Fall Meal Ideas - For Seasonal Meal Planning

I'm excited to share these fall meal ideas that can be used as inspiration for your fall seasonal meal plan! One of the benefits of using the Seasonal Meal Planning System is that you get to include seasonal ingredients into your seasonal meal plan. I'm excited to share some fall meal ideas to get you started. 🌿

If you haven't learned about seasonal meal planning - be sure to check out this blog post: The Seasonal Meal Planning System: How To Plan a Repeating Seasonal Menu

In this post, I'm going to share some fall meal planning suggestions as well as breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert ideas for fall. 🍁 Meal planning this way is a great way to embrace the seasons, so let's get started!

Fall Meal Planning Suggestions

The leaves are falling, and it's harvest season! Fall meal planning is great for embracing the earthy, abundant vibes of fall. The theme of fall is cozy and savory, so let that be an inspiration for your fall seasonal meal plan.

The crunch of leaves and the smell of cinnamon in the air.

Family favorite recipes and comfort meals.

Appreciating and savoring all of our many blessings.

By creating a fall meal plan that reflects the season's mood, I'm able to plan meals that give me the opportunity to focus on making yummy recipes that feel comforting and use great ingredients. I recommend having fall be the time to create a seasonal menu that prioritizes homemaking in the kitchen and enjoying the process of cooking and baking.

Meal Planning Strategy for Improving Your Cooking Skills

Fall is a great time of year to spend more time on cooking and baking. With summer ending, school starting, and the days growing shorter, it's a great time to try new recipes, make baked goods, and work on improving your cooking skills.

I think fall is the perfect time to dedicate to spending more time in the kitchen. Those fancy dinner ideas that take an hour to make? Let fall be the time to try it! Baked goods, slow cooker meals, making foods and condiments from scratch - this is a great season to dive into all of it.

Since the Seasonal Meal Planning System uses a repeating menu with a "Meal Prep List", this makes it easy to see what opportunities you have to try making things from scratch. The meal prep list is document where you can assign weekly tasks to make things from scratch.

To create a meal plan that will help you improve your cooking skills, consider choosing recipes that focus on FROM SCRATCH COOKING, include BAKED GOODS, and can be MADE IN BATCHES.

From-scratch cooking is very rewarding, and you can take it a step further by practicing making your own condiments and ingredients from scratch, too. Try making your own ketchup, chicken broth, and baked dinners with new side dishes.

Baked goods will improve your cooking skills by having you learn different techniques as you make some fun, cozy desserts to enjoy after dinner!

Batch cooking will give you extra time in the kitchen, so you have time to try new things. I have loved the mornings where my family has had muffins for breakfast, after pulling them out of the freezer. That means I can get straight into prepping for dinner in the morning without having to spend a lot of time making breakfast. Batch cooking saves time, so you can spend more time on trying new things and make snacks or baked goods during the day without getting burnt out.

Here are types of meals I remember to include when writing my fall seasonal meal plan:

• Breakfasts that are quick so we can get started on our school day

• Comforting lunches

• Soups and stews

• Meals using ingredients from our local farmer's market

• Hearty dinners with multiple side dishes

Let me share some ideas with you!

Fall Meal Planning Ideas for Seasonal Meal Planning

✨ You can use these ideas to help you write your own seasonal meal plan, and if you'd like more - grab The Guide to Seasonal Meal Planning where I have over 250 meal ideas divided into categories to help and inspire you. The guide also includes seasonal produce lists and seasonal theme pages for even more inspiration!

For Breakfast

• Waffles (with peanut butter or syrup) and bacon

• Cinnamon apple oatmeal

• Pumpkin bread (with butter) and a side of cottage cheese

• Breakfast cookies and tea

• Ham, egg, and cheese breakfast casserole

For Lunch

• Snack plates: dried cranberries, cashews, pretzels, broccoli, carrots, ranch

• Pizza grilled cheese sandwiches

• Chicken noodle soup

• Apples, peanut butter, granola, raisin wraps

• Brats and sauerkraut with Dijon mustard

For Dinner

• Meatloaf and mashed potatoes

• Chili with cornbread

• Lemon chicken orzo soup

• Sweet potato shepherds pie

• Maple mustard chicken, roasted parmesan cauliflower, and green beans with pine nuts

For Dessert

• Maple pecan cookies

• Pear crumble

• Cinnamon sugar donuts

• Carmelitas cookie bars

• Apple pie with vanilla ice cream

For Snacks and Drinks

• Sweet and salty trail mix

• Fritos and homemade bean dip

• Mini muffins

• Chai latte

• Apple cider

There are so many delicious, seasonal, cozy ideas you can incorporate into your fall seasonal meal plan. Consider your schedule and goals for the season and plan accordingly!

I like to add baking tasks to meal prep list for the week to make a seasonal drink, dessert, snack, and make ingredients from scratch ahead of time. It's a fun season to make sourdough bread and other homemade staples. Throw on an apron every morning while you're unloading the dishwasher, and get ready for a day of cooking and baking for fall! Let me give you some tips for batch cooking that will make all your cooking efforts feel more worth the time investment.

✨ Be sure to download The Guide to Seasonal Meal Planning to learn how to write your repeating, seasonal meal plan and the grocery list and meal prep list to go with it.

Batch Cooking for Your Meal Plan

One of the best ways to give yourself more time in the kitchen so make some baked goods, snacks, and homemade ingredients, is to start batching cooking your meals. It's even better, if you can make things ahead of time!

For example, let's say you'd like to put waffles on your fall meal plan for breakfast, but don't love the idea of making those from scratch every week. One of the great things about waffles and other baked goods, is that they freeze well.

So instead of making them from scratch every week, you can double or triple your recipe, make a ton of them, then package them up and stick them in the freezer. That way, you can take them out for the day you have planned for waffles, toast them, and have them ready-to-go for breakfast for the next week or two! 🧇

Batch cooking works great for things like soups, casseroles, stir-frys, and baked goods. So if you have chili on your meal for fall, go ahead and make a double batch, and you only have to cook once for two meals. Same goes for the cornbread.

Tip: If you want to batch cook meals and freeze them into smaller portions, I suggest using these Souper Cubes silicone molds. They work great and go right into your freezer with a lid. Not only does this help freeze the food into smaller portions, but it also helps the meal thaw and cook more evenly on the stovetop when it's time to reheat it. My family loves them!

You can check them out here: https://amzn.to/4wu0P6q

(I earn a small commission on products purchased through my Amazon links.)

Fall recipes bring so much seasonal joy into your homemaking, so use this opportunity to get into the kitchen and embrace cooking & baking season! 🌿

More Meal Ideas for Your Seasonal Menu

You can learn all the strategies, methods, and tips in the Seasonal Meal Planning System I developed in 2019 by reading my guide. My Seasonal Meal Planning guide shows you how to create a seasonal meal plan that will be a perfect fit for your family. With over 250 meal ideas, seasonal produce guides, themes for inspiration, and various meal slot types - seasonal meal planning has been one of the best things I've ever done as a homemaker.

✨ Download the Guide Here: https://www.thehomemakerlifestyle.com/seasonal-meal-planning