Meal Prep Planner, Free to Print

A session sheet you fill before the cooking starts. This meal prep planner is two pages: page 1 is the prep-day plan, 8 recipe rows with the batch size you cook, the containers each batch fills, and a write-in slot for where the batch goes after. Page 2 splits the shopping list into produce, protein and pantry columns, then runs the session with a 5-item prep-day checklist. Every cell is write-in pen work; the sheet supplies no recipes and rules no kitchen.

How to use this page: print both pages at 100% scale (the site chrome drops out on paper). Fill page 1 the day before prep day: one row per recipe you intend to batch, with the batch size in whatever unit you cook in, the container count, and the storage slot left to your own call. Page 2 turns those rows into a shopping list split by store section, then walks the session from container count to stored batches. Reprint for the next prep day; the sheet is dated by nothing but your own handwriting.

Matchbook Labs · printable · page 1 of 2

Prep-day plan

Prep day:

Fill one row per recipe before you cook. Storage is a write-in slot for your own call; this sheet names no storage method and sets no duration.

#RecipeBatch sizeContainersStorage (your call)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

Batch size in whatever unit you cook: trays, pots, or portions. Containers is the count to have clean before you start. A row with no containers counted is a row that stalls mid-session.

Matchbook Labs · printable · page 2 of 2

Grocery split, prep-day checklist

The shopping list page 1 implies, then the session that turns it into stored batches.

Grocery split — 3 columns × 6 rows

ProduceProteinPantry

One list, three store sections. Copy each recipe's needs from page 1 into the column that matches where the store keeps it. The three columns mirror the category sort in the workbook's Grocery List sheet below.

Prep-day checklist — 5 boxes

☐Count and wash the containers from the Containers column
☐Set out every recipe listed on page 1 and fill its missing numbers
☐Shop or unpack the three grocery columns
☐Cook the batches in container order, one row at a time
☐Store each batch as it finishes and tick its row on page 1

Five boxes, in that order. The session ends when the last box is filled, not when the kitchen looks finished.

This sheet organizes one cooking session: which recipes, how much, how many containers, where each batch goes. It holds no recipes of its own, no nutrition guidance, and no storage rule; the Storage column holds only what you write there.

Fits A4 and US Letter at 100%. Grayscale prints fine.

Four opinions on prep day

  1. (Opinion.) Prep two proteins, not four. The container count is the constraint most kitchens actually feel: four parallel batches want more clean containers, more counter space, and more of one session than a first prep day usually has. Two batches that both get stored beat four that stop halfway. The 8-row table exists because a plan grows; start it at two rows and let the count climb on later sheets.
  2. (Opinion.) Count containers before you cook, not after. The first checklist box is container work on purpose. A batch with nowhere to go sits in the pot while you hunt cupboard space, and the session stalls at its most crowded moment. The count is a five-minute job the night before and the difference between a session that runs and one that improvises.
  3. (Opinion.) Split the list by store section, not by recipe. A list written recipe-by-recipe sends you back down the same aisle four times. Three columns, one pass each: produce, protein, pantry. This is also why the workbook's Grocery List sheet sorts by category instead of by dish; the printable and the spreadsheet fail the same way if the store decides your walking order.
  4. (Opinion.) End the session on the checklist, not on feel. "Until the kitchen looks done" is a moving target that extends itself. The last box is stored-batches-tick-their-rows, and it either happens or it does not. A session with a fixed end gets repeated next week; one that ends on exhaustion does not.

What this page is

A prep-organization sheet, and nothing past that. It plans one cooking session on paper: which recipes go in, how much of each, how many containers to wash, and a slot for where each batch lands when it is done. No nutrition guidance appears anywhere on it, no portion advice, no diet framing, and no storage rule or duration; the Storage column is a write-in that holds your decision, not the sheet's. What the sheet does do is make prep day a scheduled job with a countable output: 8 planned rows, 18 grocery lines, 5 boxes. When a row's numbers stay blank, that recipe was not actually planned, and the sheet tells you that before Sunday afternoon finds out.

Where the spreadsheet fits

Paper plans the session. The Meal Planner workbook handles the arithmetic around it: its Grocery List sheet flags which items the week's plan actually needs, sorts them by store section, and totals the lines you type prices against, while the Weekly Plan draws 21 meals from a 32-recipe bank. Verbatim from the product README:

A one-workbook meal planning system for Excel and Google Sheets: plan 21 meals a week from a 32-recipe bank using dropdowns, keep a grocery list that flags what your plan actually needs and totals itself, and track what you pay per store over time.

What's inside

FileWhat it does
meal.xlsxThe workbook. 4 sheets: Weekly Plan (7 days x 3 meals with recipe dropdowns and plan stats), Recipe Bank (32 recipes: meal type, time, servings, ingredients), Grocery List (store categories, on-plan auto flag, qty x price line totals, weekly total), Price Tracker (unit prices per store, best/average price watchlist)
instructions.md5-minute setup, every formula explained in plain language, how to extend the dropdown ranges, troubleshooting
README.mdThis file

Personal and commercial use allowed - plan your own meals, use it for clients, as many copies as you like. No resale or redistribution of the pack itself, as-is or with minor edits.

Quoted verbatim from the Meal Planner + Grocery List Spreadsheet product README.

Get the Meal Planner + Grocery List Spreadsheet — →

One workbook for Excel and Google Sheets: Weekly Plan (7 days × 3 meals with recipe dropdowns and plan stats), Recipe Bank (32 recipes), Grocery List (store categories, on-plan auto flag, qty × price line totals), Price Tracker (unit prices per store). Sample week included. Personal and commercial use allowed.

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