Free Excel template

Free Excel weekly meal planner and grocery list template

For households who plan a week of meals and want the shopping list and its cost to follow from the plan. Fill in breakfast, lunch and dinner for each day, list the ingredients with a rough price, and mark what is already in the cupboard; the template prices the trip, compares it with your grocery budget, works out the cost per person per day and totals spend by store section so you can shop aisle by aisle.

cellwise-weekly-meal-planner-grocery-list.xlsxExcel workbook · 5.7 KB · works in Excel, Google Sheets, Numbers and LibreOffice · no signup

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Preview and try it

This is the template's sheet, calculated by the same engine as the Cellwise app. Change any number to see the formulas react before you download.

	A	B	C	D	E	F	G
1	Weekly meal planner and grocery list
2	Week starting	Nov 9, 2026
3	Day	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner		Summary
4	Mon Nov 9	Yogurt and bananas	Turkey sandwiches	Sheet-pan chicken and peppers		Grocery budget	110
5	Tue Nov 10	Scrambled eggs and toast	Leftover chicken salad	Beef tacos		People eating	3
6	Wed Nov 11	Yogurt and bananas	Turkey sandwiches	Spaghetti with meat sauce		Total to buy	119.69
7	Thu Nov 12	Oatmeal	Leftover pasta	Chicken and broccoli stir fry		Left in budget	-9.69
8	Fri Nov 13	Scrambled eggs and toast	Turkey sandwiches	Homemade pizza night		Budget check	Over by $9.69
9	Sat Nov 14	Pancakes	Salad with leftovers	Beef and bean chili		Cost per person per day	5.7
10	Sun Nov 15	Eggs and toast	Chili leftovers	Roast salmon, rice and broccoli		Items to buy	17
11
12	Item	Store section	For	Qty	Unit price	Have it?	Cost to buy
13	Chicken thighs, 2 lb	Meat and fish	Mon, Thu dinner	2	7.49	No	14.98
14	Ground beef, 1 lb	Meat and fish	Tue, Wed, Sat dinner	3	5.99	No	17.97
15	Salmon fillets, 1 lb	Meat and fish	Sun dinner	1	12.99	No	12.99
16	Sliced turkey, 1 lb	Meat and fish	Lunches	1	8.49	No	8.49
17	Bell peppers	Produce	Mon, Thu dinner	4	1.25	No	5
18	Onions, 3 lb bag	Produce	Several dinners	1	3.49	Yes	0
19	Broccoli crowns	Produce	Thu, Sun dinner	2	2.19	No	4.38
20	Bananas	Produce	Breakfasts	6	0.29	No	1.74

How the formulas work

Day names that follow the week you pick

A5=TEXT($B$2+1,"ddd mmm d")

Type the first day of your week in B2 and the seven day labels fill in. Adding 1 to a date gives the next day, and TEXT with "ddd mmm d" turns it into a label like Tue Nov 10. Start the week on whichever day you shop; the plan does not have to begin on a Monday.

Price each item, but skip what you already have

G13=IF(A13="","",IF(F13="Yes",0,ROUND(D13*E13,2)))

Quantity times unit price, rounded to cents. If you type Yes in Have it?, the cost becomes 0 so the item stays on the list (handy as a reminder to check the date on it) without inflating the total. Empty rows return an empty string, which SUM ignores. In the sample the onions and spaghetti are already in the pantry.

Know before you shop whether you are over budget

G8=IF(G6>G4,"Over by "&TEXT(G6-G4,"$#,##0.00"),"Within budget")

G6 picks up the list total and G4 holds your weekly grocery budget. When the list costs more, the message tells you by exactly how much, so you can swap one dinner for something cheaper before you leave the house. With the sample list of $119.69 against a $110 budget, it reads Over by $9.69.

Count only the items you actually need to buy

G10=COUNTIFS(A13:A32,"<>",F13:F32,"<>Yes")

COUNTIFS counts rows where the item name is not blank ("<>" means not empty) and Have it? is anything other than Yes. That is the number of things going in the cart, which is a better guide to how long the trip will take than the length of the list.

Totals by store section

E36=SUMIF($B$13:$B$32,A36,$G$13:$G$32)

SUMIF adds the cost column for every row whose section matches A36. Next to it, the share column divides by the list total. Meat and fish is usually the biggest slice; if it is more than about half your bill, one meatless dinner a week is the quickest saving. Keep the section names in column B spelled exactly like the names in the summary.

Make it yours

Sort the grocery list by store section (select A12:G32, Data > Sort by Store section) so the printed list follows the layout of your store.
Keep a master list of your regular items with typical prices on a second sheet, then copy the rows you need into this week. Prices only need to be close; the point is to see the total before you shop.
Highlight what you already have: select A13:G32, Home > Conditional Formatting > New Rule > Use a formula, enter =$F13="Yes" and pick a grey font. Those rows fade so the list to buy stands out.
Plan leftovers on purpose, as the sample does: cook a bigger dinner and write it into the next day's lunch. It cuts both the cost per person per day and the number of items on the list.

FAQ

How do I make a meal plan with a grocery list in Excel?

Put the week of meals in a small grid (days down, meals across), then list the ingredients below with a quantity and price. Multiply quantity by price for each row and SUM the column. This template adds a Have it? column so pantry items cost nothing and a budget check that tells you if the list costs more than you planned.

Can I print the grocery list on its own?

Yes. Select A12:G33, choose Page Layout > Print Area > Set Print Area, and print. Sorting by store section first makes it quicker to shop.

Why is the cost per person per day so low?

It only counts what is on this list. Food you already own (marked Yes) and anything bought elsewhere during the week is not included, so treat it as the cost of this shop, not your full food spending.

Functions used

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Updated November 2, 2026