Using a weekly meal plan is the best way to cook healthier for your family, save money, and time! Browse all of my free meal plans which include a grocery shopping list and tons of meal planning ideas including healthy and kid-friendly meals.
We’ve been sharing 5 day weekly meal plans for many years now and we love the feedback we get from those of you who found our meal plans and who are using them regularly.
Each meal plan has 5 dinner recipes that will serve approximately 4 adults. We’ve tried to be thoughtful about including recipes that the whole family will love as well as varying the recipes to include a variety of different meals so that you’re not having chicken every night!
Why Meal Plan?
If you’re reading this, you probably already have your own ideas about why meal planning is a good idea for your family, but here’s what we think:
1. Save Money:
We’ve included the estimated cost per recipe and cost for the entire meal plan, making it even easier to budget and see exactly how much you’re saving when you cook from scratch and use a meal plan! You’ll also save money by dining out less often, avoiding impulse purchases, and wasting less food!
*note that recipe costs are an estimate based on ingredient prices at my local grocer. They will likely vary depending on where you live.
2. Eat Healthier:
Cooking from scratch is a great way to manage your health goals. Both take-out and pre-made meals from your local grocer are going to have more fat, sugar, and sodium than the same foods cooked at home.
3. Save time:
The hardest part of meal planning is finding the ideas and creating a shopping list, and we’ve done that for you! Our Shopping lists include categories like “pantry staples”, and “spices,” and hopefully those are items you already have on hand so you can cross them off of the list. Then you can use the categories to help you find what you need quickly and easily.
Don’t forget to search for appetizers, sides, or dessert recipes to add to your list. Often a post will offer suggestions for sides that might accompany the recipe, and if you would like to swap any meals for a different meal, visit our main dish recipes or search our recipe index.
If you love our recipes, please leave a 5 star comment at the bottom of the recipe and join our facebook group, “From Scratch Food Lovers.”
Oh, and joining our email list is the best way to keep up with the latest at TBFS and to receive great cooking tips and tricks!
Click the link below to print out your shopping list, and you’re ready to go!
**NOTE: You’ll notice the shopping list includes categories like “pantry staples”, and “spices”. Hopefully, those are items you already have on hand, and you can cross them off of the list.
Print Shopping List
Monday: Easy Cajun Chicken Pasta $6.82
Tuesday: Creamy Zuppa Toscana Soup $17.98
Wednesday: Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos $4.67
Thursday: One Pan Jambalaya $10.53
Friday: Breakfast Quesadillas $6.83
Print Shopping List
Laura says
Thank you so much! Loving your meal plans and it’s helping me switch things up for my family so they don’t feel like they’re eating the same food over and over again 🙂
Chereese says
Love this! Just a heads up that if people are making slow cooker tacos, they might want to add tortillas and toppings to the grocery list. 😉 Otherwise, this is amazing. Thank you!
Lauren Allen says
I just updated the shopping list. Thanks for the feedback!
laurie says
Just tried Week 1 and the family loved the meals! I loved the fact that I didn’t have to think! Thank you so much! With school back in session including me back in the classroom this has made the first week back so much easier. Thank you for saving me such valuable time with a menu and grocery list already established! Can’t wait to see what future menus bring!
Lauren Allen says
That is the best compliment I could ask for! Thank you so much!
Jonathan says
I just discovered your weekly meal plan and I’m loving it. Thank you so much for this. My kids were going crazy eating the same x meals all the time, and now they’re enjoying something new.
For week 1, they loved the chicken pasta, the quesadilla, and the Sloppy Joes. These 3 will be added to the permanent list!
I’m looking forward to week 2 and the rest the weeks. Thank you so much!
Maria says
Thanks so much, using your plans to cook more and order less take out 🙂
K Magee-Prichard says
Thank you! Work and family life are increasingly hectic, and your weekly Meal Plan with Grocery List has been a cure for my decision-making fatigue. Plus, the meals are tasty, and universally popular in my household. A wholehearted, sincere thank you. Making dinner is a guaranteed success, which is an awesome feeling these days, and something I look forward to doing. Cheers to you!
C VanLeuven says
Hi, I love your recipes! It would be nice though to have some of the meal plans that do not include a soup for the week.
Lauren Allen says
The majority of them don’t include a soup. You can browse all 65+, here: https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/category/meal-plan/
Melanie says
How do you get the recipe for the slow cooker tacos? I can see a slide show where there are places that have an arrow and say get the recipe. When I click there I get a flash on the screen but nothing really opens. The slide show does not include amounts and I can’t seem to find any other version of the recipe by searching the site. Thanks for any help you can give. I’m enjoying your meal plans and recipes.
Lauren Allen says
Sorry, that was an error that has beeen fixed: https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/slow-cooker-chicken-tacos/