#Meal plan excel sheet how to#
#Meal plan excel sheet windows#

In my house, we find that the easiest way to do this is with Wunderlist, a collaborative to-do list app that syncs across your devices. Next, augment with any additional items you need for the week (e.g. Start by transcribing your shopping list from the Google Sheet onto your personal shopping list.

#Meal plan excel sheet how to#

The pivot table should be set up when you download the template, but see the below screenshot for how to edit as needed.Ĭhoose your recipes for the week via the filter, and be sure to “Clear” when you get started:Ī shopping list will be created from the recipes you select in the filter: Picking the recipes this way will help create a shopping list based on the common ingredients between your meals. It’s time to pick your recipes for the week! Go to Tab #2, “Shopping List (Build List Here),” and use the pivot tables to pick your recipes with the filter.

For example, I have three lines in the tab dedicated to avocado toast just to help myself plan. Don’t feel like everything needs to be a formal recipe. I recommend starting the spreadsheet with 35-50 recipes and keep adding as you go. While not necessary, it can also be helpful to include the URL for the recipe as well as how many servings it creates. Copy and paste your recipe name for however many ingredients you have, and then fill in the ingredients and quantity for each on the corresponding lines. The first step is to create a running list of your favorite recipes in Tab #1, “Recipes (Add Recipes Here.)” The trick is that each ingredient needs to be listed individually for this to work. To get started, download my template here and either edit it in Excel or by re-uploading into Google Sheets (personally, I find pivot tables 100x easier in Google Sheets and highly recommend that option). You will find that a little investment up front makes your meal planning come together in a snap each week on average, it takes me about 10 minutes to write my shopping list. I played around with Google Sheets to create a meal planning system and I hope what I’ve created can be helpful to someone else. I’ve been known to use Google Sheets and pivot tables to plan everything – I may have created a wedding planning Google Sheet embarrassingly soon after getting engaged a few years ago. I knew ultimately that meal planning was such a silly thing to stress over, but I still felt it was important, so I sought out a solution to make it easier. However, when it comes to selecting recipes and planning the week, it always takes longer than it should. We understand that meal planning is a great idea – it can help you save money, make healthier food decisions and cuts down on food waste. In our real world, meal planning is a bit of a stressor.

#Meal plan excel sheet windows#

This spreadsheet works in both Microsoft Windows and Mac.In my ideal and super-Instagrammable world, my husband and I would spend Sundays poring over beautiful cookbooks and food blogs to plan our week in meals. xlsx file and is designed to be opened with Excel. The file is an Excel spreadsheet with the following tabs: Only basic spreadsheet knowledge is required because the tool is pre-programmed and fully set up for you! The spreadsheet even comes equipped with instructions for you. Simply choose an item from the drop-down list in each slot on the weekly chart!

Next you can create your weekly meal plan by selecting what you plan to have for each meal (as well as snacks and beverage).

This can include classic recipes, new meal ideas, your favorite snacks and drinks, etc.

Start by writing down all of the meals that you like to make.

This weekly meal planner is very simple to use: Creating a meal plan is important for families and households, young professionals, as well as college students, and this tool will make it easy to get started. This is the perfect tool for you to create your own meal plans for the week! Planning all your meals in advance is an amazing way to cut down on take out expenses, make your trips to the grocery store more efficient, and organize your time for the week.