Meal planning is a great way to save money, and time, and make eating healthy easier. Following a meal plan can make grocery lists more accurate since you will know exactly what you are using each ingredient for, which can result in less food waste. You are also able to focus more on creating nutritionally dense meals that will benefit your overall health.
Interested in getting started? There are several online resources you can use to get started:
Meal Planning Websites & Apps
Eat This Much
- Free app and website.1
- After you enroll in a free account, Eat This Much asks for information on your dietary preferences and goals so that it can generate your meal plans. You must select your diet, which options include anything, paleo, vegetarian, vegan, ketogenic, or Mediterranean. Then, input your daily calorie goal and select how many meals you eat in a day so that the calories can be evenly distributed throughout the day.
- Once the meal plans are generated, you can review them and swap out any of the food items that do not meet your preference.
- Key features:
- Introduces you to new meals, or puts your favorite meals on repeat.
- Track weight progress.
- Set different targets for nutrition and/or macronutrients each day of the week and make adjustments if you miss a day.
- Keyword filters ensure that you only see foods that are in line with your specific diet or meal plan needs.
- If a meal idea doesn’t sound appealing, you can click the regenerate button and a new meal idea will appear.
- The pantry lets you track everything you have on hand for meals so you know what foods need to be purchased for the meal plans.
Eatwell101 Meal Planner
- Free website and mobile app, no account required.2
- Create a 7-day meal plan by searching their website for meals, with over 3,000 recipes in their database.2 Then the planner will help you make a grocery list while taking into account what you already have on hand in your pantry and fridge.
- Narrow the search by courses, popular ingredients, or diets using the menu tab below the search bar.
- There is a section where you can import any recipe from your favorite websites.
- Once you have created your weekly meal plan, it can be downloaded as a PDF on a computer, tablet, or smartphone.
Prospre
- Free website and mobile app – however the app is the recommended platform due to offering more customization.3
- This meal planning resource produces custom meal plans based on your macronutrient requirements.3 Then you can select the date range for when you are going to go grocery shopping, and Prospre will automatically create a grocery list based on the foods in your meal plan.
- You are able to calculate your macronutrient needs or directly enter them if you already know them. The website calculates your macronutrient needs based on your height, weight, age, gender, activity goal, and primary goal (lose weight, maintain weight, gain weight).
- Choose between normal, vegan, and vegetarian diet types.
- Key features:
- If you don’t prefer a certain meal, simply select “regenerate” it until you find something that interests you.
- The “Fit Into Plan” feature allows you to add a treat to your day, and the other items you have planned will be adjusted so that you can have that treat and still achieve your macronutrient goals.
- Prospre’s AI Coach provides suggestions for how you should adjust your macronutrients to keep on track with your goal.
- The meal planner allows you to track your food and water intake and offers the option of scanning the item’s barcode to utilize Prospre’s database of over 300K food items.
Mealime
- Free and available as a mobile app. Does offer a “Mealime Pro” option with additional features, such as complete nutrition information, calorie filters, access to the entire recipe collection, add notes to recipes, and the option to view your two most recent meal plans.4
- Mealime creates a meal plan for you or you can create your own plan. Grocery lists are automatically made based on the food in the meal plan.
- Input information on your type of diet, allergies, food restrictions, and dislikes. You can also select how many meals you would like to get out of each recipe.
- Key features:
- Any meal can be tagged as a favorite and saved for later.
- The “Cooking Mode” feature displays the recipe instructions and prevents your phone from locking during this time. Additionally, just hover your hand over the screen and release it when you are ready to reach the next step of the recipe. That way you’re cooking ingredients don’t wind up smudged all over your phone screen.
FoodPrint – by Nutrino
- Free and available as a mobile app.5
- FoodPrint can provide a meal plan for the day, the next few days, or the upcoming week. By choosing “Plan your meals for the week”, recipes will automatically be added to your food diary for the days and meals you choose.
- The app allows you to track your food intake by searching their database, and if a food item is not found you can manually add the information.
- One of the most vital features that sets this app apart from others is that if you have diabetes you can connect your Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) to see how your meals impact your glucose levels.
- You can also log insulin, water, physical activity, sleep, body measurements, and emotions throughout the day.
- Customize meal plans based on allergies, special dietary needs, and taste preferences.
- Key features:
- The app provides recommendations for what to eat when going out to eat in order to stick to your FoodPrint plan. To view a healthy restaurant based on your current location, choose “Find Healthy Dishes Near You”. Additionally, if you would rather view a list of healthy recipes, click on “Explore Healthy Recipes”.
- If you don’t prefer a certain meal suggestion, you can tap on the suggestion and scroll to the bottom of the screen to see a list of suggested alternatives.
Spoonacular
- Free website and mobile app.6
- The app allows you to make weekly meal plans with recipes and storebought food; soon you will be able to add restaurant dishes to your meal plan.
- Creates a grocery list automatically.
- Track your nutrition for every recipe, product, and restaurant meal.
- Meal planners can accommodate several diet types, including vegan, gluten-free, and Paleo diets; can also search for recipes with/without certain ingredients.
- Key features:
- The “Recipe of The Day” feature inspires you with a new recipe every day.
- Provides a price estimate for every recipe and day on your meal plan.
- You are able to sync the app with your Google calendar, which can help you stay on top of meal planning.
- New features are constantly being added – accepts requests online.
In addition to meal planning websites and apps, meal planning books provide different unique recipes and maybe a better-suited alternative for those that are less tech-savvy.
There are plenty of meal planning books you can use to get inspired and create your own weekly meal plan. There are DOZENS of weekly and monthly meal plan templates online to choose from that you can download and fill in with recipes from the books mentioned below7:
Meal Planning Books
Healthy Meal Prep by Stephanie Tornatore8
- Features step-by-step meal plans for each week.
- 50 simple and delicious recipes.
- Convenient shopping lists.
- Advice on food storage and how to properly reheat food.
- Nutrition information for every recipe.
Smart Meal Prep for Beginners by Toby Amidor9
- Written by a Registered Dietitian.
- Provides 6 weekly meal prep plans that include breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
- Offers shopping lists, storage tips, and guides on how to use leftovers to avoid food waste.
- Nutrition facts for every recipe.
The Healthy Meal Prep Instant Pot Cookbook by Carrie Forrest10
- Highlights 75 healthy recipes that are easy to prep and toss into your favorite multicooker.
- Includes instructions for storing and freezing leftovers to prevent food waste.
One of the most important aspects of meal planning is making sure that you are maintaining food safety and storing food for an appropriate amount of time.
The USDA’s website is a great resource for all information related to food safety, food temperature requirements, and food storage.
How long can I store the meals that I have prepared? According to the USDA, cooked meals and leftovers should be used within 3-4 days.11 Keeping food in a refrigerator slows down bacteria growth, but it does not stop it – and harmful bacteria can still grow at low temperatures (such as inside the refrigerator).
While keeping food safety in mind, meal planning can help you transform mealtime into an enjoyable experience, have better control over creating a balanced diet, decrease your food waste, and more. Meal planning can be challenging at first and does require consistency, however, utilizing the resources listed above will make meal planning a much more manageable and gratifying experience!
Sources:
- Eat This Much, Inc. (2019). Eat This Much, your personal diet assistant. Eat This Much; Eat This Much. https://www.eatthismuch.com/
- Meal Planner – Online Meal Planning Tool by Eatwell101. (2021, March 10). Eatwell101. https://www.eatwell101.com/meal-planner
- Meal Plan Generator. (n.d.). Prospre. https://www.prospre.io/meal-plan-generator
- Mealime. (2020). Mealime – Get the free app today! Mealime. https://www.mealime.com/
- Maggie. (2016, July 23). Getting Started with Nutrino. FoodPrint by Nutrino. https://nutrino.co/getting-started-nutrino/
- spoonacular meal planning app. (n.d.). Meal Planning App.co. Retrieved April 17, 2023, from https://mealplanningapp.co/
- 5 Free Meal Planning Templates to Simplify Your Life. (2022, January 4). Life by Daily Burn. http://dailyburn.com/life/health/printable-meal-planning-templates/
- Healthy Meal Prep: Time-saving plans to prep and portion your weekly meals: Tornatore, Stephanie, Bannon, Adam: 9781465464866: Books – Amazon.ca. (2023). Amazon.com.
- Smart Meal Prep for Beginners: Recipes and Weekly Plans for Healthy, Ready-to-Go Meals: Amidor MS RD CDN, Toby: 9781641521253: Books – Amazon.ca. (2023). Amazon.com.
- MPH, C. F. M. (2019). The Healthy Meal Prep Instant Pot® Cookbook: No-Fuss Recipes for Nutritious, Ready-to-Go Meals. On Amazon. Rockridge Press.
- AskUSDA. (n.d.). Ask.usda.gov. https://ask.usda.gov/s/article/How-long-will-cooked-food-stay-safe-in-the-refrigerator
