If you would rather skip the planning, the meal plan builder writes a full week and its shopping list from your answers. To plan it yourself, follow these steps.
How do you plan a week of meals step by step?
- Decide how many meals you need. Count the breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks you will eat at home this week.
- Pick a few meals you enjoy. Three or four breakfasts and four or five dinners are plenty. Repeating meals is fine.
- Plan leftovers on purpose. Cook a bigger dinner, such as a soup, chilli or curry, and use the rest for lunch the next day.
- Check each meal against the plate below, and swap in vegetables or protein where one is short.
- Write one shopping list from the plan, grouped by aisle, and check the cupboard before you go.
- Prepare a little ahead. Wash vegetables, cook a pot of grains or boil a few eggs at the start of the week.
What should every meal include?
Use one plate for every meal: half vegetables or fruit, a quarter protein, a quarter whole grains or starchy vegetables, and a little healthy fat such as olive oil. The anti-inflammatory plate explains each part in more detail.
| Part of the plate | Examples |
|---|---|
| Half: vegetables or fruit | Salad leaves, broccoli, peppers, carrots, tomatoes, berries, apples |
| Quarter: protein | Fish, eggs, chicken, beans, lentils, tofu, yogurt |
| Quarter: whole grains or starchy vegetables | Brown rice, oats, wholewheat pasta, quinoa, potatoes with skin |
| A little healthy fat | Olive oil, nuts, seeds, avocado |
How big the quarters are depends on how much energy you need. How many calories you need and how much protein you need explain how to size them.
How do you know a week of meals is balanced?
Check it against the daily markers in the WHO healthy diet fact sheet:
| Marker | WHO advice for adults | Easy check |
|---|---|---|
| Fruit and vegetables | At least 400 g a day | Vegetables or fruit at every meal and most snacks |
| Fiber | At least 25 g a day, from foods | Whole grains, beans and lentils on most days |
| Free sugars | Under 10% of energy, ideally 5% or less | Few sweet drinks, sweets or sweetened yogurts |
| Salt | Under 5 g a day | Limit salty snacks, processed meats and ready meals |
| Saturated fat | No more than 10% of energy | Cook with olive oil and choose lean protein most days |
For more on two of these, see how much fiber you actually need and how much added sugar and salt you are eating.
What does a simple healthy week look like?
| Meal | Option to repeat | Option to rotate in |
|---|---|---|
| Breakfast | Overnight oats with berries and seeds | Eggs with spinach on wholegrain toast |
| Lunch | Leftover dinner, or lentil soup with bread | Chickpea and quinoa salad |
| Dinner | Bean chilli with brown rice (makes leftovers) | Baked salmon with roasted vegetables and potatoes |
| Snack | Fruit with a small handful of nuts | Hummus with vegetable sticks |
The meal plan builder draws from about 50 meals like these, filtered for how you eat and any foods you avoid, and lets you swap any meal. Eating plant-based? See vegetarian and vegan meal planning. The full guide to nutrition covers the rest.
