Are you looking for a simple meal planning solution? Themed dinner nights make meal planning quick and easy. I think you’ll find some new ideas along with oldies but goodies on my ultimate list of themed dinner nights below. Have more ideas? Be sure to leave a comment!
I love meal planning almost as much as I love finding new and unique recipes for my family to try. Being creative and planning a themed dinner takes my love for unique recipes to the next level! Themed dinner nights keep eating at home exciting and keep you from caving to the desire to eat out instead. There are so many ways you can use themed dinner nights to make mealtimes more fun, which is why I’ve put together the ultimate list of themed dinners to help you get started. This list of themed dinner nights goes way past Taco Tuesday!
What’s so great about a Themed Dinner Night? Well, when meal planning and trying to come up with a menu, you immediately have a springboard for lots of great – and fun – ideas. No more struggling to think of meal ideas. And, your family will look forward to meals at home every night!
Plus, you’ll save a lot of money eating delicious food at home. Craving Chinese Takeout? Pull out your favorite Lo Mein recipe instead.
The Ultimate List of Themed Dinner Nights
Come up with a theme for each night.
If you’re already planning your meals according to each day of the week, then a theme night is a way to take your meal plans up a notch. Most of the themes will allow for a lot of variety, making it easy to reuse the same themes over again in the following weeks. Start your themed dinner planning by picking a unique theme for each night. This will also help keep you accountable since you will have a set plan each night.
Use themed nights for special occasion meals.
Eating dinner in every night can start to get dull if you’re eating the same meals over and over again. You can use themed dinners to add a little something special every now and then instead of every week if you don’t want to do it every week. Use them on birthdays, anniversaries, or milestones to make them just a little bit special. If you use them sparingly, you could even add a little extra fun to your themed dinners by adding extra decorations or activities that go with your theme.
25 Ideas for themed dinners.
The possibilities are endless when it comes to themed dinners. They can add an extra motivating factor to keep you from eating out, or be used as a way to mark special occasions. Here are a few great themed dinner ideas to get you started!
If you’ve ever wondered what the days of the week meal names were or if you’ve ever wished you had a list of the days of the week meal themes, you’re in the right place.
I’ll be adding to this series over the next few weeks, so be sure to come back – or subscribe below so you don’t miss a post!
- Mexican Mondays
- Meatless Monday
- Make it Together Monday
- Meatloaf Monday
- Mediteranean Monday
- Taco Tuesday
- Try it Tuesday
- Whatever Wednesday
- Wacky Wednesday
- Waffle Wednesday
- Throwback Thursday (favorite childhood meals)
- Thrifty Thursday
- Take-out Thursday
- Festival Fridays
- Fried Friday
- Fish Fry Friday
- Fancy Friday
- Fondue Friday
- Stir-fry Saturday
- Slow Cooker Saturday
- Sheet Pan Saturday
- Sandwich Saturday
- Spaghetti Sunday
- Soul Food Sunday
- Italian Night
- Pasta Night
- Sushi Night
- Bean Soup and Cornbread
- Chinese “Take Out” at Home
- Breakfast for Dinner
- Pizza Night
- Soup and Salad Night
- Movie Night (meal would be themed around a movie)
- Crockpot Night
- Grill Out
- Burger Night
- Event Themed (ex: circus, TV show, oscars etc)
- Leftover Night
- Meat and Potatoes Night
Meal planning has endless possibilities for those who are willing to get creative. Themed meals are a great way to get the whole family excited about eating in while saving money.
related: Be sure to check out my list of Simple Side Dishes for your next themed dinner.
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What would you serve on a “Festival” Friday? I’m intrigued.
I would do things like corn dogs, chili dogs, funnel cakes, fried oreos – things you would eat at your local festivals! 🙂
Love this! I said to my Husband we will start doing themed nights, I was thinking once a month but your points are very valid, we are both getting tired of my repeat dishes. Multiple times a week will be fantastic all I need to do is plan in advance. Thank you for creating this!
You’re welcome! I hope you have fun with it!
I like Soul Food Sunday & Try It Tuesday! I’m running out of ideas for Throwback Thursday, so I may need to alternate Try It & Throwback.
For us, Tuesday started out as:
Taco Tuesday
and has become:
Tex Mex Tuesday
Oh I like that: Tex Mex Tuesday! Great idea!