29 Themed Dinner Nights Ideas When You're Not Sure What to Make

If meal planning gives you a headache, incorporate themed dinner nights. You've heard of Taco Tuesday & Meatless Monday. But we're only getting started!!!

As a busy mom of four, I like to keep meal planning as simple as possible with effective, minimalistic strategies. Here's how theme meal planning works. Basically, you use a pre-planned dinner theme as inspiration for that night of the week.

When you're stuck in a meal planning rut, this meal planning hack will totally get you moving.

So let's get started....here's my big daddy list of themed meal planning ideas, complete with recipe suggestions from my own kitchen!

Themed Dinner Nights Ideas

Meatless Monday

• Creamy Wild Rice and Mushroom Soup
• Italian Farro Salad with Feta
• Mediterranean Chopped Salad

Taco Tuesday

Admittedly, this is my favorite day of the week. Of course this list includes my fav, homemade tacos. But let's get beyond the shell here and expand this taco themed meals like:

• Homemade Taco Seasoning
• Crockpot Mexican Shredded Chicken Tacos
• Taco Quesadillas
• Slow Cooker Ranch Chicken Tacos

Tex Mex Night

• Chile Verde Pork Burritos - Instant Pot

Instant Pot Night

• Chicken Fajita Soup
• Instant Pot Whole Chicken
• Instant Pot Cheeseburger Soup

Pasta Night

• {Instant Pot} Pressure Cooker Spaghetti with Meat Sauce
• Pasta Pesto Salad with Chicken

Stir Fry Night

• Easy Pork Stir Fry

Salad night

• Warm Spinach Salad with Root Vegetables

Soup night

• Creamy Potato Soup
• Best Minestrone Soup
• Hearty Beef & Vegetable Soup
• Instant Pot Broccoli and Cheese Soup
• Slow Cooker Corn Chowder

Sandwich Night

• Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches
• Chicken Avocado BLT Wrap
• Turkey Panini with Pesto
• Cheesesteak Sliders

Egg Night

• Low Carb Breakfast Casserole with Bacon Broccoli and Cheddar
• Egg Omelet Muffins
• Instant Pot Egg Bites
• 63 Delicious Answers to What Can You Make with Eggs?

Pork Night

• One Skillet Pork Tenderloin with Apples (can be made int the slow cooker, too!)
• Sweet and Sour Pork Meatballs with Pineapple
• Pork Stir Fry with Cabbage and Apples

More Themed Dinners for Nights of the Week

The beauty of planning meals this way is that you can assign these dinner themes to any night of the week. Here's more!

Italian night

• Baked Italian Sliders
• Healthy Meat Sauce with Vegetables
• Easy Individual Lasagna Cups

Breakfast for dinner

• Pumpkin Spice Pancake Recipe
• Breakfast Burritos
• Honey Butter Buttermilk Biscuit Breakfast Sandwiches
• Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal

Slow Cooker Night

• Slow Cooker Shredded Buffalo Chicken
• Pulled Pork Lettuce Wraps
• Slow Cooker Beef Strogranoff

Chili Night

- yes, chili gets it's own night because there are SO many ways to mix it up here!

• Pulled Pork Chili (Instant Pot and Slow Cooker)
• White Chicken Chili
• Classic Chili Recipe for a Crowd
• One Pot Chili Mac and Cheese

Skillet Meal Night

• Low Carb Unstuffed Pepper Skillet
• Chicken Parmesan Skillet
• Chili Lime Pork Medallions

Burger Night

• Baja Burgers
• Homemade Turkey Burgers

Grilling Night

• Honey Mustard Grilled Chicken
• Chicken Parmesan Sliders
• Honey Basil Veggie Kabobs
• Grilled Meatballs

Leftovers night

don't go hating on leftovers quite yet. I mean, they're a fact of life!

Kids favorite night

• Sloppy Joes
• World Best Grilled Cheese
• Chicken Nugget Burritos

Sheet pan supper

• Pork Tenderloin Sheet Pan Dinner
• Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas

Asian night

• Keto Egg Roll in a Bowl

Pizza night

• Pepperoni Pizza Chicken Bake

I hope these themed dinner night ideas make mealtime just a little more simple in your world! Bon Appetite!