September Dinner Menu Ideas

Use the seasonal September 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!

Ah, the weather is changing, the kids are back to school and if it's one thing we need in September, it's some sort of menu plan so that the busy school days don't get in the way of healthy family dinners, don't you agree?

Studies have shown the value of gathering around the table to eat and share your day as much as possible, so it's worth it to plan meals with thought to the activities you have.

So that day you've got three after-school activities and won't be home until 5:30pm? Plan a slow-cooker meal or something quick using a rotisserie chicken.

On a day you've got more time, make something special for your family, like mini meat loves with bbq sauce and garlic mashed potatoes.

Whatever you decide, having a plan based on what your activities are will make your life easier - believe me, I know all about those 4:30 or 5:00 "what am I going to make for dinner?" moments. Ugh. The simplest plan will help alleviate that!

Not to mention the health and budget benefits (if you meal plan right, like using these 5 steps) that come from planning dinners around seasonal produce and what's on sale.

Have you guessed that I'm a fan of having a menu - any menu from the most basic (a main dish scrawled on a notepad) to all meals in detail - whatever works for you and your family (mine is basic and simple, if you couldn't guess, ha!).

Here are the menus our family will be enjoying this month using September's abundance of seasonal produce - I hope you will find some dinner menu ideas here for your family's menu!

September Dinner Menu Ideas

Sausage & Corn Stuffed Zucchini, Artisan Bread with sliced tomatoes

Grilled chicken thighs seasoned with Tex-Mex or Basic Spice Rub, Zucchini, Corn & Tomato Sauté, grilled leftover artisan bread (and while we're talking zucchini, maybe there's a reason to make this incredible White Zucchini Cake?)

Pasta with easy, fresh Roasted Tomato Sauce, green salad with basic vinaigrette

Bacon, lettuce & tomato sandwiches on easy 100% Whole Wheat Bread, corn on the cob

Breakfast for dinner: Freezer Mediterranean Breakfast Wraps, fruit

Roasted Sausages, Peppers & Onions, Quick & Easy Chopped Salad, Easy Artisan Bread

Steak Salad with Creamy Garlic-Pepper Dressing, leftover grilled artisan bread

Spiced Lemon Skillet Chicken with Kale & Beans, brown rice, Tomato & Feta Salad

Grilled pork chops with Spicy Rhubarb Chutney, Summer Pasta Salad with Tomatoes and Green Beans

Tacos with ground turkey, Homemade Refried Beans, toppings, Pico de Gallo and/or Salsa Cruda and Amazing Guacamole

Rotisserie Chicken Week:

Tortilla wraps with lettuce and Cranberry Feta Chicken Salad, corn on the cob

Chicken, Spinach (or chard or kale) & Feta Frittata, green salad

(one-dish dinner) Spicy Chicken Noodle Salad

Thai-Style Chicken Curry (using leftover or rotisserie chicken), rice

Chicken-Lime Lettuce Wraps, fried rice (using leftover rice)

Greek Style Pasta Salad with Tomatoes & Green Beans, sliced cucumbers dressed with vinaigrette

Grilled chicken & vegetable skewers (brushed with basic vinaigrette), Authentic Greek Salad, grilled easy baguette slices

Chef's Salads, leftover baguettes

Chard, Salmon & Parmesan Frittata (made like this, subbing the salmon for the sausage), Caesar Slaw

Slow Cooker Chicken & Corn Chili, 10-Minute Baked Tortilla Chips, Pico de Gallo and/or Salsa Cruda

What about Saturdays & Sundays?

One of my tricks for simple meal planning is that our family’s menu always has a couple of standards for the weekends.

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, there are always sandwiches or cheese plates). I call this day "OYO" (On Your Own) on the menu plan.

If you need more ideas for menu planning, you can always check out these articles to help you:

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

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!