“What’s for dinner?” is a small question that takes up a surprising amount of headspace. Planning the week’s meals in one go, on one sheet of paper, answers it once instead of seven times. It also makes the grocery trip shorter and cuts down on food that gets forgotten in the fridge.
This free printable weekly meal planner kit has everything for that routine: a weekly planner with a built-in grocery list, a black and white version, a grocery list sorted by store section, a monthly dinner calendar, a “meals we love” list and recipe cards. All in one PDF.
What’s in the meal planner kit
The PDF has 7 US Letter pages: a cover and 6 planner pages. The design is clean and simple, in soft sage green, with plenty of writing space and lines that are easy to write on.
Weekly meal planner with grocery list
Each day has a box for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and the column on the right is your grocery list, so you can add ingredients as you plan. At the bottom there’s a spot for snacks and notes, like “leftovers on Thursday” or “double the soup and freeze half”.
Black and white version
The same layout with no color fills, if you want to print a whole stack at once.
Grocery list by store section
Eight sections (produce, dairy & eggs, meat & fish, bakery, pantry, frozen, drinks and household) with checkboxes. Sorting your list the way the store is laid out means less walking back and forth.
Monthly dinner planner
A full month of dinners on one page. Write the date in the little circle and the meal on the lines. It’s handy for seeing at a glance how often you’re repeating meals.
Meals we love and recipe cards
The “meals we love” page is a list of your family’s go-to meals, split into quick weeknight dinners, slow cooker and make-ahead meals, easy lunches, and breakfasts and snacks. When you sit down to plan, you just pick from it. The recipe cards (two per page) are for writing down the recipes you want to keep.
How to meal plan in 15 minutes a week
- Pick a planning day. Many people like the day before their grocery shop.
- Check what you already have in the fridge, freezer and pantry, and plan a meal or two around it.
- Look at the week ahead. Busy evenings get quick meals or leftovers, and slower days can have something that takes longer.
- Fill in dinners first, then lunches and breakfasts. Breakfasts can repeat; that’s fine.
- Write the grocery list as you go, ingredient by ingredient, then copy it onto the sectioned grocery list if you like.
- Stick the planner on the fridge so everyone can see what’s coming.
Tips that make meal planning stick
- Plan for one or two “leftovers” or “clean out the fridge” nights each week.
- Theme nights help: pasta Monday, tacos Tuesday, soup Wednesday and so on.
- Cook once, eat twice. Make a double batch of chili or soup and freeze half.
- Keep your old weekly planners in a folder. After a month, you have ready-made plans to reuse.
- Slide the planner into a sheet protector and use a dry-erase marker to reuse it every week.
Frequently asked questions
Is this meal planner free?
Yes, it’s free for personal use. Print as many copies as you like. Please don’t sell it or share the PDF directly; send people a link to this page instead.
Can I print it on A4 paper?
Yes. Choose “Fit to page” in your print settings and everything will fit nicely.
More free printables
Making a recipe binder? My free printable scrapbook paper makes pretty binder covers and dividers. And for a quiet evening once dinner is done, try the free coloring pages for adults.
Save it for later
Want to come back to this meal planner? Save this image to your Pinterest board.
Happy planning, and enjoy a calmer week of dinners!
