One of the easiest ways to plan dinners (and make them fun, and tasty, too!) is to plan dinner themes. In this article I share more than 65 fun dinner theme night ideas for families!
Plus, I’ve also included several fun printables below to help make your themed dinner menu a snap! Below you’ll find dinner theme suggestions for the week, plus ideas for themed food days meal ideas (dinner theme night ideas) for a whole month (five weeks).
Note: This post may contain affiliate links. See our Privacy Policy and Disclosure Page for more information.
An Easy Option for Meal Planning
If you are looking for an easy (and budget friendly!) solution for getting meals on the table, then a great solution for you is a service like $5 Meal Plans. $5 Meal Plans costs just $5 per month, and they do all of the planning for you!
They plan the meals you will eat and include the ingredients you will need to buy and the recipes you will need to follow to prepare them. Pretty cool! With $5 Meal Plans, the dinners themselves also cost less than $5 per meal to make! And the service comes with a 14-day free trial, so you have nothing to lose! If this sounds like a good option for your family, you can check out $5 Meal Plans here.
Tip: Save the image above to Pinterest so that you can easily refer to this article with awesome dinner theme night ideas!
Make Family Themed Dinner Nights Fun!
When you have the time or for special occasions, why not really get into your dinner themes to make it fun for you and the kiddos? For example:
- Wear Hawaiian shirts on Hawaiian/island night.
- Wear a sombrero and shake maracas or play Mariachi music on Mexican night.
- Wear your favorite jersey on game night.
- Lay out a checkered blanket, use a picnic basket, and eat in the family room for a picnic theme night.
- Wear beach apparel for a beach theme night.
- Listen to Italian music during Italian night.
Themed Dinner Nights
Make dinner easy by using dinner theme nights a few times a week (or every day of the week, to keep things even easier) :). These are easy food themes for days of the week.
If you want this list as a printable download, grab it below!
- African Theme
- American Theme
- Asian Theme
- Barbecue Theme
- Brazilian Dinner Theme
- Brinner (Breakfast for Dinner) Theme
- Burger Night Theme
- Campfire Dinner Theme
- Casserole Theme
- Chicken Theme
- Chili Night Theme
- Chinese Theme
- College Meals Theme
- Cultural Night Theme
- Crockpot Theme
- Dirt Cheap Dinners Theme
- Dress Up Dinner Party Theme
- Egg Theme
- Fish Theme
- Foil Pack Dinner Theme
- Formal Dinner Theme
- Game Day Theme
- Garden Party Theme
- Greek Theme
- Grill Theme
- Hawaiian/Island Theme
- Holiday Dinner Theme (different holiday)
- Indian Theme
- Instant Pot Theme
- Italian Theme
- Japanese Theme
- Karaoke Party Theme
- Kebab Theme
- Kids’ Favorites Theme
- Leftover Night Theme
- Meat Lovers Theme
- Meatless Theme
- Mediterranean Theme
- Mexican Theme
- Pasta Theme
- Picnic Theme
- Pizza Night Theme
- Potato Bar Theme
- Rice Theme
- Romantic Dinner Theme
- Salad Theme
- Sandwich Theme
- Seafood Theme
- Seasonal Theme
- Sheet Pan Theme
- Slow Cooker Theme
- Snacky Dinner Theme
- Soup and Salad Theme
- Soup Theme
- South American Theme
- Southern Dinner Theme
- Spaghetti Night
- Steak Night
- Stir Fry Theme
- Summer Party Theme
- Sushi Theme
- Thai Theme
- Time Period Theme
- Vegan Theme
- Vegetarian Theme
- You’re on Your Own Theme
Pro tip: Want to keep this list of dinner theme night ideas handy? You can grab a printable copy of this list just below!
Weekly Dinner Themes Night Meal Plan Ideas
Here is an example of a simple weekly theme night meal plan with ideas for dinners for the month.
Also be sure to grab a printable version of a weekly dinner theme nights meal plan below! They are great resources to have for theme day menus!
Monday: Meatless—macaroni and cheese, quesadillas, fried rice, meatless spaghetti
Tuesday: Italian—lasagna, chicken fettuccini alfredo, spaghetti, ravioli
Wednesday: American—hamburgers and fries, meatloaf, sloppy joes, hot dogs and chips
Thursday: Mexican—tacos, enchiladas, burritos, fajitas, taco salad
Friday: Casseroles—shepherd’s pie, cheesy potatoes, baked ziti, ham and potatoes au gratin
Saturday: Asian—sweet and sour chicken, orange chicken, chicken curry, stir fry
Sunday: Soups and stews—chili, beef stew, taco soup, chicken and vegetable noodle soup
Monthly Themed Dinner Nights Meal Plan (Printables)
This sample monthly themed meal plan printable will give you fun and easy themed dinner nights meal ideas for the whole month!
Or make your own version with this free printable!
Weekly Dinner Themes Meal Plan (Printables)
You can also make your weekly meal planning even easier with these free dinner theme night ideas printables to use as quick reminders and keep things really simple!
You can grab also grab a blank version of the free weekly dinner theme nights printable here!
Want Even More Help with Meal Planning?
If you want more help to make meal planning quicker, easier, and less expensive, check out the Make It Easy Meal Planning Binder. It has everything you need to make meal planning a snap (with 60+ printable pages + 75 BONUS budget friendly recipes!), including dinner theme night printables, and you can get it now for a great price.
Final Thoughts on Dinner Themes and Easy Dinner Theme Night Ideas
Planning dinner themes is a great way to make meal planning simpler! And it can make your family dinners more fun, too! With so many options, dinner theme night ideas keep things simple without making mealtime boring.
What are your favorite dinner theme night ideas? Do you have themed dinners as part of your regular meal plan? Leave a comment below and let me know. I would love to hear your ideas!