Template · Personal
Free weekly meal planner template with a shopping list
Plan a week of meals in one table: breakfast, lunch and dinner for each day and a box for what is prepped. A shopping checklist and a list of ideas sit right below.
Meals · Week 41
This week
| Day | Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner | Prepped |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | ||||
| Tuesday | ||||
| Wednesday | ||||
| Thursday | ||||
| Friday | ||||
| Saturday | ||||
| Sunday | ||||
| Checked 0 |
Shopping list
Cook once, eat twice
Ideas to try
Free. Barside asks before it adds the template, then makes a new note from it. Needs Barside 1.50 or newer.
Nothing opened? Barside may not be installed yet. Download Barside, then choose Open in Barside again.
Deciding what to eat every evening is tiring. Planning the week once saves time, money and food.
Who it is for
It is for households, students and anyone tired of deciding dinner at 6 pm. It also helps when you are eating to a goal or a budget; keep the budget tracker next to it to see the savings.
What is in the meal planner template
- This week: a table with a row for each day and columns for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and Prepped.
- Shopping list: a checklist you tick in the store.
- Cook once, eat twice: meals that make leftovers.
- Ideas to try: new recipes for later weeks.
An example
On Sunday, Cy fills in the week. Monday is pasta, and Tuesday is leftover pasta for lunch. Wednesday and Thursday share a big pot of soup. He writes the shopping list from the table, ticks the boxes in the store, and on Sunday afternoon prepares the soup and some vegetables, ticking Prepped for three days. Weeknights now take twenty minutes.
How to use the meal planner template
- Choose Open in Barside above. Barside opens and asks before it adds anything.
- Pick the workspace for the note, and leave Keep it in my templates ticked to use the template again.
- Choose Create note. A new note called "Meals · Week 41" opens, ready to fill in.
- Next time, start one from New note from a template, or let Barside make it on a schedule as a repeating note.
No Barside yet? It is free for Windows, Linux and Mac: download Barside, then choose Open in Barside again.
How to plan meals without stress
- Plan around what you already have, then shop for the rest.
- Repeat favorite meals. Variety can live on weekends.
- Cook a double batch twice a week.
- Write the shopping list from the plan, in the order of the store.
Make it yours
- Add a Snacks column, or remove breakfast if you skip it.
- Make it a repeating note every Sunday.
- Keep recipes in their own notes and link them with [[.
FAQ
Questions and answers
Can I use the shopping list on my phone?
Barside is a desktop app, so the list lives on your computer. Copy the checklist into a message or print the note before you go.
Is the meal planner template free?
Yes. The template and Barside are both free. Barside Plus is optional and adds cloud backup and sync between computers; templates do not need it.
Does the template work offline?
Adding it needs the internet once, so Barside can fetch it from barside.space. After that, the template and every note made from it live on your computer and work offline.
Can I use it on a Mac?
Yes: Barside for Mac is out. Barside also runs on Windows and Linux. The template page works in any browser, so you can preview it anywhere.