A Simple 3-Day Fall Meal Plan for Busy Weeks

I guess it’s that time of year when I pull out my crockpot! Expect some new recipes soon because FALL is approaching!!!!!

It’s warm, cozy meal season. I’ve actually already started bringing fall into my home. I changed out my bathroom décor 🙂 Annnnd this is not the post for that.

As we move out of summer and into fall, I always start thinking about warm, cozy meals. Here in The Bahamas, we have a sunny, sub-tropical climate, which means it is almost always hot, raining and/or humid…unless we happen to get a cold front.

So sometimes, you just have to create the seasons for yourself, you know?

Although it is still hot outside, soup will be made! I’m not saying that every fall meal has to be soup, but I will definitely be making it because soup is one of the foods I consider comforting.

In this post, we will be going over a simple three-day fall meal plan. It includes a mixture of quick meals and homemade, cozy, feel-good meals.

Remember, when meal prepping, make those ingredients work for you! You do not have to go overboard with grocery shopping or cook a completely different meal every day. We will prepare a few basic ingredients and reuse them in different ways throughout the three days.

Let’s get to prepping and start looking forward to the meals ahead!

Quick note: Always make these meal plans work for you. These meals are not absolute. Tweak them here and there, use what you already have and make sure you prepare food you will actually enjoy. These are simply ideas to help you get started.

The 3-Day Fall Meal Plan

Day	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner
1	Apple-cinnamon oatmeal	One-pan baked chicken, vegetables and squash	Bahamian-inspired pumpkin soup
2	Cinnamon and brown sugar Cream of Wheat	Chicken wraps with cabbage and carrots	Loaded baked potato with chicken and vegetables
3	Pumpkin pancakes	Chicken and vegetable bowls	Chicken with creamy mashed potatoes

Quick Mashed Potato Tutorial

I randomly thought about chicken and mashed potatoes while creating this fall meal plan. Since mashed potatoes are such a warm and comforting side dish, I thought I would include a quick tutorial!

What You’ll Need

Potatoes of your choice
Evaporated milk or your preferred milk
Butter
Salt
Black pepper
Water
Optional: garlic powder, garlic butter or complete seasoning

How to Make the Mashed Potatoes

Wash, peel and dice your potatoes. You can also leave the skin on if that is how you prefer your mashed potatoes.
Place the potatoes in a pot and cover them with cold water. Add a little salt to the water.
Bring the water to a boil and cook the potatoes until they are fork-tender. You should be able to easily stick a fork into a piece of potato without resistance.
Drain the water and return the potatoes to the warm pot over very low heat.
Add your evaporated milk, butter, black pepper and any additional seasonings you would like. If you want garlic mashed potatoes, add garlic powder or garlic butter.
Use a potato masher to mash everything together. Add the milk a little at a time until the potatoes reach your preferred consistency. Then turn off the heat.
Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed. You can add a dash of complete seasoning if you feel like it—I usually do 🙂
For extra-smooth potatoes, you can use a hand mixer briefly, but be careful not to overmix them because this can make the potatoes sticky.

And there you have it: warm, creamy homemade mashed potatoes!

What to Prepare Ahead

You do not need to completely assemble every meal on prep day. Focus on preparing the ingredients that will save you the most time later.

Season and cook the chicken.
Roast your vegetables.
Cook the rice for your chicken bowls.
Wash and chop the cabbage and carrots.
Wash the potatoes and bake the potatoes for Day 2 if you want it ready ahead of time.
Peel and cut the potatoes for the mashed potatoes, but keep them submerged in cold water in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook them.
Prep or portion your oatmeal ingredients. Personally, I use microwave oats, so this part is very quick.
Measure the dry ingredients for your pumpkin pancakes.
Prepare the pumpkin soup ahead of time or place the ingredients in your crockpot on the day you plan to eat it.

Now that we know what we are eating and what we can prepare ahead, let’s make sure we have everything we need. I used the shopping-list page from my Make This Week Your Own Meal Prep Workbook to organize the ingredients for this three-day fall meal plan.

Short on time? Prepare only the chicken, vegetables, and rice. The wrap and oatmeal can always be assembled later. Pumpkin soup can always be done in the slow cooker and placed into meal prep bowls later 🙂

Grocery list for the 3-day plan

Storage and reheating tips

To ensure that the food stays safe to eat, let it cool down before refrigerating. This usually is achievable in about 2 hours. Sometimes more. By portioning the food into containers and leaving it uncovered, it allows the food to cool at a faster rate than leaving it in a pot.

Store cooked chicken, rice and vegetables in airtight containers in the refrigerator and plan to eat them within three to four days.

Reheat chicken and cooked leftovers to desired temperature (I like my food steaming, so it’s really up to you).

Please note, when reheating, if you wet a napkin and cover the rice/pasta it will help to keep your food moist!

Remember to keep your cold ingredients such as salads, dairy, dressing, etc. in a separate container/bowl from the heated food.

Reminder: if it looks like you won’t finish up your food in about 3–4 days max, freeze it so you can eat it at a later date and it won’t go to waste.

For more details on reheating check out our post on How to Store, Freeze & Reheat Meal Prep Safely.

For more details on storage and containers, check out our post on Best Meal Prep Containers.

Easy substitutions

Chicken: Substitute turkey breast, salmon, chickpeas or another protein you enjoy.
Sweet potato: Use pumpkin, butternut squash or regular potato.
Broccoli: Swap in green beans, carrots, cabbage or another vegetable that roasts well.
Rice: Use quinoa, couscous or an extra serving of roasted vegetables.
Spinach: Use kale or your preferred leafy green.
Pumpkin puree: Use mashed sweet potato with a little extra milk.

Make your fall meal plan work for you

Fall meal planning does not have to mean making a completely different recipe every day. A few prepared ingredients can carry you through several meals when you just change some ingredients out. Remember that these fall meals are supposed to be cozy. No need to stress. Spend more time curled up watching a movie, less time wondering what to cook. Relax, I’m sure it’s been a busy week.

If you want help planning your own combinations, my beginner-friendly meal prep workbook walks you through choosing meals, organizing your grocery list and preparing for the week.

Workbook! Ready to make your next prep day easier? Get the Make This Week Your Own: A Beginner’s Meal Prep Starter Guide.

What is one cozy meal you always look forward to when fall comes around? Let me know in the comments!

Photo Credit: Unsplash