FREE Weekly Meal Planning for Families

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Weekly meal planning doesn’t have to be hard! Here is our FREE guide (with delicious recipes) for easy meal planning for your family.

How to Meal Plan for a Family

Family meal planning is something that definitely takes some getting used to, especially if you have never done it before. We have found that it is easiest when we stick to a basic plan each week. It makes it easier to narrow down what you are going to make when you have specific “themes” for each night.

Adding Variety To Your Meal Plan

When meal planning, we will also try to mix it up with different meats. Chicken every night can get boring really fast. We try to switch it up with chicken, ground beef, steak, fish, pork, or even go meatless on some nights. We try to go at least 3 days without having the same meat twice.

Side Dishes

There are so many side dish possibilities when deciding your meal plan for the week. We have side dishes that can go along with just about every meal. If you are having a hard time choosing a side dish to do with your meal, we’ve got you covered. Click HERE for a list of ALL our side dish ideas!

Sample Weekly Meal Plan

Here’s a little sampling of how we like to plan our week…

  • Mondays are soup/salad.
  • Tuesdays we love making delicious Mexican cuisine.
  • Wednesdays are a taste of Italy.
  • Thursdays are designed around yummy sandwiches, burgers, and wraps.
  • Fridays are a no cook day! Going out with friends and loved ones is something that we think is important. It’s your night off from cooking- enjoy!
  • Saturdays are an exotic food night. It’s a great night to try something new. From cooking with a new ingredient, to trying Hawaiian, Danish, Chinese, Indian or Thai dishes.
  • Sundays are a traditional old fashioned all American family dinner– think meat and potatoes. 🙂

Weekly Meal Plan Suggestions

Here are some dinner meal plans for a typical week. For each day we will give six different main dish choices (see side dish ideas HERE). This is essentially six full weeks of meal plans if you decide to make every recipe!



Collage of soups and salads including beef soup, shrimp salad, and BBQ chicken salad

Mexican Meal Plan collage including shrimp tacos, steak fajita bowls, and enchiladas
Collage of Italian recipes including spaghetti, calzones, and shrimp alfredo

Collage of sandwiches, burgers, and wraps

* DATE NIGHT *

Collage of different recipes from around the world including tikka masala, Irish pasties, and Kalua pork

Collage of Sunday dinner ideas including pot roast, turkey, and pork chops

Collage of desserts including cheesecake, brownies, and cookies



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About the author

Emily Walker

Emily lives in Meridian, Idaho, with her husband, Beau, a physician assistant, and her three incredible children: a son and two daughters. Travel is one of her favorite ways to experience new cultures and cuisines, and she has a love for all things Disney.

More about Emily Walker

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Comments

  1. It’s an awesome menu plan, something I’ll definitely try this week!
    I’ve followed your blog for a long time, but this is my first comment 😀 So I’m wondering how can I say thanks.
    Thanks, Erica, Emily and Echo; or thanks, my lovely sisters; or thanks, the FFR team? 😀

  2. Wow….I knew I followed your blog for a reason! What a super opportunity, having the chance to win an Instant Pot. My friend has one and she absolutely loves it. Thanks again!