Meal planner: a flexible outline for your week

Turn a few schedule and food preferences into an editable seven-day meal outline and grocery categories. There are no prescribed calorie targets.

Country-aware · flexible outline

Meal Planner

Pick your country or region, set your preferences, and list anything to avoid — the planner builds a flexible weekly outline grounded in national and regional dietary guidance.

Your preferences
1 Your country / region shapes the meal library
2 Foods to avoid optional · comma-separated
Separate with commas. We'll skip any meal containing these.
3 Dietary pattern
4 Meals to plan
5 Weeknight cooking time
6 Household size
7 Flexible nights
8 Prep day

Live outline — adjust anytime, nothing is locked.

A flexible outline works better than a rigid plan because appetite, energy and social plans change. The plate method gives you a visual shortcut — fill half your plate with non-starchy vegetables, a quarter with lean protein, and a quarter with whole grains or starchy vegetables. The four P's — Plan for your real life, Purchase foods that make life easier, Prepare for future you, and Personalise — keep the system sustainable. Your country or region selection shapes the meal library: the United States follows the Dietary Guidelines for Americans; the United Kingdom uses the Eatwell Guide; Canada follows the Canada Food Guide; Australia uses the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating; Japan follows the Japanese Food Balance Guide; India follows the Dietary Guidelines for Indians; China uses the Chinese Dietary Guidelines and the Chinese Food Pagoda; Bangladesh follows the Bangladesh Dietary Guidelines built on rice, fish, dal and vegetables; the Arab region draws on the WHO EMRO food-based dietary guidelines with bread, legumes and olive oil; and Africa uses regional guidance from the FAO Africa dietary guidelines where starchy staples, legumes, and leafy greens are central. Anything you list in the "Foods to avoid" field is filtered out in real time.

Start with the week you actually have

Choose a food pattern, servings and preparation time. Open More preferences to select a shopping preference, words for foods you dislike and a weekday schedule. The plan uses simple meal ideas; preparation time is a planning preference, not a tested recipe duration. Check your ingredients and available equipment before relying on it.

Read, edit and print

Each day contains breakfast, lunch and dinner ideas plus a practical preparation reminder. You can edit every item and mark it complete. Use Print plan to print or save a PDF through your browser. Your edits stay in the current tab only; reloading or starting over clears the result.

How preferences affect the outline

Vegan examples use plant foods. Vegetarian examples may include eggs, and a flexible variety scenario may offer fish or beans. The value setting favors repeated staples. Packed-lunch and batch-preparation choices add storage reminders. The result is a rule-based outline, not an assessment of nutritional completeness.

Dislikes are not an allergy filter

Avoidance matching checks the words in a short meal title. It cannot identify hidden ingredients, derivatives, cross-contact or every synonym. A matching title is replaced by a prompt to choose an alternative. Always verify labels and recipes yourself; seek qualified guidance for allergies or medical dietary restrictions.

Make the grocery categories useful

Check the kitchen before shopping. Add only what is missing from vegetables, fruit, grains or potatoes, preferred protein foods, staple fats and seasonings. Choose quantities for your household and appetite. The serving count is a planning label, not an automatic recipe scaling or portion prescription.

Food safety and sources

USDA MyPlate explains food groups and practical meal planning. National Academies: Dietary Reference Intakes for Water provides adult population water references. Use FoodSafety.gov food handling guidance for cleaning, separation, cooking and chilling. Add meal preparation time to the weekly routine builder.

Editorial information

Prepared with AI assistance for Everyday Wellness Planner. Last checked: 9 October 2026. No independent clinical review is claimed. Read our editorial policy and educational disclaimer. Calculator inputs remain in this browser tab; ordinary site logs and analytics are described in the privacy notice.

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Return to Nutrition tools, browse the tool directory, or build a weekly routine.

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