How to Meal Plan in Just 4 Easy Steps to Save You Time and Money

Heard about meal planning? Maybe how great it is…but the thought of doing it sounds a little overwhelming?  The end result sounds nice- to have everything mapped out, recipes gathered, dinners chosen, food purchased… The problem is where to even start.  Don’t stress, we’re here to help! 

What is meal planning?  Meal planning is mapping out meals for a week or more.  Most people tend to meal plan for dinner, but you can meal plan for all three meals and snacks if you want.  It’s up to you.  Meal planning is a great tool to help streamline what you’re going to eat, so you’re not spending time every day asking yourself “What’s for dinner?”  over and over again.  Benefits of meal planning include:

• Saving time.  You don’t have to spend everyday thinking about what to make, where to find the recipe, and no stopping for groceries.  
• Saving money.  No more food going bad, no more last minute take out.
• Customizable. Family of 1, no problem.  Family of 10, no problem. 
• Flexible. Take out, sure!  Leftovers, if you want!  Last minute meeting? No problem.

So you’re convinced?  Let’s break down the process into simple steps you can do all in one shot, or over the course of a few days or a week.  We’re going to walk you through meal planning for dinner, but you can easily meal plan for lunch and/or breakfast, just repeat the steps for each additional meal.  You could even do it for snacks!

Step 1: Gather your recipes.

Your list of recipes might include: ones you’ve made in the past, recipes your friends have sent you to try, recipes you’ve printed or collected that interest you, cookbooks you like to use, or good ol’ fashioned family recipes.  Gather all your inspiration and make a list (aim for 10 or more recipes to start).  You can always come back to this list and edit it, add to it, or take ones away.   A running list of recipes makes it so you don’t have to remember them!  I recently forgot I like to make meatloaf, and it just fell out of rotation for a while, but now that I have a list, I can take a quick scan and be reminded of all the recipes I like to make or want to try.

Step 2: Find a place for your meal plan to live.

This might be on a weekly or monthly calendar you print offline (like this one), a dry erase board to keep in your kitchen (like this one), or maybe it’s one the free calendar your insurance company sends you every year, and you have no clue what to do with.  If you’re tech savvy, a google doc is a great way to store your meal plan.  You can edit until your heart’s content, share it with your partner, or your friends or family if they need help.  This is where you will write out exactly what you’re eating each night. Notice I didn’t say making.  You don’t have to cook every night if you don’t want to, see below.

Step 3:  Map out your meals

Before you start throwing dinner ideas on the calendar, check your schedule.  Do the kids have soccer practice smack dab during dinner time on Wednesday night?  Perhaps you have a late work meeting on Thursday that will limit how much time you have to cook?  Any holidays coming up, or dinner plans out at a restaurant? Hate cooking on Mondays? Plan a big crockpot meal on Sunday so you have leftovers on Mondays!  All these things should be taken into account.  

1:  Fill in any days you don’t have to make dinner.  We do pizza Mondays.  Monday- DONE!  Friday night is dinner at Grammy’s house.  Friday -DONE.  

2.  Check the nights you have left and check how much time you have to cook.  All day- any recipe would work.  10 minutes?  Maybe that’s the night for leftovers.  30 minutes?  That’s the perfect amount for a skillet meal.  Using your schedule can help narrow down what recipe would fit.  I personally like choosing a few different ways to cook.  One night might be a casserole, one night is a crock pot meal, one night is a skillet meal.

Note:  When you’re plugging in a recipe, double check the recipe makes the servings you want (for example, it feeds 4, but you have a family of 5 or it serves 6 but you want leftovers…)

3.  Add the dinner to your calendar.  Be specific.  Don’t write chicken and rice, unless you know exactly what that is.  Keep all your recipes in a central place and organize them.  Some people have a digital file, some have a binder, some have a drawer.  You do you.  But if you don’t organize them, you’re going to be wasting time trying to find them. Write “Lemon chicken with wild rice” if that’s what the recipe is.

Another note:  I don’t plan more than 1 new recipe a week.  Also, I try to leave myself a lot of time for that recipe.  New recipes might be good for the weekend or a Friday night when there’s no rush or pressure.

4.  Repeat steps 1-3 for as many weeks as you want.  Another suggestion is to map out 1 month of dinners and then just repeat the month.  So you’ll make a 4 week meal plan and then repeat it for 1-2  months, then switch it up with the changing of the seasons.  

It might look something like this:

Monday- Pizza with a salad

Tuesday- chicken tacos with peppers and onion and black beans

Wednesday- Lasagna with broccoli

Thursday- Turkey Meatloaf with smashed potatoes and green beans

Friday- Leftovers

Saturday- Dinner out (Maggie’s birthday party)

Sunday- Crockpot Beef Stew

Step 4: Make a Grocery List Using your Meal Plan

Before you go grocery shopping, grab your meal plan. List out all the ingredients you need to make your meals for the next week (or until you go grocery shopping again).  Then check your kitchen to see what ingredients you have already vs what you need.  It saves you time- you won’t need to run back out to the grocery store each night for the ingredients you’re missing.  It also saves money- checking your kitchen before you go shopping helps prevent waste (I totally forgot about those potatoes!) and prevents you from buying things you already have (no need to buy more garlic if you have a bunch already).  

This is the perfect time to double check your schedule as well.  Did anything change?  Do you need to switch 2 of your dinners or double one so you have leftovers for the night you now have zero time to cook?  Do a quick once over to make sure it all still works, and you are good to go!

That’s it!  4 steps and you have a week (or more) of dinners planned.  The more you do it, the easier it will get.  It won’t be flawless every week; there will still be hiccups and hurdles you never saw coming, but it’s easier than not having a plan at all. 

If you need a nice place to write out your weekly menu for an easy reference, here is a free printable Dinner Menu.  Might we suggest buying a cheap frame (to match your kitchen decor) and writing on it with a dry erase marker.  

Be sure to share this with anyone you think might benefit from it!

 Stay Happy, Stay Healthy

This blog was written by Chris Henigan MS, RD, LDN, co-founder of Simple Start Nutrition.  For more blog posts and nutrition information follow @simplestartnutrition on Instagram and Facebook.  Also feel free to contact us, by visiting our website (simplestartnutrition.com) to schedule an appointment to discuss your nutrition related needs.