Easy Meal Planning for Busy Moms

Sharing some meal planning tips for the busy moms out there + a template you can use.

Hi friends! How’s the day going so far? I hope you’re having a good morning! I’m getting things ready for Fit Team (join us here) and some errands to run later.

For today post, I wanted to chat a bit about meal planning because it is SAVING.OUR.BACON right now. (Time-wise and money-wise!) We are in the thick of evening activities and events, and if I don’t know what we’re going to eat, it leads to random hodge lodge meals or takeout. It’s absolutely worth sitting down each week to plan our meals (at least our dinners) and making a shopping list for one big grocery stop.

Taking some time to meal plan each week takes the guesswork and last-minute dinner stress out of the equation, and is a great way to save a lot of time, money and effort. Planning, preparing, and cooking healthy meals takes time, and meal planning in advance can help us make healthy meals for the family on a more consistent basis. It also maximizes grocery shopping and makes mom life a bit easier overall! So, I figured it was time I shared my meal planning tips for busy moms. Let’s get into it!

Setting aside time to make a weekly meal plan

Set aside 30 minutes or so each weekend to create your plan for the week. For us, dinners are the most important, but I also have an idea of what I’m going to pack in the girls’ lunches and make for breakfasts on each day of the week. Plan out as many meals as you’d like for the week, emphasizing dinner and weekly staples.

Create a master list

After you’ve planned out your meals, make a master grocery list including all of the ingredients you need for each meal. Take inventory of your pantry and fridge to avoid buying duplicates, unless you like having backups on hand.

Keep track of meals that work

If you find a meal that’s a home run for the family, hold it in your heart FOREVER. Until you make it again and they don’t like it the next time? (Kids can be a mystery sometimes, I tell ya.) I keep a running cheatsheet in my phone of meals the kids have really loved and will come back to them. We also have some staple dishes (like the quick meals in this post) that I know will always be a hit.

Asking help from family members

I like to ask the kids if there’s anything they’d like to have the following week and use their suggestions when I craft my list. I’ll also put a few cookbooks on the table for them to choose recipes that look good to them. Sometimes they surprise me with their selections, but I love that it helps to shake things up and prevent dinner ruts. Plus, it helps me to know that they will, or at least are more likely to, enjoy what I make for each meal.

Create meal plans from items you have on hand

Before I start our meal plan for the week, I’ll think about any items I have on hand that I’d like to use. For example, we might have meat from ButcherBox or veggies from the garden that I want to use. I’ll search for recipes using these ingredients from my fave sources.

Creating themes on some days

This is huge if you have a schedule with extra-curricular and after-school activities that end up being around dinnertime. On soccer nights, I’ll intentionally plan Instant Pot or slow cooker meals that can be ready quickly or already waiting for us. If we’re going to be home later that evening, I’ll choose meals that I can prep earlier in the day.

Bulk cooking

I’m a huge fan of making things in bulk, or doubling recipes, whenever I cam so we’re able to freeze or use leftovers later. Plus, I prefer to cook certain things only once per week, so if I know we’re having rice two times, I’ll make a large batch and save half of it. And since a lot of dinner leftovers work great for breakfast or lunch the following day, it makes planning my lunches a little easier.

Order staples and faves online

Ordering specific items online really streamlines the meal planning process for us, because it ensures that I usually already have meat and pantry essentials on hand. I order almost all of our meat from ButcherBox and I get most of our pantry staples from Thrive Market. (<— both of those links get you a discount if you decide to try it out! Thrive is 40% off your first order and ButcherBox is currently 30% off + free chicken for a year.)

Buying as many staple items as possible online means I only have to get fresh ingredients, like eggs and dairy, at the store. In addition to being supremely convenient, Thrive Market and ButcherBox are significantly less expensive than grocery stores’ current prices, so we save a lot of money doing it this way. Aside from that, I also like shopping at Costco because they carry a lot of our favorite brands and items (like Rao’s pasta sauce, salad kids, organic veggies and berries, salsa, avocado oil, syrup, and almond butter).

Prep protein and other ingredients in advance

Prepping as many ingredients as you can ahead of time is a total game-changer for busy moms. I like to wash fresh fruit and veggies, chop anything I can for dinners and easy snacking, and prep a couple of protein staples. I’ll also usually boil eggs and smoke chicken for the week. Anything you can do you set yourself up for advance: do it.

I also like to mention that if you can splurge on more convenience items that will make your life easier (like chicken that is already cooked and cut into pieces), do it! There’s no shame in doing what you need to do to set yourself up for success.

Use a meal planning template

Using a meal planning template helps a ton if you’re going to plan out meals for the week! Simply print, add in your meals, and write out your grocery list on the opposite side. Consistency is key with meal planning and a template gives you a guide that you can use week after week.

Free Weekly Meal Plan For Busy Moms

Here is a free weekly template I created for meal planning. If you need more help, enter your email address here and I’ll send you a free copy of meal prep blueprint! It has my exact strategy for meal planning, along with some new recipes.