There’s an endless refrain in every extended conversation among friends: What to cook for dinner. I have a simple trick that I use whenever I get frustrated with menu planning.
Whenever I’m stumped I grab a trusty spiral notebook and turn to a clean page. Those notebooks are plentiful in my house, so this is the easy part. Then I list Monday – Sunday across the top. Then I just assign a type of meal to each day, including 1 or more delivery or takeout or eat out options.
Coming up with ideas for what to cook for dinner:
Here are some examples but the possibilities are endless:
Monday – chicken
Tuesday – Vegetarian
Wednesday – breakfast for dinner
Thursday – pasta
Friday – eat out, or pick-up, or delivery, maybe even frozen pizza
Saturday – Fish or seafood (tuna casserole or salmon patties count)
Sunday – crockpot favorite
Once you have a category, the ideas of what to cook will flow!
As an example, I can think of 5 or 6 meals based on chicken easily. Same with something in the crockpot. Laying out categories is the secret and that’s actually more fun than any part of what’s for dinner other than dessert.
More What to Cook for Dinner categories
Here are more category ideas just so you can see how easy it is to get the ideas flowing: Chinese food, Anything over rice or noodles, Air Fryer favorites, Mexican food, Thai, Leftover buffet, Quiche or Pot Pies, Italian, Beef, Pork, InstaPot favorite, Soup and Salad, Grill out, Picnic favorites, and more. Your imagination is everything and it can change every time you use this trick.
