A weekly menu: how to plan, save money and stop throwing food away
How to plan a menu in 15 minutes, the cook-once-eat-twice principle, a week's prep in 2 hours on Sunday and a shopping list by store section. How much food per serving, the cheapest sources of protein and what to make from leftovers.
Why plan
Without a plan we go shopping 4–5 times a week, buy "just in case" every time and end up throwing away up to a third of what we bought. Spontaneous decisions are the most expensive: delivery, ready meals, a snack on the go.
A weekly menu saves money (on average 20–30% of the food budget), time (one big shop instead of five) and energy — no deciding every evening what to cook.
A menu in 15 minutes: step by step
- Start with the fridge: what needs using up first? Those foods are the base of the first two days.
- Look at the week: which days are you home late? Put quick 15–20 minute meals or reheated prep there.
- Plan 4–5 dinners, not 7: leftovers and one free evening cover the rest.
- Use one ingredient in several dishes: roast a whole chicken on Monday, put the leftovers in a salad on Tuesday and make stock from the carcass for soup.
- Keep breakfasts and lunches simple: 2–3 breakfast options for the whole week and lunches from the previous night's dinner.
- Write down the ingredients and make a shopping list.
Cook once, eat twice
The main time-saving principle: one cooking session, two different meals. Not the same dish two days running, but a base that turns into something new.
- Roast chicken → chicken salad, filling for pancakes or wraps, soup from the carcass stock.
- A big pot of rice → a side today, egg fried rice with vegetables tomorrow.
- Braised meat → with mash on day one, in pasta or tortillas on day two.
- Jacket-boiled potatoes → a side, then a salad or fried potatoes.
- Tomato sauce (double batch) → pasta, then shakshuka or a pizza base.
A week's prep in 2 hours
Set aside 2 hours at the weekend and weekday dinners come together in 10–15 minutes. You don't need to cook finished meals for the whole week: they get boring and don't all keep well. Cook components.
- Grains: cook rice, buckwheat or quinoa for 3–4 days.
- Protein: roast chicken or thighs, boil eggs, cook beans or chickpeas.
- Vegetables: roast a tray of vegetables, chop fresh ones for salads and snacks.
- Sauce: make 1–2 all-rounders — herby yoghurt, tomato or a salad dressing.
- Soup: one pot for 3 days of lunches.
How much to buy: portion guide
One reason for overspending is that we don't picture how much food we need. Here are average amounts per adult per meal.
- Grains, rice: 60–80 g dry.
- Pasta: 80–100 g dry.
- Potatoes: 200–250 g.
- Meat, poultry, fish: 120–150 g raw, boneless.
- Pulses: 50–70 g dried or 150 g canned.
- Vegetables for a side or salad: 150–250 g.
- Soup: 300–350 ml.
The shopping list and the shop itself
Write your list by store section: fruit and veg, dairy, meat and fish, dry goods, frozen. You'll go round the shop once and won't double back past shelves you've done — or past temptations.
Shop on a full stomach — hungry shopping adds 15–20% to the bill. Compare price per kilo, not per pack: a big pack isn't always cheaper. Look at the top and bottom shelves — eye level usually holds the priciest products.
Cheap protein
Protein is the most expensive part of the diet. But cheap sources exist, and they're no worse than expensive ones.
- Eggs — the cheapest complete protein: breakfasts, omelettes, bakes, stirred into porridge.
- Pulses: dried beans, lentils and chickpeas cost 3–4 times less than canned. Red lentils cook in 15–20 minutes without soaking.
- Chicken thighs and whole chickens are cheaper than breast, and juicier and tastier.
- Liver and offal — inexpensive and very nutritious.
- Frozen fish (pollock, hake) and canned fish.
- Cottage cheese and kefir — protein for breakfasts and baking.
Throw away less
First in, first out: put new food at the back of the fridge and move older food to the front. Keep a "use first" box on a shelf for anything about to go off.
Freeze before food spoils, not when it's on the edge: bread sliced, bananas peeled (for smoothies and baking), herbs in oil in ice-cube trays, leftover sauce and stock in portions.
- Stale bread → croutons, breadcrumbs, coating, French toast.
- Soft vegetables → soup, stew, sauce, frittata.
- Overripe bananas → banana bread, smoothies, pancakes.
- Leftover rice or buckwheat → patties, fried rice, stuffing for peppers.
- Dairy near its date → fritters, pancakes, baking.
A sample week
Weekend prep: a whole roast chicken, a tray of vegetables, a pot of buckwheat and rice, chicken soup from the carcass, a yoghurt sauce.
- Mon: chicken with roast vegetables and buckwheat.
- Tue: a bowl — rice, chicken, fresh vegetables, yoghurt sauce.
- Wed: pasta with tomato sauce (double batch of sauce).
- Thu: shakshuka with the leftover sauce, bread.
- Fri: egg fried rice with vegetables from the leftover rice.
- Sat–Sun: a weekend dish and the next round of prep.
- Lunches — soup and last night's leftovers; breakfasts — overnight oats or an omelette.
Questions and answers
How long does meal prep keep in the fridge?＋
Cooked grains and roast vegetables 3–4 days, roast meat and chicken 3–4 days, soup 3 days, chopped fresh vegetables 2–3 days. Freeze anything you'll eat on Friday or later.
How do I plan for a family with children?＋
Cook a shared base and add the "grown-up" elements separately: hot sauce, strong spices, complex sides. Children get the same chicken and rice without the chilli.
How much can I actually save?＋
Most families find 20–30% of the food budget by cutting impulse buys, takeaways and food waste.
What if the plan falls apart?＋
No problem — keep 2–3 emergency meals made from long-life ingredients: pasta with canned tomatoes, an omelette, buckwheat with egg. Move the uneaten dish to the next day.
Should I stock up?＋
Only on things you'll definitely use that keep well: grains, pasta, canned goods, spices, frozen vegetables. Deals on perishables only pay if you'll eat or freeze them in time.
Try it in practice
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