October Dinner Menu Ideas

Use the seasonal October Dinner Menu Ideas here as inspiration and a starting point for your own family menus. Not sure why to menu plan? Check out all the great reasons here, plus get a free seasonal menu planning eBook with shopping lists and more here.

October always seems much more of a transition month than September. It’s probably because there’s still so much summer harvest to cook with in September and the grill is still in heavy rotation. But October is the month when the weather fully changes and I get in the mood for warm and comforting soups, stews, and casseroles. Oh, and with homemade bread. Yum.

I’m still using the last of the summer’s harvest of tomatoes, corn, beans and peppers, though, so you’ll find these on the menu, but now I’m drawn to recipes where the produce is cooked more. Of course there’ll always be a salad or two in the mix, as well as the last grilling of the season. So with that, here are the dinners our family will be enjoying this month and I hope you will find some dinner menu ideas here for your family’s menu!

Black Bean and Sausage Soup, Soft 100% Whole Wheat Rolls

Chicken or Turkey Mini Sliders (use leftover dinner rolls with cooked, sliced chicken or turkey & cheese – assemble and heat until warmed), green salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette

Grilled or broiled shrimp skewers (brush with Sweet Onion Marmalade), noodles with Pesto, green salad with Creamy Feta Dip/Dressing

Stir Fried Vegetables & Pork, rice or noodles

Greek Tuna And Tomato Salad, Easy Artisan Bread

Quick Mini Meatloaves with Chipotle-Honey BBQ Sauce, Garlic-Mashed Potatoes, Awesome Garlic Green Beans, Tomato and Feta Salad

Leftover meatloaf sandwiches on 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread, cut vegetables & Creamy Feta Dip/Dressing

Maple-Mustard Chicken, Creamy Fresh Corn Bake, kale or other green salad

Soft Tacos served with fresh salsa cruda

Simple Sausage and Corn Tart, Roasted Beet Salad With Goat Cheese

Slow Cooker Italian Sausage Vegetable Soup, Rich Cornbread with Honey Butter, cut peppers & carrots with Best Ranch Dip

Baked Chicken, Caesar Salad, Green Beans with Caramelized Onions and Tomatoes, leftover cornbread

Sauté of garlic, onions & peppers with leftover chicken served over pasta, green salad with Honey Mustard Dressing

Pork skewers, Authentic Greek Salad, Easy Homemade Pita, Hummus

Salmon Patties with Flax {Gluten-Free}, green salad with Honey Mustard Dressing

Slow Cooker Spiced Whole Chicken, Simple Barley Pilaf, Caesar Slaw

Chicken-Spinach Frittata with Feta & Tomatoes (use leftover chicken), green salad, Quick & Tender Breadsticks

Fast and Easy Curried Red Lentil Soup, green salad with Basic Vinaigrette, Quick & Tender Breadsticks (leftover)

Pasta with Fresh Roasted Tomato Sauce

Roasted Sausages, Onions & Peppers, Slow Cooker Honey/Maple Baked Beans, green salad

I hope you enjoy and are able to use some of these favorite family meals of ours. You can follow me on Pinterest for even more simple, seasonal and from scratch dinner ideas!

Note: our family’s menu always has a couple of standards: Saturdays alternate between burgers on homemade buns (or pigs-in-blankets) & fries and homemade pizza; Sundays are mostly on-your-own leftovers (if nothing is available, a quick pasta is made using our frozen roasted tomato sauce or pesto).

If you need more ideas for menu planning, you can always check out these articles in our archives:

• Menu Planning 101 (5 steps to easy meal planning)
• Seasonal cooking through the year
• Monthly dinner menus