Meals For November – A Hearty Menu of Cozy, Beefy Dinners

The temperatures are turning super chilly and you need some meals for November that feel cozy and filling. It’s time to plan a monthly menu with plenty of delicious, beefy dinners.

Put all of that together, and it means we’ve got crockpot meals, soups, hearty ground beef dinners, and several Mexican meals to look forward to during November… Yum!

Text November monthly menu plan hearty cozy beefy dinners on white background over image of person removing baked dish from oven.

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Hearty Menu Meals For November

No, this monthly dinner menu does NOT list a meal for every night of the month. Sometimes we’ll eat a favorite dinner more than once, and I’ve learned to leave open nights for leftovers and restaurant dinners.

I make the larger, more complicated dinners on weekends. Then I schedule easier dinners for busier weeknights.

Follow my Pinterest board for main dish recipes, where I pin delicious-looking new recipes and ideas for dinner inspiration.

1. Cheeseburgers

2. Steaks

3. Homemade Pizza

4. Canadian Cheese Soup

Canadian cheese soup and saltine crackers in white bowl with spoon on wood table.

5. One-pan roasted smoked sausage, chicken & potatoes

6. Tostadas

7. Nachos

8. Smothered Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts

9. Roast Turkey Dinner (Did you know you can make turkey in an electric roaster?)

10. Easy Chicken Parmesan Bake

11. One Pot Spaghetti with Sausage Sauce

Spaghetti with sausage in white bowl sitting on white table.

12. Swedish Meatballs (From-scratch version)

13. 5 Ingredient Chicken Bake

14. *crockpot meal* Slow Cooker Lasagna

Finished slow cooker lasagna with a serving partially lifted to show some layers and stretchy cheese.

15. *crockpot meal* Red Beans & Rice

Red beans with sausage and rice dinner in green bowl on wood table with a small bowl of rice in the background.

16. *crockpot meal* Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup

17. *crockpot meal* Slow Cooker Pasta e Fagioli Soup

18. Meatball Parmesan Bake

19. One Pot Cajun Chicken and Sausage Alfredo

20. Amish Country Poor Man’s Hamburger Steaks

21. Homemade Hamburger Helper

22. Beef Enchiladas and these “refried” beans

Beef enchiladas on white plate sitting on burlap placemat.

23. One Pot Teriyaki Chicken and Pineapple Rice

24. Salisbury Meatballs and Mashed Potatoes

Salisbury meatballs and mashed potatoes with gravy on white plate.

25. One Pot Cheesy Taco Pasta

26. Stuffed French Bread

27. Homemade Crunchwrap Supreme

Want dinner ideas for an entire year? Click here to grab the free printable monthly meal idea collection.

November Monthly Menu Plan printable dinner list with crockpot meals, soups, hearty ground beef dinner ideas.

Frequently Asked Questions About A Monthly Meal Plan

Why plan for an entire month?

You might wonder why I bother to plan an entire month’s worth of dinners at once? Well, between working and blogging and LIFE, I simply don’t have time to think about meal planning.

I sit down ONCE, plan for the month, and make it EASY. For details on how I do that, read my post How to Plan a Monthly Menu That Works For YOU.

In case you don’t know me well yet, my life philosophy is pretty much MAKE IT EASY. Creating a monthly meal plan really does make life easier.

What do I use for planning meals?

I keep these monthly dinner ideas as a base. Then, when it’s time to plan, I grab my Essential Meal Planning Printables to keep myself organized and make the process EASY.

What do I serve with the main dish?

Most dinners do not have a side dish listed. This is because it’s either an all-in-one dish, or my plan is to serve raw or roasted vegetables with the main course.

Many nights, we do roasted fresh vegetables. Other times it’s a couple of bags of frozen green beans tossed with oil, chopped onion, salt & pepper. Whether fresh or frozen, roast the vegetables on a sheet pan (I use this sheet pan) for about 20-30 minutes at 450F. (See? EASY)

How much do we spend?

When I first wrote this post in 2016, my monthly grocery spending would naturally land around $400, some months a little more or less. This amount fed 3 adult-size people very well.

Prices in 2022 are much higher. Plus, my husband now does quite a bit of the grocery shopping. Turns out, he actually loves grocery shopping! So, we now spend about twice our former grocery budget to feed 3 adults.

When money is tighter, doing one big monthly shop at one or two main stores like Aldi and only going to the local store once or twice for milk and produce can save at least $75/month compared to shopping weekly.

Related post: How to Grocery Shop for a Month

What do we eat besides dinner?

Breakfast – Not much. Sometimes I’ll make a crockpot of steel-cut oats or a pot of oatmeal on the stove, which will last for the week. About once or twice a month my husband will make eggs and bacon on the weekend. A few days a week, my son might eat a banana for breakfast.

Honestly, I used to try pretty hard to get my boys to eat a ‘good breakfast’ in the morning. Eventually, I had to admit defeat. Breakfast just isn’t our thing.

Lunch – Leftovers, pb&j, lunchmeat sandwiches, crackers & cheese, or wraps. I especially love leftover soup for lunch. So delicious!

When my younger son was in school, he was responsible for packing his own lunches. I made sure we always had bread, peanut butter, jelly, crackers, and fruit — oh, and bottled water. I’m honestly not quite sure what he packed for lunches, but I do know that I didn’t have to think about it — so it was all good in my book.

Snacks – Fruit, crackers, nuts, tortilla chips.

Because it’s November, I’ll probably do some pumpkin-based desserts. After all, it IS the season for pumpkin everything. 😉

Person removing baked dish from oven with red towel.

Favorite Kitchen Tools For Winter Cooking

Used upside-down, these 13×18 plastic sheet pan lids are perfect for holding meat to thaw in the fridge. And these aluminum half sheet pans are my favorite for roasting vegetables in the oven.

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.

For one-pot meals and simmering soups, we love this 8-quart stainless steel stockpot. We’ve been cooking with the same pot for over 25 years.

A good, large silicone spoon spatula makes all the difference when cooking and baking. I have one similar to this spoon scraper 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.

More Meal Planning And Preparation Motivation

December Monthly Dinner Plan — Delicious Winter Meals

Quick Food Prep Routine for a Week of Easier Meals

April Monthly Menu Plan

I hope this list of meals for November has inspired you to create your own monthly menu plan.

Trying a few new recipes each month is kind of fun. Plus, always having that list of meal ideas at your fingertips eliminates the ‘what’s for dinner’ problem… and what could be better than that?

You’ve got this!


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This post was updated October 27, 2023.

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