How to use the weekly meal planner
- Type an optional name in Plan title, such as Week of Oct 12. It heads the printout.
- Click any of the 21 boxes, Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner for Monday to Sunday, and type a meal (up to 100 characters).
- Read the line under the grid. It counts planned meals and points out repeats.
- Press Print plan for a clean table without menus or buttons, or Copy as text to paste into a note or message.
- Press Load example week to bring the sample back, or Clear all and then Yes, clear all for an empty plan you can print and fill in by hand.
How saving and counting work
Your plan saves about a third of a second after you stop typing, in your browser's local storage on this device. Nothing is sent to a server, so the plan will not appear on another phone or browser, and clearing site data or using a private window removes it. If the browser blocks storage, the tool says so and Copy as text is the way to keep your plan.
A meal counts as planned when its box has text, and a day is complete when all three boxes are filled. A meal is flagged as repeated when the same text appears more than once, ignoring capital letters and extra spaces. Leftover stir-fry and Stir-fry count as different meals.
Worked example
On your first visit the example week is loaded, and the line under the grid reads 21 of 21 meals planned, 7 of 7 days complete. No meal is repeated. Copy as text gives one block per day, starting with:
Weekly meal plan Monday Breakfast: Oatmeal with berries Lunch: Turkey sandwich and apple Dinner: Chicken stir-fry with rice
Tuesday lunch is the leftover stir-fry from Monday dinner, so one cooking session feeds two meals. An empty box is written as (not planned).
Planning tips and limits
- Plan leftovers on purpose. USDA FSIS says to refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours (1 hour above 90 °F) and use them within 3 to 4 days, so put leftover meals early in the week and freeze the rest.
- It plans meals, not ingredients. Take the dinners to the grocery list generator to get a shopping list by aisle, and resize a recipe for your household with the recipe scaler.
- It does not count calories. Use the calorie calculator to set a daily target first.
- One week per browser. There is one saved plan. To plan a second week, copy or print the first, then clear it.
- Print to PDF. Choose Save as PDF in your browser's print dialog.
Meal planner FAQ
How do I make a weekly meal plan?
Start with dinners, since they take the most effort, then add breakfasts and lunches around leftovers and easy repeats. Fill all 21 boxes with meals you will really cook, and check the repeat note to see how much variety you have.
Can I print a blank meal planner?
Yes. Press Clear all, confirm, then Print plan. The printout is a table with empty boxes you can fill in by hand.
Is my meal plan saved or uploaded?
It is saved in your browser on this device as you type and is never uploaded. It will not appear on other devices, and clearing your browser data deletes it.
How long do leftovers last in the fridge?
USDA says most cooked leftovers keep 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator if you chill them within 2 hours of cooking. Freeze anything you will not eat in that time.
How do I turn my meal plan into a grocery list?
Copy the plan as text, write down the ingredients for each dinner, and paste them into the Grocery List Generator, which groups them by store section.
Sources: USDA FSIS, Leftovers and Food Safety.