Plan a week of meals with a grocery list
A practical weekly menu for your household, diet, budget, and cooking time, with ingredients reused across meals and a shopping list grouped by aisle.
By Arjun MenonVersion 1Updated 7 Oct 2026
Prompt
Plan a week of meals for my household.
Number of people: {{people:2 adults}}
Meals to plan: {{meals:dinner every day, plus lunches on weekdays}}
Dietary needs, allergies, and dislikes: {{dietary:none}}
Weekly grocery budget: {{budget:moderate}}
Cooking time on weeknights: {{weeknight_time:30 minutes}}
Cooking skill and equipment: {{skill:comfortable with basics, standard kitchen}}
Food I already have and want to use up: {{on_hand:nothing in particular}}
Cuisines or dishes we like: {{preferences:a mix}}
Give me:
1. The week's menu, as a table: day, meal, dish, and active cooking time.
2. For each dinner: a short recipe with ingredients, quantities for my household, and 4 to 6 numbered steps.
3. A plan that makes the week easier:
- Reuse ingredients across meals so nothing is bought for a single dish and wasted.
- Cook once, eat twice where it makes sense. For example, a roast chicken on Sunday becomes Monday's lunch.
- Put the quickest meals on the busiest days.
- Say what can be prepared ahead at the weekend.
4. A grocery list, grouped by section of the shop (produce, dairy, meat and fish, pantry, frozen), with total quantities for the week. List the staples I probably already have separately, so I can check them.
5. One note on leftovers: what keeps, what freezes, and for how long.
Rules:
- Take my dietary needs seriously. If I named an allergy, check every ingredient, including sauces and stock, and flag anything where I should read the label.
- Stay within the cooking time I gave. Do not count "marinate overnight" as zero minutes without telling me.
- Use ordinary supermarket ingredients unless I asked for something else.
- Keep it balanced across the week, without lecturing me.
- This is general meal planning, not medical or nutritional advice. If I mentioned a medical condition, suggest I check the plan with a doctor or dietitian.Use this prompt
Result
Plan a week of meals for my household. Number of people: 2 adults Meals to plan: dinner every day, plus lunches on weekdays Dietary needs, allergies, and dislikes: none Weekly grocery budget: moderate Cooking time on weeknights: 30 minutes Cooking skill and equipment: comfortable with basics, standard kitchen Food I already have and want to use up: nothing in particular Cuisines or dishes we like: a mix Give me: 1. The week's menu, as a table: day, meal, dish, and active cooking time. 2. For each dinner: a short recipe with ingredients, quantities for my household, and 4 to 6 numbered steps. 3. A plan that makes the week easier: - Reuse ingredients across meals so nothing is bought for a single dish and wasted. - Cook once, eat twice where it makes sense. For example, a roast chicken on Sunday becomes Monday's lunch. - Put the quickest meals on the busiest days. - Say what can be prepared ahead at the weekend. 4. A grocery list, grouped by section of the shop (produce, dairy, meat and fish, pantry, frozen), with total quantities for the week. List the staples I probably already have separately, so I can check them. 5. One note on leftovers: what keeps, what freezes, and for how long. Rules: - Take my dietary needs seriously. If I named an allergy, check every ingredient, including sauces and stock, and flag anything where I should read the label. - Stay within the cooking time I gave. Do not count "marinate overnight" as zero minutes without telling me. - Use ordinary supermarket ingredients unless I asked for something else. - Keep it balanced across the week, without lecturing me. - This is general meal planning, not medical or nutritional advice. If I mentioned a medical condition, suggest I check the plan with a doctor or dietitian.