How to plan your weekly menu in 20 minutes

Planning doesn’t mean always eating the same thing or spending Sunday afternoon poring over a spreadsheet. It means making a few decisions once, so you don’t have to make them every day whilst you’re hungry.

1. Start with what you already have

Open the fridge and the cupboard before choosing recipes. Prioritise what’s about to go off: if you’ve got an open packet of spinach or a carton of cream, look for recipes that use them at the start of the week. On Cocinoa, you can note this down in My Pantry and the planner will suggest recipes using those ingredients.

2. Decide how many meals you’re actually going to cook

Not every meal needs a new recipe. A realistic week usually includes:

• two or three quick dinners taking less than 30 minutes,
• one or two dishes that are cooked once and eaten twice,
• a more leisurely meal for the weekend.

Set up your plan to include only the meals you want to plan: if you always have the same breakfast, there’s no need to include it.

3. Reuse ingredients on purpose

Choosing recipes that share ingredients shortens your shopping list and prevents food from going off. A bunch of coriander can be used for a curry on Monday and some tacos on Thursday. In the plan’s preferences, you can set a limit on the number of different ingredients, and the auto-fill feature will choose recipes that fit the criteria.

4. Leave a slot free

A plan that’s too tight falls apart at the first unexpected event. Leave one dinner slot free for leftovers, an omelette or whatever takes your fancy.

5. Generate the list and do the shopping in one go

Once the plan is ready, generate the shopping list: it’s organised by supermarket aisle, deducts what you already have at home, and you can reduce quantities if there’ll be fewer of you. Save it on your mobile to use in the shop.

Twenty minutes at the weekend can save you a lot of decision-making, several trips to the supermarket and wasted food.