Here’s my suggested fall meal plan for the week: three cozy dinners, two easy nights made from the leftovers, one night off and one night out. It’s healthy, it’s realistic, and it uses ingredients you can find at any grocery store.
If you want to make this so much easier, save the recipes in Butler, my recipe and meal planning app. Your plan and grocery list are on your phone, ready when you get to the store. You can even save plans to reuse and import recipes from anywhere.
How This Meal Plan Works
I use what I call my 3-2-1-1 Method. Cooking seven dinners a week is just too much, so I don’t. Here’s the idea:
- 3 dinners I plan to cook. Three recipes I’m excited to make.
- 2 dinners made easier by those meals. I double the protein or the rice and use it again later in the week.
- 1 easy night. Something simple, takeout, or a grocery store shortcut.
- 1 night out. I love trying new restaurants, so I make room for that, too.
You don’t have to assign meals to specific days. Just shop for the week and cook what sounds good.
This Week’s Fall Meal Plan
3 Dinners to Cook
Oven Baked Chicken Breasts (Juicy Every Time)
Bake a double batch: half for tonight with a simple green salad, half for the burrito bowls later this week. Juicy every time.
Easy Ground Turkey Chili Recipe
A cozy pot of ground turkey chili, ready in about 30 minutes. Leftovers make a great lunch.
Easy Salmon Recipe (Best Ever, 20 Minutes!)
A 20-minute maple Dijon salmon. Serve it over brown rice, and cook a double batch of rice for the fried rice later this week.
2 Dinners Made Easier
Chicken Burrito Bowls for Meal Prep
Shred the extra baked chicken and you’re halfway to dinner.
Healthy Fried Rice Recipe (Quick & Easy)
Cold, cooked rice is the secret to great fried rice, so your leftover brown rice from salmon night is perfect here.
1 Easy Night
1-Pan Dumpling Bake (30 Minutes)
Frozen dumplings, coconut milk, curry paste and bok choy bake together in one pan. Or order your favorite takeout. No guilt either way.
1 Night Out
Go somewhere new, or somewhere you love.
Weekend Treat
Pumpkin Cookies with Maple Icing
Soft, spiced pumpkin cookies with a maple glaze. It’s fall, after all.
Make This Plan So Much Easier with Butler
I built Butler because I was tired of recipes living everywhere: open browser tabs, screenshots, Pinterest boards and printed pages. Butler puts all of it in one place and turns it into a plan you’ll actually cook.
- Every recipe on my website is already inside, plus app-only exclusives. That’s 500+ recipes.
- Save recipes from anywhere. Paste a link from any website, Instagram or TikTok, or snap a photo of a paper recipe.
- Plan your week in minutes with unlimited meal plans, plus 6 ready-made 5-day plans.
- Your grocery list is built for you, so you buy what you need and waste less.
- Bonus: my Better Than Takeout cooking class series.
Here’s what Cynthia, a longtime reader, told me after she started using it: “It has saved me over $100 every two weeks and that’s awesome!”
Plan a week of meals in 5 minutes.
Get my free 5-minute system for planning a week of meals, and I’ll show you how Butler makes it even easier.
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Weekly Meal Plan FAQs
Do I have to cook on specific days?
No. Shop for the whole week, then cook whatever sounds good. Just make the chicken and rice before the nights that use the leftovers.
Can I swap recipes?
Of course. Keep the 3-2-1-1 shape and swap in any recipe you love. My healthy chili recipes and pumpkin and squash recipes have plenty of fall ideas.
How do I save this meal plan?
The easiest way is Butler. Every recipe here is already in the app, and you can add them to your plan in a few taps.
Happy cooking this week!
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