Food & shopping
What to buy for a week of meals for two
Plan a week of meals for two adults with shared ingredients. Check pantry supplies, organise portions and make room for leftovers.
The checklist
- Ready-to-eat breakfast cereal · 700 g
- Milk · 2800 ml
- Plain yogurt · 1400 g
+ 51 more explained items
Start with your calendar. This example covers seven days for two adults, including breakfast and a fruit snack each day. Breakfast uses ready-to-eat cereal, milk, plain yogurt, fruit and nuts. These are serving allocations; the cereal is eaten as sold, following its label. Adjust the plan to appetite, allergies and meals actually eaten at home. Drinking water and optional drinks are separate.
The evening plan is Monday lentil soup, Tuesday spinach pasta, Wednesday potato frittata, Thursday chickpea curry with rice, Friday prepared jacket potatoes with ready-made baked beans, Saturday fresh lentil soup, and Sunday thawed curry with fresh rice. Soup and pasta supply the following day’s lunch. Thursday’s curry supplies Friday lunch and a frozen Sunday dinner. Monday, Thursday and Saturday lunches are cheese sandwiches with raw cucumber and tomato.
The quantities describe weekly use before subtracting supplies already at home. Multiply each soup ingredient by 2 to turn two servings into four, on two separate cooking days. Pasta also scales by 2, frittata by 0.5 and curry by 1.5. The optional tomato-and-basil salad is omitted. Bread and rice have separate serving allowances.
Buy consolidates missing food. Take collects equipment already owned. Do orders pantry checks, preparation and storage. The Friday products are fully cooked purchases heated according to their own labels, not a homemade recipe. Pack sizes may exceed the requirement: record excess canned contents and herbs for another use, following the product’s storage instructions.
Who this list is for
Two adults eating breakfast, lunch and dinner at home for a week, with a hob, oven, fridge and small freezer. The plan includes dairy, eggs, gluten and nuts. Choose vegetarian cheese, pesto and prepared products when required. Portions are planning assumptions, not a personalized nutrition prescription.
Tips
Choose the soup for this kitchen
The lentil soup needs no blender, which keeps its equipment list short. Check the ingredients before shopping and keep the portions for each cooking day separate. Plan the later soup batch with its own measured ingredients so an earlier meal does not use the supplies you reserved.
Keep recipe scaling explicit
Use the complete pasta, frittata and curry formulas below, including wine, chilli, cheeses and all curry spices. Smaller or larger batches retain every ingredient in the stated proportion. Choose another published recipe and recalculate the list if an ingredient does not suit you; removing it creates a different dish. For the smaller frittata, use a suitable ovenproof pan and check that it is cooked through.
Check the pantry and package sizes
Inspect cereal, rice, lentils, canned food, oil, spices and stock before buying. The chickpea quantity is contents weight before draining, not a drained weight. Measure the required share before draining and rinsing. Choose pack sizes that work with opening instructions, and keep any unused canned contents in a covered food container rather than the open can.
Give leftovers a destination
Cool cooked food in small portions and refrigerate within 1–2 hours. Keep the fridge at 0–5°C. Eat refrigerated leftovers within 48 hours or freeze them. Label the Sunday curry and freeze it promptly after cooling on Thursday. Do not keep it refrigerated until Sunday. Follow stricter product-label instructions where given.
Cook rice separately for each meal
Cook the listed dry rice freshly for each curry meal and serve immediately. If any rice remains, cool it quickly, ideally within 1 hour; refrigerate and use within 24 hours. Reheat rice only once until steaming hot throughout. Its shorter storage rule is different from the rule for the accompanying curry.
Thaw and reheat the right portions
Thaw Sunday’s curry fully in the fridge and use within 24 hours after complete defrosting. Stir soup, pasta or curry during reheating and heat until steaming hot throughout. Reheat only once. Heat only the portions needed for that meal, following appliance instructions, rather than repeatedly warming a shared batch.
Review the week together
Keep Monday’s soup separate from Saturday’s freshly cooked batch. Check the use-by and opening instructions for spinach, dairy, herbs and prepared potatoes when scheduling the shop; make a later top-up if needed. After the week, record skipped meals and uneaten portions. Adjust one dinner at a time, then recalculate the consolidated shopping list before repeating the plan.
The checklist
54 items, grouped like in the Cartdock app.
Print this page to tick items off on paper: the printout keeps only the checklist, with a box before every item.
Buy
Food for the planned week
- Ready-to-eat breakfast cereal · 700 g — 50 g per person daily; select a product eaten without cooking.
- Milk · 2800 ml — 200 ml per person daily; follow opening and use-by instructions.
- Plain yogurt · 1400 g — 100 g per person daily with breakfast; check opening dates.
- Fruit · 28 pieces — 14 breakfast portions and 14 snacks; choose fruit you both enjoy.
- Unsalted nuts · 140 g — 10 g per person daily; check allergies before choosing.
- Bread · 20 slices — 12 slices for sandwiches and 8 for soup; freeze later portions if suitable.
- Sandwich cheese · 300 g — 100 g for each shared sandwich lunch; choose vegetarian cheese if required.
- Large eggs · 4 — For the frittata; follow the egg storage label.
- Raw medium potatoes · 2 (about 300 g) — For the frittata; slice thinly.
- Fully cooked jacket potatoes · 2 — Friday: buy a prepared product and heat only as its label directs.
- Ready-made baked beans · 400 g — Friday: ready-made beans in sauce, not drained plain beans; follow the label.
- Onions · 9 — 4 for soup, 2 for pasta and 3 for curry; use white onions for the soup.
- Garlic · 19.5 cloves — 12 cloves for soup, 4 for pasta, 0.5 for frittata and 3 for curry. Chop a clove and divide it for the half.
- Carrots · 8 — 4 per soup batch; leave the later batch uncut until needed.
- Dry red lentils · 340 g — 170 g per soup batch; weigh before cooking.
- Vegetable stock cubes · 4 — 2 per soup batch; check ingredients and allergens.
- Chopped parsley and extra leaves · 8 tbsp + extra leaves — 4 tbsp per soup batch, plus leaves for the optional garnish.
- Canned chopped tomatoes · 800 g — For pasta; use the contents including juice.
- Canned plum tomatoes · 600 g — For curry; weigh contents with juice before cooking.
- Coconut milk · 600 ml — For curry; measure before adding.
- Canned chickpeas · 600 g — Printed contents weight before draining: use 1.5 × 400 g cans, then drain and rinse this share.
- Young fresh spinach · 250 g — For pasta; fresh spinach is the published ingredient.
- Wholemeal penne · 400 g — For pasta; cook according to its package.
- Red wine · 200 ml — For pasta sauce; retained from the published recipe.
- Parmesan or vegetarian alternative · 50 g — For pasta; the publisher explicitly allows the alternative.
- Soft rindless goat cheese · 50 g — For the frittata topping; slice before serving.
- Pesto · 1.5 tbsp — For frittata; check nuts, dairy and vegetarian suitability.
- Rocket · 0.5 handful — For frittata; the source uses a handful, not a gram amount.
- Fresh tomatoes · 9 (including 3 large) — 3 large for curry and 6 for sandwich lunches; wash before use.
- Fresh coriander · 0.75 small pack — For curry; retain the source pack fraction without inventing grams.
- Dry basmati rice · 450 g — 150 g for each of the 3 curry meals for two; a serving allocation, not a source conversion.
- Olive oil · 12 tsp + 2 tbsp — 8 tsp for soup, 4 tsp for pasta, 0.5 tbsp for frittata and 1.5 tbsp for curry.
- Chilli flakes · 1 tsp — For pasta; do not silently omit the source seasoning.
- Dried oregano · 1 tsp — For pasta sauce; measure before cooking.
- Garam masala, turmeric and ground coriander · 1.5 tsp each — All 3 spices belong to the curry; check each jar.
- Salt and black pepper · To taste — For frittata seasoning, its potato water and curry seasoning.
- Cucumbers · 2 — Divide among the 3 shared sandwich lunches.
Take along
Bring and set out what you own
- Shopping bags and a cool bag — Protect chilled shopping and take it home promptly.
- Large saucepan, ovenproof nonstick frying pan and colander — For soup, curry, frittata and pasta; follow the pan’s oven limits.
- Scales, measuring spoons, knife and chopping board — Measure the ingredients before starting; keep equipment clean.
- Shallow containers and labels — Separate lunch portions and label the frozen Sunday curry.
To do
Before shopping
- Check pantry, calendar and fridge space — Subtract safe stock, agree all meals and check room for chilled food and leftovers.
- Check product labels and partial cans — Check ready-to-eat cereal and fully cooked Friday products. Plan a safe use for excess opened canned contents.
Prepare the week’s meals
- Breakfast every day — For 2: 100 g ready-to-eat cereal, 400 ml milk, 200 g yogurt, 2 fruit pieces and 20 g nuts. Serve without cooking, as the cereal label permits; reserve 2 more fruit pieces for snacks.
- Monday and Saturday: soup, 4 servings each — Each batch: 2 white onions, 6 garlic cloves, 4 carrots, 170 g lentils, 2 stock cubes, 2 l boiling water, 4 tsp olive oil, about 4 tbsp chopped parsley plus extra leaves. Slice onions and garlic; dice carrots. Fry onions in oil 2 minutes; briefly cook garlic and carrots. Add water, lentils and stock, cover and cook over medium heat about 15 minutes until tender. Stir parsley in off the heat; garnish with extra leaves if wanted. Serve 2 portions with 2 bread slices; chill 2 portions and reserve 2 slices for next-day lunch.
- Tuesday: spinach pasta, 4 servings — Use 4 tsp olive oil, 2 onions, 4 garlic cloves, 1 tsp chilli flakes, 400 g wholemeal penne, 800 g canned chopped tomatoes, 200 ml red wine, 1 tsp dried oregano, 250 g young fresh spinach and 50 g Parmesan or the permitted vegetarian alternative. Gently fry chopped onions, crushed garlic and chilli 5 minutes, stirring; add a little water if they stick. Add tomatoes, wine and oregano; simmer 10 minutes. Cook penne per label. Stir spinach into the sauce for 1–2 minutes until wilted; toss with drained pasta, then sprinkle with grated cheese. Serve 2; chill 2 for Wednesday lunch.
- Wednesday: potato frittata, 2 servings — Use 2 medium potatoes (about 300 g), 0.5 garlic clove, 4 large eggs, 0.5 tbsp olive oil, 50 g soft rindless goat cheese, 1.5 tbsp pesto and 0.5 handful rocket; seasoning to taste. Thinly slice potatoes and boil in salted water 5 minutes until just tender. Heat oven to 220°C/200°C fan. Mix eggs, chopped garlic and seasoning; stir in drained potatoes. Heat oil in an ovenproof pan; add mixture and cook over low heat 5 minutes or until two-thirds set. Bake 10–15 minutes until cooked through. Top with sliced cheese, pesto and rocket. Serve both portions.
- Thursday: chickpea curry, 6 servings — Use 1.5 tbsp olive oil, 3 onions, 3 garlic cloves, 1.5 tsp each garam masala, turmeric and ground coriander, 600 g canned plum tomatoes, 600 ml coconut milk, 600 g canned chickpeas weighed before draining, 3 large fresh tomatoes and 0.75 small pack fresh coriander; seasoning to taste. Slice onions and soften in oil about 10 minutes. Add crushed garlic and spices; cook 1–2 minutes. Add canned tomatoes, break up and simmer 10 minutes. Add coconut milk and seasoning; boil then simmer 10–15 minutes until thickened. Add drained, rinsed chickpeas and quartered fresh tomatoes; warm through, then scatter chopped coriander. Serve 2; chill 2 for Friday lunch and freeze 2 after cooling for Sunday dinner.
- Rice for each curry meal — Cook 150 g dry basmati rice per package for each meal for 2: Thursday dinner, Friday lunch and Sunday dinner. Serve immediately with the corresponding curry portions.
- Friday: prepared potatoes and baked beans, 2 servings — Use 2 fully cooked jacket potatoes and 400 g ready-made baked beans in sauce. Heat each product exactly as its package directs, including any standing or stirring instructions. Divide the potatoes and beans between both people; this is an allocation of purchased products.
- Monday, Thursday and Saturday: sandwiches, 2 servings each — Each lunch: 4 bread slices, 100 g sandwich cheese, 2 tomatoes and one third of the 2 cucumbers. Wash vegetables, slice and assemble; no eggs or homemade cooked filling are included. Prepare close to eating or refrigerate promptly.
Store and repeat
- Cool and label reserved portions — Use the storage tips. Freeze the Sunday curry after cooling on Thursday; allow it to thaw completely in the fridge before Sunday dinner.
- Reheat reserved meals once — Stir and heat until steaming hot throughout; eat promptly and do not reheat again.
- Check the remaining food — Record uneaten portions, safe pantry stock and freezer labels before the next shop.
Questions and answers
Does this cover all our food needs?
It names breakfasts, lunches, dinners and fruit snacks for two adults, but does not establish individual energy or nutrient needs. Add food according to appetite and circumstances. Check allergies and product ingredients before shopping, especially nuts, pesto and cheeses. The Friday products must suit your diet as sold; the plan does not prescribe a homemade substitute.
How much should we buy if food is already at home?
Treat each amount as weekly use, not a demand to buy it again. Subtract safe existing stock in the same units. Keep chopped tomatoes and plum tomatoes as their specified products, and raw potatoes separate from fully cooked purchases. If a pack is larger than needed, record the remainder and its opening date rather than silently putting it all into the recipe.
Can we cook everything on Sunday?
Only with a suitable freezing and defrosting plan. This example cooks on several days so Monday’s soup is not kept until Saturday. Refrigerated leftovers have a 48-hour limit under the cited FSA guidance. Freezing the curry reserved for Sunday is already part of the plan; ensure containers and freezer space are available before cooking.
What if we eat out or skip lunch?
Remove that meal before shopping and reduce its batch and side dish proportionally. If plans change after cooking, freeze spare portions promptly after cooling when suitable. Keep storage labels visible, thaw fully in the fridge and reheat once until steaming hot throughout. Recalculate breakfast and sandwich allocations too if those meals will be missed.
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