Talk about kid friendly!

If you have a meal train you need ideas for, check out this post with 27 Budget Friendly Meal Train Ideas