Discover how to simplify meal planning and reduce stress with a rotating meal plan. This practical guide offers step-by-step instructions and tips to create a flexible menu that keeps your family nourished and satisfied. Say goodbye to decision fatigue and hello to efficient meal prep.
Rotating Meal Plan
If you struggle with deciding what to have for dinner every night, this article is for you!
Meal planning seems like one of those tasks that's never-ending… you're always going to need to eat!
But today I'm going to show you how you can set up a rotating meal plan that will eliminate a lot of the decision fatigue around meal planning!
Meal Planning Decision Fatigue
Because we're ALWAYS having to figure out what to eat, and we're likely met with opposition from family members who have specific likes and dislikes, meal planning can feel like an unending battle.
And it's exhausting!
The antidote? Create a multi-week rotating meal plan that you can reuse over and over again. And fill it with meal ideas you know your family will eat.
Rotating Meal Plan Printables
You can use the Ultimate Rotating Meal Plan Workbook + Video Workshop to set up binder like the one pictured in this article.
The video will walk you through this entire process so you can have your own meal planning system set up today!
How to Make a Rotating Meal Plan
Our goal here is to make a realistic list of foods based on your current lifestyle.
To get started, make a list of all of the meals you and your family like.
Then add the meals that everyone will at least tolerate.
If you do a lot of takeout or ready-made meals, include them in your plan.
Ask your family what foods they like to eat and add them to your list because we don't want to completely overhaul the way you eat, we are just trying to eliminate the decision fatigue that comes with trying to figure out what's for dinner.
If you save recipes, have a recipe binder or favorite cookbooks, go through them, and add the recipes you want to make again to your list.
Putting Your Meals Into a Rotating Meal Plan
Now that you have a list of meals you want to make, divide them into groups of 5. In each group, include some easy meal ideas so you can plan to eat them on busy nights.
Once you have at least 2 or 3 groups of 5 meals, you have the basic structure of your personalized plan!
Why Plan With 5 Meals Instead of 7?
You may be wondering why we don't plan for all 7 days of the week…
The reason why is that we don't want to overbuy groceries!
At least one day a week, you can have a leftovers night to clean out your fridge. If you're like most families, you can probably do leftovers night a couple of times a week!
But also, there's a good chance that things will come up and you won't end up sticking to your meal plan. Maybe you'll be invited to dinner at a friend's house, or maybe you'll go out to dinner with your kid's baseball team after a game.
Things happen, so planning for 5 meals is usually more than enough!
And if it's not, you can have ingredients for a few emergency meals on hand if you need them.
Make Reusable Grocery Lists
Now that you have your meal ideas set, it's time to make a grocery list for each individual meal.
List ALL of the ingredients you'll need to make the meal. Even if you have some things in your pantry already. You're going to reuse this list again, so you want to have a complete ingredients list for future weeks.
I found this step to be time-consuming at first, so I just did one week at a time. But once it's done, it's a HUGE time saver!
Planning Daily Meals
When planning which meals to eat on which day, you'll want to consider the following…
- How much time will you have to cook?
- How much energy will you have?
- Is it possible to make this meal in advance and just heat it up when you're ready to eat?
- Are there any special events happening that might change your meal plan?
Try to schedule meals based on how involved the prep is, and how much time and energy you'll have.
You may find that you don't even need 5 meals for the week if you're going to be on the go. And that's okay! Planning to eat outside the house is still making a plan, and it absolutely reduces decision fatigue!
If you plan to have side dishes, include them too.
Here's a sample menu plan…
Monday – Chicken Noodle Soup and Grilled Cheese with Chips
Tuesday – Turkey Tacos in the Slow Cooker
Wednesday – Spaghetti and Salad
Thursday – Leftovers
Friday – Pizza night!
Saturday – Crockpot White Chicken Chili with Rice
Sunday – Out to eat!
Create a Current Grocery List for Your First Week
Once you have your grocery lists set, it's time to make your current grocery list. That's the list you're going to use to do shopping.
Take your reusable grocery lists into the kitchen, and check to see which ingredients you already have. If you don't have something you'll need for the week, add it to your grocery list!
Once your list for the week is complete, you order groceries online (my favorite!) or do your grocery shopping at the store.
Organize Your Rotating Meal Plan Materials
At this point, you have recipes, reusable grocery lists, a list of meals you want to include in your meal plan, and a list of meals you're planning to eat each week.
How do you organize all of this stuff?
My solution was to create a meal plan binder.
I use a tabbed plastic binder pocket for each week and I fill the pocket with materials for that week.
As I make the recipes, I put them in page protectors so they don't get ruined when I'm cooking.
The tabbed binder pockets make everything easy to find and I can add things to the binder without having to use a hole punch!
Read more: How to Organize a Meal Plan Binder
Rotate Through Your Weekly Meal Plans
Keep using the weekly menu plans you built and make changes as needed.
Each week you'll be using a new meal plan, so you'll have plenty of variety.
You might find that one of the meals you included was a total dud. No problem – take it out and replace it with something else for next time!
Or you may come up with new recipes you'd like to include.
If you want you can add those new meals to an existing plan, or save it in the front pocket of your binder and make a new weekly meal plan (that you can reuse, of course!) once you have enough meals for another week.
The Second Round With Your Rotating Menu!
Once you've used all of your weekly meal plans once, you'll start your second round of the meal rotation.
The second time through is SO much easier.
You'll already have your reusable grocery lists made, and you'll have a better idea of how much you'll have for leftovers.
Make Your Own Rotating Meal Plan
Want a made-for-you template to help you set up your own meal plan binder?
Go HERE to learn more about the Ultimate Rotating Meal Plan Binder printable collection. It will help you get started with your own rotating meal plan.