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How to plan a week of family meals with one shared grocery list

Meal planning sounds like a Sunday-afternoon project. It doesn't have to be. With a few favourites saved and the right shortcuts, planning the week and the shopping list takes about ten minutes, and the whole family can see and add to both.

Before the first week: save your favourites

Save ten or so recipes your family already eats, from websites, social posts or photos of recipe cards. Mark the ones the kids love as Kids' pick on their pages.

The ten-minute weekly plan

1. Repeats first. Pizza Friday, taco Tuesday: tick Repeat every week once, and they plan themselves from then on.
2. Kids' pick. Each child picks one dinner a week from their approved list. They'll eat it, and they had a say.
3. Fill the week. Let Fridge Door suggest the empty dinners from your recipes, favouring what the family rates well and hasn't had lately. Untick any you don't fancy.
4. Leftovers. Tick Makes leftovers on a big dinner, and the next day's lunch is planned too.
5. Prep notes. Write "thaw the chicken" as a Prep reminder (day before), and the reminder comes the evening before.

Planning the week has the details on each.

One shared grocery list

Choose Add to shopping list on the Plan page. Every ingredient the week needs is listed, scaled to each meal and merged, with pantry staples left off. Untick what you have, and it's on the list. See adding the week's meals.

The list is the whole family's: anyone can add to it from their phone, by typing or by voice, or on the kitchen screen. Turn on Group by aisle and it sorts the way you walk the store. In the store, tick things off even with no signal. More in shopping lists by aisle.

Through the week

Cook from the plan with cook mode, on your phone or the kitchen screen. Afterwards, everyone can give a meal a thumbs up or down on its page, so Fill the week learns what your family likes. Print the plan for the fridge if you like paper.

Questions

Do I have to plan every meal?

No. Many families plan only dinners. Breakfast, lunch and snack are there if you want them.

What if plans change mid-week?

Change or remove a meal in a tap. The list keeps what's already on it, and adding from the plan again shows what's new.

Can my partner see the plan and list?

Yes. Everyone in the family sees the same plan and lists on their own phone, and changes show up within a second or two.

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