Family Meal Planning Made Simple for Busy Parents

If family meal planning has you spinning in circles, you’re in the right place! Follow these steps and strategies to plan and prepare balanced meals that keep everyone fed and happy. 

Between work, school drop-offs, soccer practice, and trying to remember if anyone fed the dog, planning family meals can feel like one more thing on your never-ending to-do list. But it doesn’t have to be that way! 

Whether you’re on a journey to improve your diet or just trying to get everyone fed, the right meal planning system for your family is one that works for you and your goals, not one that adds more stress to your plate. 

And why should you listen to my meal planning tips? I’m a registered dietitian, busy mom of two, business owner, and single mom. Oh, and thanks to my ADHD, I’ve never been able to successfully execute a meal plan in my life (even though I’m a dietitian and have helped tons of people do it in their own lives over the past 10 years). 

That is, until I let go of the rules that traditional meal planning follows and figured out a way to make it work for my brain and my life. No matter how busy you are, how frazzled you feel, or how confused you are about planning balanced meals, these strategies will help you feel more prepared, making family meal planning an easy and (dare I say) enjoyable part of your week. 

4 Benefits of meal planning for families

If you’re used to winging it when it comes to dinner each night, you’re most likely wasting time, energy, and money. By incorporating even a loose meal planning routine into your week, these are some of the benefits you can expect: 

• You’ll feel less stressed during the week: The kids are whining, you’re getting hangry, and you’re staring into the fridge without a clue of what you’ll throw together. Nights like these can be avoided (or at least reduced) by having a plan to lean on.
• You’ll save money: I don’t know about you, but nights without a plan have a 50/50 chance of ending up with DoorDash. You’ll spend less money on takeout and less on food you thought you would eat, but inevitably end up throwing it in the trash. 
• You’ll eat healthier: If you have nutrition goals like eating more vegetables or prioritizing protein with your meals, having a plan in place increases your chances of success dramatically. A study in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity found that people who meal plan have more variety in their diet and are less likely to be overweight than those who do not plan meals. 
• You’ll have more time to spend with your family: Effective planning and smart prep can shave hours off of your cooking time each week, so you can spend more time enjoying time with your family and less time cooking. 

How to create a simple meal plan

While some people like to plan out every day’s meals, down to the last snack, I find that this method doesn’t always work well for busy parents who are juggling multiple schedules, with plans that always seem to change as the week goes on. 

Here is how I approach meal planning so that it’s guaranteed to work each and every week. 

1.Keep a collection of favorites 

Collect a list of meals that your family loves or meals that can easily be adapted to fit each member’s tastes. You can print recipes and keep them in a binder, store them in a Google Drive, add them to your bookmarks bar, or take advantage of Notion’s web clipper plugin to save all your favorites to a special Notion board. 

Pinterest or apps like Paprika or  Recipe Keeper also allow you to save your favorite online recipes in one central location. 

2. Pick 3 to 5 dinners for the week 

Now, look ahead at your week and see what you have planned. Is every day filled with after-school activities? Do you have a couple of leisurely afternoons? Are you planning on eating out on any days that week? 

Consider the time you expect to have for dinner prep each day before choosing what you’ll make. 

Now this is where you can be as detailed or flexible as you like. 

Either assign the meals to a day or choose the meal based on what you feel like making on each particular day.

The second option gives a lot of flexibility if you often feel restricted by meal plans, while the first option takes all the guesswork out, so you spend less energy making choices and more energy on yourself and your family. 

3. Add in some last-minute meals

Because the only thing we can plan on 100% as busy parents is that something will not go to plan, you’ll also want to have a few emergency meal options on standby. Emergency meals are ones that can be tossed together last minute with ingredients you always have on hand in the pantry or freezer. 

Some examples of emergency meals may be: 

• Pasta: Frozen meatballs + noodles + sauce + frozen broccoli
• Tuna melts: Canned tuna + mayo + bread + cheese (for tuna melts) and frozen vegetables 
• Stir-fry bowls: Microwave rice + pre-cooked frozen chicken + frozen stir-fry veggie mix + soy sauce

By planning for the unexpected, you’ll save yourself from last-minute grocery runs and takeout fees. Create a list of meals your family enjoys that include foods you always have on hand, and then before shopping each week, make sure you’re stocked up on what you need. 

Want to take the stress and guesswork out of meal planning and prepping your meals each week? The Stress Free Kitchen Toolkit is the guide you need– loaded with meal plans, easy balanced recipes, pantry and freezer staple lists, last-minute meal guides, and more! 

Budget-friendly meal planning strategies

You’re already saving money on food and groceries by making a plan, but there are even more ways you can save money with smart family meal planning. 

• Plan meals that use similar ingredients to avoid using half of a bag (and letting the rest go to waste) and to take advantage of bulk savings. 
• Don’t forget about canned and frozen foods, especially if it’s for something that’s not in season. You’ll save money, and if you don’t end up using it for some reason, you don’t have to worry about it spoiling in the fridge. 
• Check your favorite stores to see what’s on sale. While you don’t have to plan your whole meal plan around sale items every week, taking advantage of major sales, especially of seasonal items, can help. 
• Schedule a “use it up” night each week. This is a great opportunity to make sure leftovers get eaten before they go bad and that produce and other perishable foods stay out of the trash.

Quick family-friendly recipes

Need some ideas to get started? These are some of my favorite meals for busy moms and families on the go. 

Breakfast

Prep ahead for a grab-and-go balanced breakfast on a busy morning. 

• Bagel breakfast sandwiches 
• Yogurt and fruit parfaits
• Breakfast burritos
• Cookies and cream overnight oats

Quick and easy lunches

Easy lunches ready in 10 minutes and easy to meal prep for the entire week. 

• Dill salmon salad sandwich
• Chicken salad
• Turkey and cheese roll ups
• Open face tuna melts

Dinners

Quick and easy dinners that can easily be customized to fit everyone’s tastes and preferences. 

• Salmon fried rice
• Buffalo chicken flatbread
• Skillet chicken fajitas
• Caprese pasta with chicken sausage

How to deal with different food preferences

For family meals at my house, I’ve learned to be creative since my kids are polar opposites when it comes to the foods they like. 

When I plan tacos, I know I’ll be turning one into a taco burger, since one kid doesn’t like ground meat, and meals like spaghetti and meatballs have one enjoying noodles and the other making a meatball sub. I’m not making multiple meals, just finding ways to adjust each one to fit everyone’s preferences. 

One strategy that has helped immensely is getting my kids involved in the meal planning process by letting them choose a meal each week and talking to them about what I’m thinking of trying, or what we can serve with a meal that they may not particularly love. 

It’s a work in progress, and I don’t have the perfect solution for making everyone happy come dinnertime, but getting everyone involved has helped! 

Final thoughts

Meal planning doesn’t have to be rigid or perfect. It’s just one more way to bring a little calm and intention into your day. Even the simplest plan can make your week smoother, help you feel more in control, and make nourishing your family feel a little more doable, even when you’re exhausted and the dishwasher’s still full.

Start where you are. Keep it simple. 

And remember: it’s okay if cereal counts as dinner sometimes (I’ve been there). 

Want a plan to get started? Grab my FREE 3-day meal plan with simple, healthy recipes all ready in 15 minutes or less!