Get dinner on the table faster by picking a theme for each night of the week! Use these 20+ theme ideas to create exciting meals that your whole family will love.
Every evening, most parents stare into their refrigerator wondering what to make for dinner. After a full day of decision-making at work/home, deciding what to cook can look like a stressful thing to do.
There’s one method to fight this decision fatigue – meal planning. For the uninitiated, which means to plan what you will cook in the course of the week ahead of time.
Meal planning can get overwhelming while you don’t know where to begin or which recipes to choose. That’s why having a meal theme helps.
What’s a meal theme?
Having a meal theme means selecting your favorite meal and designating a day to cook it. As an optional step, you may provide you with some fun and catchy names akin to meatless Mondays, Taco Tuesdays, and call it the theme for the day.
Assigning a theme to every day of the week narrows down the selection of meals which you can make every day, thereby simplifying your dinner selections.
How does having a meal theme help?
- Ends dinner overwhelm – no more stressing out what to make for dinner each night.
- It’s an incredible opportunity to try recent cuisines/recipes.
- Makes your meal planning process simpler.
- Less food wastage since you might be buying groceries as per your plan.
- Make it a family activity – kids who’re involved within the meal planning process are less likely to present you a tough time during dinner.
- Provides a way of structure to our sometimes unpredictable life.
- With a plan in place, you might be less more likely to order takeout.
Tips on how to provide you with meal themes
Step 1 – Brainstorm theme ideas (and provides it a fun & catchy name)
You may base your theme on cuisines, ingredients, cooking methods, or varieties of dish. Listed below are some examples –
Cuisine
- Italian
- Chinese
- Mexican
- Indian
- African
Ingredient
- Chicken
- Fish
- Pulses – chole, rajma
- Lentils – dal
- Potatoes
- Paneer
- Other veggies
Dish type
- Pizza
- Rice (biryani)
- Dal / Sambar
- Sandwiches
- Salads
- Burgers
- Pasta
- Grilled
- Stir-Fry
- Soup
- Roti / Parathas (stuffed bread)
Method
- Easy Pot
- Slow cooker
- Air Fryer
- Sheet pan
[optional step] – Give your theme a fun name. Some examples could be –
- Meatless Monday
- Mexican Monday
- Make-ahead Monday
- Taco Tuesday
- Wings Wednesday
- Throwback Thursday ( a meal out of your childhood)
- Take out Thursday
- Family Fun Friday
- Soup and salad Saturday
- Seafood Sunday
- Easy Pot night
- Leftovers night
- Kids selection night
- Pizza night
- Biryani night
Step 2 – Assign a theme for every day and jot down your loved ones’s favorite meals for every theme
Consider this as a master list which you can keep referring to while you plan
your meals.
Step 3 – Every night pick a recipe from the assigned theme to cook
As you write down your meal plan, check with the theme you finalized for the day and pick any recipe from the assigned theme.
Note: Every week can have the identical set of theme nights, or you may mix it up. Do that for breakfast and snacks as well.
Meal Theme example
Here’s a replica of an ingredient-based meal theme that I follow.
- Monday – Dal (E.g. – Rasam, Sambar, Dal Fry, Tadka Dal + side dishes with Rice or roti)
- Tuesday – Roti with leftover dal and Potatoes or some other vegetable side dish (Dum Aloo, Aloo methi, Aloo Matar, etc)
- Wednesday – Paneer (E.g. Palak Paneer, Matar Paneer, Paneer Makhani, etc.) + Roti or rice
- Thursday – Pulses (E.g. Channa masala, Chowli, Rajma, Mung, etc with rice or roti)
- Friday – One pot meal (akin to Vegetable Biryani, Khichdi, Pasta)
- Saturday – Seafood (E.g. Fish Curry, Shrimp Curry, Shrimp Biryani)
- Sunday – Chicken (Curry or Biryani) with rice or Parathas
Do it for each meal
Once you might have jotted down themes for lunch/dinner, you may follow the identical process for breakfast/snacks.
Breakfast
- Eggs
- Oats
- Idli / Dosa
- Sooji (upma, sheera)
- Sabudana khichdi
- Pancake / Waffles
- Parathas
- Smoothies
Snacks
- Granola bars
- Smoothies
- Fruits
- Pita chips/hummus
- Sandwiches
Final thoughts
- Start with some basic themes and plan meals for not more than 2 weeks if you find yourself just getting began. This makes the method less overwhelming, and likewise allows for changes in case a specific theme didn’t work out for you.
- Pick recipes which you can prep ahead, especially for weeknights.
- Having a theme doesn’t mean you might have to cook day-after-day – be happy to have designated days as takeout night or a leftover night.
Helpful resources
- Tips on how to stock your kitchen – Learn tips on how to create a master grocery list, track your pantry items, and have a well-stocked kitchen so which you can cook delicious meals anytime you would like!
- Tips on how to meal plan – An in depth guide on tips on how to start meal planning.
- Pantry staples – Considering meal prepping? Be certain you might have a number of pantry staples at all times available within the kitchen so which you can meal prep every time you might have time.
- Tips on how to meal prep Indian food – Meal prep is the key behind stress-free weekday meals. Learn tips on how to meal prep like a professional even in case you are a beginner.
- 30+ suggestions for meal planning success – Review these easy-to-follow suggestions and methods that can allow you to meal plan and prep like a professional.
- Out of milk app – Learn tips on how to use your phone to trace your pantry items and create shopping lists by store.
