Making a weekly menu: plan a week of meals in just a few minutes
"What are we having today?" If you're tired of that question, a weekly menu is the answer. Decide once what you'll eat for the coming week, and then you don't have to think about it again. No evening stress over an empty fridge, no three trips to the shop.
Creating a weekly menu takes less time than you think. Here's how to go about it.
How do you create a weekly menu?
Essentially, it's four steps:
- Choose your meals. Pick five to seven meals you'd like to eat this week. Mix easy weekday dishes with something more elaborate for the weekend.
- Spread them over the days. Take your week into account: something quick on busy days, a bit more time on a quiet evening.
- Make your shopping list. Note down what you need for each dish and check what you already have at home.
- Do your shopping in one go. With a complete list, you only need to pop into the shop once.
Sounds simple, and it is. The trick is sticking with it.
Gather your favourite recipes in one place
The biggest stumbling block with a weekly menu: not knowing what to cook. The solution is your own collection of recipes to choose from. Spot a tasty recipe on TikTok, Instagram or a cooking website? Save it right away, instead of a screenshot you'll never find again.
An app like Chup makes this easy: you paste the link to a recipe and it's saved automatically. This way, you gradually build your own recipe book to draw on every week.
Let the shopping list fill itself
The most tedious part of a weekly menu is usually the shopping list: working out what you need for each dish. There's an easier way. If you plan your weekly menu digitally, the ingredients automatically land on a shared shopping list. Everyone in the family can add to it, and whoever's at the shop ticks things off. Put the weekly menu next to the calendar on a digital calendar on a screen in the kitchen, so everyone can see straight away what's for dinner that day.
Tips for a weekly menu you'll stick to
- Start small. Don't try to plan all seven days perfectly right away. Three or four set evenings is already a huge improvement.
- Work with fixed themes. Pasta on Monday, something vegetarian on Wednesday, pizza on Friday. That saves a lot of thinking.
- Cook double. Make a double portion straight away and freeze half. That's one evening you don't have to plan.
- Involve the children. Let them choose or help out one evening. They often eat more enthusiastically what they've come up with themselves.
Frequently asked questions
How many meals do you plan in a weekly menu? Usually five to seven evening meals. Many families keep one or two days open for leftovers or a spontaneous choice.
How do you create a weekly menu with the shopping list included? First plan your meals, note the ingredients for each dish and combine them into a list. Digitally, that happens automatically: the ingredients from your weekly menu go straight onto the shopping list.
What's a handy app for creating a weekly menu? An app where you can save recipes, add them to a weekly plan and link the shopping list works best. In Chup you do this with the meal planner: you plan your weekly menu and share the shopping list with the whole family.
A week without "what are we eating?"
A weekly menu isn't a straitjacket, it's a guide. You decide how strictly you stick to it. The goal is simple: know at the start of the week what's for dinner, so you don't have to think about it for the rest of the week. A few minutes of planning, a week of peace.
Comments (0)