Weekly Shopping
Meal Plan 1: Everyday Classics
Chapter 8 · Weekly shopping list
How to use this list. It merges the shopping lists of all 21 recipes from Monday to Sunday, so you can shop once. Amounts are totals for the week, and the last column says where each item is used. Check the cupboard section before you go, because oil, salt and spices are probably already at home. Every recipe is for one portion except the chilli, the traybake, the curry and the pork, which make two. Each recipe page still has its own list.
Download
A plain-text copy of this whole list is here: Weekly shopping list (text file)
Meat and fish
| Item | Buy | Used in |
|---|---|---|
| Lean beef mince (5% fat) | 1 pack, 500 g | Mon 250 g (chilli), Sat 150 g (burger). 100 g spare |
| Lean beef steak (sirloin or rump) | 150 g | Thu (stir-fry) |
| Skinless boneless chicken thighs | 4 thighs, about 450 g | Tue (traybake, 2 portions) |
| Salmon fillet | 1 fillet, about 130 g | Fri (baked salmon) |
| Pork tenderloin | 1, about 350 g | Sun (roast, 2 portions) |
| Tuna in spring water | 1 tin, about 145 g | Mon (salad) |
Fruit and vegetables
| Item | Buy | Used in |
|---|---|---|
| Bananas | 2 | Mon (porridge), Thu (pancakes) |
| Apples | 3 | Fri (toast), Sun (baked oats, roast) |
| Lemons | 2 | Half each on Mon, Thu, Fri, Sat |
| Baby spinach | 2 bags, about 225 g in all | Tue 40 g, Wed 15 g + 80 g, Thu 40 g, Sat 20 g, Sun 30 g. Open the second bag on Thursday |
| Carrots | 6 | Tue 2, Wed 1, Fri 1, Sun 2 |
| Onions (brown) | 3 | Mon (chilli), Wed (curry), Fri (soup, small) |
| Red onions | 3 | Tue 1, Sun 1, and one for the quarters on Mon and Sat |
| Garlic | 1 head (7 cloves) | Mon 2, Wed 2, Thu 1, Fri 1, Sat 1 |
| Fresh root ginger | 1 small piece (1 cm) | Thu (stir-fry) |
| Broccoli | 2 heads (1 small, 1 medium) | Tue 200 g, Thu 150 g. Half of the second head is spare |
| Baby or new potatoes | 1 bag, 750 g | Tue 400 g, Fri 200 g |
| Sweet potatoes | 2 medium | Tue (stuffed potato), Sat (wedges) |
| Parsnips | 2 | Sun (roast) |
| Cucumber | 1 | Wed 80 g, Sat 100 g |
| Cherry tomatoes | 1 small punnet, 100 g | Sat (salad) |
| Tomato | 1 | Sat (burger), half used |
| Green beans | 100 g | Fri (salmon) |
| Mushrooms (button or chestnut) | 1 small punnet, 80 g | Sun (omelette) |
Dairy and eggs
| Item | Buy | Used in |
|---|---|---|
| Eggs | 1 box of 10 | 9 needed: Tue 2, Thu 2, Sat 2, Sun 1 + 2 |
| Semi-skimmed milk | 500 ml | Mon 200 ml, Sun 150 ml |
| Plain Greek-style yoghurt | 1 small pot, 150 g | Wed (breakfast) |
| Feta cheese | 1 small block | Sat 40 g |
| Hummus | 1 small tub | Wed 60 g |
Bread and bakery
| Item | Buy | Used in |
|---|---|---|
| Wholemeal bread | 1 small loaf | 5 slices: Tue 2, Fri 2, Sat 1 |
| Wholemeal tortilla wraps | 1 pack | Wed (1 wrap) |
| Wholemeal burger buns | 1 pack | Sat (1 bun) |
Frozen
| Item | Buy | Used in |
|---|---|---|
| Mixed berries | 1 small bag, 100 g or more | Wed (breakfast) |
Tins, jars and bottles
| Item | Buy | Used in |
|---|---|---|
| Chopped tomatoes (400 g tin) | 3 tins | Mon 1, Wed 1, Sat half |
| Kidney beans (400 g tin) | 1 tin | Mon (chilli) |
| Chickpeas (400 g tin) | 2 tins | Wed 1, Sat half, Sun half |
| Cannellini beans (400 g tin) | 1 tin | Mon half |
| Peanut butter | 1 jar | Fri 30 g |
| Reduced-salt soy sauce | 1 small bottle | Thu 1.5 tbsp |
Dry goods
| Item | Buy | Used in |
|---|---|---|
| Porridge oats | 1 bag | 150 g: Mon 40 g, Wed 20 g, Thu 40 g, Sun 50 g |
| Brown basmati rice | 1 bag | 180 g: Mon, Wed and Thu, 60 g each |
| Red split lentils | 1 small bag | Fri 50 g |
| Reduced-salt vegetable stock cubes | 1 small box | Fri, half a cube |
Cupboard check
You probably have these already. Check the amounts, then add to the trolley whatever has run out.
- Olive oil: about 165 ml (11 tbsp) over the week
- Salt and black pepper: used in most recipes
- Ground cinnamon: 1 tsp (Mon, Sun)
- Mild chilli powder: 1 tsp (Mon)
- Ground cumin: 1.5 tsp (Mon, Fri)
- Smoked paprika: 3 tsp (Tue, Sat)
- Medium curry powder: 1 tbsp (Wed)
- Dried oregano: 1/2 tsp (Sat)
- Dried thyme: 1 tsp (Sun)
Equipment
- Baking paper (Fri, Sat)
- Kitchen foil (Sun)
- A large roasting tin (Tue, Sun)
- A small ovenproof dish or ramekin, about 350 ml (Sun)
- A frying pan with a lid (Sat)
- 2 or 3 shallow containers with lids and a few freezer bags (batch portions and leftovers)
If you shop once: freeze and defrost
Raw meat and fish should not wait several days in the fridge, so buy them on your shopping day, freeze them at once, and take each one out the evening before you cook it. Defrost on a plate on the bottom shelf of the fridge, never on the worktop. Check the use-by date on the pack: if it falls before the day you need the item, freeze it. Do not refreeze raw meat that has defrosted.
| Item | Cook on | Take out of the freezer |
|---|---|---|
| Chicken thighs | Tue | Mon evening |
| Beef steak | Thu | Wed evening |
| Salmon fillet | Fri | Thu evening |
| Pork tenderloin | Sun (dinner) | Sat evening |
| Beef mince (150 g, frozen on Monday) | Sat | Fri evening |
Splitting the mince
Buy one 500 g pack. On Monday use 250 g for the chilli, and wrap and freeze 150 g for Saturday's burger straight away. That leaves about 100 g spare, which you can freeze too, or add to the chilli. If you would rather not freeze it, buy 150 g of fresh mince on Saturday instead and buy only 250 g on your first trip.
Using up leftovers
- Half a tin of cannellini beans (Monday): use within 2 days, or freeze in a small bag.
- Half a tin of chopped tomatoes (Saturday): use within 2 days, or freeze it.
- Half the second head of broccoli (Thursday): swap it for the green beans on Friday.
- Feta, hummus and the second bag of spinach: keep chilled and use within the date on the pack.
- Spare bread, wraps and buns: freeze in a bag and take out what you need.
- Chilli (Mon), traybake (Tue), curry (Wed) and pork (Sun) each make a second portion; the recipes say where it goes.
That completes Meal Plan 1
Three beef dinners (Monday, Thursday, Saturday), a fish dinner on Friday, a vegetarian dinner on Wednesday, and a shopping list to match. Swap any recipe that does not suit you, and tell me what you would change before the next plan.