How to meal plan for a week

Start with what you already have

Look in the fridge, freezer and cupboards before you plan, and note anything that needs using up. Building the first meals of the week around it saves money and stops food going in the bin.

Plan around your actual week

Look at the calendar first. Busy evenings get quick meals or leftovers; a quieter night can take something that needs more time. Keep a short list of low-effort meals for the nights when cooking feels impossible.

Choose the meals, then write one list

1. 1.Pick meals for the nights you will eat at home, not every night.
2. 2.Reuse ingredients across meals, such as a chicken roast on Sunday and chicken wraps on Monday.
3. 3.Write one shopping list grouped by the aisles of your shop.
4. 4.Stick to it, with one or two treats on purpose.

Plan prep you will actually do

Batch cooking a whole week on Sunday works for some people and exhausts others. Even small steps help: washing salad, cooking a pot of rice, or doubling one recipe to freeze half. Plan only what you will realistically do.

Keep it flexible

Plan the meals for the week without fixing which night each one is. Then you can swap days when plans change, without anything going to waste.

Keep a list of what works

After each week, note the meals everyone liked and the ones nobody ate. Over a few weeks you build a rotation of reliable meals, and planning becomes a matter of picking from your own list.

Meal planning on a budget

• ✓Build meals around cheaper staples: beans, lentils, eggs, rice, pasta, oats and seasonal vegetables.
• ✓Use frozen fruit and vegetables; they keep for weeks and waste less.
• ✓Cook once and eat twice: plan leftovers into the week as lunches.
• ✓Check your shop's reduced and own-brand items against your list.

Planning for a household

Ask everyone for one meal they would like each week; it gets buy-in and saves ideas. Where tastes differ, plan meals that can be adjusted at the table, such as tacos, bowls or pasta with separate sauces, rather than cooking two dinners.

From the Stelaah Store

• ✓Meal and Grocery Planner. A free, undated 12-page fillable PDF meal and grocery planner with a weekly meal plan, grocery list by aisle and recipe cards.
• ✓Meal Plans for Specific Goals. A 41-page fillable PDF with four 7-day meal plans (low carb, high protein, budget family and healthy balanced), each with recipes, nutrition estimates and a shopping list.