If you often ask, “What should I make for dinner?” a meal planning template might be just what you need.
As a working adult managing a household, you’ve probably realized that having meals prepped and planned ahead is necessary for smooth sailing.Â
Whether you’re part of a family, living solo, or running a catering business, menu planning templates are a game-changer. And while everyone agrees on the benefits of meal planning, the initial setup can seem overwhelming.Â
To make things easier, we’ve put together a list of 10 meal planning templates to help you get started right away.
10 Free Meal Planning Templates to Save Time
- What Are Meal Planning Templates?
- What Makes a Good Meal Planning Template?
- 10 Best Meal Planning Templates
- 1. ClickUp Meal Planning Template
- 2. ClickUp Menu Planning Template
- 3. ClickUp Recipe Template
- 4. ClickUp Recipe Cost Template
- 5. ClickUp Restaurant Recipe Costing Template
- 6. ClickUp Weekly Planner Template
- 7. Weekly Meal Plan Template by OnPlanners
- 8. Weekly Meal Plan Template by Edit.org
- 9. Weekly Meal Planner Excel Template by Vertex42
- 10. Google Sheets Meal Plan Template by Ultimate Meal Plans
Summarize this article for me pleaseWhat Are Meal Planning Templates?
A meal planning template is a guide that helps you organize meals, shopping lists, and recipes for a set period, often a day, week, or month. It provides a structured way to plan all your meals daily, from breakfast to dinner.
Meal planners come in various styles and serve different needs. For instance, a weekly meal planning template might cover meals from Monday to Sunday, while others might span an entire month. You can find simple versions designed for home use, a weekly dinner planner for just one meal, as well as more detailed plans suited for larger operations like restaurants or catering services.Â
You can even customize meal planning templates to accommodate five smaller meals throughout the day instead of the standard three.
Focusing on six key principles—accuracy, balance, calorie control, nutrient density, moderation, and diversity—these templates help you achieve balanced nutrition, avoid last-minute meal decisions, and reduce food waste.
It might even help you stick to a budget by reducing impulse purchases at the grocery store.
Summarize this article for me pleaseWhat Makes a Good Meal Planning Template?
A good meal planner should simplify your food preparation by offering organization, guidance on portion sizes, and nutritional balance, thereby making your life much easier. So here’s what you should keep an eye out for:
- Meal planning: The ideal menu planner should have dedicated spots for each meal of the day. Make sure it includes sections for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks
- Grocery list integration: Good weekly meal planner templates allow you to easily convert your meal plans into a shopping list, making your meal prep more efficient and sustainable
- Nutritional information tracking: Access to nutritional data for each meal enables you to make informed choices supporting your health goals
- Recipe cards: Consider the weekly meal planner as a dedicated space for your go-to recipes, which makes meal planning more enjoyable. You should be able to find your favorites or discover new ones without searching through multiple sources
Incorporating these elements into your meal planner template does more than help you stay organized—it also supports a balanced diet and healthy eating habits and simplifies your grocery shopping experience.
This is why using a meal planning template can become one of the most productive things to do in your weekly routine.
💡Pro Tip: Pair your meal planning with habit tracker templates to streamline your daily tasks and stay on track with your goals.
Summarize this article for me please10 Best Meal Planning Templates
If you’re constantly wondering, “What to eat?” These ten meal planner templates will help you opt for convenient, home-cooked meals instead of takeout, reduce your grocery expenses, and ease decision fatigue throughout the week.Â
1. ClickUp Meal Planning Template
For a meal-planning solution that goes beyond the basics, check out ClickUp. With its daily and weekly meal planning templates, menu planning, and recipe costing templates, you can plan meals, track nutritional intake, and organize recipes in one place.
Of all the things in our lives, the food we eat strongly affects how we feel and perform every day. Just as you use a daily planner to set and achieve your goals, a solid meal plan is essential for maintaining your nutrition and energy levels.
This is where ClickUp’s Meal Planning Template comes into the picture—your new best friend in the kitchen. Designed to streamline your entire meal prep process, this template allows you to effortlessly plan and organize meals and track your calorie count in one convenient place.
With ClickUp’s Meal Planning Template, you can:
- Quickly plan meals using drag-and-drop lists
- Organize recipes into easily accessible folders
- Keep track of ingredients and shopping lists
Whether you’re a home cook or a professional chef, this template is ideal for streamlining your grocery shopping, recipe management, and meal prep.
So, say goodbye to mealtime stress and say hello to a well-organized kitchen with ClickUp’s Meal Planning Template—because planning meals should be easy, not overwhelming.
2. ClickUp Menu Planning Template
We all have days when preparing dinner is a pain, and planning for an entire week of meals for the family can feel downright overwhelming. But with the ClickUp Menu Planning Template, you can turn that challenge into a manageable task.
Start by setting your parameters—like the number of people you’re cooking for, the start and end dates, the number of meals per day, and your weekly budget. Once you’ve got that sorted, use the template to plan out your meals, schedule prep time, and even save your favorite recipes in a handy “recipe box.”
With dedicated sections for meal planning, shopping lists, and daily tasks (yes, even fridge cleaning!), this template brings order to your kitchen routine. Plus, it’s a lifesaver for avoiding those extra grocery store trips by keeping your ingredients and recipes organized in one place.
Soon, you’ll see that incorporating this template into your meal-planning routine is like using a powerful to-do list app for your kitchen.
3. ClickUp Recipe Template
Tired of digging through old cookbooks and scattered notes for your favorite recipes? ClickUp’s Recipe Template lets you consolidate all your recipes in one place for easy access. Plus, it’s ideal for chefs looking to craft custom cookbooks and share their culinary creations with friends or clients.
With this template, you can categorize recipes by type, ingredient, or meal, making it simple to find what you’re craving.
Each recipe entry allows you to include detailed instructions, ingredients, preparation time, and even photos. You can use this as a diet plan template to track modifications, cooking tips, and personal notes so every dish turns out just the way you like it. Whether you’re planning weekly meals or saving special recipes for a holiday feast, this template streamlines the process, ensuring your kitchen stays organized.
4. ClickUp Recipe Cost Template
If you’re a budget-conscious meal planner or running a food business, crafting a cost-effective menu is vital. And having a reliable system to track and analyze recipe costs is crucial. That’s where ClickUp’s Recipe Cost Template comes in, offering a streamlined way to manage these details.
This template makes it simple to:
- Estimate ingredient costs for any recipe, giving you a clear idea of your expenses
- Compare the costs of different recipes before you make your shopping list, helping you stay within your budget
- Get a comprehensive view of your overall grocery budget, ensuring that every dish you create is both delicious and cost-effective
ClickUp’s Recipe Cost Template is specifically designed to make monitoring the costs of ingredients in your recipes easier, leading to less food waste. This template is packed with features:
- Custom Statuses: Track your progress with statuses like Complete, In Stock, Low In Stock, To Do, and To Order
- Custom Fields: Store all the essential details and utilize five unique attributes, such as Packaged Weight, Quantity Weight, Unit of Measure, Item Cost, and Recipe
- Custom Views: Access your data with three different views, including the Recipe Cost View, Start Here View, and Recipe Board View, keeping everything organized and at your fingertips
- Project management: Enhance recipe cost tracking with tools like time tracking, tags, dependency warnings, and emailsÂ
ClickUp integrates all this data with your to-do list app, making it easy to keep all this information centralized in a single place.
Read more: 10 Best order management software for 2024
5. ClickUp Restaurant Recipe Costing Template
For restaurants and food service businesses, tracking food costs is essential for accurately calculating potential profits per dish. The ClickUp Restaurant Recipe Costing Template is a powerful tool to help you determine accurate costing for all your recipes.
This weekly meal planner simplifies calculating the cost of ingredients, comparing recipes, and managing your overall budget.
With features like custom statuses and custom fields, you can easily track what’s in stock, what’s running low, and what needs to be ordered. The template also includes custom views that allow you to see all your data at a glance, making adjusting your costs as needed easy.
This template allows you to focus on what really matters—serving great food while maximizing your profits.
6. ClickUp Weekly Planner Template
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by your weekly to-dos, ClickUp’s Weekly Planner Template comes to your rescue and brings some order to your life.
Integrated into a Whiteboard format, this template offers a clear view of your tasks, letting you mark them as ‘Open’ or ‘Complete’ to keep track of your meal prep progress.
It features Custom Fields, where you can categorize your meal-planning tasks and add detailed notes, making it easier to see your weekly menu and grocery needs. With custom ClickUp views, such as the Getting Started Guide and Planner Board, you can tailor your view to match your planning style.
When planning meals with your family members, this time management template combines features like assigning tasks to people, setting due dates for your family to share their ideas, and prioritizing activities like shopping or preparing grocery shopping lists with labels.
The template is a powerful tool to keep your entire week’s meals organized and on track.
Read more: 10 Free Life Planning Templates for Personal Life Planning
7. Weekly Meal Plan Template by OnPlanners
Planning your weekly meals can feel daunting, but this template takes the stress out of the process. The Weekly Meal Plan Template by OnPlanners is a straightforward tool for organizing breakfast, lunch, and dinner for each day of the week, from Sunday to Saturday.
What makes this weekly meal planner template even more convenient is the dedicated space for your grocery list. Items are neatly categorized into dairy, produce, grains, meat, and more, making shopping a breeze.
Print out the template, jot down your meals, and stick it on your refrigerator for quick reference.
By using this easy weekly menu planner, you’ll streamline your meal prep, save time on grocery shopping, and reduce the time spent in the kitchen.Â
You can also integrate this process with digital planner apps for added convenience.
8. Weekly Meal Plan Template by Edit.org
If you’re a nutritionist or dietician who provides customized meal plans for clients, you know the importance of having a meal plan on a weekly or monthly basis for smooth operations.
Whether it’s for someone with food allergies, specific dietary needs, or a vegetarian, a well-designed meal prep template helps you plan and ensure critical details are not overlooked.
The Weekly Meal Plan Template from Edit.org helps you include not just the meal table for each day but also a shopping list, helpful tips, recommendations, and relevant dates.
Once you design and save your weekly menu, it’s accessible anytime from your user profile. You can easily update it as needed, adjusting the text for different menus. Plus, you can add your company logo and colors for a professional touch.
Finally, you can download and print the template to distribute or display as needed.
9. Weekly Meal Planner Excel Template by Vertex42
Weekly Meal Planner Excel Template by Vertex42 is an Excel spreadsheet for planning and printing your weekly meals. It has multiple layout options available in separate worksheet tabs, so you can pick the format that works best for you.
Each layout includes sections for meals, groceries, and notes, so everything you need to plan for the week ahead is right at your fingertips. Customizing your meal options is simple—update the lists to match your preferences.
10. Google Sheets Meal Plan Template by Ultimate Meal Plans
If you’re a fan of Google Sheets, you’re in luck—here’s a free meal planning template just for you!Â
The Google Sheets Meal Plan Template by Ultimate Meal Plans is perfect for anyone comfortable in the Google ecosystem. It integrates with your existing setup, helping you stay organized and maintain self-discipline without needing a new tool for effective weekly meal planning.
This customizable weekly menu template offers a clean, user-friendly layout for tracking your meals for the week. It features sections for your grocery list and meal entries, helping you stay on top of your planning game.
Summarize this article for me pleasePrep Your Meals Hassle-Free With ClickUp’s Meal Planning Templates
Meal planning isn’t just about deciding what to eat; it’s a smart way to stay healthy, avoid food waste, save money on takeout, and reduce those last-minute, stress-inducing grocery trips.
What makes ClickUp’s meal planning templates ideal is that they’re free to use, customizable, and combine project management with meal planning. They integrate with your daily planning apps, helping you jot down meal ideas, manage grocery lists, and streamline your entire meal prep process—all in one place.
Ready to elevate your meal prep game? Sign up for free today and start planning your meals effortlessly.
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