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 dinner ideas.
Put all of that together, and it means we’ve got crockpot meals, soups, hearty ground beef dinners, chicken dishes, and several Mexican meals to look forward to during November… Yum!
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Hearty Menu Meals For November
Here’s the thing about the way I do menu planning for the month: even though this monthly dinner menu has a meal for every night of the month, it’s very unlikely that I (or you!) would make every single supper on this list.
Sometimes we’ll eat a favorite dinner more than once. Plus, in reality, I’ve learned to leave open nights for leftovers and restaurant dinners. But with a full month of ideas, that means I can shop strategically and have plenty of options as we refine our planning throughout the month.
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 — I’ve ONLY used this copykat Pizza Hut crust recipe for nearly 20 years. I use a stand mixer for the dough and cast iron skillets coated with bacon grease for the pizzas. They turn out absolutely amazing every time.
5. One-pan roasted smoked sausage, boneless chicken, potatoes, and carrots — Chunk everything up, toss it with seasonings and oil in a roaster or a sheet pan (I use this huge roasting pan) and roast uncovered at about 450°F for 30-45 minutes, stirring a couple of times. It’s usually best to hold the (pre-cooked) smoked sausage until there’s about 20 minutes left for cooking.
8. One Pot Spaghetti with Sausage Sauce
9. Swedish Meatballs (From-scratch version)
10. Stuffed Spaghetti Squash — I make at least double this recipe for my family, and sometimes use ground beef instead of ground turkey.
12. *crockpot meal* Slow Cooker Lasagna
13. *crockpot meal* Slow Cooker Pasta e Fagioli Soup
14. Smothered Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
15. Roast Turkey Dinner (Did you know you can make turkey in an electric roaster?)
16. *crockpot meal* Red Beans & Rice
17. *crockpot meal* Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup
19. One Pot Cajun Chicken and Sausage Alfredo
20. Amish Country Poor Man’s Hamburger Steaks
21. Beef Enchiladas and these “refried” beans
22. One Pot Teriyaki Chicken and Pineapple Rice
23. Blackstone Pork Chops with Apples and Onions
25. Lasagna Stew
26. Salisbury Meatballs and Mashed Potatoes
29. Homemade Crunchwrap Supreme
30. Chili — Try this copykat Wendy’s Chili Recipe
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 450°F. (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 this year 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 2x-3x our former grocery budget.
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 hundreds of dollars a 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. 😉
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
40 Cozy Fall Dinner Ideas With Chicken For Cool Weather Meals
Quick Food Prep Routine for a Week of Easier Meals
27 Comforting Fall Meatless Meals (Cozy Autumn Vegetarian Recipes)
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 September 28, 2024.