The six-step plan
- Check the calendar. Note late nights, evenings out and days with more time. Busy nights get the quickest recipes.
- Check the fridge first. Build at least one meal around food that needs using up.
- Plan five dinners, not seven. Leftovers, a takeaway or eggs on toast will fill the other two nights. A plan with gaps is a plan you will stick to.
- Cook once, eat twice. Choose at least one recipe that makes enough for a second meal or for lunches.
- Share ingredients. If one recipe uses half a bunch of coriander or half a bag of spinach, plan another that uses the rest.
- Write the shopping list by aisle. Group it into produce, meat and fish, dairy, cupboard and frozen so you go round the shop once.
A sample week
This plan uses recipes from this site and shares ingredients across nights.
| Day | Dinner | Why it is there |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday | Beef and vegetable stew | Slow recipe for a day at home; makes 6 portions. |
| Monday | Sheet-pan sausages and potatoes | Ten minutes of prep; the oven does the work. |
| Tuesday | Leftover stew | No cooking at all. |
| Wednesday | Chickpea and spinach curry | Cupboard ingredients; uses half the spinach. |
| Thursday | Spaghetti with garlic, chilli and spinach | Uses the rest of the spinach in 20 minutes. |
| Friday | Honey-soy salmon tray bake | Fish bought fresh on Thursday or Friday, since it keeps only 1 to 2 days. |
| Saturday | Flexible | Leftover curry, eating out or shakshuka from store-cupboard tomatoes and eggs. |
Prep ahead in 45 minutes
- Chop onions, carrots and peppers for the first three days and keep them in sealed boxes in the fridge.
- Make the curry sauce base, up to adding the chickpeas, and refrigerate it.
- Make a few jars of overnight oats for weekday breakfasts.
- Portion and freeze any meat you will not use within its fridge life. The fridge times table shows how long each keeps.
Shopping list tips
- Check the pantry staples before you shop so you only buy what is missing.
- Write quantities, not just names: "2 onions", not "onions".
- Buy fish and fresh herbs last in the week or plan them early.
- Frozen vegetables are picked and frozen quickly and are a fine swap for fresh in soups, curries and rice dishes.
Cutting food waste
Keep a "use first" box at the front of the fridge for opened jars and half-used vegetables. Soups, frittatas and fried rice absorb almost any leftover vegetable. Bread, cooked rice and cooked meat all freeze well if you portion them while fresh.