How to make a weekly meal plan
A weekly meal plan that lasts answers four questions, in this order: who eats at home and when, how many times you can cook, when you go shopping, and what you cook at each session.
The menu comes last, not first. A lovely menu that needs cooking every evening rarely survives a busy week.
- Mark the evenings when nobody has time to cook: those are meals to reheat.
- Group the dishes that go in the oven into the same cooking session.
- Plan dishes that serve two meals: dinner, then lunch the next day.
- Write the shopping list from the plan, never from memory.
A printed weekly grid and a pen are enough to start: that is the free version of a meal planner. What it leaves to you is the quantities and the shopping list.
What makes a good meal plan
A good meal plan isn’t only balanced on paper. It fits the time you really have, what your household likes to eat, your budget, and how often you can cook.
That is why generic meal plans found online are often dropped after a week: they are written for no one in particular.
- Dishes you like, not a list of banned foods.
- Quantities written for each person at the table.
- Meals cooked in one or two sessions, then reheated.
- A complete shopping list, made from the menu.
A balanced meal plan, whatever your goal
Each plate brings together vegetables, a source of protein and a starchy food. What changes from one person to another is the portion: more vegetables and less starch to lose weight, more protein and starch to build muscle, a balanced portion for everyone else.