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Do you ever wish someone would just sit down with you and show you exactly how to make a meal plan?
Even though I can’t sit down at your kitchen table, I’d love to show you how I sat down at my kitchen table for about 5 minutes and made a whole monthly meal plan, so I know exactly what to cook each night to keep us from eating out and wasting money.
Ready to meal plan with me?
This was an overdue project to show you step by step how I sit down to make a quick and easy monthly meal plan, so I have a solid dinner plan for the whole month.
I enjoy making a whole month’s meal plan at once, as I find it doesn’t take much longer than a week’s meal plan and I get it all done at once.
I’ll show you exactly how to make your own one month meal plan, so you can eat at home more often and save money.
Let’s get to it!
Meal Plan with Me: Quick and Easy Monthly Meal Plan
Is it possible to meal plan for a month?
It is and it’s way easier than you would think! I’ll show you step by step with photos from the few minutes I spent making my meal plan.
Making a meal plan for a week is great, but it only takes a couple more minutes to make a meal plan for the whole month. And then you don’t have to do it again for another month!
I like to make my monthly meal plan at least a few days before the new month starts, so I can get any groceries I need for the next week.
Why should I make a monthly meal plan?
If you already have the materials out to make a meal plan for the week, it takes just a couple more minutes to make a meal plan for the whole month.
I find I make a larger variety of meals when I make a monthly meal plan, since I can see all the meals in one spot.
If you like to try out a few new recipes each month, monthly meal planning is a great way to schedule those. You’ll also give yourself a heads up so you can get the ingredients needed for the new recipes.
Quick and Easy Monthly Meal Plan: Step by Step
Here’s how I made my quick and easy one month meal plan.
Supplies Needed:
- Piece of Paper (I used the Monthly Meal Plan sheet from My Weekly Meal Planning Binder)
- List of Meal Ideas (Get a free list of 60+ dinner ideas here.)
- Pen
- Cookbook or new recipes you want to try
- Planner or calendar with events/activities your family has going on
Step by Step:
1. Write dates on paper.
I used the Monthly Meal Plan sheet from My Weekly Meal Planning Binder and filled in the dates for the month.
You can use a planner or a regular sheet of paper as well. You might enjoy using pretty stationary since you will be hanging it on your fridge.
Go ahead and write down any dates you’ll be out of town or when you know you won’t be eating at home.
2. Write down any meals you make on certain nights .
We like to grill burgers or steaks on the weekends, so I alternated those each Saturday.
I made Thursday soup night, with 4 different soups to try.
Tuesday is Mexican food night, so I added meals like chicken tacos, chicken quesadillas, beef tacos, chicken with cheesy rice, and chicken fajitas.
Having these “dinner theme nights” is a great way to really quickly add meals to your meal plan without much thought or effort.
3. Use your list of meal ideas.
I used this list of 60+ dinner ideas (free printable) for meal ideas to add to my calendar.
It’s so handy to have a list of dinner ideas and your family’s favorite meals, so you can quickly and easily add meals to your meal plan.
Without a list, I’m pretty sure I would add the same 5 dinners over and over.
4. Use your cookbooks or recipes to add more meals.
I left a few empty spaces to add new recipes I want to try.
This month, I pulled out my I Heart Naptime cookbook to add new recipes like loaded baked potato soup, BBQ chopped chicken salad, chicken tortellini soup, and creamy cajun chicken pasta to our meal plan.
In my rare spare time, I sometimes like to pull out a cookbook and put post it notes on recipes I would like to try. Then, when I make a meal plan, I can easily find recipes I think my family would enjoy.
You can also collect recipes you print from the internet, or recipes friends share with you.
Need more cookbook ideas? Try these:
- The Pioneer Woman Cooks―Super Easy!: 120 Shortcut Recipes for Dinners, Desserts, and More
- Once Upon a Chef: Weeknight/Weekend: 70 Quick-Fix Weeknight Dinners + 30 Luscious Weekend Recipes
- Taste of Home 5 Ingredient Cookbook 2E: Incredible Meals Made Quick & Easy
5. Hang your meal plan on the fridge.
Go ahead and hang your meal plan on the fridge so you can easily see what to make for dinner every night.
You’ll want to look at your meal plan before you shop for groceries to see if you need any special ingredients.
I also like to take a look at the meal plan for the next day as I’m cooking dinner each night to make sure I have everything I need and to thaw any meat needed.
Monthly Meal Planning: Quick, Easy, and So, So Helpful
Making a meal plan for the whole month is so helpful to get done, so you can have a solid plan to eat at home more often and save money.
Go ahead and grab the free list of 60+ dinner ideas so you don’t have to come up with tons of meal ideas on your own.
You might also find the printable Weekly Meal Planning Binder helpful with the meal planner pages, sample meal plans to try, sections for recipes you want to try and family favorite meals, as well as lots of meal ideas.
Keep your meal ideas list and cookbooks handy with some pretty paper or meal planner pages, so you can quickly and easily make your own monthly meal plan.
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