How to make a meal plan: a simple weekly method that sticks

Why plan meals at all

A meal plan is simply a list of what you'll eat on which day, written before you shop. It doesn't have to be fancy or healthy-eating perfect. What it does is answer "what's for dinner?" once a week instead of every evening, when you're tired and the easy answer is a takeaway.

• Less food waste. You buy what the recipes need, not whatever looks good in the shop.
• One shop instead of three. A list built from the plan means fewer "just popping out for an onion" trips.
• Easier evenings. The decision is already made, and the ingredients are already in.
• Better use of time. You can put quick meals on busy nights and the longer cooks where you have time.

How to make a meal plan in six steps

1. Look at the week first. Note late nights at work, clubs, evenings out and anyone away. A 20-minute meal goes on a busy Tuesday; a slow stew suits a Sunday.
2. Check what you already have. Open the fridge, freezer and cupboards. Anything that needs using up (half a bag of spinach, a pack of chicken thighs) should shape the first meals of the week.
3. Choose four or five dinners. Start with meals you already cook and like. Add one new recipe at most. Leave the other nights for leftovers, a freezer meal or eating out.
4. Plan one batch-cook. Make a chilli, curry or soup that does two meals. Put the second portion on the plan straight away, so it gets eaten rather than forgotten.
5. Put each meal on a day. Use fresh fish, salad and soft herbs early in the week, and cupboard or freezer meals later on, when the fresh food has gone.
6. Write the shopping list from the recipes. Add up quantities (two recipes with one onion each means two onions), cross off what you already have, and group the rest by aisle.

That's the whole method. The first time takes 20 minutes or so; once you have a set of favourite recipes, it's closer to ten.

An example week

Here is a realistic week for a household of two, with one batch-cook, one leftovers night and a night off:

Only five of the seven nights need a recipe, and only one of them is new. The chilli and the roast both make lunches for later, so the plan covers more than it looks.

Leftovers and batch cooking

Cooking once and eating twice is the easiest way to make a plan go further. Stews, curries, chilli, soups, pasta bakes and dals all scale up well and often taste better the next day.

• Plan the leftovers, don't just hope for them. Put "chilli leftovers" on Thursday when you plan Wednesday's chilli. If it isn't on the plan, it tends to sit at the back of the fridge.
• Scale the recipe, then the list. If a recipe serves four and you want six portions, scale it before you write the shopping list, or you'll run short.
• Freeze what you won't eat soon. Label it with the name and date. A freezer meal is a ready-made night off for a later week.

Turning the plan into a shopping list

A meal plan only saves money if the shopping list matches it. Build the list from the recipes, not from memory:

1. List every ingredient for every planned meal, at the servings you're actually cooking.
2. Combine the duplicates. 400g of chopped tomatoes in two recipes becomes two tins on one line.
3. Cross off what you already have, especially cupboard staples like oil, salt, spices and stock.
4. Add the extras: breakfast, lunches, snacks, cleaning things.
5. Group by aisle, such as fruit and veg, meat and fish, dairy, cupboard and frozen, so you go round the shop once.

Meal planning on a phone

Paper plans get lost, and adding up a shopping list by hand is the dull part. Ladle keeps the recipes, the week and the list in one place:

• Your recipe box. Paste a recipe, or the text of a recipe page, and Ladle reads the ingredients and steps on your device. It comes with 47 original starter recipes, so you can plan a week straight away.
• The Plan tab. Drag recipes onto days, and drag meals between days when plans change. Set how many you're cooking for, and whether your week starts on Monday or Sunday, in Settings.
• Cook extra for leftovers. When you add a meal, switch this on and Ladle adds extra servings and plans them for lunch the next day, or on any day you choose.
• What's for dinner? Stuck for ideas? The dinner picker shuffles through your box and lands on one suggestion, offering leftovers first.
• The List tab writes itself. Everything in this week's plan is added up, combined and sorted by aisle, with staples like oil and spices under "Check the cupboard". Add your own items, tick things into the basket and share the list as text.
• Cook mode. Scale servings in metric or US units, then follow the steps one at a time with timers and a hands-free "next" where your browser supports it.

Ladle is free, works offline and keeps everything on your device, with no account. The recipe box (up to 50 of your own recipes, plus the starters), this week's plan and the shopping list stay free. Ladle Pro ($2.99 once, no subscription) adds unlimited recipes, planning weeks ahead, nutrition per serving and colour themes.

Tips for meal plans that last

• Keep a "greatest hits" list. Ten meals everyone likes will cover most weeks. Rotate them and add new ones slowly.
• Theme the nights. Pasta Monday, stir-fry Tuesday, soup Wednesday: it narrows the choice without making it boring.
• Share ingredients across recipes. A bunch of coriander can go in a curry and then a salad, rather than wilting in the fridge.
• Plan on the same day each week. The evening before your main shop works well, so the list is fresh.
• Let the plan move. Swapping Tuesday and Thursday is fine. The plan is a guide, not a contract.

Common meal planning mistakes

• Planning every single night. Real weeks have invitations, late finishes and nights you can't face cooking. Leave gaps.
• Too many new recipes. New dishes take longer and need more unusual ingredients. One a week is plenty.
• Ignoring what's already in the fridge. Shopping first and checking later is how food gets wasted.
• Writing the list from memory. You'll miss the one ingredient that matters. Work from the recipes.
• Fresh food at the end of the week. Fish and salad bought on Saturday won't be at their best by Friday.
• Forgetting the leftovers. If the second portion isn't on the plan, it often goes in the bin.