Daily Themes for Easier Meal Planning (2024)

Whether you plan meals ahead of time or figure them out the night of, consider using a structure of themes to streamline dinner for the week. Keep reading for how we meal plan, as well as our 7-day schedule of dinner themes.

My Current System of Meal Planning

I go through periods of meal planning on a weekly basis and then not doing it for awhile due to laziness. While we’re perfectly capable of winging it with dinner, I’ve definitely noticed a pattern with how we approach mealtime when it’s not planned ahead of time:

• Cooking feels like more of a burden that I dread
• We don’t eat quite as balanced of meals
• Our fridge and pantry aren’t stocked with as many healthy options
• Our meals are overall just less exciting

Some people manage just fine without planning dinner ahead of time, but I know for me personally, it’s well worth the effort — even if it’s just planning a minimum of 3 meals for the week and winging the rest.

I detailed how I meal plan in my meal planning 101 post, which basically comes down to 20 minutes of planning before our weekly grocery store trip. I figure out what we want to eat for dinner for 3 to 6 meals of the following week, write my general plan down, and then get what we need from the store to make that plan possible. For nights we don’t have dinner planned, I reference my master list of go-to dinners (which includes a list of over 20 of our go-to dinner meals).

To streamline our weekly dinner schedule, whether planning ahead or winging it, I’ve decided to create a theme-based structure to make it even easier to come up with ideas.

Dinner Themes for Each Day of the Week

When it’s difficult to be creative about something, I’ve found themes to be the magical solution. I use themes for salads, music playlists, monthly dates nights, and so much more. It’s the life hack that has completely changed how I go about planning so many things. Themes allow you to use what you already know or have to piece together something completely new.

In regard to dinner meals, setting a theme for each day of the week can eliminate so much of the initial planning work and inspire a new realm of creativity. Each day will automatically be different because you’re following a diverse schedule, and you can either choose go-to options (like tacos on Tuesday) or think outside the box by branching from that specific theme (like a new recipe for enchiladas).

Before I get into the exact themes I’m going to start doing, I wanted to give credit where credit is due. I was inspired to create these themes based on two influences: Chelsie (@withtheprinces) on Instagram and the nutritionist Cara Clark in her book The Wellness Remodel with HGTV’s Christina Anstead. Chelsie first turned me onto the idea, and seeing Cara Clark’s detailed list in her latest book is what convinced me to adopt the routine.

Our 7-Day Schedule of Dinner Themes

Here’s the new schedule of dinner themes I’m going to start working from when planning dinner for each week (or winging it last-minute):

• Pizza Sunday: I’d like to thank my husband for introducing me to the idea of having pizza every single Sunday. I mean, who doesn’t want pizza all the time? Plus, it’s something to look forward to as we mentally prepare for our return to the workweek.
• Meatless Monday: We’ve never done this one, but I’ve always liked the idea of it, so it’s officially becoming a thing in our house. I’m going to include fish as part of this theme, but I’ll most likely plan meals focusing on plant-based proteins (like my Quinoa Protein Bowl). And the occasional brinner meal.
• Taco Tuesday: Or more like Mexican-Inspired Dishes Tuesday. This could be traditional tacos, or something like quesadillas, taco pasta, taco salad, Taco Soup, breakfast burritos, etc. Another name for this could be Excuse-to-Make-Margaritas Tuesday.
• Stir-Fry Wednesday: Another loose theme, this will revolve around a meat + veggies + rice (or noodles) dish. We do this type of meal a decent amount, so it made sense to me to dedicate a whole night to it. In addition to classic stir fry, this theme might include Mongolian Beef, homemade ramen (loaded with veggies like a stir fry pasta soup), and various mixtures of chicken/steak in a homemade sauce with veggies on rice.
• Pasta Thursday: At this point in the week, I start losing the patience to cook. Enter: spaghetti and other easy pasta dishes. Pesto Chicken Pasta, White Cheddar Tuna Pasta, macaroni and cheese, and so on.
• Sandwich Friday: At the start of the weekend, we tend to get more relaxed about our meals. So Fridays will probably include options like burgers, grilled cheese, Turkey Meatball Subs, Italian Beef, Salmon Patties, etc.
• Free-for-All Saturday: Popcorn and wine isn’t the most balanced meal, but that doesn’t make it any less delicious. Unless we order food out, Saturdays can be a great day to create snack-based meals, like a charcuterie board, chips and salsa/guac, etc. This is also a great time to use up leftovers in the fridge.

While I think this schedule will be more helpful than restrictive, I won’t mind if we stray from the night’s theme once in awhile, because we’re going out somewhere, meeting up with people, or simply in the mood for something else.

I think having this routine, though, will take some of the legwork and mental effort out of dinner planning, which I’m all for. I could even see it inspiring us to try new recipes and mix things up more often.

Do you follow any weekly themes for dinner?

Are you a meal planner or do you tend to wing it?