Shopping list from meal plan

How to turn planned meals into a shopping list

1. Add or save your own recipes

   In Manage Recipes, save the ingredients and quantities for meals you cook. Use the same ingredient item across recipes so its requirements can be combined.

2. Add meals to your plan

   Choose the days and meal slots you want to use, then add your saved recipes to the Weekly Planner.

3. Bring ingredient requirements together

   The planner combines requirements for each ingredient across the meals in your plan. You do not need to copy every recipe into a separate grocery list.

4. Check what is already On Hand

   In Item Lists, record the stock you have checked. Unknown stock is not the same as a confirmed zero; check it before relying on the list.

5. Review what still needs buying

   Open Shopping and check the selected week or Combined view. Review recipe needs, add any extra groceries, and check the purchase quantities against what you intend to get.

6. Choose what to buy now or later

   Keep items for your next trip in To Buy, move postponed purchases to Buy Later, and mark collected items Purchased. The statuses organise the list; they do not update real inventory.

Three meals, one ingredient list

Suppose you plan chicken pasta, tacos, and a stir fry. The table shows only a few ingredients from those example recipes, using the same ingredient items and units throughout. It is an illustration of combining recipe requirements, not a live Shopping result.

Together, these recipe inputs call for 800 g chicken and 400 g peppers, plus 200 g pasta, 6 tortillas, and 150 g rice. The shared chicken and peppers are reviewed as ingredient totals rather than three separate handwritten lists.

Those totals are recipe requirements, not quantities you must purchase. Recorded On Hand stock, the selected planning period, manual additions, and purchase units determine the Shopping list. For example, chicken already in your fridge may cover part of the need; check your stock before deciding what to buy.

Understand the shopping controls

To Buy

Items you intend to purchase on your current shopping trip.

Buy Later

Purchases you want to postpone. Moving an item here keeps it in the managed list.

Purchased

A checklist status for items you have collected. It does not automatically increase On Hand or freeze recipe requirements.

On Hand

The real quantity you have recorded in your kitchen. Planning does not consume it; update or confirm stock when you check what you actually have.

Store and package quantities

Set an item’s package size to match the pack you normally buy. When buying by pack, recipe needs are combined before the final purchase quantity is rounded up to whole packs. For an item with a package size, you can switch Shopping to its base unit for an exact quantity instead. Purchase-unit changes do not change the recipe’s ingredient amounts.

Review the list before your trip

Shopping list questions

Explore the workflow

Build the list around meals you already enjoy with a meal planner with your own recipes, or explore the weekly meal planner.