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Manchester chef Gary Usher asked his followers on Twitter whether they use meal plans and the responses were full of great tips for getting the most out of your weekly shop.
With inflation on the rise, supply chains creaking and the cost of food on the up and predicted to get worse, a weekly meal plan is more important than ever. Not only can it mean that you are getting the most out of your groceries, but it will reduce costs and waste, and help you to eat better and healthier.
If you are dedicated to planning meals ahead of time, you'll know the benefits. However, if you are one of those people who ends up staring into the fridge with no idea what the family is going to eat, here are some tips for how to get started planning your meals.
Plan the month in advance
This is elite-level meal planning and takes in everything needed for meals over the coming four weeks. This is restaurant-level menu making for the kids at home, complete with a chalkboard so ‘guests’ know what’s coming up.
'Google Keep' meal planning
This method involves using Google Keep, the note-taking service by Google that is free and easy to use. It means you can access and update the meal plan online when you’re shopping, depending on how ingredients may change.
Cooking the cookbooks
Cookbooks are a great way to get ready for the coming month and will invigorate your cooking with plenty of new ideas. For every cookbook you try, you’ll find a few ‘keeper’ recipes that can become part of your weekly meal plans going forward. So it’s worth going through your old cookbooks, using the library, or borrowing from friends.
There’s an app for that
Apps… remember them? Well, they can still be useful and for meal planning, there are plenty to choose from. Paprika is a no-frills recipe manager app that doesn’t have too many bells and whistles but offers good value for money with a one-off payment and plenty of functionality. Chefling offers slick visuals with good functionality for an enjoyable user experience. Sidechef is a very useful meal planning assistant that has useful options also for grocery shopping.
Plan for leftovers
One thing that many meal planning templates or apps don’t take into consideration is that food often tastes better the day after it is cooked. Italian cuisine takes this into account with some staple recipes that rely on leftover food. Watch our Why Waste? series with Massimo Bottura and his team, where you’ll get some amazing ideas for using up leftover foods. In fact, they’re so good, you’ll want to deliberately make too much Italian food in order to try them.
Go seasonal
By using what’s in season and planning your meals accordingly, you’ll reduce costs and food waste in one go. So go seasonal. Here’s a handy chart to guide you as to what’s in plentiful supply.
Deal to win
Go to the supermarket at the end of the day, even better at the end of the week. You’ll pick up deals on products the market needs to offload before the weekend. Spoilable items like chicken and fish often end up on offer late on a Friday evening, so why not plan your shopping for then?
Time is money
If you’re not used to it, planning your meals may seem like a drain on your time. But every minute you can invest in planning your meals in the future can reduce your food costs and limit your food waste. Planning your meals is an opportunity to involve the whole family and give the little ones a voice about what they do and don’t want to eat. Time spent talking about what we eat, will only influence what we eat in a positive way.
Download the template
Try this PowerPoint template for a weekly meal plan that can help you plan your meals or schedule them in advance. By putting things on the wall and externalising them, we automatically give the subject of meal planning more attention, so give it a go. Hang this meal plan somewhere prominent and see how much more attention you bring to your shopping and your cooking.
Check out this chef's guide to good meal planning
Use this invaluable infographic to help plan your meals with pre-planned recipes for each meal, and identify the ingredients and quantities you need. Once you can plan which ingredients can be reused for multiple meals, you will be able to cook in batches and be prepared for the future.
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