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Create a custom meal plan using this free meal planning template printable and start saving time and money today! Get weekly and monthly calendars, my best tips, and step-by-step process for easy meal planning for busy families.
Table of Contents
- Quick Recipe Overview
- Why I Love Using These Free Meal Planning Templates
- Why Every Family Needs to Meal Plan
- How to Use Your Free Meal Planning Template to Create a Weekly Meal Plan
- Or Create a Monthly Meal Plan
- My Best Meal Planning Tip!
- Recipe FAQs
- Expert Tips for Meal Planning
- Start Your Meal Planning Journey Today
- More Meal Planning Helpers
Quick Recipe Overview
WHAT: These free meal planner templates are a printable tool that helps you organize weekly or monthly meals and grocery lists.
WHY: Meal planning saves families money, reduces stress, cuts food waste, and helps you eat healthier meals at home.
HOW: Print your template, check your pantry, plan meals around your schedule, then create your grocery list.
Why I Love Using These Free Meal Planning Templates
Between school activities, work deadlines, and the general chaos of family life, figuring out dinner can feel like one task too many. That’s exactly why a free meal planning template can be such a game-changer for busy families like ours.
Having a simple system in place takes the daily guesswork out of mealtime and helps you feel more in control of your kitchen.
The beautiful thing about meal planning is that it doesn’t have to be complicated or time-consuming. With a good printable meal planning template, you can map out your entire week’s menu in less than 30 minutes—and the payoff is huge.
We’re talking fewer grocery store trips, less food waste, healthier meals, and real money saved. Whether you’re brand new to meal planning or looking for a better system, I’ve got everything you need to get started right here.
🩷 Melissa
Meal planning and prep can be incredibly simple and straightforward — if you have an easy-to-follow system in place.
So I’m sharing my guide for meal planning that takes the stress out of getting dinner (or any other meal) on the table and takes the thought out of picking meals to make every single day.
This is one of the greatest tools for meal prep ever: FREE downloads to create your meal plan!
In less than an hour, you’ll be able to plan a year’s worth of daily meals. This is not a drill. I repeat: ONE year of home-cooked, no-stress meals! Keep reading to find out exactly how!
🍽️ Download your FREE Meal Planning 101 Guide with printable meal planning templates!
Why Every Family Needs to Meal Plan
According to nutrition experts at Brown University Health, families who plan their meals ahead tend to eat healthier, spend less, and save significant time throughout the week. Here are the biggest benefits you’ll notice:
Save Money on Groceries
One family reported saving approximately $500 per month simply by meal planning and sticking to a grocery list. When you know exactly what you need, you avoid those impulse purchases that add up fast. Plus, you’ll stop throwing away forgotten produce and expired leftovers—the average family of four wastes about $1,500 worth of food annually.
Save Precious Time
No more daily trips to the grocery store. No more standing in front of the pantry wondering what to make. A meal planning template helps you batch your decision-making into one short session per week, freeing up mental energy for everything else on your plate.
Eat Healthier Meals
When dinner is planned, you’re far less likely to hit the drive-through or order takeout. Research from Harvard’s Nutrition Source shows that meal planning leads to increased consumption of fruits and vegetables, which can lower the risk of chronic diseases like heart disease and diabetes.
Reduce Daily Stress
There’s something incredibly freeing about knowing the answer to “What’s for dinner?” every single day. That 5 PM panic disappears, and you can actually enjoy cooking again when you’re not scrambling to figure things out at the last minute.
How to Use Your Free Meal Planning Template to Create a Weekly Meal Plan
Ready to get started? Here’s exactly how to use your printable weekly meal plan template to create a system that works for your family.
Step 1: Print Your Template and Choose Your Planning Day
Download and print your free weekly meal planner template (just put your name and email in the opt-in box above).
Pick one day each week to sit down and plan. Many families find that Friday evening or Sunday morning works best, but choose whatever fits your schedule.
Keep your template somewhere visible, like on the refrigerator, so everyone in the family knows the plan.
Step 2: Check What You Already Have
Before planning a single meal, take five minutes to look through your refrigerator, freezer, and pantry. Note any proteins that need to be used soon, produce that’s getting ripe, and pantry staples you have on hand.
Building meals around what you already own reduces waste and saves money.
Step 3: Consider Your Weekly Schedule
Look at your family calendar for the upcoming week. Which nights have sports practices, meetings, or late activities? Those are perfect for slow cooker meals, sheet pan dinners, or planned leftover nights.
Busier schedules mean simpler meals—and that’s perfectly okay. Save more complex recipes for weekends or lighter days.
Step 4: Fill In Your Meal Plan
Write down your meals for each day on your template. Don’t forget breakfast, lunch, and snacks if you want to plan those too. (I even put a snacks section in the weekly meal plan!)
Consider incorporating theme nights to make planning easier—think Meatless Monday, Taco Tuesday, Breakfast for Dinner Wednesday, or Pizza Friday.
Leave at least one “leftover night” so you use up what you’ve cooked.
Step 5: Create Your Grocery List
- Go through each planned meal and write down every ingredient you’ll need.
- Cross off anything you already have at home.
- Organize your list by grocery store section (produce, dairy, meat, pantry) to make shopping faster.
Stick to your list as much as possible—this is where the real savings happen.
Step 6: Shop Once and Prep Ahead (Optional)
Do your grocery shopping in one trip, ideally at the beginning of the week.
If you have time, spend 30-60 minutes doing basic meal prep: wash and chop vegetables, cook grains, marinate proteins, or prep slow cooker ingredients.
This makes weeknight cooking significantly faster and easier.
Or Create a Monthly Meal Plan
Meal planning doesn’t require blood, sweat, and tears — grab the monthly meal plan template and my tips below for EASY meal planning ASAP!
Fill Out Your Monthly Calendar
Put one meal category at the top of each day of the week. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Soup
- Tex-Mex
- Breakfast for Dinner
- Quick Meal
- Slow Cooker
Be sure to grab the Meal Planning 101 guide for lots of categories and meals for each already planned out for you!
This might vary from month to month depending on your schedule and the season. I tend to do my “Quick and Easy” meals more during baseball season, and I like to swap out something in the summer to plan for a grilling night (normally Saturday).
Now start filling the month with meals for each category and then plug them into spots that work for you. You’ll want to be sure and incorporate any date nights, eating out, family events, and designated leftover nights. (I use my leftovers for Sundays so I don’t have to cook one day a week).
I’m also mindful of the day of the week and how busy it is. Tuesdays are always really busy with music lessons and Scouts, so I plan on really easy, fast, or slow cooker meals for that night. This is also a great way to specify trying a new recipe.
One of your categories can be “New Recipes,” or you can just stick a few in with whatever category they fit. I normally only plan for one or two new recipes a week, or none depending on how busy life feels.
Use the Monthly Meal Plan to Fill Out Your Weekly Calendar
One day a week, sit down with your filled-out monthly meal plan and a blank weekly meal plan. Use this basic process to create your daily meal plan for the week.
- Fill in your week, and make note of any sides you might want to add or plan on making.
- This is a great time to “shop the sale,” and plan on sides based on what is on sale. I’ll also make a note if I’m making something in addition to the main dish, like breadsticks or rice.
- Make a shopping list for the week, and plan your shopping day.
- When you get home from your shopping trip, you can plan to do a bit of meal prep to make your nights even easier.
I like to create the weekly plan on Saturday or Sunday and do my shopping on Monday morning with some meal prep right after I get home from the store.
My Best Meal Planning Tip!
Fill out a few monthly calendars and KEEP them all! If you do this for three months in a row, you can reuse your calendars 4 times in the year. Just like that, you have a year’s worth of dinners planned in as little as an hour!
Recipe FAQs
Once you get into a routine, most families spend about 20-30 minutes per week on meal planning. That small time investment saves hours of daily decision-making, multiple grocery store trips, and the stress of last-minute dinner scrambles. Many people find they enjoy it with a cup of coffee on Sunday morning!
This comes down to personal preference! Printable templates work wonderfully for people who like writing things down by hand and having a visual reminder on the fridge. Digital planners are great if you want to access your plan from your phone at the grocery store. Many families use both—a printed template at home and photos or apps for shopping. Try different methods and see what sticks.
Meal planning actually helps with picky eaters! You can build your plan around meals you know everyone will eat while slowly introducing one new recipe per week. Let picky eaters help choose some meals—they’re more likely to eat food they picked out. Also consider having “customizable” meals like taco bars or pasta bars where everyone can build their own plate.
Meal planning is actually one of the best ways to stretch a grocery budget! Plan your meals around weekly sales and seasonal produce. Include at least one or two meatless meals per week, since plant-based proteins like beans and lentils cost significantly less. Use your freezer to stock up on meat when it’s on sale, and always shop with a list to avoid impulse purchases.
Keep your current week’s template posted somewhere visible—the refrigerator is the classic spot. For past templates, many families keep them in a simple binder so they can reference what worked (and what didn’t). After a few months, you’ll have a collection of successful meal plans you can rotate through, making future planning even faster!
Expert Tips for Meal Planning
- Start Small: If meal planning feels overwhelming, don’t try to plan every meal right away. Start with just 3-4 dinners per week and build from there. You can always add breakfast and lunch planning once you’ve got the hang of it.
- Keep a Running Recipe List: Create a master list of meals your family actually enjoys. When planning time comes, you’re not starting from scratch—you’re simply choosing from options you know will be eaten. Add new recipes slowly and note which ones become hits.
- Build in Flexibility: Your meal plan is a guide, not a strict contract. If Tuesday’s chicken dinner doesn’t happen, just swap it with Wednesday’s pasta. The goal is to have options ready, not to follow the plan perfectly.
- Double Your Recipes: When you’re cooking anyway, make extra! Double a casserole or soup recipe and freeze half for a future meal. This builds up your freezer stash for those inevitable nights when plans fall apart.
- Involve the Whole Family: Let everyone contribute meal ideas—even the kids. When family members help choose recipes, they’re more likely to eat without complaining. Plus, it takes some of the mental load off your shoulders.
Start Your Meal Planning Journey Today
A free meal planning template is one of the simplest tools you can add to your kitchen routine, but the impact is anything but small. When you take just a few minutes each week to plan ahead, you’re setting yourself up for calmer evenings, healthier meals, and real savings at the grocery store. No more standing in front of the fridge wondering what to make, no more expensive last-minute takeout, and no more throwing away forgotten food.
Remember, meal planning doesn’t have to be perfect to be helpful. Start with whatever feels manageable—even planning just three dinners is better than none. Print out your free template, grab a pen, and give it a try this week. I think you’ll be amazed at how much easier dinnertime becomes when you have a plan.
Did you make this recipe? Leave a ⭐️ review and share it on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest!
Thank you I get tired of figuring out what’s for supper and want to try this method. Also thank you for sharing your receipts now we can try different things.
Melissa. Í like your recepts. Thank ýou very much.
I try to eat mainly a plant based diet
I do eat fish and chicken, but no beef or
pork. Would this work with your plan?
We are a family of 2 seniors! Thankyou ?
Yes, it would work so great because you can pick the types of meals you are making!