Meal Planning By Themes

What’s for dinner? If this is one of the hardest (or most annoying) questions for you to answer – this post is for you! The answer is: Meal Planning by Themes. This has been a game changer for our family. By having a theme for each or even just some nights of the week, you’re reducing decision fatigue and can plan a month of meals in 5 minutes. I promise!

Sliced German pizza on a baking paper lined wooden board next to a linen napkin.

How to start meal planning by themes

First, decide how many themed dinner nights you want to do. If you’re going all out and want to get it all planned, brainstorm 7 dinner themes by choosing themes from the master list below.

Then brainstorm 4 ideas for each theme and you’ve got a meal plan for just about a month in minutes. E.g. comfy casseroles: hamburger potato casserole, Mexican casserole etc.

Check out my dinner ideas and also check Pinterest for some inspiration (just skip the AI generated recipes to save yourself time).

Download my monthly meal plan template, print it, and start adding the themes.

Two baked birria quesadillas on a black plate.

Keep it fresh and interesting

Add a monthly meal planning meeting on the actual meal plan to stay organized.

Refresh the themes every month to keep it interesting and seasonal. Remember, there are 195 countries and just about as many cuisines – if you’re open to trying new foods it’ll be hard to run out of ideas.

Check out my seasonal food guide for more ideas. Don’t just think of fruit and veg, include in-season seafood, meat, or dairy as well.