Simple Meal Planning in Minutes

I have a confession to make. I hate meal planning.

You'd think a food blogger would enjoy picking out recipes to cook for her family, but it is possibly one of my least favorite chores of the week.

I enjoy the cooking, I hate the choosing.

Can you relate? Between managing your family's dietary restrictions and picky eating habits, sometimes setting a meal plan can make you lose the will to cook.

Does this sound like you?

• You feel resentful about the time wasted meal planning during the weekend when you'd rather be relaxing.
• Hunting recipes feels like a chore.
• The recipes you do find never fit your family's preferences.
• You feel like you rely on take out or drive-thru too much.
• You put off deciding what to make until right before you're in the kitchen to cook.
• You know your family would eat better if you cooked more at home but it all just feels too much.

Friend, I've been there. Especially when my girls were small and especially picky eaters.

The 5-Minute Meal Plan Fix

The solution to all your meal planning struggles is so ridiculously easy you're not going to believe me when I share it with you.

And all it takes is this simple trick:

Assign a theme to each day of the week.

Why This Works

I warned you. It sounds too easy.

But this is why this meal plan strategy works:

• 15 minutes: Once you have your weekly themes set, meal planning is just a matter of plugging in this week's picks on the appropriate day and writing your grocery list. You could do it once a week as part of your morning basket time.
• Less decision fatigue: Want something different than what you ate last week? You've narrowed down your choices for each night which makes your decision go faster. Instead of beef tacos for Taco Night, maybe make chicken fajitas this week.
• One trip to the grocery store: You've planned the week out, then do your shopping. You'll have everything you should need for a whole week!
• No more mental agony: I keep my menu printed on the fridge. Keep yours visible and you'll never have to guess what's for dinner again. Better yet -- your family won't have to ask, either!
• Easy prep ahead: If you're at home like me, seeing that printed reminder of what's for dinner on the fridge, you'll know exactly what prep work to do during small pockets of time throughout the day. Prep a veggie here, mix a marinade there, pull the pizza dough from the freezer for tomorrow.

The Best Nightly Meal Plan Themes

I'm going to share with you the meal plan categories that work best for our family.

You can copy this completely or tweak it with your own clever themes. Be sure to check out some alternative suggestions at the bottom of the post!

Soup & Sandwich Night

Pair any soup with any sandwich. Add some fruit or chips if you feel the need to round it out.

You can choose:

• a store bought soup
• make a homemade soup
• thaw a frozen soup from your freezer

The sandwich could be as easy as a pb&j or a grilled cheese or something that requires a little more effort like a sloppy joe sandwich or baked meatball subs.

Want more easy suggestions?

Check out my Soup & Sandwich indexes:

Appliance Night: Crockpot, Instant Pot, Air Fryer

Choose your busiest night and plan to dig out those time-saving appliances hiding in your kitchen.

Not only will this ensure that they earn their keep, but you've likely forgotten how much they help to get dinner on the table quickly!

Pasta Night

I don't know about you, but my family could eat pasta every night of the week and be happy.

Having a dedicated pasta night ensures that my kids will have at least one night of the week with something "easy" and 100% acceptable on their plates.

Pair a new pasta dish with some garlic bread, Italian bread, or some breadsticks for a total crowd pleaser.

Chicken Night

America's favorite protein for a reason: it is light and healthy, budget-friendly, and totally versatile.

Plan one meal around this protein a week.

Add a simple side dish like:

• a bag of frozen veggies and/or frozen potatoes
• your favorite rice dish
• or top a salad with your chicken

Meatless Night

Trying to eat less meat as a family?

You don't need to go fully vegetarian to make an impact on your health and budget.

Choose one night a week to skip the traditional meat and plan something with fish or no meat at all.

Pizza Night

Many people turn to pizza out of desperation or exhaustion.

This week, give yourself to CHOOSE pizza on purpose and add this easy dinner to your rotation.

You can plan for:

• a frozen pizza
• order delivery pizza
• play with a homemade pizza recipe

We rotate through all three of those solutions.

When we make homemade, here are some of our very favorite homemade pizza recipes:

Date Night OR Family Snack Night

Plan a night completely off. Go out or order in but do it on purpose.

If you're feeling up to it, I absolutely love to plan a night for homemade appetizers and hearty snacks.

Especially during the holiday season, we enjoy making special treats to eat while we watch a family movie.

Casserole Night

With extra time on Sundays, I love to do a traditional roasted meat & potatoes meal or if we're busy having fun, a casserole fresh or from the freezer.

This oftens buys me another night in the week where we can enjoy leftovers.

International Night

We love to eat a wide variety of foods: Greek, Chinese, Mexican, Thai.

I didn't want to be forced to rotate through each of those themes every week, so instead we pick one night to try a fun make-your-own takeout or new recipe.

Salad for Dinner

Plan for a big bowl of salad greens and just choose a new combination of toppings. This is the perfect solution especially for the warmer months.

Want some inspiration on dinner salads? Don't miss my salad index here:

Grill Night

It's totally ok to switch up your weekly theme nights based on the season.

During the warmer months, plan to fire up the grill with your favorite summer recipes.

Plan a grill night for one evening with a salad night the next evening and you can use whatever leftover meat you have for toppings on your dinner salad!

Need fresh inspiration? Don't miss my grilling index here.

Breakfast for Dinner

We LOVE weekend breakfast foods but we rarely make time to do it.

Why not plan a breakfast for dinner with delicious pancakes, waffles, an egg casserole, or breakfast sandwiches??

Sample all the weekend brunch recipes you don't want to bother with on a lazy morning.

Cookbook Night

Choose your favorite cookbook and work your way through as many recipes in the year as you can on one dedicated night.

Or grab a copy of The Totally Awesome Ultimate Kids' Cookbook and have your kids make dinner one night a week!

Picnic Night

Pack a meal to eat from a cooler in your car when driving the kids on extra-busy nights.

Here are a few of my favorite portable meals for busy nights: