January Meal Plan

This January meal plan has a full month of ideas for easy, homemade family-friendly dinners. Includes a free printable PDF calendar with each day’s menu idea for easy planning.

Last year, I started a new feature here on Family Food on the Table with my February meal plan followed by March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December meal plans, each one giving you an entire month’s worth of recipe ideas for easy, healthy family dinners.

I myself love to menu plan and schedule out our meals.

It does not feel like a chore at all, and I really do enjoy it. I think it’s the type A scheduler in me coming out in full force. 😬

If you’re interested, I’ve got a whole post of my official guide to meal planning, with all my tips and tricks.

And previously, I’ve shared a list of 30 easy healthy family dinner ideas that could work for any month of the year.

But today, I’m trying to make it easy on YOU by giving you another full month’s worth of ideas for healthy family dinner ideas.

This will carry you through the entire month of January.

(Since I started with February last year, I wanted to come full circle and make it a full year by including a January meal plan. Yes, I do wish I had just started in January last year. Ah well…)

I’ve included the photo of the meal plan here if you want to pin it, but there’s a free printable PDF link at the bottom as well, so you can easily save and print.

So let’s dive right in.

Notes on this January meal plan:

Each day has its own recipe idea, complete with sides if needed to make a full meal. (Some things like tacos are more all-inclusive, though you could add sides if you like.)
You can make easy swaps to suit your family’s tastes. Use whatever vegetables are your favorite to steam, make mashed potatoes instead of baked potatoes, choose white or brown rice, etc. Customize to your heart’s content.
Saturdays are blank. This is intentional and meant to be reserved for either using up any leftovers from the week or ordering dinner in or going out to eat. Cause we all need a break!

Speaking of, you can totally use some cheater substitutions.

See how stuffed chicken is on the menu? You can make your own – any fillings you like – or you could buy them pre-made, stuffed and rolled and found at the butcher counter in the grocery store. Then you just have to bake them off.

Same for mac and cheese. I love my stovetop mac and cheese and it’s ready in about 15 minutes. But I won’t tell if you make yours from a box. No judging here.

It’s all about what works for you.

Also, the calendar and meal plan are ideas for prompts to get you started.

If you also need specific recipes, I’ve got some included below. You can also grab recipes from your own collection, your favorite cookbooks, or from Pinterest or Google.

(Many of the recipes below are from my site, but I’ve also included recipes from others.)

Oh, and I included these ideas in order from January 1 on the calendar to January 31, with the date listed too, which will hopefully make things easier to find throughout the month.

(Since Jan. 1 is a Saturday, it is blank. But please get in your good luck new year foods! This New Year’s Day black-eyed pea casserole has you covered. It’s what I’m making for my family tonight.)

OK, let’s get to it.