When people think of meal planning, they think of complicated work sheets and weekly sessions dedicated to planning and mapping out meals. It’s not hard to feel like a failure when others have impressive systems in place.
I would guess most people find meal planning too rigid, me included. Meal planning should be fun, simple, and painless. Here is a collection of approaches that will ignite ideas and put food on the table.
Full disclosture: I wrote this article for another website I had about home pantries. I knew meal planning was especially challenging for those who are naturally disorganized and struggle with focus and finishing (like me).
The advice is truly simple and actionable, no matter where you are in life.
The process below will guide you through effortless meal planning. You will be surprised to find out how many meals you already have in place. Every idea below will spark another, and before you know it, you will be effortlessly meal planning!
Action steps
In summary, this is what you’ll need to do:
- First, scan the list.
- Pick the strategies that most appeal to you.
- Brainstorm on paper all of the meals you already are comfortable making, this is your first pantry list! Make sure that you have the ingredients on hand and buy double to have your first experience of stocking up. If you are motivated, check the sale prices in a grocery flier or online to see if any of your ingredients are on sale – this can be overwhelming to newbies, so take small steps. Just looking at a sale flier is a good first step for beginners.
- Challenge yourself, but keep it small for the first month. Decide one new recipe, or doubling one meal that will go into the freezer, or intentionally cooking one gadget-associated meal.
- Grant yourself a discovery time, based on the suggestions in this guide. Branch out into recipes that you would like to try. Add 1-2 a month.
- Be honest with yourself how complicated your system needs to be, and if you can count on help from family or partners.
- Lastly, relax your attitude about meal planning, go with the flow – and don’t feel guilty about it!
List of simple meal planning strategies
The (BRIEF) MENTAL MEAL PLANNING SESSION. Think about what you will be doing in the coming week. Think about what you have scheduled, if you’ll be having anyone over, or if you’ll have some crazy nights where you won’t be able to cook. Instead of planning exactly what you’ll eat at which meal each day, think about the week as a whole. Plan on a couple of base meals that will provide leftovers, fast go-to recipes for hectic nights, and convenience foods. Giving thought to the big picture will give you direction for your week.
FREE-STYLE. Who says you need daily and monthly charts? Meal planning is challenging when human nature kicks in and you don’t feel like eating the “assigned” food, in-season food presents itself, plans change, or the leftovers you counted on were eaten up. Meal planning can be a fast track to frustration and annoyance when the system crumbles. Be flexible, have a backup plan with reliable substitutions.
DEFINE YOUR TOP TEN FAVORITES; STOCK YOUR PANTRY BASED ON YOUR TRIED AND TRUE MEALS
Take the time to sit down and write out lists that fall into the categories below. If you’re not a cook, or out on your own for the first time, think of the meals you ate growing up, or even favorite school meals. This is your foundation for filling out the list. Now is also a good time to get recipes you love from relatives, friends or coworkers. Don’t forget to ask other household members what they would like to eat. Your collection of meal plans start here and builds. It’s also a good time to think about your recipe system. Will you use an index card box? A binder with plastic sleeves works great. For each category below, grab a paper and list as many meals as you can:
- Favorite easy meals
- Favorite comfort foods
- Favorite vegetable recipes
- Favorite side recipes
- Favorite recipes when company comes over
THE POWER OF ONE. Set your goals low. Instead of implementing an all-out, cook-for-the-month event, aim for ONE prepared meal in the freezer. Maybe it comes from an extra big batch of food you made, or maybe an intentionally-made freezer meal. You’re going to gaze at that one meal in the freezer and feel that you have your act together (fyi, it’s the same adrenaline boost you would get even if you had 20 meals in the freezer). This is a time to experiment with container sizes and plastic bags. It might take a few tries to figure what stacks together nicely, what is the most durable, and what works best for freezing. Starting small gives you confidence and removes overwhelming feelings common with bulk food cooking.
FREEZER MEALS THE RIGHT WAY. If your idea of a freezer meal is a solid block of meal ice, then let me enlighten you. The trick is to know what parts of the meal to freeze in advance. Grab a bag of diced chicken or shredded cheese from the freezer and add to a casserole you are preparing. Finalize by baking in the oven, then pulling out and adding a crunchy topping. It will taste just like you made everything fresh. Pay attention to the freezer meal plans you see on the Internet; many are strategically designed to take one bag of seasoned meat and pivot into three or four different recipes.
It pays not to go all-in when prepping freezer meals. I have tried a few meal prep sessions, only to find I really didn’t like the recipes. Freezing leftovers is a great way to gradually step into freezer meals. Some things freeze great and others not so much. Watch out for freezer burn – the result of moisture loss in frozen food. It can creep in the food if it’s not properly sealed (resulting in unpleasant flavor and texture). With a little experimentation, you will figure out the amount of freezer food prep that makes sense for your situation and avoid wasting food.
BUILD YOUR BLOCKS/MIX AND MATCH. It’s not necessary to plan full meals, especially for sack lunches. You can prepare proteins, grains, and vegetables in separate containers that can mix and match with other meals. Items like pasta and rice or other grains, at the ready, can fit nicely into various meal plans. A simple formula for any meal: protein + complex carb + vegetables and/or fruits.
An easy idea for company: buy a variety of small and odd size dishes. Fill each bowl with one ingredient: blueberries or other fruits, nuts, sunflower seeds, shredded carrots or cheese, salad mix, baked bread, and sliced meat such as grilled chicken, etc. Let your guests assemble their own meat salad. This is a big hit with guests, especially if you don’t know if you have any vegetarians in the group. The bonus is no recipe to follow and a beautiful presentation on your table!
DOUBLE-DUTY DIAMONDS. Make things that can be served in a number of different ways. Roasted veggies and potatoes can be served with a salad or as a side for a simple meal of fish or chicken. A 10# bag of chicken legs can become roasted BBQ chicken, fajitas/tacos, chicken sandwiches or casserole. Rice can be used as fried rice, in a casserole, or soup.
BECOME A LEFTOVER MEAL NINJA. Along with double-duty diamonds, use your leftovers wisely. Last night’s roast chicken tastes great as tomorrow’s tacos or chicken salad. Yesterday’s pork roast morphs into pork stir-fry soup or sandwiches. Slice up a steak to make a steak salad. Double the rice needed and use the leftovers for fried rice, burritos, salad, in a casserole, or soup. Leftover protein and vegetables makes a nice breakfast quiche or omelet. Flatbread pizzas, sandwiches, wraps, are always easy to throw leftovers into. No one will be the wiser that you’re eating leftovers.
PICK YOUR PROVEN CONVENIENCE FOOD WINNERS. Frozen pizza? Steak burritos? Meatballs? Toss a few things into the cart for easy, last minute meals. You’ve already tried them, have your favorite brands, and know which ones are the winners. Convenience foods add one more meal to your arsenal.
THEME NIGHTS. Theme nights take the effort out of decision making. Maybe every Monday is meatloaf night, Tuesday is taco night, or Friday is pizza night. Theme nights could also be based on one family member’s favorite meal. Meal planning is taken out of your hands and you are free to do other things.
SPIN THE WHEEL OF FOOD. Connect two paper plates together, and write seven main dish ideas (grilled chicken, hamburgers, etc.) on one, and seven side dish ideas on the other (salad, baked potatoes, etc.). The family members take turns spinning the wheel, and whatever comes up is that night’s dinner! Another variation is to draw slips of paper out of a box. Get family input for best results.
ALWAYS BE PREPARED. Write down 10 full meal ideas on 10 index cards, complete with a shopping list on the back. Include in your stack a few other quick ideas, like ordering take-out. Keep one set at home and another in your bag. When you’re short on time or have spur-of-the-moment guests, you can refer to these reference cards and do a quick shopping trip before heading home.
VEGETABLES FOR BREAKFAST. We all know that we need 3-5 servings of vegetables per day, but they can easily be forgotten. Start a new habit of adding vegetables to your breakfast. Spinach or mixed frozen vegetables can be added to eggs. Slather peanut butter on a low-carb tortilla, layer with spinach, and roll up. In addition, make it easy to get your vegetables in at other meals. Get easy-to-make steamer bags of vegetables. Roast large batches of veggies in advance – like cauliflower, with rosemary or thyme, olive oil, salt and pepper. You can throw roasted vegetables into omelets, put on top of pizzas and add them to sandwiches.
DIVIDE AND CONQUER. Don’t be afraid to enlist a little help at dinnertime, whether from your spouse or kids. Dad could handle dinner on Monday and Wednesday, for example, and Mom could take it on Tuesday and Thursday. One person can be in charge of the main entre, and another person comes up with the vegetable or other side dish. Younger kids are great assistants, setting the table and gathering ingredients, all while learning the skills of cooking.
THAW LIKE A BOSS. Taking food out of the freezer the night before is half the battle. Take out the frozen ingredients for tomorrow night’s dinner as you prepare tonight’s meal. Transfer them from the counter to the refrigerator in the morning (you’ll have a second chance in the morning if you forget to start thawing the night before!).
SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS. Buy the healthiest food you are likely to eat. Splurge and buy peas in a pod, pre-cut fruit, or try new foods and turn it into a food adventure.
SUPERMARKET SMARTS. Organize shopping list by aisle. Shop at smaller markets; you’ll get out much quicker. Break up your shopping into smaller trips. Once-a-week shopping can be very tiring and may take the better part of a day. By streamlining your trips and keeping your energy up, this chore will not seem like a chore anymore.
BREAK OUT OF OLD PATTERNS. Breakfast for supper. Vegetables for breakfast. Popcorn for dinner. Cereal for a snack. There are no rules here.
COPY AND STEAL. Take a lesson from the convenience stores that have been answering the call for healthier food options. Things like hard-boiled eggs, pickles in a package, yogurt/granola parfaits, and cheese and nut snack trays are easy to duplicate at home. Go to the meat section of your local grocery store and take a look at the ready-made raw food that’s ready to throw on the grill. It’s very inspiring and can spark new ideas if you fall into a meal idea rut.
COPY SOME MORE. Tear inspirational, “no-directions” pictures out of magazines (or print off the Internet). Simple meals, like colorful salads or meat with sides can be duplicated just by looking at the picture. It can be surprisingly fun to re-create the same healthy meal live on your dinner plate. It also gets you trying foods you would never have thought of before.
CHEAT. Did you know that there are people who love to meal plan? They like is so much and are so good at it that they offer their meal plans that you can buy. Erin from $5 Dinners has put together shopping lists, and recipes One is meal plans for special diets like gluten-free or organic. The other is classified by store. She has even created a freezer meal plan that’s absolutely amazing! If you want to save money and time, you’ll love these meal plans. Why reinvent the wheel?
PAIR UP YOUR PANTRY FOR FAST MEALS. Place the spaghetti noodles next to the sauce, cream of chicken next to your favorite casserole ingredients. Bundling ingredients saves meal prep time. Instead of hunting around in your pantry cabinet, wondering if you have everything you need, you can confidently reach in and grab the ingredients for your next meal.
MEAL PREP PARTIES. Get together with a couple of friends; each one tries a different recipe out and everyone gets to taste test and vote on their favorites. Alternatively, each person can bring enough ingredients to make one meal prep recipe for a week. Interchange your food and you can have five different meals! Or turn it into a contest or challenge, which can make the cheapest meal?
GADGET CHALLENGE. Plan your meal according to the small appliance in your kitchen (we all have them!). Try a new recipe for the Instapot ®, frypan, slow cooker/crockpot, wok OR challenge yourself with a new technique: foil meal, sheet pan meal, etc.
BEST THING SINCE SLICED BREAD. One of my biggest secrets to exciting meals is simply changing the bread up. I’ll buy French bread from the store and cut in half for pizza subs, Cubans, or hearty sandwiches. Kaiser rolls, steak rolls, potato buns, sesame seed buns, rye, and sourdough all offer different flavors and textures to feel like a gourmet experience (place them under a broiler to toast one side and really make it special!). Don’t forget tortillas, flat bread, and pita bread. The possibilities are endless!
MEAL PLANNING ON AUTO-PILOT. It’s lazy meal planning at its finest. Get 12 cheap folders and label each for a month of the year. Simply write down what you had that month, or toss in a copy of the recipe. Voila! That folder will be waiting for you one year from now, ready to replay again. Another take on this is holiday meals. My family writes in a holiday book what meal we had that year. It’s so fun to look back at the menu, which always includes happy pictures of the holiday feast.
Pulling it all together
This is the beginning of your master pantry list. Using the ideas in this guide will naturally produce great ideas for a pantry list that is specific to your likes and needs.
Another quick mental exercise: think of what you tend to throw into the cart at the grocery store. You know you need it; it’s a no-brainer. These are more items that will build the foundation of your pantry staples list.
Bon appetit!
