Plan your week
kcal/day
g/day
$/ week
Optional — compare the estimate against what you want to spend.
0
meals to prep this week
Daily macros
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protein / day
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carbs / day
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fat / day
Protein
Carbs
Fat
Grocery list — auto-generated
Quantities cover your full week. Prices are US-average estimates.
Cost estimate
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estimated / week
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per meal
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containers needed
Prep-time plan
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total kitchen time / week
Active prep
Batch cooking
Cleanup
Sample 7-day plan (3-menu rotation)
Example only — swap to taste. The rotation below shows how 3 batch-cooked menus cover a week. Replace any menu with dishes you actually enjoy; the planner's numbers stay valid as long as your protein and carb targets stay the same.
| Day | Menu | Batch notes |
|---|---|---|
| Mon | A — Chicken + rice + broccoli | Cook day 1: batch A (Mon–Tue) |
| Tue | A — leftovers, re-seasoned | |
| Wed | B — Lentil bowls + sweet potato | Cook day 2: batch B (Wed–Thu) |
| Thu | B — as wraps or bowls | |
| Fri | C — Egg fried rice + spinach | Cook day 3: batch C (Fri–Sun) |
| Sat | C — leftovers | |
| Sun | Flex — eat out / use up odds |
Worked examples
Example 1 — Solo prepper, 5 workdays
- Inputs: 1 person, 5 days, 2 meals/day, 1,600 kcal, 120 g protein.
- Total meals = 1 × 5 × 2 = 10 meals.
- Macros: protein 120 g; fat = round(1600 × 0.28 ÷ 9) = 50 g; carbs = round((1600 − 480 − 450) ÷ 4) = 168 g.
- Weekly protein need = 120 × 5 = 600 g → chicken 600×0.5÷0.31 ≈ 968 g, eggs ceil(600×0.2÷6.5) = 19 eggs, lentils 600×0.3÷0.24 = 750 g.
Result: 10 meals · $37.44/week ($3.74/meal) · 4h 20m kitchen time (2 cook days).
Example 2 — Couple, full workweek
- Inputs: 2 people, 5 days, 2 meals/day, 2,000 kcal, 140 g protein, $150 budget.
- Total meals = 2 × 5 × 2 = 20 meals; weekly protein = 1,400 g.
- Macros: fat = round(2000 × 0.28 ÷ 9) = 62 g; carbs = round((2000 − 560 − 558) ÷ 4) = 221 g.
- Grocery highlights: chicken ≈ 2.26 kg, 44 eggs, lentils 1.75 kg, rice ≈ 1.38 kg, 4 kg veg, 300 ml olive oil.
Result: 20 meals · $84.58/week ($4.23/meal) · $65.42 under budget · 6h 0m kitchen time.
Example 3 — Family of four, every day
- Inputs: 4 people, 7 days, 3 meals/day, 2,400 kcal, 160 g protein, $400 budget.
- Total meals = 4 × 7 × 3 = 84 meals; weekly protein = 4,480 g.
- Macros: fat = round(2400 × 0.28 ÷ 9) = 75 g; carbs = round((2400 − 640 − 675) ÷ 4) = 271 g.
- Scale note: grocery quantities scale linearly with weekly protein need — doubling the household roughly doubles every line and the total cost. The one exception is eggs, which round up to whole eggs, so they can differ by a single egg.
Result: 84 meals · $297.89/week ($3.55/meal) · $102.11 under budget · 18h 0m kitchen time (3 cook days).
Methodology — the formulas
Meal count
total meals = people × days × meals per day. Everything else derives from this number.
Calories → macros
Protein is your input target. Fat is fixed at 28% of calories (a standard moderate-fat baseline): fat g = round(cal × 0.28 ÷ 9). Carbs fill the remainder: carbs g = round((cal − protein×4 − fat×9) ÷ 4), using 4/4/9 kcal per gram. Rounding is half-up, applied to fat first so carbs absorb the remainder.
Grocery quantities
Weekly protein grams are split across three sources — chicken breast 50% (31 g protein/100 g), eggs 20% (6.5 g per egg, rounded up to whole eggs), dry lentils 30% (24 g/100 g). Weekly carb grams are split across dry rice 50% (80 g/100 g), oats 25% (66 g/100 g), and sweet potato 25% (20 g/100 g). Vegetables are fixed at 200 g per meal (broccoli 40%, carrots 30%, spinach 30%). Fats: 15 ml olive oil and 15 g almonds per meal.
Cost
Quantity × US-average price per unit (chicken $11.02/kg, eggs $4.20/dozen, lentils $3.30/kg, rice $2.20/kg, oats $3.30/kg, sweet potato $2.76/kg, broccoli $3.30/kg, carrots $1.76/kg, spinach $6.60/kg, olive oil $15.00/L, almonds $17.60/kg). Treat the total as a benchmark — your store prices will differ.
Prep time
10 minutes of active prep per meal, plus 60 minutes of batch cooking and 20 minutes of cleanup per cook day, with a cook day every 3 days (matching the 3–4 day safe fridge life of cooked food).
Why a planner beats static templates
Printable PDF templates
- Blank boxes you fill by hand
- No quantity or cost math
- Often paid on Etsy
Meal-plan apps
- Account + subscription
- Your data on their servers
- Generic plans, not your targets
This planner
- Computes meals, groceries, cost, macros
- Free, no account, private by design
- Built around your calorie & protein targets
Scope boundary: this planner organizes your week — meal counts, shopping quantities, cost, and time. To analyze a single recipe's per-serving nutrition from its ingredients, use our recipe nutrition calculator instead. The two tools complement each other; they don't overlap.
Frequently asked questions
How many meals should I prep per week?
Multiply people × days × meals per day. A couple prepping lunch and dinner for 5 days needs 2 × 5 × 2 = 20 meals. This planner does that math for you, then converts the total into a grocery list, cost estimate, and prep-time plan.
How do I calculate macros for meal prep?
Start from your daily calorie target. Protein is your own target in grams; fat is set to 28% of calories divided by 9 (kcal per gram of fat); carbs fill the rest: (calories − protein×4 − fat×9) ÷ 4. For 2,000 kcal and 140 g protein that gives 62 g fat and 221 g carbs. The planner applies this formula automatically.
How much does meal prep cost per week?
It depends on people, days, and targets — but as a rule of thumb this planner's estimates land around $4–5 per meal using US-average grocery prices (for example, 20 meals ≈ $85). Enter your own weekly budget and the planner shows whether the estimate fits, and by how much.
How long does meal prep take each week?
Roughly 10 minutes of active prep per meal, plus about 60 minutes of batch cooking and 20 minutes of cleanup per cook day, with a cook day every 3 days (matching the 3–4 day fridge life of prepped food). A 20-meal week comes to about 6 hours total.
How much protein should I prep per day?
Common targets: around 1.6–2.2 g per kg of body weight for active people, often 120–160 g/day in practice. This planner lets you set any daily protein target (with presets for weight loss, maintenance, and muscle building) and scales the grocery quantities to hit it across the whole week.
What is a good meal prep grocery list?
A complete list covers four categories: proteins (e.g. chicken breast, eggs, lentils), carbs (rice, oats, sweet potato), vegetables (broccoli, carrots, spinach — about 200 g per meal), and fats (olive oil, almonds). This planner generates exact quantities for each category from your weekly totals.
Can I use this meal prep planner for weight loss?
Yes — meal prep for weight loss just means a lower daily calorie target (for example the 1,600 kcal preset) and a higher protein target to stay full. The planner recalculates your weekly meals, grocery list, and cost instantly — nothing else changes in the workflow.
How do I scale meal prep for one person vs a family?
The math scales linearly: change the number of people and every output — meal count, grocery quantities, cost, and prep time — scales with it. See the worked examples below for a single person (7 meals ≈ $43) and a family of four (84 meals ≈ $298).
How many meal prep containers do I need?
One container per meal, plus a few spares — so buy your weekly meal count plus about 10%. A 20-meal week means roughly 22 containers. The big number at the top of your results is exactly the number to shop for.
How long does prepped food last in the fridge?
Cooked meals keep 3–4 days refrigerated (USDA guidance), which is why this planner schedules a batch cook day every 3 days instead of cooking everything on Sunday. Freeze anything you won't eat within 4 days.
How is this different from a recipe nutrition calculator?
A recipe nutrition calculator (like our recipe nutrition calculator) analyzes one recipe's ingredients into per-serving nutrition. This planner works one level up: it plans your whole week — how many meals, what to buy, what it costs, and how long prep takes. Use the recipe tool to fine-tune a dish, and this planner to organize the week.
Is this meal prep planner free? Do I need an account?
Free, no account, no signup. Everything runs in your browser — your inputs never leave your device, and there is nothing to install.
Can I use this outside the US?
Yes for the planning math: meal counts, macro grams, and grocery quantities in grams are universal. The cost estimate uses US-average prices, so treat the dollar figure as a rough benchmark and compare it against your local store prices.
Does this work for vegetarian or other diets?
The default grocery mix includes chicken and eggs, but the quantities are computed transparently from your protein and carb targets, so you can swap any item for a vegetarian equivalent with similar protein per 100 g (for example lentils or tofu) and keep the same gram amounts. A built-in diet switcher is on the roadmap.
Private by design. This tool runs 100% in your browser — your inputs never leave your device. No account, no tracking of what you type.