Meal planning can save you time, money, and stress in the kitchen. This printable weekly meal plan template is perfect for organizing meals and tracking your shopping list!
It’s 5:30. The kids are hungry and they’re looking at you expectantly, wondering what’s for dinner.
And you’re wondering the same thing.
Sound familiar? I know all too well the struggle to put a healthy dinner together when you’re crunched for time.
I spent I don’t know how many evenings deciding what to make for dinner an hour before my kids expected to eat. And I thought, there has to be a better way.
Then I discovered meal planning and that changed EVERYTHING. If you’re a meal-planning aficionado like me or you’re just getting started with this amazing mom hack, then I’ve got something for you!
It’s a free printable weekly meal planning template that you can use to plan out your family’s meals for less stress in the kitchen!
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Printable Weekly Meal Plan Template
Ready to start planning out meals for your busy family? Just click the image below to grab your free printable weekly meal plan template!
You can print the template as many times as you need or laminate it for reuse. (File opens in a new window)
How to Use This Free Printable Weekly Meal Plan Template
Weekly meal plan templates are super easy to use–you just fill in the meals you plan to serve for breakfast, lunch, and dinner each day. You can also include room for snacks.
The printable meal plan template shared lets you add your meal plans for each day on the left-hand side while recording your grocery shopping list on the right. But you could use a separate grocery list printable to keep track of what you need to buy to prep your weekly meals.
Need some meal-planning ideas? Here are a few options for planning weekly meals that your whole family will love!
- Themed dinner nights. Themed dinner nights can make it easier to decide what to cook since the meals you plan will revolve around a specific idea. For example, you might add Meatless Monday, Taco Tuesday, or Slow Cooker Sunday to your weekly meal plan.
- Copycat meals. I LOVE copycat recipes because you can enjoy foods from your favorite restaurants without having to leave home! CopyKat is one of my go-to sites for finding copycat versions of delicious restaurant recipes.
- Cozy comfort meals. Comfort meals are a must when daily mom life gets hectic. Try planning your weekly menu around your favorite comfort foods, or include some new comfort recipes you’ve been dying to try!
- Budget meals. Are you trying to save more money and be frugal with food shopping? Budget meal plans are perfect for feeding your family for less! Check out what’s on sale at your preferred grocery store and use that as a guide for planning weekly meals.
- Quick and easy meals. If you’re a working mom with a crazy schedule like me, or a stay-at-home mom with a full plate to manage, then quick and easy meals are the G.O.A.T. I love meals that I can pull together in 30 minutes or less that still look and taste great!
Meal Planning Tips for Busy Moms
New to meal planning? Or just want to know how you can make planning more efficient and organized? Bookmark these tips to step up your meal-planning game!
- Block off time to do it. Meal planning works best when you have time to sit down and think about what you want to serve, what you need to shop for, and how much time it’ll take you to put it all together. I like Sunday evenings for meal planning but you can choose a time that works for you. For example, if you do a weekly brain dump then you might add in time for meal planning during that same session.
- Try a rotation. Meal planning in a rotation means you have fewer meals to plan. You can create a set list of 14 meals, for example, and rotate through them every two weeks. If a particular meal in the rotation starts to get a little boring, then swap it out for a new one.
- Shop your pantry first. Before you head to the grocery store to buy the things you’ll need for your planned meals, take time to look around your pantry. What do you have on hand that you can use to make meals? This is a simple way to ensure that you’re only buying what you need at the store while making use of what you already have.
- Embrace leftovers. When I first became a single mom I lived on a super tight budget so any meals I made had to have leftovers, since that was what I fed my kids for lunch the next day. If your family is less than crazy about the idea of eating leftovers, consider how you can repurpose them. For example, if you make meatball subs for dinner one night, use the leftover meatballs and sauce to make spaghetti the next. It’s a sneaky way to stretch meals without having to listen to kids grown about eating leftovers.
What’s In Your Weekly Meal Plan?
Meal planning is a true lifesaver for us busy moms who want to feed our families a healthy meal but don’t want to waste time deciding what to make. Using a template like the one we’ve shared here is a great way to stay organized while planning your family’s favorite meals and keeping track of your weekly shopping list!
Need some extra help with meal planning? $5 Meal Plan is a lifesaver for busy moms who want to save time and money in the kitchen. It’s one of my favorite resources for making mom life easier! Join today to get your first meal plans for free!