February Dinner Ideas For A Month Of Tasty Meals

I’m excited to share this simple meal plan of February dinner ideas for a month of tasty meals. Each recipe is selected because I find them fairly easy to make, plus they bring warmth and satisfaction to the dinner table. 

It’s time to do some monthly menu planning! Let’s make this chilly month a little warmer with meals that are perfect for cozy evenings at home…

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February Meal Planning Strategies

First, make sure you’re meal planning in a way that works for YOU. For me, that’s one list of meals for dinner that I can plug into the days and shift around as necessary. 

Grab my meal planning printables to keep yourself organized throughout the month and my full year of dinner ideas if you need more inspiration for your own planning. 

To combat the cold and busy days, focus on meals that are both comforting and easy to prepare. The monthly menu ideas in this post are a great place to start! 

Utilize slow cookers or one-pot recipes for hassle-free cooking. Planning meals that can be prepared in advance or quickly thrown together after a busy day is key. 

Consider doing weekend meal-prep so you’re ready with ingredients for multiple dishes throughout the week to save time and reduce waste. 

Embrace the idea of doubling recipes for planned second meals: cook once, eat multiple times. This approach not only simplifies your mealtime routine but also ensures you have nourishing, home-cooked meals ready to warm you up throughout the month.

To save time and money, you might try doing one main shopping trip for the month (here’s how to grocery shop for an entire month). To make this monthly shopping thing work, I do the bulk of my shopping at Aldi in one trip and then fill in the few things I can’t get there with items from other stores.

This February menu reflects my winter once-a-month shopping style. (Who really wants to drive 25-35 miles to a grocery store on bad roads?) If you want to combine monthly planning and monthly shopping, your menu will likely look a little different depending on what you can buy and store.

I make the meals that use more perishable vegetables earlier in the month, saving the root vegetables and frozen peas and green beans for later.

Simple February Dinner Menu

These meals are in no particular order, and I have left a few open nights because we usually end up eating leftovers once a week or so.

1. Oven-fried chicken drumsticks x 2 (coating recipe), sauteed cabbage or carrots

February dinner idea of oven-fried chicken drumsticks and fried cabbage.

2. Campbell’s One-Dish Chicken and Stuffing Bake, green beans  

3. Copycat Olive Garden Chicken & Gnocchi Soup 

4. Chicken alfredo, broccoli

5. Cheeseburger Meatloaf, carrots

6. Mostly Mushroom, Bacon and Corn Chowder 

7. Beef & bean nachos x 2 (I’ve tried making more economical chicken nachos but the family didn’t care for them)

February dinner idea of beef and bean nachos with toppings baked in a sheet pan.

8. Teriyaki chicken drumsticks, fried rice

9. Fried cabbage with sausage

10. Smothered boneless skinless chicken thighs

11. Red beans & rice 

12. Oriental chicken salad 

13. Copycat Zuppa Toscana 

14. High-heat roasted chicken, biscuits, peas

February supper idea of roasted whole chicken with peas and biscuits.

15. Roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, glazed carrots

16. Ham, green beans

17. Canadian Cheese Soup

18. Spaghetti, breadsticks, peas (We love these breadsticks so. much. better. than Olive Garden’s!)

19. Oven fried pork chops, roasted vegetables

20. Homemade pizza x 2

February meal idea of homemade pizzas in cast iron skillets.

21. Tacos

22. Pasta Carbonara, peas

23. Chinese-style chicken & broccoli, fried rice

For more dinner ideas, follow my Pinterest board for main dish recipes.

Frequently Asked Questions About Monthly Meal Plans

Why is this menu plan only a list of dinners?

When it comes to meal planning, substantial dinners are always my priority. It means we’ll have at least one good meal every day and probably leftovers to use for more meals. 

What do we eat besides dinner?

Breakfast – This really isn’t our thing. When my boys were young, I used to try pretty hard to get them to eat a ‘good breakfast’ in the morning. Eventually, I had to admit defeat.

We always have eggs on hand, so there’s never a reason to go hungry if we need something to eat in the morning. My husband likes to cook some kind of scrambles or omelets on the weekends if he’s home.

Lunch – We nearly always eat leftovers, which is why my dinner menu is so important. If there’s nothing in the fridge, my husband will make lunchmeat sandwiches or take crackers, homemade summer sausage, and cheese for work (but he’s MUCH happier when there’s ‘real’ food like leftovers).

Sometimes I’ll make a salad or a wrap, but I especially love leftover soup for lunch. So delicious!

Snacks – Fruit, crackers, nuts, tortilla chips.

I usually don’t make desserts because I’ll eat them… like, the whole thing. 

Why meal plan for an entire month?

Woman in her kitchen planning February meals.

Planning meals for the whole month really helps me reduce stress. Once I mastered the process, it became straightforward and solved the daily ‘what’s for dinner’ dilemma. 

My main goal is always to simplify life. Without a list of dinner ideas and a solid plan, I might skip making dinner altogether. Plus, uncertain dinner plans often lead to more stress for me. 

By dedicating time once a month to plan my menu, I find that everything runs a bit smoother.

More Meal Planning Resources

March Menu Plan

Essential Meal Planning Printables

August Menu Plan – Cool Summer Meals And Grill Menu

Favorite Kitchen Tools for My Meal Planning and Cooking Style

For one-pot stovetop meals and simmering soups, we love this 8-quart stainless steel stockpot. And I make SO MANY oven meals in this giant rectangular covered roaster.

These aluminum half sheet pans are my favorite for roasting vegetables and/or meats in the oven. Sometimes I’ll bake right on the sheet pan with a light coating of oil. But most of the time I use these parchment sheets to make cleanup easier.

Try these 13×18 plastic sheet pan lids to hold meat as it thaws in the fridge. They keep any drips contained and provide a layer of separation between the meat packaging and fridge shelves and surrounding foods. Plus, they fit over sheet pans for storing cooked food, baked goods, etc. I also have this quarter-size sheet pan and lid combo for when I need a smaller size.

I use these silicone and stainless steel tongs every single day. They’re different than most other tongs because they open/close with a touch of the button on the side. That means you can operate them completely one-handed.

A good, large silicone spoon spatula makes all the difference when cooking and baking. I have one similar to this spoon spatula and use it every day. Actually, I have two large and two small ones… This is one of those tools where multiples just make sense.

Next Steps…

I hope this collection of February dinner ideas sparks your creativity to do your own monthly menu planning. Begin with familiar dishes and experiment with new recipes. Enjoy the ease and reduced stress of not having to decide every.single.day what to cook for dinner that evening. 

As you become accustomed to making and using a monthly meal plan, you’ll appreciate its benefits in simplifying life, improving eating habits, and even saving money while enjoying delicious meals. 

I hope you’re able to embrace February’s chill with a warm kitchen and joyful cooking. You’ve got this!


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Pinterest image with text '23 winter dinners for February' on turquoise banner over background of several delicious dinners.

This post was updated January 20, 2024.

6 thoughts on “February Dinner Ideas For A Month Of Tasty Meals”

  1. Hi Julie,

    Bulk grocery shopping is great! I wish I could do that, but right now, we shop every week. (I managed to plan better before I had my second daughter.) I can’t believe that you got chicken for $.75 per pound! That’s incredible! My husband and I do exactly what ya’ll do with your chicken- freeze it. Last year, we bought five turkeys and put them in our deep freeze, so we were set for a few months. 🙂 I love these recipe ideas. I’ve been wanting new recipes, and I’ll definitely check them out. Thanks! 🙂

    1. Hi Ardelia – thank you so much for visiting! It’s true, bulk shopping is definitely much easier without little ones. I hope you find some recipes you and your family enjoy! I’ll be posting a new menu for March at the end of next week, probably with more chicken recipes. 😉

    1. Leigh, welcome to Filling the Jars and thank you for your kind comment! Aldi really is a fantastic store! Great prices and a compact shopping layout – nothing could be better! 🙂

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