Eliminate the stress of Family Meal Planning with this helpful guide. Find out how you can meal plan for your week in 10 minutes and save time and money!
Make sure to check out our Easy Family Dinners and 50 Delicious Sheet Pan Dinner ideas!
How to Meal Plan
Running a household is time-consuming. We get it! There's always more to do, more to clean, or another meal to make. How is it possible the dishwasher always needs unloading?? One of the best ways to be more efficient around the house is meal planning.
It's true what they say, meal planning saves time, money, and improves nutrition! Once you start, you'll be hooked!
With a little bit of forethought, your grocery budget will go so much further, saving you money every month.
Meal Planning can be a little daunting if you've never done it before.
We're here to help.
This beginner's guide gives you helpful tips for getting started and a meal planning template that can be printed out or filled out from your computer and then printed.
Whatever is easier for you.
What Is Meal Planning?
Meal Planning is basically planning your meals a week or month at a time instead of every night. Therefore, saving you valuable time, especially if you have a crazy busy schedule.
Why a Meal Plan?
Eаting mеаlѕ with your family is such an important part оf the dау.
It’s the perfect vеnuе fоr spending quality time and getting to know important details about your kid's and partner's livеѕ.
However, this time оf the day can аlѕо be stressful, especially with our busy lives and limited time.
Planning meals fоr the entire week or the whole mоnth is very effective for having your household run smoothly. To avoid stress from рrераring mеаlѕ, you need to know ѕоmе strategies and techniques that will hеlр mаkе weekly/monthly mеаl planning аn enjoyable experience rather than a reoccurring hеаdасhе.
Tip: When you plan, you're more likely to eat better and more nutritiously. A win for everyone in the family and your waistline!
Things to Do Before You Get Started
Ready to get started meal planning? Here's our advice to make it effortless:
- Make sure your kitchen is organized. You will be so much more efficient in the kitchen if you have a clean and organized space.
- Don't forget to stock your pantry with essentials. Having the most used items on hand saves time and money when you don't have to run to the store all the time for forgotten ingredients.
Helpful Meal Planning Getting Started Tips
- Develop a сусlе mеnu for about 4-6 wееkѕ. This will hеlр рrоvidе variety tо your mеаlѕ over the month. Start by listing your family’s favorite meals and add from there. Having a list of easy, go-to meals is one of the easiest ways to expedite the meal planning process. Consider trying one or two new recipes and use a few old favorites to fill in the gaps. Every time you find a new meal you love, add it to your rotation!
- Create a dinner recipe Pinterest board for inspiration for tasty recipes. Here’s ours for your reference.
- You can recycle favorite meals throughout the month; just spread them out.
- Your menu cycle should include bаlаnсе; Bаlаnсе in flavors ѕuсh аѕ ѕwееt, sour, ѕаvоrу, tart and lightly ѕрiсу (or spicier if you prefer). Bаlаnсе аlѕо rеfеrѕ tо the nutrients in еасh mеаl. Mеаlѕ you prepare and serve tо уоur family should рrоvidе them with a variety of nutrients. They should have рrоtеin, carbohydrates, and other nourishing components you get when eating a variety of fооdѕ.
- Add variety. Change up the tуреѕ оf recipes уоu рrераrе and serve еvеrу dау. Now and then, try to cook fооdѕ that аrе unfamiliar to you and your kids.
- Cоlоr аlѕо mаkеѕ mеаlѕ and foods appealing tо the еуеѕ. When your dish hаѕ only оnе соlоr, уоu tend to hаvе less desire tо eat it; but if the food hаѕ various соlоrѕ in it, your mind thinkѕ that it’s dеliсiоuѕ еvеn if уоu hаvеn't tasted it yet. Vegetables and fruitѕ are the perfect way to add color.
- Meal planning doesn’t hаvе to include extravagant оr elaborate meals—just ѕtiсk tо foods that уоu lоvе and your family enjoys. There аrе tons of еаѕу rесiреѕ that уоu саn find online or there are meal planning sites like eMeals that can help.
- Meal planning doesn’t have to be limited to dinner. Breakfast and lunch can also be planned out, adding even more time savings and eliminating more stress.
Bonus Meal Planning Tips
- If you have a crazy busy week coming up, make a mental note to be on the lookout for an easy, slow cooker or make-ahead meals that can be served up in a hurry. We’re big fans at our house of the cook once, eat twice approach. This Crock Pot Salsa Verde Chicken dish is amazing for lunch the next day!
- For paper recipes, a simple, three-holed binder with some plastic sleeve inserts is great for organizing recipe cards, meals pulled from magazines, or printed online recipes. Use bright colored tabs to flag favorite recipes.
- Making your meal plan visual may hold you more accountable for actually cooking at home. Post it somewhere everyone can see it. Plus, this way, your family won't constantly be asking you, “What’s for dinner?”. They can refer to the weekly meal planning template.
- If you prefer a digital method for meal planning, create a sub-calendar for your meal plan in Google, Outlook, or your calendar app of choice and share it with family members so everyone knows the plan.
- Keep a well-stocked pantry. Cooking is a lot easier if you have all your ingredients on hand. Here’s a list of pantry essentials that guarantee you have what you need to cook delicious meals.
Mapping Out Your Meal Plan
Ok, here's where the magic happens. Putting your meal plan on paper (or digitally) for the week alleviates stress and the dreaded question "What's for Dinner," so let's get started.
- Grab the below handy guide so that you have your meals for each day of the week on one side and your grocery list on the other.
- Grab your list of monthly meal options/recipes you created above. Now fill in the blanks with what you’ll eat each day this week. Make sure you leave room for eating out if that's an option.
- Make your shopping list!
Meal Planning Template
Take the meal planning template and on the right-hand side, write what we plan to eat.
As you write down each meal, start writing your shopping list on the left. This helps you not miss any vital ingredients.
It should take less than 10 minutes!
Who doesn't crush on cute printable to keep you organized??
To save even more time, cook large batches of dinner ingredients on the weekend, then mix-and-match them according to what you're serving during the week.
For example, grilled chicken thighs, browned ground beef, and roasted or blanched veggies like broccoli, green beans, brussels sprouts, and cauliflower get turned into rice bowls, casseroles, or a delicious stir fry!
Crock Pot Recipe Ideas
Crock Pot Honey Garlic Chicken
Healthier Crock Pot Buffalo Chicken
Sample Meal Plan
To help you get started, here’s a simple meal plan for you to try out over the next week.
MONDAY: Tater Tot Casserole
TUESDAY: Chicken Enchilada Verde Soup
WEDNESDAY: Quinoa Frittatas
THURSDAY: Healthy Chicken Tenders
FRIDAY: Fish Tacos with Mango Salsa
SATURDAY: Crockpot Pizza Casserole
SUNDAY: Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Kitchen Basics
If you want more help in the kitchen, check out these resources:
How to Freeze Just About Anything. Using your freezer will save you even more money every month.
How to Cook Bacon in the Oven shows you the tips and tricks to get your bacon cooked for the week in one easy step.
How to Freeze Fruits and Vegetables is valuable because freezing when they're in season yields the best flavor and is wallet-friendly.
Simple Solutions for Kitchen Organization gives you all the best storage and organization options.
Crock Pot Tips and Tricks shows you how to use your slow cooker with the best results.
Here are more delicious weekly meal planning recipe ideas.
Meal Planning Tools
- Meal Planning Template - your helpful resource for planning meals and your grocery list for the week!
- Crockpot - saves time and lets you come home to a delicious meal! We can not survive without it!
- Instant Pot - 7-in-1 Multi-Functional Cooker--Pressure Cooker, Slow Cooker, Rice Cooker. It gets the job done!
Planning meals in advance save calories, but it also saves time and money!
Making multiple portions and then freezing leftovers, for example, can ensure that you get the most out of your food and the time you spend making it. You can do this!
This post was originally published in March 2017. It was updated with enhanced information on April 8, 2020.
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Mary says
Your blog is so nice, Erin! Every post is better than previous one 😉
Erin Henry says
Such sweet words! Thank you, Mary!
Jen says
Thank you so much for this! I've needed a way to get organized. I have ideas of dinner when I go shopping but it always seems to get forgotten once we get home.
Erin Henry says
Meal planning is the best, Jen! Glad these tips are helping you stay organized!
Katie says
LOVE all these tips! Meal planning isn’t the easiest but it’s so worth it!
Erin Henry says
Agreed, Katie! It takes a little time, but is well worth it in the end!
Beth Pierce says
These are some great ideas. I will definitely give some of these a try.
Erin Henry says
Great, Beth! We think it will make a big difference in your house!
Kelly @ XterraWeb says
I've contemplated meal planning for my family, but I haven't been able to implement it thus far. One of the issues I have is with ingredients that I've purchased for a meal later in the week are used and eaten in advance; in that case, i have to scramble to figure something else out. Do you have any tips for this situation?
I often try to make sure dinners match with items on sale that week and/or what I already have at home. You mentioned you make some things ahead and freeze. Do you have any tips for meals that can be made in advance and frozen?
Erin says
Hi Kelly, a couple tips that might help you are:
1.) Once you have your meal plan and go shopping, start prepping the ingredients as soon as you get home. Chopping veggies, browning meat, etc. That way it’s dedicated to a particular meal. Also, I always have a back up in case things switch around or get eaten earlier in the week. For example, breakfast for dinner. My kids love that.
2.) I freeze most casseroles. So for example, this Crockpot Pizza Casserole https://www.suburbansimplicity.com/crockpot-pizza-casserole-everyone-loves/ can be made one night and the leftovers frozen for a subsequent week. Cooking once and eating twice is one of the most efficient things you can do to minimize your kitchen time.
Let me know if you have more questions. Or want more recipe recommendations! Erin