2025 Great Lent Meal Plan
A meal plan for Great Lent 2025. A daily meal plan which includes ideas for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks or desserts for the entire period of Great Lent and Holy Week. Starting on Clean Monday (Kathara Deftera, March 3) and ending on Orthodox Easter Sunday (Pascha, April 20th) there are amazing dairy-free, egg-free and meat-free recipe ideas. The major holidays during this period are also highlighted and you also have a shopping list for staples and some of my must-have sweets during Lent.
This meal plan covers the 7 weeks between March 3rd and up until April 20th. It is a wonderful resource for anyone who struggles to decide what to feed themselves and their family during the period of Great Lent and Holy Week. The meal plan offers delicious, nutritious ideas whether you really struggle with meal ideas, or are just looking for a little inspiration!
Why this meal plan works
It is complete
Every single day between Kathara Deftera (Clean Monday) and Pascha (Easter Sunday) is accounted for. Also, unlike most meal plans, this one includes recipe ideas for three meals a day, and desserts or snacks, 7 days a week, for all 7 weeks of Great Lent and Holy Week.
It is clear
This meal plan is so clear that you will not have to wonder about the details of each fasting day. During Great Lent and Holy Week some days are considered Strict Fast Days. These are days when eggs, dairy, meat, wine and oil are not permitted. On the calendar we mark these days in Red. Other days, the fast is slightly lighter, with oil and wine permitted. On the calendar these are marked in Purple. During this period there are two days which are marked in Blue – these are the days where fish is also permitted.
It is full of Lenten (Nistisima) recipes
During Great Lent, many people abstain from eating dairy, eggs and meat. On certain days even olive oil and wine are avoided. Although fish is generally not permitted, seafood is, so eating recipes with calamari, shrimp, mussels and octopus for example are fine. The recipes which are included in this meal plan follow these restrictions, or can easily be adapted to follow these restrictions. For example, our traditional Fakes (Lentil soup) recipe uses olive oil; you can switch that to vegetable oil, or even saute your onion in a bit of water if you are avoiding oil all together.
It takes into account special holidays
During the period of Great Lent there are two days, March 25 which is the Anunciation of the Theotokos and Palm Sunday on April 13th, where the fast is somewhat lifted. On these days fish is permitted so you can enjoy recipes like Cod and skordalia, Cod with eggplant and potatoes or Cod potato cakes. As you can see, cod is often the fish of choice these days, but you can also enjoy another fish like Cedar planked salmon, Potato salad with smoked herring or Fried fish.
Recipes are easy to access
The majority of recipes in the meal plan are linked to the Mia Kouppa website, where you can access them easily and freely. A few of our newer recipes are available in our e-book, which contains 10 delicous lenten recipes. The book is available for purchase for less than the price of a coffee, and is easily downloadable! You can read a summary of our e-book here.
It highlights special holidays
All the major holidays during this period are indicated and there are links to follow which will explain to you the significance of these holidays. In order to offer some information on the meaning of these days, there is a link to the information page about it on the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America website.
It is for everyone!
Fasting for Great Lent is a personal decision and one which should only be discussed with your priest or spiritual father. Some people fast a little, some completely, and some in-between. At the same time, some people who are Orthodox do not fast at all, for a number of reasons. And of course, many people are not even Orthodox Christians! No worries, this meal plan works for everyone! If you are a person who eats, cooks, and sometimes wonders, “What the heck am I going to make tonight?!”, this meal plan can be helpful. It is full of easy, mainly plant-based (there are recipes with seafood) recipe ideas that your whole family will love!
Download the FREE 2025 Great Lent Meal Plan
Helpful hints
Print a copy for reference or use the meal plan online
This meal plan is easiest to use online because you can directly link to the recipes you are interested in finding. Simple download the FREE meal plan to your computer and access it anytime you want (so long as you have internet access so that you can directly link to the recipes).
If you would rather print the meal plan, then all you have to do to find the recipes is visit the website at www.miakouppa.com and enter the name of the recipe in the Search Bar; it should pop up easily. Once there you can also choose to print the actual recipe.
If you do print the meal plan, you might want to deselect the pages with the Shopping List and Great Lenten Sweets – these pages are photo heavy, and you risk using a lot of ink from your printer!
Plan for the week ahead
It is easiest to use this meal plan if you plan ahead for the week. So, for example, on the weekend, check out the recipes for the coming week to make sure you have all the ingredients, and to make any switches you would like. Also, some recipes may take a little planning (soaking beans, resting dough etc…) so you will need to be organized.
Use the meal plan as a guide
The 2025 Great Lent Meal Plan does not need to be used religiously (ha! did you see what I did there?). Feel free to swap out recipes, to make alternative choices, or to do anything that suits you and your family best. For example, if you want to have the Healthy brownie baked oatmeal for breakfast everyday because it is so delicious, then by all means, do so. If you hate eggplant, then you might not want to make the Eggplant tomato sauce with pasta; you can make Zucchini pasta sauce instead.
Frequently asked questions
Does this meal plan contain all the Nistisima recipes found on the Mia Kouppa website?
The answer to that is a happy, No! Happy, because it means that there are SO many Nistisima recipes on the website that they could not all be included in these seven weeks. Certain recipes like Shrimp and rice, and Vegan date cake are not included for example, but you can certainly find them, and more on the website. A good place to start is to consult this post: Nistisima (Lenten) Recipes and to head to the search bar on the website and search lenten, or vegan, or nistisima. You can also take a look at previous meal plans for more recipe ideas.
Is the meal plan free?
It is! As always, this meal plan is a gift to you. Almost all of the recipes are also available to you free, on the website. A few of the recipes this year come from the lenten e-book we published; it is available for purchase and download for less than a price of coffee. It is full of great new recipes like peanut butter noodles and orzo with mushrooms. So easy, and so good!
Do all Greek Orthodox Christians fast for lent?
Fasting is a personal decision, and only one aspect of the journey towards Pascha. Prayer and almsgiving are just as important (some would say more important) that deciding what you will and will not eat. There are many reasons why people, even those who are observant Orthodox Christians, do not fast. Some reasons relate to health, life stage, and other personal challenges. If you are wondering whether to fast or not, and how much to fast, it is best to speak to your priest or spiritual advisor.
Will people judge me if I do not fast as an Orthodox Christian?
Well, they might. But they shouldn’t. Fasting is a deeply personal choice and when I think about this question I always think back to the advice of my mother; she is so wise. She always reminded me and my siblings that during Great Lent, what comes out of your mouth is more important than what goes into it. Meaning, if you fast from food but speak ill of others, gossip, or are outwardly mean, then skipping on the eggs does not really mean anything. She also says, during fasting periods (and there are many in the year) it is important to look only at your plate. By this she means, you do you, and do not question, judge, criticize or comment on what others choose to eat, or not. You do not know another person’s heart or circumstances, and we should love and accept everyone and meet them where they are at.
Popular Nistisima (Lenten) Recipes
These recipes are great staples to have on hand. I love them because they also freeze well so I often make a double batch in case of meal emergencies!
Fakes – Greek lentil soup – Nutritious and freezes so well.
Fasolatha – Greek white bean soup with tomato – Delicious and freezes beautifully!
Pasta with red pepper and tomato sauce – I love to make extra sauce and freeze that. Then I just have to reheat it, and boil some pasta.
Thank you, ladies. Even for those of us who are not Orthodox, a little self-discipline and structure never goes amiss.
Thank you Charles 🙂 And yes, absolutely, our Meal Plans can be useful to anyone who wants a little (or a lot) of inspiration in the kitchen. It is loaded with healthy, simple recipes – we can all use that! Thanks so much for your support, we really do appreciate it!! xoxo Helen & Billie
Hi,I’m having trouble down loading the lent meal plan can I get it through text or my email if possible ? Sorry my name is nopi
Hi Nopi, We are sorry you are having trouble downloading the meal plan. May we suggest that you try downloading it through a different web browser. Let us know if that still does not work. Thanks, Helen & Billie