Excel Weekly Meal Planner

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Excel Weekly Meal Planner

Thanks to Jimmy Peńa, who created the Recipe Selector tool in the meal planner.

Select Recipes
Enter the List of Meal Items
List the Meal Ingredients
Select the Weekly Meals
Create the Weekly Shopping List
Print the Shopping List
Watch the Excel Weekly Meal Planner Video
Download the Excel Weekly Meal Planner

When the kids are in school, and everyone is involved in evening activities, it can be tough to get your family meals organized.

To help you make the job easier, you can use this Excel weekly meal planner. Enter your favourite meals, list their basic ingredients, and click a button to create a shopping list for a week's meals.

Note: For special occasions, there's an Excel holiday dinner planner that you can use to organize a meal for a large group, or a fancy dinner for friends..

Select Recipes

The first step is to select recipes for your weekly meals, either from your own collection, or on the Recipes sheet in the Excel Weekly Meal Planner.

Enter an ingredient name in cell A2, then click the Get Recipes button. A macro runs, and pulls a list of recipes for the selected ingredient. To see one of the recipes, click the link.

Enter the List of Meal Items

The next step is to list your family's favourite dishes on the Meal_Items worksheet. There are a few sample items in the Excel weekly meal planner. You can add new items to the list, or replace the existing meals with your family favourites.

In column B, enter the name of the dish, and in column C you can enter a link to a recipe online, or type a cookbook name and page number.

List the Meal Ingredients

After you have entered a list of meal items, enter the main ingredients for each item on the Meal_Ingredients worksheet.

There is a data validation drop down in column B, where you can select the name of one of your meal items.

In column C, enter the quantity required, and in column D, enter the unit, such a can, cup or lb.

In column E, enter the name of the ingredient.

Finally, in column F, enter the category for the ingredient, to help you make a shopping list.

Note: There are formulas in columns G and H, which are used to create the shopping list, so don't type in those columns.

Select the Weekly Meals

After you have entered all the ingredients, you're ready to start the weekly meal planning.

On the WeekdayMeals sheet, select up to 3 items for each weekday meal, by using the data validation drop down lists in columns C:E.

Create the Weekly Shopping List

After you select each day's meals, click the Shopping List button at the top left of the WeekdayMeals sheet.

This runs a macro, which uses an advanced filter to copy all the ingredients for the selected meals to the ShoppingList sheet, and sorts the shopping list by ingredient name.

As you select each day's meal, that meal's ingredients are marked with a 1 in column G, on the Meal_Ingredients worksheet. On the Meal_Items sheet, in cells G1:G2, there is a criteria range that's used in the advanced filter. It checks for ingredients that are marked with a 1 (or higher) in column G.

Print the Shopping List

After the shopping list has been created, the items are summarized in an Excel Pivot Table. You can print the list, add any other grocery items that you need, and then head to the grocery store.

Watch the Excel Weekly Meal Planner Video

To see a quick overview of how the Excel Weekly Meal Planner works, you can watch this short video.

Download the Excel Weekly Meal Planner

You can download a copy of the Excel Weekly Meal Planner and add your own meals and ingredients. The file is in Excel 2007 format, and is zipped. After you unzip the file and open it, enable macros, so you can create the shopping list.

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Debra Dalgleish

Last updated: February 20, 2011 7:40 PM

	Excel Weekly Meal Planner *Thanks to Jimmy Peńa, who created the Recipe Selector tool in the meal planner.* Select Recipes Enter the List of Meal Items List the Meal Ingredients Select the Weekly Meals Create the Weekly Shopping List Print the Shopping List Watch the Excel Weekly Meal Planner Video Download the Excel Weekly Meal Planner When the kids are in school, and everyone is involved in evening activities, it can be tough to get your family meals organized. To help you make the job easier, you can use this Excel weekly meal planner. Enter your favourite meals, list their basic ingredients, and click a button to create a shopping list for a week's meals. Note: For special occasions, there's an Excel holiday dinner planner that you can use to organize a meal for a large group, or a fancy dinner for friends.. Select Recipes The first step is to select recipes for your weekly meals, either from your own collection, or on the Recipes sheet in the Excel Weekly Meal Planner. Enter an ingredient name in cell A2, then click the Get Recipes button. A macro runs, and pulls a list of recipes for the selected ingredient. To see one of the recipes, click the link. Enter the List of Meal Items The next step is to list your family's favourite dishes on the Meal_Items worksheet. There are a few sample items in the Excel weekly meal planner. You can add new items to the list, or replace the existing meals with your family favourites. In column B, enter the name of the dish, and in column C you can enter a link to a recipe online, or type a cookbook name and page number. List the Meal Ingredients After you have entered a list of meal items, enter the main ingredients for each item on the Meal_Ingredients worksheet. There is a data validation drop down in column B, where you can select the name of one of your meal items. In column C, enter the quantity required, and in column D, enter the unit, such a can, cup or lb. In column E, enter the name of the ingredient. Finally, in column F, enter the category for the ingredient, to help you make a shopping list. Note: There are formulas in columns G and H, which are used to create the shopping list, so don't type in those columns. Select the Weekly Meals After you have entered all the ingredients, you're ready to start the weekly meal planning. On the WeekdayMeals sheet, select up to 3 items for each weekday meal, by using the data validation drop down lists in columns C:E. Create the Weekly Shopping List After you select each day's meals, click the Shopping List button at the top left of the WeekdayMeals sheet. This runs a macro, which uses an advanced filter to copy all the ingredients for the selected meals to the ShoppingList sheet, and sorts the shopping list by ingredient name. As you select each day's meal, that meal's ingredients are marked with a 1 in column G, on the Meal_Ingredients worksheet. On the Meal_Items sheet, in cells G1:G2, there is a criteria range that's used in the advanced filter. It checks for ingredients that are marked with a 1 (or higher) in column G. Print the Shopping List After the shopping list has been created, the items are summarized in an Excel Pivot Table. You can print the list, add any other grocery items that you need, and then head to the grocery store. Watch the Excel Weekly Meal Planner Video To see a quick overview of how the Excel Weekly Meal Planner works, you can watch this short video.


	Download the Excel Weekly Meal Planner You can download a copy of the Excel Weekly Meal Planner and add your own meals and ingredients. The file is in Excel 2007 format, and is zipped. After you unzip the file and open it, enable macros, so you can create the shopping list.